Augmented Reality

In the 2-3 year horizon for the Horizon Report, the most eyebrow-raising technique discussed was "augmented reality." On first glance, I was instantly enticed (it definitely sounded cool and hip, like all these technologies) but remained skeptical, which we all probably do since we know very well that only a few out of many trendy technologies ultimately emerge as popular, capable, effective tools. I was thinking, which type of augmentation of reality is going to help learning? The fear-and-loathing type? The back-to-the-future type? As it turns out, this technique does seem to have merit but is not all that different than what some teachers have been using for decades. Augmented reality (AR) is a term for layering information (such as on a tablet or smartphone) in 3-D space that relates to some real-world situation. The most tangible example in the report referred to students visiting a battlefield on a trip and being able to view 3-D maps at different points in history. There's obviously some cool potential applications here with many more to come given the diversity of mobile apps that can be downloaded by students. One example I thought relevant for use in a Herpetology class I've helped with would be to have the students download a frog call identifier app (if it exists), and use their smartphones to help them inventory different habitats around the Athens area for species. This sounds cool (and easy for the students), but how different is it from an instructor taking the same group of kids in the field and augmenting their reality by directly teaching them what frogs they hear or describe what happened in a battle when they are standing right next to the field or explain the history behind a painting without requiring every student to whip out their $200 phone to learn? I'm definitely playing devil's advocate here, because I always try to ascribe to the "don't knock it before you try it" school of thought, and there are probably many fantastic teaching scenarios where having those extra 3-D visuals in the field can add to the learning experience. I'm just pointing out the fact that if you take your class out of the classroom to a museum, battlefield, or ecosystem, even if they've already visited these places, you should probably be able to give them some information and an experience that augments their reality. Even if they forgot their phone.

Skype in the classroom

The Skype team tech talk we got today worked incredibly well in building off of the information our group presented on flipping the classroom and using online video. Skype definitely improves on one critique of the flipped model in that the lesson and question/answer components of a topic can happen back to back without a day or two gap in between. Flipping the classroom may be appealing for teachers to transmit a lecture to a group of students that are spread out in time and place, and in this aspect, it has an advantage over Skype that still requires students to tailor their schedules to meet at one time. However, Skype has the tremendous advantage of being synchronous, which students prefer more than asynchronous methods according to the assigned reading.

Flipping the classroom - instructor's take

Flipping the classroom was a brand new concept to me before beginning research for our very first TTT. I forget which team member actually suggested using this topic originally, but whoever it was, I need to thank them. To me, flipping the classroom is.... one of many techniques I've learned already this semester that works well in theory and is definitely worth incorporating into an integrated approach to teaching that could be highly effective when planned well. Flipping obviously has the "commercial" appeal for students that are already used to watching videos on a daily basis, and some of the benefits outlined in Salman Kahn's TED talk (e.g., student's ability to rewatch parts of the lesson that they are struggling through without inconveniencing the teacher or the rest of the class) are logically sound arguments as to why it would be so effective. No technique is a cure-all / end-all / be-all though, and I loved reading about some scathing critiques of this method, as well as hearing insightful criticisms from my classmates during our discussion exercise. On closer inspection, it was pointed out that flipping isn't really all that different from long-used strategies like assigning a paper and using class time to discuss it. It's also not practical for certain classrooms if the technology isn't available for all students (e.g., low-income primary schools, or even across some college classes). Overall though, I see value in focusing more in-class time to guided activities dedicated to active learning, and flipping the classroom seems like an attractive and effective venue for developing these lessons, and I think it is definitely something I will experiment with in future instructor roles.

More Presentation Pet Peeves

After going over some basic presentation pet peeves last time we met in class, I've been noticing them more and more...so thanks Sherry! Warnell recently conducted a series of faculty candidate interviews, and some of the candidates demonstrated some serious abilities to teach complex topics of their own research to a diverse crowd (even including undergraduates), other interviewees were not as effective. For one person, the most aggravating and unnerving thing he did during his talk was paced back and forth along a small line for the first 5 minutes and then basically stood in one spot for the remaining 40 minutes. This person had some very exciting research that he was presenting (one part focused on an endangered black bear and its conflicts with nearby residents), but his physical demeanor added no dynamic qualities to the presentation. Also, as soon as I noticed the behavior, it was all I could think of, and that's kinda the key reason how all these little pet peeves can ultimately be counterproductive to good teaching.

A second pet peeve I've noticed revolves around learning objectives. I used to write off the idea that all good lessons must have clearly stated learning objectives at the beginning. I still think there are plenty of alternative ways of teaching, but I've recently seen presentation after presentation in one particular class where the beginning learning objectives are absent entirely. The instructor generally has a set of lesson plans that he goes through, but they do not coincide with specific class periods. In other words, he'll end one lesson in the middle of class, go right into the next, and pick up with that same lesson (on any random slide) the next class. I would say 90% of our lectures this semester have begun in the middle of a topic with no more than a one sentence introduction of something we covered up to 5 days ago. Fortunately, this is a class I've TAed for before, and I know the material so I'm not lost without my learning objectives. Can't really say that for the 12 students in the class though, and it's getting egregious enough that I should probably discuss it with the instructor. Thus, pet peeve #2 more generally addresses whenever a presenter forgets that the audience will probably not remember what you talked about 5 minutes ago, let alone in a previous lecture. So per the saying, you have to tell them what you're going to tell them, tell them, and tell them what you told them.

Bookmarking issues in conservation

As I mentioned in class, I feel that a social bookmarking site would be the perfect compliment to the class I TA'ed for last semester: International Issues in Conservation. And the more I think about it, the more I believe I'll actually implement this technology next spring when I will likely TA once more. Most of the issues we discussed in that class - and we made sure it was certainly a DISCUSSION based class - were 1) current, and 2) controversial. These attributes lend themselves well to online breaking news articles, editorials, scientific publications, and outraged responses. We encouraged students to post these to ELC if they came across a relevant article, and a few even did. But as we all know, ELC is pretty much a no-fun zone in terms of ease of access and the all-important fun factor. Establishing Pinterest boards for a shared class experience might be more attractive to students to get involved and contribute to the class's overall learning. I imagine we could have 2 boards to start off, created and populated with initial posts by course instructors, where the first board contains any current conservation issue on an international scale while the second board offers a place to put articles or event announcements about local conservation. Off the top, students might post, on the latter board, an announcement about an Eco Film Festival being held on campus or a link to download a pocket guide (or iPhone app) that tells you if the sushi you're about to order is sustainable.

Another more complex idea is to create a separate board for each group of students that must work on a semester project. Each group is responsible for covering one international issue (e.g., fracking, ecotourism in the tropics, illegal harvest of endangered species), and group members could post articles they find on their boards throughout the semester. This practice could make the work each group (or person) was doing more public, which could motivate students to search for interesting, high-quality information, and also identify the slackers among groups. Since the posts could be seen by the whole class, there could even be a separate exercise where each student is responsible for summarizing and critiquing an issue presented on another group's board. As of now, these ideas are a little green, but let's remember the old saying once more: there's no judgment in brainstorming.

Teaching withOUT technology

What is the best teaching moment you've had without the aid of a single technological device? To be honest, I was just thinking about a fun memory I wanted to share here, and then backtracked to figure out a blog prompt that was semi-appropriate for this class. Still, I think it's a valid question and would love to hear other people's stories.

One of my favorite "teaching moments" happened about 5 years ago when I helped in the Outreach department at the Savannah River Ecology Lab in South Carolina. The basic program we gave focused on teaching elementary or middle school classes about the ecology and conservation of reptiles and amphibians in the southeast. We used a little powerpoint to cover some concepts, but the majority of the program relied on one thing to engage even the ADD-est kid: live animals. There was always a continuum of interest among the students during the powerpoint, some were almost asleep while others couldn't be more excited. But bringing out live snapping turtles, indigo snakes, and alligators usually shifted that balance. It's always great seeing someone get really excited about something you care about enough to study for a living, and the best example of this came when we gave a talk to a particular group of 3rd graders. We were discussing some of the adaptations of turtles and told the kids that softshell turtles' necks are actually much longer than you think, and they use this trait to breathe air while the majority of their body can lay flat in a creek/river. Anyway, to demonstrate this, we told the kids to watch as we flipped a softshell on its back. For whatever reason, the kids would always get silent immediately and put all their focus into what was about to happen, like a magic trick. In this class, there were two boys in the front row, who I'll describe as future-scientist-types (aka, kinda nerdy). The turtle stretched out its neck (about the length of its entire body), and used its nose to flip itself right-side up. The room exploded. Most of the kids were laughing or making some sort of exclamation, but the two boys in the front row were so ecstatic with what they just witnessed that they both yelled "YES!" and gave each other a solid high five to celebrate the moment. Quite simply, it made my day. And whenever we did that program again and the kids were being rowdy or I was feeling tired or worn out, I would usually think about how excited those kids got and start to feel pretty good about the opportunities I was having to teach kids about these awesome creatures. What are some other teaching without technology stories that people have? Thanks for reading and until next time.

Week 1: Aaaaaand Blog!

Why am I taking EDHI9040? I guess I'll start the inaugural post off with a little background. It's definitely starting to seem like a long time, but I've been at UGA since 2009. Since then, I got my masters, am 1 year in to a PhD in Integrative Conservation through Warnell, and, like many of us, plan to earn the certificate in university teaching. Being on assistantship throughout my career in Warnell has forced allowed me to TA 6 times, and these opportunities have really developed my interest in teaching in ways I didn't expect. My teaching experiences have mostly relied on minimal technology (powerpoint, statistical software, and my favorite - the ol blackboard), but I've been in a few classes recently that made great use of student blogs and wikis. I view Teaching with Technology as another solid opportunity to become more fluent in a suite of tools that, when used properly, can facilitate active learning. Personally, my career goals include teaching the general public (outside of academia) about conservation and our impacts on declining species, and some of the web-based technologies we'll probably cover in this class will be the best methods for teaching across a diffuse audience like this. For now, I'm excited to learn from and get to know everyone in this quirky class and look forward to a good semester.