Monday, February 19, 2007
Getting Faculty Involved
Innovate - Enhancing Teaching with Technology: Are We There Yet?
The issue of faculty involvement in technology issues, especially those related to teaching and learning, is one that I hear constantly when I'm out at conferences. People talk about low turnout at workshops, constant rescheduling of meetings (until the meeting just doesn't happen), and last-minute requests that make thoughtful planning impossible. I've tried a number of different strategies here, from standard workshops to one-on-one instruction. I still feel like I'm talking to the same 10-15 people.
In enhancing "Teaching with Technology: Are We There Yet?" Sharon Kopyc tries to tackle this issue. She begins by noting the gap between students' desires for technology use in their learning and faculty's lack of use of the very technologies students want to use. Although some places may have a serious lack of resources, most places have a good infrastructure and support in place. The issue seems to boil down to a lack of involvement on the part of the faculty.
She doesn't place the blame entirely on faculty. She also notes that computing departments have often put the "technology cart before the academic horse." Computing departments can sometimes push a technology without thinking through its implications in the classroom or for research. In theory, the advent of instructional/educational technologists should alleviate some of that as they are trained to think about the pedagogy first; however, I think many faculty still view them with some skepticism.
Kopyc offers some possible solutions, drawn from real institutions. First she offers faculty-led discussions. Certainly, I think this has merit. I'm wondering, though, if real initiatives can be accomplished this way. She does say that technology staff and administration participate in these sessions, but they just don't lead them.
Second, she suggests a strategy that gives faculty release time to redevelop courses. Faculty work with academic computing staff and other faculty members to work on their courses.
Finally she offers the just-in-time strategy of providing faculty with support quickly and immediately.
All of these could work and what she suggests at the end is that one must provide multiple opportunities for faculty to get involved. She also suggests connecting faculty to the research on incorporating technology into the curriculum, of which there is quite a bit. I have quite a few resources on the ETC resources page, including links to peer-reviewed journals that address teaching with technology topics.
All in all, I found this an interesting read. I'd love to hear thoughts from faculty if they have ideas about helping them with using technology in their teaching.
The issue of faculty involvement in technology issues, especially those related to teaching and learning, is one that I hear constantly when I'm out at conferences. People talk about low turnout at workshops, constant rescheduling of meetings (until the meeting just doesn't happen), and last-minute requests that make thoughtful planning impossible. I've tried a number of different strategies here, from standard workshops to one-on-one instruction. I still feel like I'm talking to the same 10-15 people.
In enhancing "Teaching with Technology: Are We There Yet?" Sharon Kopyc tries to tackle this issue. She begins by noting the gap between students' desires for technology use in their learning and faculty's lack of use of the very technologies students want to use. Although some places may have a serious lack of resources, most places have a good infrastructure and support in place. The issue seems to boil down to a lack of involvement on the part of the faculty.
She doesn't place the blame entirely on faculty. She also notes that computing departments have often put the "technology cart before the academic horse." Computing departments can sometimes push a technology without thinking through its implications in the classroom or for research. In theory, the advent of instructional/educational technologists should alleviate some of that as they are trained to think about the pedagogy first; however, I think many faculty still view them with some skepticism.
Kopyc offers some possible solutions, drawn from real institutions. First she offers faculty-led discussions. Certainly, I think this has merit. I'm wondering, though, if real initiatives can be accomplished this way. She does say that technology staff and administration participate in these sessions, but they just don't lead them.
Second, she suggests a strategy that gives faculty release time to redevelop courses. Faculty work with academic computing staff and other faculty members to work on their courses.
Finally she offers the just-in-time strategy of providing faculty with support quickly and immediately.
All of these could work and what she suggests at the end is that one must provide multiple opportunities for faculty to get involved. She also suggests connecting faculty to the research on incorporating technology into the curriculum, of which there is quite a bit. I have quite a few resources on the ETC resources page, including links to peer-reviewed journals that address teaching with technology topics.
All in all, I found this an interesting read. I'd love to hear thoughts from faculty if they have ideas about helping them with using technology in their teaching.
