No More Lectures, No More Textbooks? Close, But Not Quite
What really works when it comes to teaching with technology? One way to find out is to ask an expert. We asked Rosemarie Park, an associate professor in the Department of Work and Human Resource Education. A specialist in adult education, Park is not only an early adopter of WebCT, but of technology-enhanced teaching in general. As she explained, she began teaching with technology when "computers were in their infancy, only a step away from talking typewriters." A few years passed after her initial foray into teaching with technology, but once WebCT became available, Park started teaching courses online. After teaching some face-to-face classes with an online component, she recently made the leap into teaching entirely online with her fall 2005 course on strategies for teaching adults.
Technology Strategies
Teaching online provides Park with the opportunity to steer students toward more active engagement with course materials. As Park explained, "I don't use textbooks anymore, and I am opposed to posting lectures online." In her course, readings and lectures are interwoven with other activities and materials rather than serving as primary sources of knowledge to be memorized and reiterated on a test. Instead of recorded, full-length lectures, five-minute video excerpts are embedded in interactive learning modules. Rather than assigning a full-length textbook, students access readings via a series of links posted on the course site. The links point them toward electronic journals, online clearinghouses, and research results posted on the Web. With access to online materials, students can strike out on their own in search of information instead of relying on a single source. Park says the last thing she wants to do is spoon-feed students. "I want them to do the readings, watch videos, and then take part in activities. Otherwise I'd reinforce the 'read and repeat' model of learning."
Student Support
Park recognizes that instructors should not only provide guidance about course content, but also provide technological support for students. At the beginning of every course Park polls her students about their comfort level with technology and recently has learned that "we're in a transition phase-students are still learning the technology. But we're at the tipping point, as more than 50 percent of my students have used WebCT." One way Park provides technical support for students is to create a sense of familiarity across Web sites used in different courses. To that end, Park relies on her technical staff to create sites that are consistent in terms of organization and navigation.
Instructor Support
And as it turns out, instructors need support, too, for course development and teaching. The key to successful technology-enhanced teaching is to make it a team effort, and to recognize the value of many kinds of expertise. While Park considers herself to be the content expert, for content development and information on the latest technical developments she relies on her technical staff: Matthew Eichler, Po Hu, Anne Conroy, and Cynthia Digby, who will teach the course on teaching strategies for adults in spring 2006. Park concedes that making the transition to teamwork in course development might not be easy for faculty members, since "faculty are very much lone rangers and we are used to being in control." But for her part, when it comes to the expertise of her staff, "I absolutely depend on it."
Related Resources
- Rosemarie Park is one of the first case study participants studied as part of a multi-year research project recently launched by the Digital Media Center called Pictures of Practice. Our evaluation and research consultants are interviewing innovative faculty members who were early adopters of WebCT as well as their key collaborators and students, and are analyzing the WebCT course Web sites. Read our article Mapping the Terrain for Online Teaching and Learning Practices. Results will be posted on the Evaluation and Research page in the coming months.
