Learning aided by new technology
By Rana Nabil Diab
News Reporter
January 16, 2008
The University of Windsor has been working on better equipping its classrooms with advanced technology and making room layouts more learning friendly.
Some of the newer technologies implemented on campus include SMART Boards, Personal Response Systems, also referred to as clickers, as well as new software for online courses.
SMART Board, which is a high tech device, resembles a regular white board but is also equipped with computer applications powered by a touch screen technology. This “super black board” is provided by SMART Technologies, a company which describes the new technology as “the world’s leading interactive whiteboard.”
Moreover, it is an interactive tool that combines the use of a board and the power of a computer.
According to the company, “People choose the SMART Board interactive whiteboard because it helps energize presentations and motivate learners.”
The company’s web site explains that, “Educators were the first to take an interest in SMART’s interactive white boards, immediately seeing their potential as instructional, professional development and student collaboration tools.”
Clickers are mainly used to generate discussions, review, and to determine class participation. Clicker technology, which is very much welcomed by students was first introduced in 2005.
The University of Windsor’s Centre for Flexible Learning (CFL) purchased 375 clickers. 225 clickers were used by Faculty of Education professors Yvette Daniel and Larry Morton, and the remaining 150 were given to Ken Cramer of the Psychology Department to use in their classes during the winter 2006 semester.
The company Turning Point Technologies, offered to sponsor a pilot of their technology at no cost to the University. As more instructors implemented the new tool in their classes, student response was positive as most students reported being more engaged in their classes using clickers.
“We have media carts in most of our classrooms. A couple of years ago, I piloted the clicker technology in my classes. I found it to be very useful especially in teaching large classes in the lecture hall. However, it is expensive for students,” said Daniel.
“I would like to use SMART boards. Further, I would like to use technology more efficiently and to be able to move away from the traditional classroom format for instruction.”
The University of Windsor seems very determined in emphasizing the importance of technology on campus. In May of 2007, the University scheduled a day called “Celebrating the Collaborative Campus,” which emphasized technology’s role in enhancing education.
The event also informed participants about the various types of technologies present on campus, and it educated faculty about services designed to aid in engaging students with technology.
“The clickers are awesome. It makes you feel alive. You actually feel that the professor is discussing the lecture with you, not at you,” asserted Noel Chirse, a second year Psychology major. “The professors use [clickers] when asking a question in class like to take a poll, it’s pretty cool for people who are not talkative or are shy.”
Even with the popularity of newer technologies and the welcoming of more interaction from students, not all classes are equipped with newer, or in some cases any technology.
“I hate when my classes are in here,” reported Fartun Mahara, first year undeclared major student referring to Dillon Hall.
“It’s so old, and the classes have nothing in them besides desks, a blackboard, and the overhead.”
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