Technology has been in use in the classroom at least since the invention of the chalkboard. And of course most professors have at some point used more advanced forms of technology in their classrooms, including audiovisual aids such as movie clips, recordings, slides and overheads. But the Web has opened up a whole new realm to complement or supplement what can take place in the classroom, and at the Teaching, Learning and Technology Fair held in January, several UMBC faculty members displayed their latest web-based course innovations.
Preminda Jacob, in the Department of Visual Arts, has begun placing lectures for her art history survey course, Art 323 (Twentieth Century Art) online. As of this spring semester she will have at least five online lectures available. Since the quality of instruction in her art history class is significantly enhanced by in-class discussion, Jacob wanted to have more time in class for student interaction without sacrificing the information contained in her lectures. These online mini-lectures solve the problem by allowing her to carefully cover the same amount of material while giving students an opportunity, in class, to discuss the significance of the artworks.
Working with a team of producers and assistants from the New Media division of OIT (including Bill Shewbridge, Joanna Sakellion and Damion Wilson), Jacob created streaming video lectures synchronized with Powerpoint slides. These lectures are currently available on the course website: http://cgi.umbc.edu/~insttech/arthistory/.
Members of the English department also displayed course innovations at the January Fair. As Professor and Department Chair Jim McKusick explained in a presentation, members of the English department worked collaboratively over the past several months to develop courses. After attending a four-day workshop on "Teaching, Learning and Technology" in July 2001, fifteen English department faculty from both the Literature and Writing and Rhetoric Divisions worked in teams to determine how technology could be integrated into courses to improve the learning that takes place in their courses. Over the course of the summer, every workshop participant designed at least one new Blackboard course for the fall 2001 semester, integrating technology into composition courses, 200 level GFR courses, and upper-level literature courses.
Designing or redesigning courses to include new technologies can be time consuming, which is why faculty who experiment with Blackboard or other web-based courses encourage fellow instructors to plan well in advance of when the course is supposed to be up and running, to start small, and to work collaboratively. It's also wise to seek out help from the resources available from the New Media division of OIT and from the Faculty Development Center.
Other online resources can also provide insights into the course design process, including the following:
Getting Started with Instructional Design
UMUC-Verizon Virtual Resource Site for Teaching with Technology
Merlot: Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching
"MERLOT is a free and open resource designed primarily for faculty and students in higher education. With a continually growing collection of online learning materials, peer reviews and assignments, MERLOT helps faculty enhance instruction. MERLOT is also a community of people who strive to enrich teaching and learning experiences."
The Technology Source
"a peer-reviewed bimonthly periodical published by the Michigan Virtual University . . . provide[s] thoughtful, illuminating articles that will assist educators as they face the challenge of integrating information technology tools into teaching."
Stephen C. Ehrmann, "Assess How Much Technology Use Helps Education? Helps It How? A Taxonomy of Goals for Using (and Assessing) IT"
Jack Prostko is director of the Faculty Development Center.
