Some effects of new technology and changed classroom infrastructure on pedagogy John Meerts & Michael Roy Information Technology Services Wesleyan University

"It took only twenty five years for the overhead projector to make it from the bowling alley to the classroom. I'm optimistic about academic computing; I've begun to see computers in bowling alleys." --George Landow Hypertext: The convergence of contemporary critical theory and technology, 1991

A brief history of Wesleyan academic computing services public computing labs resnet (student network) smart classrooms instructional support staff webtech program course management systems learning objects digitization service

Quizzing Grading Testing Assessing Writing, publishing,analyzing, critical reading, discussing, graphing,simulating, annotating, comparing, contrasting, mapping, editing Teaching/ Learning Registering Requesting Services Scheduling Announcing Authorizing Selecting Reflecting Evaluating sources Choosing texts Categorizing Administration Planning & Advising Mapping services to activity-type electronic portfolio discipline-specific software document delivery learning objects threaded discussion

3 effects of technology on pedagogy 1. Changes in preparation methods for faculty who choose to use technology. 2. No real attention is being paid to learning outcomes ; some attention paid to other measures. 3. New information about what is happening in classrooms.

Questions 1.How many ‘smart’ classrooms do we need? Half? 2.What to do about other teaching/learning spaces vis-à-vis technology? Sciences and arts (mac truck/anez example) 3.How should changing student demographics affect our pedagogical practices (how the nintendo generation learns)? Where’s the website? Notes from ‘the internet goes to college’ (tech oriented but not skilled) 4.How will changing faculty demographics affect our support structures (how the nintendo generation teaches)? Foyle, Rosenblat, Cutler 5.To what extent should faculty be expected to be self-sufficient v. building up service points to do work for faculty or collaboratively with faculty? O’Connell’s tidal simulation example (how many hours?) 6.As teaching materials, typically considered to be emphemeral, begin to have real academic value and durability, how owns these materials? how do you keep track of it? how do you archive it? how do you evaluate it? how do you reward good work in this area? (merlot, dstor) 7.How might our schools coordinate/collaborate/share teaching materials? - nitle/mane - information literacy (discipline specific) - image/media databases (art store) - scientific visualizations (examples) - econ games (ricardian explorer) -

Effect #1 Changes in preparation methods for faculty who choose to use technology - more advanced planning as the cost of collaboration - increased anxiety as a result of reliance on potentially unreliable classroom tech - learning to navigate ever changing support structures - complex cost-benefit analysis o will it improve the course? o Will it save me time? Almost never! o Is the time spent worth the improvement? o Does it count towards tenure and promotion? (e.g. Service (lightbox), Complement research program (SPN, global data, RE, Sickle Cell) Course evaluations ( where’s the website? ) )

Effect # 2 (maybe a non-effect) No real attention is being paid to learning outcomes ; some attention paid to other measures amount of material covered (Fry, Stewart ) increase quality of in-class discussion with threaded discussion outside of class student course evaluations that mention tech flashlight-like protocols incorporated into faculty course evals Intuition: this stuff makes a difference and is irresistible.

New information about what is happening in classrooms The question of effect assumes an already existing knowledge about pre-existing pedagogical practice. It turns out that one of the most interesting effects of these new technologies on pedagogy is that there is now more discussion on campus about pedagogy, and more data about what goes on in classrooms and more broadly in teaching. - Surveys (classoom surveys) Stats Webtech and learning object project planning ATR -Profiles (Rose) - -