Collaboration & Communication

Assessment

Teaching with Laptops

Building Digital Content

Overview

At Wentworth, laptop integration is at the forefront of Training and Development initiatives. Technology is important to higher education because it provides greater learning flexibility for students and enriches their options; but technology is not the primary issue of importance. Effective teaching and learning is, first, about the learner. With an understanding of learners, instructors can select pedagogies and technologies to support successful learning where technology, both information technology and instructional technology, plays a supporting role rather than a leading one.

The Laptop Integration curriculum is designed to support faculty in implementing technology into their courses.  The curriculum includes the following workshops:     

• Understanding the 21st Century Student      
• Laptop as a Distraction
• How the Teaching Environment Changes
• Promote Student Engagement Designing Documents for Digital Natives
• Virtual Working Teams
• Using the Web for Research Activities
• Inviting Guest Lectures via Web into the Classroom

These workshops are being offered regularly and faculty are encouraged to attend.  Supplemental materials can be found in our Resources section.

Three Scenarios - Integration of Learning Technologies into Teaching

“Technology has limitations on what it can accomplish. You do not…”
- Lou Gerstner, CEO IBM

The bottom line of this quote is that technology itself does not change the world, but how we interact with it and how we integrate it in our daily lives does.

Three main scenarios are important when looking at integrating technology into teaching:

Scenario One: Supplemental Approach Learning Technologies might be offered to the students as a supplement to the face-to-face class time. Material could be posted online for students to look at before they even come to class. In class the content might be presented with PowerPoint presentations or the Internet might be used to access resources online. Class materials might be posted online after class to give students the possibility for review. However, the students are still more passive than active with this approach.

Scenario Two: Integrative Approach For a more problem based teaching in labs students might work in groups and retrieve materials from the web, Lconnect or a Course Management System (CMS), which will help them to achieve the desired results. Instead of creating papers only for the instructor, students could be asked to publish their papers on a class website or CMS. Message Board discussions could reinforce class discussions or go even above and beyond the class topics and focus on advanced areas. The students are actively involved in the generation, discussion and research of class content.

Scenario Three: Distance Learning Approach In a distance learning environment there is no face-to-face contact between students and instructor and Learning Technology takes on a dominant role. In residential colleges such as Wentworth this form is not the dominant teaching method for undergraduate education. The students are very actively involved in online learning environments; otherwise nobody would notice that they are actually part of the course. The most important thing you might want to remember is that the class content drives the technology selection, not vice versa.

When Laptops Enter the Classroom

The college classroom was until recently a sealed sanctuary free from the distractions of the world. This environment is transforming into a place where each student has a powerful laptop computer, connected wirelessly to the internet, thus forever altering the traditional classroom setting.

Computers undoubtedly excite and engage students, but they can also divert attention as well as focus it.

As students bring their own experiences and information into the learning process, the curriculum and the traditional student-teacher relationship need to change.
Research and homework are now done primarily online. Information is constantly "searched" and brought into the educational process. Students are now able to utilize these resources in the classroom, adding a new dimension to discussion, group work and research.

With laptops in the classroom, teachers will need to set ground rules yet remain somewhat flexible. Here are some suggestions to ensure that the learning process remains in place in your classroom:

• Require students to turn off any instant messaging software, along with their cell phones and pagers.
• Keep laptops closed for certain periods: guest speakers, media presentations, introduction of difficult abstract concepts, etc.
• Reconfigure the classroom into groups or circles. Some instructors have the class face backwards during tests.

Some classroom dynamics don't seem to be affected by the presence of computers: teachers still know who is concentrating on the material at hand and who is not.

Certainly some classrooms require more use of laptops, depending on course content. Educators need to balance academics and technology in order to teach effectively.

Implementing Learning Technologies into your Teaching–Only Half of the Truth

More and more learning technologies are being used in higher education. An increase in usage however, does not implicitly improve learning outcomes for students. To guarantee a greater learning experience an integration of learning technologies into general curricula should not be gunderestimated. Online material and communication is supposed to supplement and even enhance the classroom experience.

Curriculum Integration
Not every material is meant to reside in the online end of the spectrum. Nevertheless, using learning technologies, such as a Course Management System, can help utilize your quality time with your students during class. Consider the scenarios below:

• Post assignments ahead of time and answer specific questions about them in class versus discussing assignments from the beginning to the end of class.
• Perhaps one could create teams, who research different aspects of a topic and post it as part of the online class content versus devoting an entire class to discuss every aspect.
• Asynchronous technologies such as an online message board could allow students to criticize and evaluate other students work versus traditional in class presentations.
• Interview an expert from the West Coast with the help of a synchronous tool such as online chat versus obtaining expertise only from written publications.

When teaching in a hybrid learning environment (online + classroom) integration ideas should directly tie into class content, student learning types, and learning objectives. Sometimes it may work one semester, but with other students the next semester it might not work at all. The goal should be: How can we best teach certain topics?

Changing Roles
Ultimately the roles for students as well as for instructors are changing in a more blended or hybrid environment. Instead of being a passive recipient of information, students may become more actively involved in class. More problem based project work and research will allow students to experience real situations that they will find in the work place as well as make them more responsible for their own learning results. Ironically, many students have been taught and encouraged to be passive recipients from kindergarten through secondary education and college. But as Maria Montessori stated at the beginning of the twentieth century “Help me to do it myself!” this student-oriented approach might help them to become active participants of their own education.

The instructor’s role is beginning to shift from the “expert in the field” to a consultant and tutor to their students. They provide support materials and advice to help students achieve their learning objectives. Because of this shift some instructors might feel as though they are giving up the control of the class while moving to a more studentoriented teaching style.

As with every innovation, this one comes with trial and error and requires an open mind on both sides, students and instructors, to make it a collaborative success. Good communication and the formulating of clear expectations can help along the way.

LTS will assist you in this endeavor. We would be happy to look at your course contents, brainstorm with you and help you realize your ideas and goals. Please feel free to contact us.

CONNECT Guide - Laptops in the Classroom:  Minimize the Distraction (PDF)

CONNECT Guide - Laptops in the Classroom: Promoting Student Engagement (PDF)

Glenn Wiggins – Curriculum Changes and Laptop Integration

Fred Driscoll – Thoughts On The Laptop Initiative

Sam Montague – Teaching Flash

Rob Meszaros– Teaching Design with Technology

The Fight for Classroom Attention: Professor vs. Laptop

Active Learning For The College Classroom