Tech Academy 2009

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Keeping up with new formats (and technology)

One of the constants of technological development is change. File formats change, the software used to create files changes, the capability of software (or the internet) changes. Consider ways that this affects faculty or student projects over time. Projects must be updated, recreated, or abandoned. Does this impact the way you think about such projects?

Twitter in the Classroom

Twitter, which we will be using over the next three weeks, is a strange application. Messages are limited to 140 characters and users around the globe find each other through Twitter searches or word of mouth. At first glance the technology seems too limiting to be useful in the classroom. Over the past few days, however, we’ve been watching Twitter come alive with tweets based on the election results in Iran (#iranelection). Thousands(?) of people are commenting on the turmoil; Iranians are tweeting on the scene; tweet complaints have forced CNN to change its news coverage. If Twitter can do these things, are there ways that it can be used (or at least studied) in the classroom?

Technology to build community

Can we think of out-of-class ways that this technology can build or enhance Stockton’s community?

Course Advertisements

What do you think of the notion of podcast or even videocast “commercials” or “advertisements” for upcoming courses – ready to be “viewed” by students during precepting? Any thoughts on whether podcasting or videocasting would be preferred for such presentations?

Student/Faculty projects

We easily envision courses where podcasting and screencasting content is created by you the faculty member before relevant classes and that acts as supplementary material. We can envision courses where daily lectures are captured via podcasting or wimba and made available to students later as lecture reminders. We can also envision courses where students create content as assigned by you the teacher. What are some intermediary sorts of podcasting/screencasting assignments where students and faculty work together to build meaningful projects? Is there true power in these collaborative efforts or are they simply efficient ways to create content (if not to teach content)?

Training time

We can think of several sorts of courses in which students might benefit from creating podcasts of their own: courses with a service learning component that might be recorded; creative courses where students are asked to read their work aloud; courses in which students create “educational units” via podcasting. How much time should you (or would you) be willing to devote to training students so they could complete these projects?

Behind (or in front) of the wall

Setting aside issues of copyright – as real as they are – let’s discuss the pros and cons of teaching behind and in front of a firewall. Much if not all of the communication aspects of a weblog can be duplicated by Blackboard (and vice versa). So why use one over the other?