Students are more and more visually stimulated today. It appears that the phrase "Leaders are readers" has not caught on with the majority of the younger generations. Their smart phones have taken the place of a paper book and real highlighters.
Does interactive learning get the student to stop and think or just do. We want learning to be fun, but we also want them to take it seriously as well. In response to your comment Robert on phones taking the place of paper and highlighters. I had a student who came to class everyday and never really looked up from his phone. One day I was giving a test and thought he would fail because I never thought he was paying attention. To my suprise he got the highest grade in the class and realized that the student all along was taking notes on his phone.
I try to utilize interactive leaning and technology as much as I can, in the clssroom. But I find that because of the technology, students are not interacting in class. They want to google the answers rather than remember them. There are advantages to ttechnology, Online testing prepares them for the boards and makes grading much easier, ALso I put in feedback with each question explaing it if theymiss the answer. BUt I am still hesitant at the thought of self paced.
I believe that there is less time spent actually studying in adult ecucation because students have become used to finding immediate answers through there Iphones and they rely more on technology to answer their questions. The student is not commiting to memory what they have "learned". They are just a button away from the answer. Not as much classroom interaction.
I think we need to do more technical things to keep with the other colleges.
