Transcript Hot Topics in Technology: What’s New and How to Use it Effectively Florida State University Rachel Navarre (team leader), Holly Radford, Jill Peerenboom and.

Hot Topics in Technology:
What’s New and How to Use it Effectively
Florida State University
Rachel Navarre (team leader), Holly Radford,
Jill Peerenboom and Candace Ford
E-mail and Institutional Spam
Hot Topics in Technology
 E-Mail and Institutional Spam
 Blogs
 Podcasting
 Virtual Classrooms
 Streaming Videos
What is e-mail?
 E-mail stands for electronic mail
 E-mail is a means of sending messages from one
individual to another through communications such
as computers, PDA, and cell phones
 Institutions have embraced e-mail as a means, or the
means, of communicating with the campus
community
 When too many campus-wide e-mails are sent out
through the campus listserv, institutional spam can
occur. Institutional spam is a negative side-effect of
campus emailing.
Why is E-mail Important?
 Convenient - Can be sent from any location;
no need for envelopes or stamps
 Instant - No waiting for phone calls or letters
in the mail
 Up-to-the-minute - Provide important
announcements, emergency information
 Broad reach - contact limitless number of
people at the same time with a click of a
button
Benefits of E-mail
 E-mail allows for the dissemination of information to
students
 Can inform them about important events and campus
announcements
 Quick way to communicate with the masses
 Convenient way for students to contact faculty/staff
instead of visiting office hours
 Student might be more willing to ask questions via e-mail
instead of in class
 E-mail is helpful for commuter students to contact
faculty/staff
Drawbacks of E-mail
 If the receivers do not check their email accounts regularly, time-sensitive
e-mails may not be read in time
 E-mails may not reach the intended
recipient
 Examples: E-mails accidentally filter into
junk e-mail box, e-mails are deleted, emails are sent to wrong users
Drawbacks of Institutional
Spam
 If campus-wide listservs are overused,
students can become desensitized to the emails
 From this desensitizing, students choose to
ignore or delete campus e-mails
 Many campuses use the same listservs for
important academic announcements as well
as social events
 When e-mails are given the same weight, students
choose to ignore all campus e-mails
How to use Campus E-mail
Effectively
 If e-mail is going to be used by the campus to relay
important information, create a campus
communication policy
 Ex: E-mail is the campus’ official means of communication to
the university
 Differentiate campus e-mails by importance so
students do not become desensitized and delete
important information
Blogs
What are Blogs?
 Websites in the form of an online journal
 Generated by one or more users
 Interactive: readers can post reactions in
comments section and the author can
respond
 First emerged in 1994, became popular in
1999
Why are Blogs Important?
 More than 57 million blogs existed as of
October 2006
 100,000 new blogs are created daily
 Blogs are widely accessible to anyone with an
internet connection
 Students familiar with social networking sites
(such as Facebook and MySpace) are familiar
with the concept of posting public journals
Benefits of Blogs
 An alternative to paper journals and e-mail
discussions
 Students can be notified by RSS (Really
Simple Syndication) when the blog is
updated
 Blogs are publicly accessible, allowing
students to communicate with peers from
other schools, distance learners, and
potential students
Drawbacks of Blogs
 As with other methods of class participation,
some students may participate more and get
more benefit from the use of the blog than
others
 Successful blog writings are usually the result
of a desire to share information with others,
some students may lack this desire
 Interaction on individual blogs may be less
substantial than those on group blogs
How to use Blogs Effectively
 In the classroom:
 Track student reflection of in-class or practical
experience for use in discussion
 Build community and facilitate communication
among class members
 To track student development:
 Set up individual blogs for new students and
provide them with guided questions to aid in
academic and personal advising
Podcasting
What is Podcasting?
 A podcast is a media file that is distributed over
the Internet using syndication feeds, for playback
on portable devices such as iPods or other MP3
players and personal computers
 Students would be able to access free of charge
recorded podcasts from a university created
website distributing podcast files or an outside
podcast file service such as iTunes U
What is Podcasting?
 Class lectures, guest speakers, discussion
groups, or any other forms of instruction are
converted to MP3 files for students to
download
 University campuses provide either their own
site to host the podcasts for students to
download or many websites have been
created to facilitate this process. These
websites include: iTunes U, Pick-a-Prof,
Webcast.Berkley, BoilerCast.
Why is Podcasting Important?
 Podcasting has been growing steadily over the
last three years as an alternate form of
instruction. It blends common student
technology such as iPods and other MP3 players
with classroom teaching and communication.
 Many schools have taken on this form of
instruction such as Duke University, Purdue
University at West Lafayette, Stanford University,
Drexel University, University of Michigan School
of Dentistry, University of Wisconsin Madison,
and University of Missouri School of Journalism.
Benefits of Podcasting
 Students that were absent from class can stay on
track with their coursework
 Students may review the lecture for clear
understanding or to review for an exam
 Students may slow down the lecture if having trouble
understanding certain aspects
 Students who speak English as a second language
can listen to the lecture multiple times for clarification
 Podcasting can be used for the instruction of foreign
language classes
Benefits of Podcasting
 Students cannot only download one specific class but have
the entire semester’s lecture download automatically as
the lectures become available on the website
 Mobility of lecture or review; students can listen to class
lectures while waiting on the bus or doing laundry
 Students already use technology of iPods and MP3
players; this technology plays into their interests and
comfort with technology
 Can be used not only for classes but to spread important
information of campus news to alumni and the community
Benefits of Podcasting
 Students can listen to music by other students on campus
or commentary from the football game and other sporting
events on campus
 Student volunteers can be utilized to set up equipment for
podcasting in classrooms and can also be educated on the
operations and troubleshooting of the technology
 Podcasting can be used as homework; students must
listen to a lecture before coming to class and the
classroom experience can be used for discussion and
hands-on experiments
 Faculty or staff will not have the worry of a couple
students in the class falling behind because he or she
knows that the students can listen to the lecture again
Drawbacks of Podcasting
 Students will download the lectures and not attend class
 Faculty have to be willing to participate and facilitate
recording procedures
 Embracing podcasting might leave behind students who
can’t afford MP3 players
 Who owns lectures? There are mixed opinions on whether
podcasts should be open to the public or only students at
the university
 Some students will show up, sign the attendance sheet,
and leave class knowing they can listen to the podcast at
a later time
 There is little evidence that podcasts can hold students’
attention any better than classroom lectures
Drawbacks of Podcasting
 Students do not want to spend any more time
listening to lectures than the time assigned to
classroom instruction
 There will be costs to buying, setting up, and
distributing the podcast equipment to the
students. It will cost both time of faculty and
staff as well as money to purchase equipment.
 Podcast service providers that handle podcast
files may back out of the service at any time
How to use Podcasting
Effectively
 Convene a technology committee or
department to handle podcasting and take
responsibility off of the faculty
 Have students set up and transfer podcasts
so they can learn the process and equipment
 Make the classroom lectures half and half so
students need to come to class to learn
specific things or questions for an exam
Virtual Classrooms
What are Virtual Classrooms?
 Online communities through which students
engage in learning
 Instructors use these communities to
facilitate discussion, share information, and
collect assignments from students
 Can be used as a component of a course that
meets online and still has a face-to-face
component (known as a hybrid course)
 It is accessible via the Internet, 24 hours a
day, 7 days a week
Why are Virtual Classrooms
Important?
 Student culture is shifting to one in
which communication is constant and
information is easily accessible
 Virtual classrooms provide students with
access to information
 Can be used to target non-traditional
students
Benefits of Virtual Classrooms
 Provides learning opportunities to students
who would not normally enroll, thereby
creating revenue
 No defined work day for instructors
because classroom can be accessed 24/7
 Can free up classrooms and reduce class
sizes
 Learning is student-driven and students
must take accountability for their own
learning
Drawbacks of Virtual Classrooms
 Instructors tend to take existing curriculum
and transplant it into virtual classroom
 Instructors are inadequately trained in
developing curriculum that will be useful in an
online environment
 Students may experience isolation and
frustration
 Can be difficult to know if the student
enrolled is the person actually completing
assignments
Drawbacks of Virtual Classrooms
 For online classes, visitation and
accreditation must also be done online, so
accrediting agency must be trained to
assess online environments
 Both student and teachers must read and
write more than they would in a traditional
classroom setting
 All learning mediums must be supported
by technology; if technology fails so does
learning
How to use Virtual Classrooms
Effectively
 System engages student/community
 Learning outcomes are flexible and largely
determined by learners
 Students must feel part of and take
ownership in online community
 Encourage online visits by multidisciplinary
experts around the globe that can help
students identify misconceptions in previous
learning
How to use Virtual Classrooms
Effectively
 Time must be given to discuss with
instructors what technologies are available
 Instructors need to be able to pick from a
variety of technologies to meet their needs
and preferences
 Greatest challenge is lack of face-to-face
contact
 Students ideas must be central to the
learning process
Streaming Videos
What are Streaming Videos?
 Streaming videos are videos that are
hosted on video-sharing websites that
can be viewed without having to
download the file
 Anyone can watch the videos, forward
them on to friends, or post their own
videos
Why are Streaming Videos
Important?
 New, emerging technology
 Can be used in the classroom as supplemental
material
 Non-traditional method of teaching
 New millennial generation of students are more
engaged in the classroom when technology is
used
Benefits of Streaming Videos
 Constant flow of new information
 100 million clips are viewed each day on
YouTube, a popular streaming video site
 Useful for finding hard-to-find video clips and
current event topics
 Easy access to videos during the lecture or
outside of the classroom
 Since downloading the videos is not required
to view, it eliminates the worry of viruses
Drawbacks of Streaming
Videos
 Difficulty in determining which videos are from
credible sources
 Students and professors may question if they are
violating any copyright laws
 With the use of recording devices, professors’
lectures are subject to being captured and posted on
the Internet
 Since videos are posted by the public, they can also
be removed by the public. A video clip available one
day may not be there the next day.
How to use Streaming Videos
Effectively
 Capture students’ attention
 Adds an interactive element to lectures
 Videos can be assigned as homework
for students to view outside of the
classroom
 Saves lecture time in class
References
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Retrieved 20:20, February 18, 2007, from
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Blog&oldid=108934839
Carnevale, D. (2006, October 6). E-mail is for old people. The
Chronicle of Higher Education, 53(7), p. A27.
Conway, C. (2006, November 13). YouTube and the cultural studies
classroom. Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved February 18, 2007, from
http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2006/11/13/conway.
Dawson, K. M. (2007). Blog overload. The Chronicle of Higher
Education, 53(22), C2.
Edwards, M., et al. (2000). Unintended benefits of distance-education
technology for traditional classroom teaching. Teaching Sociology.
28(4), 386-391.
Krause, S. D. (2005). Blogs as a tool for teaching. The Chronicle of
Higher Education, 51(42), B33.
References
Martindale, T., & Wiley, D. A. (2005). Using weblogs in scholarship & teaching.
TechTrends, 49(2), 55.
Melnick, B. (2002). Virtual Schools: Changing the face of Education. The English
Journal. 91(5), 85-88.
Podcast. (2007, February 17). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 20:10,
February 18, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podcast
Read, B. (2007, January 26). How to podcast campus lectures: Advice on getting
your institution’s ‘coursecasting’ program off to a good start. The Chronicle of
Higher Education. 53(21), A32.
Read, B. (2005, October 28). Lectures on the go: As more colleges use
‘coursecasting’ professors are split on its place in teaching. The Chronicle of
Higher Education. 53(10), A39.
Read, B. (2005, September 9). Abandoning cassette tapes, Purdue University will
podcast lectures in almost 50 courses. The Chronicle of Higher Education. 52(3),
A32.
Read, B. (2005, March 2). Drexel U. will give free ipods to students in school of
education. The Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved on February 12, 2007.
http://chronicle.com/daily/2005/03/2005030203n.htm
References
Spector, M. (2000). Trends and issues in educational technology: How far have
we not come. ERIC-IT Newsletter. 21(2).
Thacker, P. D. (2006, November 27). Return to sender. Inside Higher Ed.
Retrieved February 17,2007 from
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2006/11/27/spam.
Young, J. (2006, January 25). Apple releases free ‘i tunes U’ software to
colleges for coursecasting. The Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved on
February 12, 2007. http://chronicle.com/free/2006/01/2006012501t.htm
Young. J. (2005, November 4). Stanford U. makes podcasts of lectures
available through apple’s iTunes. The Chronicle of Higher Education.
52(11), A44.
Young, J. R. (2002, May 31). The 24-hour professor: Online teaching redefines
faculty members’ schedules, duties, and relationships with students. The
Chronicle of Higher Education, 48(38), p. A31.
YouTube. (2007, February 17). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.
Retrieved 20:57, February 18, 2007, from
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=YouTube&oldid=108928856