Category: In the Classroom

Hammering home your (power)Point – Presenting Part II

In my last post, I shared some ideas from EDUCAUSE’s Malcolm Brown on presenting.  I ran out of time and space before I had a chance to finish!  Here are some more of my thoughts on his tips. Idea 15:  Who do you think you’re talking to?!?  Though it is impossible to address your entire…Continue Reading Hammering home your (power)Point – Presenting Part II

If Powerpoint is the hammer, is my presentation the nail?

Maslow said, “I suppose it is tempting, when the only tool you have is a hammer, to treat everything as if it were a nail.”  We constantly hear phrases like “Death by Powerpoint”, but is it Powerpoint’s fault that it just happens to be a really good hammer?  I think not. I recently had the…Continue Reading If Powerpoint is the hammer, is my presentation the nail?

Examples of Media in Education: Shaping Curriculum

A few years ago, I worked with a professor to plan an interactive media component to help students with the concepts of a chemistry lab that spanned several weeks and several experiments. The professor found that students were having a hard time figuring out which data to use in what way when they reached the final experiment….Continue Reading Examples of Media in Education: Shaping Curriculum

Motivation and the medium

In the book “Distance Education: A Systems View”, authors Michael Moore and Greg Kearsley discuss the various ways to deliver instruction. One statement that particularly resonated with me was the idea that “Motivation is a more critical variable than the medium…” The variety of instructional tools that are present today can provide both instructors and…Continue Reading Motivation and the medium

Seven Principles at WPI: Technology as a Lever

Several years ago – dare I say it – before blogging took off, I wrote a short piece for our TTL team e-newsletter on applying the “Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education” (Chickering and Gamson, 1987) based on the follow-up “Implementing the Seven Principles: Technology as a Lever” (Chickering and Erhmann, 1996).   Since…Continue Reading Seven Principles at WPI: Technology as a Lever

Introducing Video Workshops in the Classroom

I teach workshops on media production, often focusing on empowering students to create videos and web pages of their own, and I have plowed through all sorts of snags along the way. I’d like to take a few minutes to share with you some of the things I’ve run into, some strategies I’ve devised, and some thoughts about how all of this works. I’d also really like to hear your thoughts, ideas, and methodologies!…Continue Reading Introducing Video Workshops in the Classroom

How are our students communicating? Let me count the ways!

As the new term approaches many faculty across campus are beginning to reach out to their students. This got me thinking about the what tools our students using for electronic communication.  According to the 2011 ECAR National Study of Students and Information Technology in Higher Education (http://www.educause.edu/library/ERS1103), Email and Texting are students’ two most common electronic communication tools…Continue Reading How are our students communicating? Let me count the ways!

YouTube meet PowerPoint!

Everyone has heard the phrase “a picture is worth a thousand words,” but sometimes a picture just does not do justice to a what is being presented in the classroom.  This is where video can come in! Video has been a part of classroom educational technology since 1910 (Saettler, 2004) and its use has continued to grow…Continue Reading YouTube meet PowerPoint!

Interested in Lecture Capturing?

Last week you read about the new and updated e-classrooms, including several new lecture capturing classrooms.  This week, I thought I’d expand a little  bit more on the use of lecture capturing at WPI.   As you read last week, we have installed the Echo360 technology in AK116, GH227, KH116, and SH106.  That brings the total number of…Continue Reading Interested in Lecture Capturing?