May 2006 Archives

Using a professor's blog with the course I teach each semester seems to lead me to neglect filling this one with pithy observations. But my primary purpose to keep this blog is to report on ny activiites -- so here's a little catch-up.

Yesterday I revised my UA website. Check it and let me know what you think. I tend to do this every couple years so that it doesn't look stale.

Spring semester was pretty busy. I taught a virtual version of IRLS571 Introduction to Information Technology. I added VOIP as a way to communicate with students and it got a good bit of use the first half; very little the second half. For a couple students I must have spent an hour trouble-shooting their problems two or three times. It's synchronous so they tend to get me when they are at their peak of frustration and need the most help. That's a good thing. I rather like VOIP, in particular for distance courses, and recommend it. I used both GoogleTalk and Skype. At this point, I'm just using Skype with the summer course.

I still find virtual courses less fulfilling than the blended classes. That's not a surprise to anyone, I'm sure. Students take them because of the convenience. Many are working or raising families. Some are looking to re-enter the workforce after being out of it for a number of years. I am finding that more and more students entering the program
are coming with good computer skills. Still, though, some enter with minimal skills and have to overcome their fear of technology.

This morning (Thursday, May 4th) Paul Hagner, Associate Program Director EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative, delivered the keynote address at the Learning Technology Showcase. The title of his keynote was "Mobile Learning, Immersive Technology, Emerging Technology and Successful Learning." Dr. Hagner's PhD is in Political Science and he comes from a faculty background.

But before I write about that, I'll tell you that the Showcase is given each year and features faculty who have used technology in innovative ways. Take a look at the page about featured projects. Now, what did Hagner say? He opened by showing how technology is bring change at exponential rates. Up until this time, change happened only incrementally. He pointed out that our current semester structure was fashioned out of living in an agrarian society. And two phrases he used throughout his talk were "digital immigrants" and "digital natives." Digital natives are the young people who have grown up with technology all around them--they were born into it. The issue in academia is that we have digital immigrants teaching digital natives.