Inter-Institutional Faculty
Summer Institute
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
When Everything Happens that
Can’t Be Done or
The Changing Nature of Learning
& Technology
Lucinda Roy, Virginia Tech
Get with the Program
• Good words: interactive; active learners;
online; technology; HRH Bill Gates;
Burks Oakley; www; Internet; learning
environment; networks; sharing; e-mail;
on screen; acronyms of any kind; mice
(mouses?)
• Bad words: traditional teaching; chalk;
chalkboard; lecturer or fossil; pencil; in
the flesh; administrators
Why Here? Why Now?
• Like Mount Everest, the technology is
here. We can do things now we couldn’t
do before.
• We need to become cost-conscious.
• Everyone else is doing it and we don’t
want to seem stupid; or, worse still,
behind the times.
• The dean told me to.
Why Here? Why Now?
Part II
Technology can be used to solve perennial
problems:
• mixed ability classes
• lack of interaction between students and
instructors
• the need for achievment-based learning
The Important Questions
• Why do we want to do this?
• What problems are we trying to solve?
• What do we want to retain?
• How can we best assess the programs we
put in place?
• What do we want students to learn?
Claims Being Made
• The Cost Conundrum:“Another benefit
will be the cost.” Governor Leavitt.
(T’ain’t necessarily so.)
• The Seer’s Approach:We’ll design for
tomorrow even though we don’t know
what it will look like.(???)
• The Delivery Paradox:We deliver=they
learn. (We wish!)
Virginia Tech
• Blacksburg, Virginia, home of BEV
(Blacksburg Electronic Village)
• Land-grant institution of 24,000 students
• FDI, the Faculty Development Initiative:
a three-day intensive workshop for
faculty who are given computers at the
end of the session. 1,000 faculty have
now gone through FDI.
The Nature of Change
•Material change:
An infusion of funds can solve the
problem
•Cultural change:
Necessitates a shift in attitude and/or
practice
Seven Principles for Good Practice
Chickering and Gamson
• Encourages student-faculty contact
• Encourages cooperation among students
• Encourages active learning
• Gives prompt feedback
• Emphasizes time on task
• Communicates high expectations
• Respects diverse talents and ways of
learning (See Wingspread Journal)
Appropriate Technology
• “But for any given instructional strategy,
some technologies are better than others:
Better to turn a screw with a screwdriver
than a hammer—a dime may also do the
trick, but a screwdriver is usually
better.” Chickering & Ehrmann
http://www.aahe.org/ehrmann.htm
Steps Towards
Technology Integration
1. Identify the problems
2. Decide what you want to retain and what
you value in your teaching/learning space
3. Without the aid of technology, envision
the solutions
4. Meet with technical support staff to
discover possibilities
5. Try a few things first and assess their
effectiveness.
Common Problems
We Need to Solve
Three Main Types
1. Logistical/mechanical/ problems
2. Problems with learning effectiveness and
efficiency
3. Cultural challenges
1. Logistical/Mechanical Problems
Too many students; too little time;
schedule conflicts; access problems
Example Solutions:
• E-mail with filtering frameworks so that you
are not overwhelmed;
• Lectures on-line. Can be accessed by absentees
and by students who want to be ahead
• Class listservs and asynchronous
communication
Increased Communication
• New types of interaction via e-mail. E.g.
students who ask more questions of the
instructor and of each other
• Study groups which form automatically
or which can be shaped to suit student
needs
• The continuation of learning outside of
class. Increased independent learning
with faculty (in theory) acting as guides.
Increased Monitoring
• Electronic Portfolios
• Easier to track progress and
performance with software such as
Daedalus and NetForum
• Instructors can know sooner what isn’t
working, what needs further exploration.
• N.B. Saves student time but can increase
time on task for faculty
2. Problems with learning effectiveness
and efficiency, continued
• Students don’t retain enough
• At many institutions, passive learning is the
norm rather than the exception
• Socratic methodologies are as rare as corn
dogs in Papua New Guinea
• Many students are bored
• So are a fair number of instructors
Possible Solutions
• Spend more—not!
• Teach more—we hope not!
• Design and utilize class management
structures so that more students’ individual
needs can be served
• From day one, help train students to become
active learners.
• Train and support faculty experimentation.
3. Cultural challenges
• Studies have shown that women and
minorities, and majority men and women
who are deemed “too bright” by their peers
often underachieve.
Is there a way to combat this? Within the
democratic framework of higher education
in America, can we create sanctuaries for
the individual, especially in large state
institutions?
What Classes Look Like:
An Example
• Listserv
• Web pages with syllabus, calendar,
exercises
• Lectures that can be downloaded and
accessed asynchronously. Videos.
• Electronic chat rooms or study groups
• Commercial software programs (check
these out, they can save lots of time!)
Assessment
Dr. David Taylor, ACCESS
http://www.cyber.vt.edu/ACCESS
ACCESS data
• Like student-faculty and student-student
interaction
• Frequently cited time-savings include
research on web, e-mailing questions,
submitting assignments electronically,
getting info about class through class web
pages, electronic office hours, web chats,
etc.
ACCESS data contd.
• Attendance data from classes where there
is traditional face-to-face contact suggests
that online material does not necessarily
lead to a lack of attendance
• Students very anxious about independent
learning. Fearful of their own
procrastination. Want structure. Feared
lack of contact with professor.
ACCESS assessment, contd.
• “Neither ownership [of a computer] nor
score on computer alienation/anxiety
scale appears to have much influence on
success in the courses and the course
grade.”
David Taylor, ACCESS Assessment
Coordinator (david.taylor@vt.edu)
Preliminary Results (General)
In web-based, computer-enhanced courses
• Instructors become more engaged with their
teaching
• Students devote more time to material
• A small proportion of students remain
uncomfortable with the technology
• Almost all students want some face-to-face
contact. Most instructors do also.
Teachers Are 3-D Too
Deciding what should be retained may be the
most important question we face as we begin to
utilize IT at an astonishing pace. It’s a vital
question because it is inextricably linked to our
vision of ourselves and what we hope we are
doing as teachers and learners. Just because
we can do it doesn’t mean we should. In the
race to be bigger and faster we shouldn’t forget
the “better” part of the equation.
Questionnaire
• What do I value in my classroom? What
would I fight to the death to retain?
• What perennial problems do I face?
• What kinds of learners do I seem to work
most and least effectively with?
• Realistically, how much time do I have to
devote to this?
• What kind of support system would I
prefer?
Conclusion or
why everything happens that can’t be done
• New ways of communicating with students
can result in increased learning and
engagement with material
• IT doesn’t necessarily result in impersonal
learning environments
• If checks and balances are put in place
early, many catastrophes are avoided
• Locate the problem first before finding
solutions. Avoid “communal visions.”