IT to Support Teaching: My Limited but Positive Experience

It's a fortuitous time to be writing this blog, as I've just managed to get my first experience of using technology in a teaching encounter.  Of course I've used technology in the preparation of my teaching materials etc, and I've discussed that extensively in my blog evaluating Microsoft applications.

Recently, I used Socrative as an assessment tool for a group of learners.  Following on from a lecture and during seminar time, I compiled a questionnaire in order to glean how well the lecture content had been assimilated by the learner.  I found using Socrative extremely straightforward and the fact that it allows you to ask questions in a variety of different ways (multiple choice/true false/short answer) enables me to both assess understanding in different ways as well as keeping the learner 'on their toes' so to speak.  The receipt of 'live' feedback as to how the learner is doing both individually as well as a cohort is also very useful from the perspective of being able to feedback to the learner immediately, address any significant gaps in the knowledge as well as tailor content depending upon the assessment moving forward.

The students all reported finding this method engaging and helpful and, I'm in agreement with King et al., (2015) in the feeling that technology can give both teachers and students great resources, new opportunities for learning, as well as ways to collaborate and create. Technology then, can be a very powerful tool for education.  The only downside I could see was the potential for the student to go off track, however, the reporting of the results at the end of class and the ensuing discussion took care of that.  I brought an element of competition in to motivate the students to strive do well and this worked beautifully, with the right level of friendly banter ensuing giving the atmosphere a real lift. As overcoming student apathy can be a real challenge for lecturers (Shanahan et al., 2006) this will be a method I intend to utilise in the future.

So onward and upward for my own personal IT revolution.  During the coming months, I plan to build Padlet and Nearpod into my teaching and it is hoped this will be mutually beneficial for myself and my learners.  Watch this space for an update!

References

King, E., et al. (2015).  'Exploring the impact of a flexible technology-enhanced teaching space on pedagogy.'  Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 52, pp. 532-535.


Shanahan, K. Hermans, C. and Haytko, D. (2006). 'Overcoming apathy and classroom disconnect in marketing courses: Employing karaoke jeopardy as a content retention tool. Marketing Education Review, 16(1), pp. 85-90.