The following news item was originally published in the Hattiesburg (Mississippi) American:
http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070415/BUSINESS/704150317/1046/NEWS17
Technology changes teaching, learning environments
While technology has long been touted as a force that has made the business world more efficient for employees and customers, it has not gotten the same credit in the classroom.
Until now.
The University of Southern Mississippi’s Learning Enhancement Center offers classes and training aimed specifically at faculty interested in using technology to make their classes more innovative.
“Overall, faculty and students come in to see what’s available and how to use it,” Learning Enhancement Center Director Sherie Rawls said. “The key is to understand how it benefits both the teacher and the student.”
While “Smartboards” may be becoming more common in elementary and secondary classrooms, university professors are also finding new ways to teach students using the latest in high-tech gadgets.
Dr. Mary Nell McNeese, an assistant professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Research, teaches in a SMART classroom from a sympodium, which includes a projector, PC with software, DVD/CD/VCR player, remote controls and an audio system.
“It makes teaching so much more interactive,” McNeese said. “Rather than seeing teaching as a transmission process, technology allows it to become a transaction process.”
English professor Michael Salda uses audio podcasts as supplements to his lectures for his undergraduate World Literature classes, which can run up to 140 students.
“Students have different learning styles,” he said. “The more tools we have available, the better job we can do as teachers to make it easier on our students as learners.”
Dr. Steve Yuen, professor of technology education, makes sure his students have access to as many different forms of the course material as possible, including online course content, audio and video demonstrations.
“This way, students can choose the format that is most beneficial to them,” he said. “It will help them to master the material and allow them to learn anytime, anyplace and at their own pace.”
The LEC is actively promoting Horizon Wimba, a virtual classroom that facilitates interaction between students and teachers online through live video and audio.
“It’s more interactive in terms of distance,” Rawls said. “Teachers can interact more openly with students than in a chatroom. It really is a very neat teaching tool.”
Currently, Internet classes are more static, student Amy Thonton said. Pursuing her master’s degree in instructional technology and working full-time as a trainer for the LEC, Thornton takes as many Internet classes as she can.
“Some students are afraid to take Internet classes because they don’t get face to face interaction,” she said, “but I find they give me more flexibility, especially since I work full time.”
Technology in the classroom, Ph.D student in higher education administration Brett Cassell said, has helped him in statistics and research.
“Technology has really increased my educational experience, especially in statistics,” he said. “Some problems and data are so complex, using the program has really helped me with my research, interpreting data so that I’m able to write papers.”
But using technology in the classroom is not always smooth sailing, McNeese said.
“There are always going to be the inevitable technical difficulties, but that also gives you the opportunity to teach troubleshooting,” she said. “If you can teach your students to work around problems, to reach their goals even if it’s not by the way they originally intended, you’ve taught them a valuable skill.”
In the end, Rawls said, the focus has to be on how the technology effects the student’s learning process in order to determine whether or not it is beneficial.
“The faculty really have to look and evaluate what the effect is in the classroom,” she said. “We have to make sure that it is being used effectively.”