| OCR Text |
Show lessons, fail 2001 page 23 Alternative Approaches to Learning: Making Technology Work in Large-Format Classes BY LISA FRASIER PHOTOS BY TEMIS TAYLOR Today's technological developments can provide teachers and students with opportunities for teaching and learning that were not possible in the past. Most commonly, technology is used as a tool to create instructional materials or present information. Technology also can be used to encourage students to construct their own knowledge. The use of technology may also help address the cognitive, social, and motivational needs of "at-risk" students. According to Alison Regan, interim director of the Technology Assisted Curriculum Center (TACC) at the University of Utah, when technology is used as a supplement to augment face-to-face instruction, students are more academically successful. TACC offers a variety of ways to use technology more successfully in classrooms. One application is WebCT, or Web Course Tools. "Faculty from both large and small classes are using WebCT to augment teaching and learning," Regan says. WebCT, a set of tools for placing a course's content online and facilitating student-faculty interaction, is being used in just under 900 class sections at the U this semester - about 50 of those courses are taught entirely online. Through the use of technology like the U's WebCT, instructors can appeal to different learning styles. Three commonly accepted learning styles are visual, auditory and kinesthetic. According to a 1988 article in Engineering Education, 67 percent of students learn best actively, yet lectures are typically passive; 57 percent of students are sensors, yet we teach them intuitively; and 69 percent of students are visual, yet lectures are primarily verbal. According to Terry O'Connor of Indiana State University, using diverse academic approaches makes for a complex and rich educational environment. "Scholarship is stronger when it includes intuitive, subjective moments, plus creative times, plus careful data collection, plus systematic analysis, as well as reflective evaluation and well-written presentations." According to O'Connor, most instructors tend to rely on sequential, verbal presentations, combined with private reading and writing activities. "While we may expect the student to think in complex ways before completing a project, in fact they are often exposed to only a narrow approach to our subject matter. The loss of opportunities to engage in our subjects from a variety of orientations becomes an obvious flaw to those who recognize the inevitability of diverse points of view in the world," he said. "Even worse, we can trace lack of motivation, resistance, misperceptions, failure, and uninspired intellectual work to the fact that many students cannot learn well within the limited orientation provided them in the classroom." O'Connor says students learn best when they can address knowledge in ways they trust. "If their orientation to the world draws theory from concrete experience, then they will learn best through doing rather than reflecting. If their personal style is oriented around abstraction, then their best learning will be abstract. In fact, an individual may not ultimately confirm knowledge until they have handled it in modalities they strongly trust." Auditory learners will learn well in lecture settings; private learners will gain knowledge from quiet reading. However, these are only two out of a broad array of preferences found among intellectually capable people. When learning experiences are limited to these modes, students who rely on other styles are bound to be less successful. Limited classrooms are likely to inhibit one or more clusters of students whose preferred styles are not given the opportunity to be used. O'Connor urges faculty to engage students in richer learning opportunities by increasing the range of styles through which students can engage in studying academic fields. "Technology provides new capabilities to reconstruct learning environments around specific learning styles," O'Connor said. Technology can help instructors address the issue of different learning styles by providing a multitude of options that can enhance a variety of learning environments. Different |
