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teacherly concerns - lab
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Technology has exploded at a somewhat
intimidating rate, and at times you may feel that you are doing so
much maintenance on your individual Web site, Internet searching,
or e-mail/forum communication with students that you have less even
less time for a personal life outside of Rutgers. It doesn't help
that students keep somewhat different hours than we do and do not
understand why we didn't immediately answer an e-mail sent frantically
at 2:00 am. They want instant messages to be answered instantly, even
if you are talking to a few other students, working on your website,
posting to the forum, and checking out the Link-O-Mat simultaneously.
Here are some tips from people who are in various stages of recovery
from technology overload.
Collaborative Tech Learning
Students always expect me to be the tech expert for the class. I
guess I could be, but I'm not comfortable in that role and I don't
think it's one I should be playing—it just doesn't feel pedagogically
productive. I avoid this by giving my students a "tech skills
survey" before our first trip to the lab. I ask them to identify
their experience level with a variety of programs like Word or WordPerfect
as well as their comfort with a variety of general computer skills.
I distribute a collated list to the class, making it clear that
all learning in our classroom is collaborative and that includes
technological skills. Students actually come to enjoy helping each
other figure out computer problems or software features.
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