Instead of ‘Bright Ideas’…
Techno-savvy Ideas is the way to go!
Professor Rozema was one of many presenters at the 6th annual Teaching & Learning with Technology Fair on March 21st, 2007. This conference was focused on how to allow teachers to take advantage of the new technology that is constantly being updated in our society. With presentations ranging from how to make the most of Blackboard to iPods and podcasts to virtual worlds in the classrooms, educations is adapting to the techno-age at such a pace that it is almost impossible to deny the impact it will have on our future leaders.
The keynote speaker for the conference was Dr. Peter Doolittle and no, for anyone wondering, he did not discuss how talking to animals can help in education. His opening presentation brought up many good points. His discussion included how different educators have different expectations for their students to learn. He gave a number of examples of how assignments, depending on the language used in the instructions or the purpose of the assignment, can either help students learn or simply make things more difficult. Bringing technology into the classroom is a very important part of connecting to the recent generation. Dr. Doolittle was a straightforward and clear speaking presenter when it came to discussing how we, as future and current educators, need to believe in the idea of giving students a chance to combine their interest in technology and the education they are receiving from us.
I also attended a presentation by Professor Gisella Licari, the only Italian professor at GVSU. Her Italian 202 class, along with a 5th grade class from the Immaculate Heart of Mary Elementary School (IHM), put together a collection of digital fairy tales. The elementary school students drew pictures, which were scanned and given to the GVSU students for them to create stories from. The connection between the hand-made drawings and the final images on the screen helped show the way to bring technology into all classrooms. Using the video programs, which were on the Mac system provided, the Italian students were able to take the images of the drawings, piece them together in a linear story and create a fairy tale in the Italian language. I was very impressed, not only with the level of technical aspects used but also at the combination of the two, formerly separate, art forms. Virtual story telling is a great way to engage students, especially those currently in younger grades, who have grown up with a generation of techno-savvy predecessors.
Sally Hipp, of the College of Education, gave a presentation on Blackboard learning systems, but more specifically, the use of Bb learning Units. I’m sure we’ve all, at some point, had to use Blackboard. Whether for checking grades, collaborative learning or just checking the syllabus because you forgot what the next reading was for your class in under an hour. Blackboard is a system that, while many teachers and professors use it frequently, many other do not use it or do not understand it’s full potential. This presentation focused on Learning Units. Since information can be easily uploaded onto the Blackboard site and made readily available to any students signed in, Learning Units are a great way to keep the students interactive with the material outside of the classroom. By having images, videos, articles, assignments and other such materials on Blackboard, students are able to get to what they need in a matter of seconds while still working on what they need to accomplish. They are also able to collaborate with other students regarding the information to further learning and group discussions. Allowing the students to have access to this will help in preparing them for the next class.
Finally, we had our very own Dr. Rozema. His presentation on educating with a computer generated world was very different from the other presentations. Dr. Rozema discussed how so many students (81%) already play some version of an online game, that why not put this popular concept to good use and apply it to the classroom. His project; “The Thoughtcrime Project”, was a look at 1984 by George Orwell through a virtual world called Second Life. Second Life is a mulit-user environment online people, in this case, students, could develop a character and persona within this world, having complete control over their appearance, attitude and anything else they wish to express. While in the world, they are able to interact with other students and discuss their opinions on the world, society or whatever else it is that is occurring at the time. This gives the students more freedom to be open and expressive without having the fear of ‘looking stupid’ by saying it in class. Through their alternate personalities (which they can change at will), they are able to, more freely, have in-depth conversations with their teachers and fellow students. By allowing the students to discuss these topics through a medium that they understand and relate to, we are allowing them to be-able to truly get their feelings out without holding back. This project is currently under-consideration for a $30,000 grant which would allow the Second Life world to become more of a reality to develop and, possibly, more accessible for teachers nation wide.
Overall, it was a very interesting conference. The many presentations cover many different technical disciplines, as well as different ways that other subjects can be taught with the aid of the ever advancing technology we have available to us.
