Editor's Note: This discussion took place on the H-Teach Network
Author: Philip Jones <pdj@bradley.bradley.edu> Date: Sat, 8 Feb 1997 13:23:39 -0500
Date: Sat, 8 Feb 1997 12:03:48 -0600
I would like to comment on the issue of encouraging new faculty members to use multimedia materials in the classroom. As many of you know, I have been developing multimedia classroom techniques and extensive use of e-mail, etc. in my classes for nearly ten years now. If I had known in the beginning what I now know, I have serious doubts that I would have undertaken the task. The results have been entertaining for students and I have gotten a high-tech classroom to play in, but I am not sure just how much more learning goes on. Moreover, as several others have pointed out, the amount of time and energy that goes into mastering and implementing the various programs and procedures is enormous.
If a young faculty member is interested in getting started, he or she should be provided with the necessary financial support. But, as department chair, I feel morally obligated to warn people without tenure that multimedia activities will do absolutely nothing for them when it comes time to impress college and university tenure committees. Higher officialdom seems genuinely interested in promoting the latest technology (as evidenced by the financing of the classroom mentioned above), but faculty members who make up the important committees are still only impressed by publication. That is simply a fact of academic life.
Philip Jones
Author: Skip Knox <sknox@varney.idbsu.edu> Date: Sun, 9 Feb 1997 12:26:32 -0500
Date: Sun, 09 Feb 1997 10:14:49 -0600
I completely agree with Philip Jones regarding multimedia in the classroom. I've done multimedia for about the same length of time and have come to the same conclusions: it's way more work for no discernible return. As adjunct faculty, I take no risks by doing so; I would have abandoned the effort long ago were I also having to publish and participate in the department. I might add that I've talked with colleagues across the disciplines on this topic. There are, in fact, some areas where the professors are very positive: nursing, radiology, and physics come to mind. But in history, the effort of creating and maintaining the material is almost purely overhead. It doesn't take all kinds, we just *have* all kinds Dr. E.L. Skip Knox sknox@varney.idbsu.edu www.idbsu.edu/cdp/skip www.idbsu.ed
Author: Sara Tucker <zztuck@acc.wuacc.edu> Date: Sun, 9 Feb 1997 15:54:06 -0500
Date: Sun, 9 Feb 1997 14:34:56 -0600 (CST)
Re Skip Knox et al on downside of using mmedia in the classroom.
This is an important topic. As I'm reading Skip's post, "no discernible return" means in terms of professional recognition and/or support" (as vs its pedagogical value - another big topic).
So here is what it looks like from where I sit. I do think computer-based text and multimedia stuff has great potential value to teaching, whether as a background source for instructors resources (ex: overhead transparencies printed from digitalized sources; copyright free texts downloaded for course assignment), in-class media shows, or out-of-class web assignments.
I also think that getting all the pieces in place to actually do all of this (secure all needed equipment, learn to use all of it, surf the web to find all good resources, reconfigure course structures and dynamics) is a black hole of time and effort. I also think such activities are of real professional value, especially at a school such as mine, with 4-4 teacing loads, and a professed primary emphasis on teacing. Yet, in a circumstance where tenure and/or promotion are decided by colleagues/administrators who still think only in terms of traditional teaching/scholarly endeavors, to devote much time to such an adventure may be actively dangerous and stupid.
So what to do. Well, not to be egotistical, I'd say the job belongs to people like me - and I suspect a good number of my H-Teach colleagues. I'm 50, and a professor. Past my last promotion hurdle, but a long way from retirement. So with a little more flexibility in terms of how I spend my out-of-class professional time, but with no desire to turn into "dead wood."
In this context I'm happy to be taking on the challenge of teaching myself to use the new technologies wisely - and in so doing sometimes also getting the chance to educate, to some extent, both colleagues and administrators. I just did a faculty development workshop in which I surveyed, at a very introductory level, all of the computer-linked resources that I have found of value: internet discussion lists, cd-roms, www resources both for inclss use and outside web assignments. In another two weeks, I'd doing an on-line workshop introducing colleagues to Netscape and search engines, and then all participants will be turned loose to search out a few useful lists or sites in their own fields. (Any advice on this very gratefully accepted.) I'm putting together a faculty support group on more advanced computer use (first focus: learning how to do Powerpoint course presentations). For at least department colleagues, I'm happy to produce printed-out texts for non-internet-active colleagues, and likewise to print out images on good-old-fashioned transparency film.
As a part of my personal struggles, I have regularly asked for - and fairly often gotten - better equipment (an upgradable full media internet connected terminal in my office, with both audio and video capablility), extra help learning how to use software (current struggle: WebWhacker). In making the case for myself, I'm fairly often able (along with similarly-struggling others) to tilt the scale towards more generally-generous faculty computer equipment allocations. Thus I think there is every chance during this year's budget cycle that the number of use calling for computer-wired "ordinary" (as vs lab) classrooms will win funding for about 8 fully-wired classrooms. This is a cause pushed over the last several years by a small group of likeminded tech teaching enthusiasts.
I'm now starting to try to modify current university policies on faculty travel fund, and continuing lobbying for more on-campus computer training salary lines. As is, travel money comes for giving a scholarly paper. There is research grant money, but it doesn't include going to workshops good, but very over-extended) academic computer center doesn't have staff to educate faculty in more than the most basic intro computer skills (intro to Word Perfect, how to use Netscape).
At Washburn, we've just finished a presidential search in which one of the search criteria was alertness to new technical challenges. I don't think that would have been seen as important even three years ago, before increasing numbers of faculty began using, and calling for more, computer support. The result: the guy who won the search began his faculty interview talking about how how important tech is!
We're also starting to at least discuss exactly what counts as scholarship. Do major juried publications or national paper presentions, reporting on big projects involving technology and teaching (or, for someone in public administration, authorship of a major studyc commissioned by a city government, ie practical scholarship)? I'm certainly counting as teaching scholarship, in our annual merit pay reviews, my papers and publications on tech and teaching - and my own department accepts them as such.
Comments?
Sara Tucker
Sara W. Tucker e-mail: zztuck@acc.wuacc.edu Professor of History fax: (913) 231-1084 Washburn University voice: (913) 231-1010 x 1319 Topeka, Kansas 66621 H-Teach Co-Editor: hteach@acc.wuac.edu
Author: Skip Knox <sknox@varney.idbsu.edu> Date: Sun, 9 Feb 1997 17:30:06 -0500
Date: Sun, 09 Feb 1997 14:54:33 -0600
At 03:54 PM 2/9/97 -0500, Sara wrote:
>Date: Sun, 9 Feb 1997 14:34:56 -0600 (CST)
>From: Sara Tucker >
>This is an important topic. As I'm reading Skip's post, "no
>discernible return" means in terms of professional recognition and/or
>support" (as vs its pedagogical value - another big topic).
I wasn't clear enough. I don't care about professional recognition--I'm adjunct and I have a "day" job that suits me fine. No, it was specifically the pedagogical value I was addressing. I could see no evidence whatsoever that anybody was learning more or learning better. In fact, I specifically asked last fall for a non-technical classroom, after years of teaching in a high-tech classroom with all the toys, precisely to feel the differences.
There just wasn't any. The students did about the same. My impression of their learning was about the same. And it was *way* easier on me. And I'm extremely knowledgeable in the technology, so I have only sympathy with those who clear the hurdles with more difficulty.
I also want to be clear about the media involved. I'm talking specifically about overheads and CD-ROMs and TV cameras and laser discs and the whole array of media that are intended to be used *in the classroom*. This is specifically where I think the time spent does not justify the return.
I'm a huge believer in using the Internet, with all its tools, as a supplement to a live class. I'm also a great advocate of completely virtual courses. But after years of Powerpoint slides and video tapes, I've concluded that they add little to my field (recall that I said these tools do appear to add value for other disciplines).
Cogito ergo spud: I think, therefore I yam
Dr. E.L. Skip Knox sknox@varney.idbsu.edu
www.idbsu.edu/cdp/skip www.idbsu.edu/courses/hy101
Author: Guy Bensusan <Guy.Bensusan@nau.edu> Date: Sun, 9 Feb 1997 19:27:59 -0500
Co-editor's note: The ghost post with no subject or signature on a recent article about student learning was my own. At least when I make a mistake it is a complete one. BW
Date: Sun, 09 Feb 1997 15:55:18 -0700 (MST)
Skip --- imagine, Guy Bensusan is agreeing with you. I find that the only thing that Powerpoint et al do for teaching is to provide a colorful screen for the students to take notes from. Nothing has changed !! Heads are down, hand scribbling furiously.
On the other hand, I have spent the past ten years with seventy courses on interactive instructional television to multiple sites (now fifteen around Arizona, with more to come), and find that data dumping on video or text or other out-of-class times --- plus questions for students to answer, creates a far more productive use of class time. Prepared students, having read, thought, let it soak in, and answer Q plus listing their desired topics for class discussion, creates a very exhilerating class discussion over issues and challenges which have been thought about and organized into debatable form.
It will be interesting to continue this thread !!!
Best from
Guy Bensusanm NAUNet
Author: Eileen Walsh <Ewalsh@vax1.bemidji.msus.edu> Date: Sun, 9 Feb 1997 19:30:33 -0500
Date: Sun, 09 Feb 1997 17:25:27 -0600
What does it mean in History to "learn more?"
The current discussion is going to get me finally started on the article I'm supposed to be writing about 2 sections I taught last fall of the "same" history course. My approach was not a social-science one, in that I did not "test" students' information retention in comparable ways. Since I see History's goals in a course as more amorphous - students must know information in order to make intellegent arguments - I did not assess information retention but went straight to assessing the kinds of arguments they made and how well they were supported. None of what I say will be statistically compelling but then neither is Skip Knox's assessment so it must be okay on this list or in this discipline, no? :-)
What I found did not surprise me (epistemology alert!) - students in the computer-based course learned more material in-depth but in fewer areas, and those in the lecture-based course learned more breadth with less deep intellectual involvement. I am comparing a variety of "mushy" factors, including student satisfaction as in the article Bob Wheeler mentioned. In the computer-based course we devoted a month to fully experiencing dissatisfaction: with the Internet, with campus computer rooms and policies, with software, with me--an interesting context in which to be discussing "class warfare" of the early 20th century! We then had the rest of the term to come back from that experience with a rush of camaraderie and triumph. In the long run, the greatest dissatisfaction was probably mine, since 4 days/week I was in the other section presenting information on many more points. I was keenly aware of what was being left out in the computer-based section, even as my students there struggled with admirable results to understand Teddy Roosevelt's background and the extent of his influence nationally and internationally. I was therefore gratified to see what I considered to be better historical work on the part of the computer-using students. I'm repeating the experiment this quarter so we'll see if that bears out. I'll let you all know -
Eileen Walsh
Bemidji State University
Bemidji MN 56601
Author: shomimid@pop.k12.vt.us (Stephen Homick) Date: Sun, 9 Feb 1997 20:55:11 -0500
Date: Sun, 9 Feb 1997 20:33:33 -0500
A couple of comments on the pros and cons of multi-media. At=20 bottom these devices are modes of presenting text and graphics,=20 driven by a technology that's more than a half-century old.=20 Improvements to that technology have progressively reduced their=20 unit-cost, thereby making them attractive. Even so, when the cost of=20 equipment necessary to facilitate their operation is taken into=20 account, they turn out to be not very cost-effective. A book=20 consumes less space, doesn't require complicated installation=20 procedures, support equipment and costly maintenance, and therefore=20 remains a far more economical way to communicate knowledge. When=20 multi-media can deliver the product with the same economy and=20 efficiency as books, I'll willingly jump on the bandwagon.
Anyone now at work on developing multi-media teaching aids or=20 considering it really ought to give serious thought to commercial=20 software development, rather than whether his or her labors might=20 please a tenure committee. A finished product that succeeds on the=20 market will surely open the door to a myriad of opportunities,=20 promotion to tenure being but one, though perhaps not the most=20 important. The web abounds with shareware and freeware programs not=20 only attest a steady demand but portend robust future growth as well.=20 Why limit oneself to the quadrangle behind the ivied walls?
And apropos of learning to use these novel technologies, one=20 needn't bemoan the lack of support for such endeavors from university=20 administrations. There's a broad array of resources on the net and=20 web that's available even to those who have only e-mail at their=20 disposal. Here's a list of a few well-known net/web teaching=20 resources:
To: LISTSERV@LISTSERV.AOL.COM Subj: Leave blank
Text: SUBSCRIBE TOURBUS (YOURNAME) NO SIGNATURE INTERNET TOURBUS is also available at=20 WWW.WORLDVILLAGE.COM/TOURBUS.HTM.
*NEWBIENEWZ. A newsletter dedicated to making the net/web=20 intelligible to the uninitiated ("Newbies"). Supposedly weekly, it=20 has been consistently irregular in coming out, though it's a very=20 helpful source. To subscribe send a msg. in the following format
To: MAJORDOMO@NEWBIE.NET Subj: Leave blank
Text: SUBSCRIBE NEWBIENEWSZ (YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS)
NO SIGNATURE
*4U SERIES. Several guides to acquiring materials over the
net/web,=20
compiled by members of ACCMAIL list. Very helpful and updated=20
regularly, EMAIL4U and GETIT4U offer info. on accessing the web=20
through e-mail, while PIX4U deals exclusively with graphics files. =20
They can be had through an FTP (file transfer protocol) client, a web=20
browser such as Netscape or e-mail.
FTP: =09
FTP://FTP.CRL.COM/USERS/IV/IVERHAM/EMAIL4U.TXT
FTP://FTP.CRL.COM/USERS/IV/IVERHAM/GETIT4U.TXT
FTP://FTP.CRL.COM/USERS/IV/IVERHAM/PIX4U.TXT
BROWSER:
HTTP://MEMBERS.AOL.COM/BOMBAGIRL/FREEWARE/
E-MAIL: Send msg. in the following format
To: AGORA@DNA.AFFRC.GO.JP Subj: Leave
blank
TEXT: SEND FTP://FTP.CRL.COM/USERS/IV/IVERHAM/choose a
file from=20
the FTP listings.
Author: "Patrick Rael" <prael@polar.Bowdoin.EDU> Date: Sun, 9 Feb 1997 22:47:30 -0500
Date: Sun, 9 Feb 1997 21:52:21 -0500 (EST)
I have a practical question. For those of us interested in developing multimedia CD-ROMs for history instruction, what are the best authoring packages? Anything decent out there on shareware?
Thanks,
Author: Deborah L Vess <dvess@dekalb.dc.peachnet.edu> Date: Mon, 10 Feb 1997 08:13:52 -0500
Date: Mon, 10 Feb 1997 00:40:42 -0500 (EST)
I have been very actively involved in developing multimedia for classroom use, including Powerpoint/Astound presentations, a WWW Home Page, and several interactive multimedia programs designed to help students learn to analyze primary sources, master geography, chronology, and comapre/contrast interpretations.
I am fortunate to work at an institution where software development is considered a worthwhile endeavor. I have done some research on student learning with the interactive programs I have developed, and am firmly convinced that TRUE interactive programs contribute substantially to student learning. In my case, there is approximately a 14 point mean difference between the overall grades of classes exposed to interactive computer modules and those which aren't. I based my study on critical essays written by the classes, with and without benefit of the computer programs.
I draw a distinction between most of the garbage (if yOu will forgive me) which is out there, in which students simply click on buttons and get the same information they can obtain in a book or in a classroom, and interactive programs which are designed to elicit input from students and then to guide them in the learning process. My programs, for example, teach students to analyze primary sources, critique the information, and provide varying responses to them based on their input. Programs such as these have made a substantial impact on my students' ability to write critical, analytical historical essays. I believe the programs provide reinforcement for what I do in class, and give students a comfortable space in which to proctice the techniques I am trying to teach them.
Someone recently asked about good authoring packages. I use Authorware; Director is another great package, and both are Macromedia programs and are becomming the industry standard for interactive authoring. Toolbook is another program, but I hear it is even more difficult than Authorware to master. Hyperstudio is relatively easy to master, but cannot handle high impact graphics,video, and sophisticated interactions supported by Authorware and Director.
Author: HALSALL@MURRAY.FORDHAM.EDU
Date: Mon, 10 Feb 1997 08:18:43 -0500
Date: Mon, 10 Feb 1997 1:29:13 -0500 (EST)
I disagree with those who have found multimedia useless, although I do agree it involves a lot of work.
I indicate to students that they can write about anything pertinent, but
for the most part they write about assigned source readings. In this
way I find that more students have done reading before class; that
students
have had to think about the reading enough to respond to it; and that
they begin to see issues which simply do not have time to surface in
classroom conditions.
2. As an information delivery system the web still has some way to go
before
it matches books. Still, its getting there. In particular, one can
allow *choices* in reading, and, soon, provide video and audio
clips [or even, in a little longer time, entire digitised recordings].
3. Old multimedia methods also still work. Perhaps not filmstrips,
but slides do wonders [at least for Byzantine history!], and so can
selected musical pieces [for instance I illustrate the variety of
nationalisms by playing distinct types of nationalist music
cultural nationalism - Finlandia or the Moldau
liberal nationalims - va pensiero
aggressive nationalism - "Land of Hope and Glory", or the Triumphal
March from Aida].
4. Heresy! TV can be useful. if one is not using it for baby-sitting. I
do not know how others teach, but I, at least, try to create connections
with waht students already know. This is fairly easy with European
or US history, less easy with Byzantine. In teaching [Don't ask how
or why] a course in Chinese Culture at Brooklyn College, I discovered
that students had no framework whatsoever. To begin with the Shang and
go forward was a waste of time. Now I have found that showing a long
movie [I have been using 'Gate of Heavenly Peace'], provides a wealth of
images that I can use in a series of discrete units on "religion",
"gender",
"China and the West", etc.
So, while I understand the frustrations with "more than lecture and
readings"
methods, I think we should admit a: the really useful things that can be
done,
and b: usefulness may vary by discipline and even by historical area
studied.
Paul Halsall
Author: Bob Wheeler CSU <hteach@math3.math.csuohio.edu> Date: Mon, 10 Feb 1997 08:47:26 -0500
Date: Mon, 10 Feb 97 06:47:26 EST
To: American Association for Higher Education
Presentation Graphics
I thought Harry Pence made some excellent points about the use of presentation graphics. I'd like to suggest two other possibilities about how such software could have a great impact on teaching. First, PowerPoint and a network allow for a new level of collaboration among instructors. At Anne Arundel Community College, the eight faculty members who teach English in a networked computer classroom maintain a network directory of PowerPoint and Freelance Graphics presentations so that we can build on each other's work. If I want to do a quick review of "irony," for instance, I can use the PowerPoint presentation that is available on our network and modify it to suit my needs. This collaboration means we don't each have to create a presentation on basic materials. And we all gain an archive of materials to work with. The technology makes this kind of collaboration easy.
Second, and perhaps more important, the dynamic of the classroom can change considerably when students start using PowerPoint to make presentations. PowerPoint has become a useful tool in my classroom for students to demonstrate and share their understanding of literature. While I don't put a lot of emphasis on learning PowerPoint techniques like builds and transitions and multimedia, even, the basic decisions that students have to make about what to include in a presentation and the use of simple graphic tools gives them experience in a new medium of communication that compliments very well the traditional writing skills that we teach and expands their range of communication tools. They also take a very public responsibility for their opinions and arguments when they present them in such an immediate and visual way to their classmates and instructor.
Anne Agee
Anne Arundel Community College
Arnold MD
Author: Skip Knox <sknox@varney.idbsu.edu> Date: Mon, 10 Feb 1997 10:45:21 -0500
Date: Mon, 10 Feb 1997 08:16:05 -0600
> As you may know there is little information whether multimedia
and
>internet enhanced teaching helps students learn more. Skip Knox
suggests in
>his recent experience they do not. A recent article in the Chronicle
>entitled Virtual Teaching in Higher Education divided a sociology class
into
>two groups - one was taught using traditional methods and the other
totally
>on the web. Results indicate the web-based course students did 20%
better
>on tests etc. Why? Because they were frustrated by not have personal
contact
Dang it, I'm still not getting through here. What I found ineffective was IN CLASS multimedia. I'm talking Powerpoint slides, video, traditional slides, etc. These media were popular with the students, but I saw no qualitative improvement in learning.
I find the Internet to be extremely effective and students do learn more.
That's why I specifically asked not to teach live classes any more. I
teach
only on the Internet.
People so often get distracted by the media themselves, as if multimedia
were the point. It's the pedagogy that's the point. Multimedia
effectively
supplements and expands teaching *asynchronously*. Synchronous use of
multimedia--i.e., using it in the live classroom--is not (in my
experience)
effective.
Cogito ergo spud: I think, therefore I yam
Dr. E.L. Skip Knox sknox@varney.idbsu.edu
www.idbsu.edu/cdp/skip www.idbsu.edu/courses/hy101
Author: Philip Jones <pdj@bradley.bradley.edu> Date: Mon, 10 Feb 1997 13:38:25 -0500
Date: Mon, 10 Feb 1997 12:32:31 -0600
I was surprised at the response to my posting about classroom use of multimedia materials. I expected universal condemnation.
Allow me to weigh in again to elaborate on some of the excellent points made by Skip Knox. Powerpoint, movie scenes from laser disks, documents on line, etc do add something to the classroom experience in that they help keep students' attention. And, as the ancient joke puts it, "You have to get a mule's attention before you can teach it anything." It is also gratifying to the ego to receive praise from colleagues for the sound and light shows one is able to put on in demonstrations such as those Sara Tucker describes.
The real question is whether or not the results repay the investment in time and energy put into the process. As everyone notes, it is a real struggle to learn the skills involved and apply them to particular situations. ( I get the constant refrain from the computer center of "No one ever asked that before," or more trenchantly, "Pioneers always have arrows in their backs.") Learning the fundamentals of a particular operation or program is just the beginning. Every summer changes are made to our computer system -- new procedures are introduced or the ethernet connections to the student dorm rooms are reconfigured or something else changes. This requires constant attention and updating of laboriously created materials. Personal contacts must be made and cultivated with individuals in computer and audio-visual centers, since it is futile merely to stagger up to some help desk and ask a question. This is no easy matter either, because there is a high turnover of personnel in these areas.
I have real doubts that many people will be willing to struggle with all this for quite a few years. We are in the T-Model Ford stage of development. People unwilling to crank an engine to start it, to warm the oil on cold mornings, to change flats every few miles, and to learn enough to do basic engine adjustments needed to think twice before buying a car.
I suspect the major contribution to the learning process is the enthusiasm of the instructor that is engendered by the use of new methods. For those interested in computers and multimedia techniques, this instructor enthusiasm is the important factor. There is probably little point in trying to convert the uninterested. I have yet to convert a single person, and, as mentioned in my previous posting, I have given up attempts to do so on the grounds that I might be harming rather than helping the convert.
Philip Jones
Author: Patrick_Schmitt@mail.ph.cc.fl.us (Patrick Schmitt) Date: Wed, 12 Feb 1997 15:22:52 -0500
Date: Wed, 12 Feb 97 14:57:12 EST
A recent post on this thread asked for recommendations concerning multimedia development packages. In part, any answer depends on what you want to do with the package: do you want to develop truly interactive courseware, or are you just interested in a sophisticated packaging tool?
If the latter, then--from my limited experience--I'd say Hyperstudio or Director is your best bet, especially if you want to turn out something of professional, resalable quality. Director is pricey, but I understand it is an excellent developmental tool.
If, however, you're interested in true courseware, and you're working on a Wintel platform, then you're probably going to lean towards either Authorware or Assymetrix's Toolbook. Authorware has a relatively cheap academic version, but its learning curve is *steep*; its interface is far from intuitive, although once you spend the investment time in learning it,development goes pretty easily. It has sophisticated interactive tools in it, and can take all kinds of multi-material. Toolbook, however, is much easier to use -- again, in my limited experience. It has a far more intuitive interface, and the CBT version comes with all kinds of interactive, courseware-oriented features--including the ability to track student use and performance relatively easily. Toolbook is real money, though -- I think the CBT version now runs for around $800 in the academic version. A word of caution, however, if you're interested in doing courseware development: think it through thoroughly first. Not just in terms of your planning, but in terms of the ultimate use and efficiency of your product. Most researchers in this area have found that text has a *very* limited place in these applications; most people don't like to read off a computer terminal, and there seems to be something odd about retention off of a computer screen as vs. regular text delivery (books). Moreover, true interactivity can often be a real challenge. I can easily imagine certain courseware in history and related fields -- maps and timelines spring to mind for example -- and the use of courseware for review rather than primary delivery of material seems a natural. But I think we have a long way to go in our conceptualization of this material and making it all fit into a valid pedagogy. --Patrick Schmitt Professor, Humanities Pasco-Hernando Community College
Author: Kevin Smant <ksmant@vines.iusb.edu> Date: Sun, 16 Feb 1997 16:08:40 -0600
Date: Sun, 16 Feb 97 9:42:28 -30000
I'd like to pick up on something Sara Tucker said on this thread about a week ago. I too believe that the use of multimedia technologies can indeed make one a more effective teacher, and that such use therefore should be encouraged.
And therefore it is absolutely crucial that
administrators/department
chairs/other assorted university bigwigs *support* such efforts. It is
hard to describe how demoralizing it is when outstanding teachers, so
recognized by students and faculty peers alike, are not granted tenure,
or
somehow miss out on other promotions. It takes a lot of time and a lot
of
work to familiarize oneself with the latest technological marvels; or, in
my case, just selecting the videos I want to use, and
fast-forwarding/rewinding to the clips I will show in class, takes time.
But if there is no reward for such efforts, then they will not be made.
I was fortunate enough to visit a major university in the Midwest a
couple of months ago, one that has a teaching and technology center with
enough computers and other high-tech stuff in it to boggle the mind. And
they are right now doing some projects with individual professors that
are
very cutting edge, very sophisticated, and are really helping students
learn. But the person in charge of it told me that, mostly, they deal
with
older, tenured professors. For the university emphasizes research above
all else. Those without tenure don't dare spend too much time on their
teaching, for fear of the consequences. Somehow, that's got to change.
And all of this should apply to adjunct faculty, too. In my experience, adjuncts are some of the hardest-working teachers, always eager to use new teaching methods, and to implement the latest technologies (I confess I'm biased; I'm an adjunct, too). Many strive to become the most outstanding teachers they can be. Many, if I might venture to say something controversial, out-perform some (many?) of their full-time colleagues. And so outstanding adjunct teachers need to be recognized and rewarded for their work, for their use of technology, as well.
To put it bluntly, the best adjunct teachers should get paid more.
A
utopian hope, I know....!
Kevin Smant
Dept. of History
Indiana University South Bend
KSmant@vines.iusb.edu
Author: peter c holloran <pch@world.std.com> Date: Sun, 16 Feb 1997 19:28:20 -0600
Date: Sun, 16 Feb 1997 20:09:06 -0500 (EST)
Like Kevin Smant, I am also an adjunct very interested in multimedia or
the use of the CD ROM in history courses. I am part of a team producing a
CD now on migration in modern world history, but I expect few useful CDs
to come from solo professors. Some low end CDs may come about this way,
but the technology is so complicated, expensive and labor-intensive that
I
see commercial products (major projects with funding from foundations and
publishers) as the future of CD ROMs for history courses. Like text books
or videos, they demand too many resources for the isolated professor to
create without much support outside the university. But time will tell.
Peter Holloran
Northeastern University
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