Quick Hits for Teaching with Technology: Successful Strategies by Award-Winning Teachers

Welcome to Quick Hits for Teaching with Technology

Twitter, Facebook, smart phones, GPS, Wii, “Angry Birds” … Students entering the university today are comfortable using technology to communicate with their friends, navigate the world, and as a form of entertainment. Faculty, too, have bridged the seeming ‘digital divide’ between themselves and students by increasingly adopting technology in their personal lives and to streamline their faculty roles. Few faculty could function without email, course management systems, and word processing programs. Due partly to this familiarity with technology, faculty have progressively added technology into their courses. The variety of technology being used is simply astounding. However, no matter how much we enjoy the technological tool being used, the addition of specific technological tools in the classroom must focus on the goal of enhanced student learning. In essence, the individual faculty member is left with quite the tall order. The addition of a technological tool into a course is fraught with obstacles. First, the faculty member must learn how to use the technological tool. Learning a course management system, how to create a podcast, how to use clickers involves a time commitment. Once the technological tool is learned, the faculty member must decide how to utilize that tool in a particular course, changing the course structure, and leading, most likely, to modifications in course assignments. Finally, faculty are being asked to assess that the addition of this technological tool enhances student learning. Of course, all of this must be done in the context of the many other responsibilities – demands for scholarship, service, other classes – confronting the faculty member. The Quick Hits series of books was designed to lessen the burden on the faculty member by providing a concise description of tested teaching experiences. The phrase, ‘Quick Hits,’ arose during the 1991 Indiana University Faculty Colloquium on Excellence of Teaching (FACET) retreat when several members offered engaging but quick strategies for involving students in learning. These ideas led to the publication of the first volume, Quick Hits: Successful Strategies by Award Winning Teachers. Over the years, four additional Quick Hits volumes have been published, each addressing contemporary challenges of teaching and learning. The early volumes were authored by members of FACET; subsequent volumes have been authored by a wider range of contributors and have become peer reviewed publications. The current volume of Quick Hits for Teaching with Technology addresses the use of technological tools in the classroom. As in prior volumes of Quick Hits, the focus of each submission is describing strategies that have been shown to be successful. The strategies in this volume are organized into four chapters: promoting engagement, providing access, enhancing evaluation, and becoming more efficient. For the first time, this volume of Quick Hits is being published concurrently with the launch of a Quick Hits website (www.quickhitstech.com). This site will allow for a continuing conversation about ‘teaching with technology.’ Submissions not included in the book will be found on the site, a forum will allow for conversations to continue, and a submission and peer review process will lead to additional Quick Hits relating to teaching with technology. Technology changes quickly; this website provides a forum for innovations in teaching with technology and an outlet for dissemination ideas. It is our expectation that you will find some of the Quick Hits in this volume to be more applicable to your own teaching efforts than other submissions. Consider which strategies work best with your own teaching style, your level of comfort with technology, and the amount of time you have to devote to modifying your class. Please consider sharing your results on our website or submitting your own Quick Hits for peer review on the website. Kimberly T. Olivares FACET Administrative Manager WELCOME TO QUICK HITS FORTEACHINGWITH TECHNOLOGY www.quickhitstech.com David J. Malik Former University Director, Faculty Colloquium on Excellence in Teaching, Indiana University Chancellor’s Professor of Chemistry, Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis Executive Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs, Indiana University Northwest Robin K. Morgan University Director, Faculty Colloquium on Excellence in Teaching, Indiana University Professor of Psychology, Indiana University Southeast About FACET The Faculty Colloquium on Excellence in Teaching (FACET) was established as an Indiana University Presidential Initiative in 1989 to promote and sustain teaching excellence. Today, FACET involves over 500 full-time faculty members, nominated and selected through an annual campus and statewide peer review process. FACET is a community of faculty dedicated to and recognized for excellence in teaching and learning. FACET advocates pedagogical innovation, inspires growth and reflection, cultivates the Scholarship of Teaching...