Using technology to engage your students
There are many different kinds of technology available to online instructors to engage students. What technology have you used to engage your students, and most importantly, did it work?
In my next online class, I want to use skype to develop a more direct and meaningful connection with the student. I also want to improve the amount of video content available. I want to provide video introductions to chapters, and provide the lecture in video format for subsequent discussion.
Those are great ideas David. Do you have the tools needed to create the videos?
Dr. Ernst:
I have used the following technologies:
1) Skype
2) Blackboard chat
3) Calliflower
4) Tegrity
They all have useful components.
Skype is useful when students need to ask you a quick question and/or you would like to hold a conference call in which multiple students can join and can also be used for a small groups of students.
Blackboard chat is useful when meeting with a couple of students to go over a subject matter that they are not undestanding.
Calliflower is a conferencing system that can be used for small groups of students as well as larger groups when introducing an assignment in which all would benefit from attending the call.
Tegrity is an excellent software in that you can record your virtual lecture and can be uploaded with an LMS. Students can then download the recordings and listen on their I-pods or other storage device. It also captures your screen so you can talk about a power point slide and also "write" on the slide to bring to light an important subject.
Our institution recommends that any "outside" LMS communication also be documented within the LMS so if I hold a call outside of the LMS I will keep minutes and distribute to all students so those with time zone issues or just cannot attend the call still have access to the information discussed.
Kim
Very thorough response Kim with great suggestions! Is there one that you like to use more than the others?
Dr. Ernst:
I actually like the calliflower conference line as I can help multiple students in one call.
If there is an individual call that needs to be done I use calliflower and/or my home phone.
We always follow up with any "outside" conversations with an e-mail sent within our LMS (Blackboard) so that there is an audit trail of all information related to the course.
Kim
Great suggestion Kim. I also think it is very important to document the conversation like you suggest.
I have used on-line survey tool in my live chat time to let students participating in a short quiz to help them understand the difference between some conceptsand models. It was well received by students as long as I told the students that no one would lose any grade even the answer was incorrect.
I have used the recommended school courseroom tools. The greatest technology that seems to do the work for me are:
1. telephone
2. chat
3. email
4. webcam with phone.
Amazing how a simple technology as phone and camera brings students close to the instructor.
Thomas
David,
I started using Skype recently.. Interesting. My favorite is yahoo messenger with the video feature. Thanks for the piece of info.
TD
I just started to integrate technology into my classroom by placing a 'Fan page' on Facebook for my Medical Terminology and Anatomy and Physiology students.
So far, we have 22 'fans' and only a couple of them are my current students. In fact, most of the fans are friends of students as far away as California (we are in Kansas). I'm excited to see where this takes us and the 'fans' from my class are participating in discussions and posting 'Fun Facts' about the body systems that we are learning in the classroom setting.
I plan on doing the same for my Healthcare Law and Ethics classes next semester and try to spread the word to all of the students that attend PCI that this is a viable tool for discussions, additional information about subjects that are being studied, and reputable links that may help them with their education.
The only drawback that I have encountered is that a few of my students are older adults and do not have access to a computer or do not use Facebook at home. This does limit their access to this resource. But, with encouragement from the other students about what a useful site it is, maybe we can turn some of them around!
Wendy
PS: If you're on Facebook, the 'Fan page' is called 'Blood, Guts, and other stuff.' I tried to make the name catchy for our students!
I have used exerpts from youtube.com videos to get a particular process across to my students or an illustration of what to do or NOT to do. My excepts are short, no more than 3 or so minutes. It's also an effort to stay with the times and sometimes utilize humor in my lessons.
Jennifer
That is a great suggestion Jennifer! Thanks for sharing it with the group!
I teach health care courses. One of my favorite is to post OR live videos for the students to watch. The vast majority of my students love these as it places them right in the OR environment allowing them to hear medical terms and see the going's on.
Wow, I imagine that would be very exciting to the students. Great idea!
It's a great learning tool.
Engaging students with technology is very important in the online environment. Podcasting has been one technology I have taken advantage of to keep my students attention on the course. It gives them an avenue to listen to online instructions on devices they are familiar with.
Podcasting is a great tool to use. Another one that I use in my class is video creation through animoto.com. The student identifies slides and music that illustrate their thoughts and ideas on a topic. My students enjoy their Animoto assignment a great deal.
I used Adobe Connect to give live lectures. I have also created training modules using Adobe Captivate as well.
I have utilized a lot of you tube videos that are relevant to the course content. The students seem to enjoy viewing these videos.
