Classroom Technology Resources and Professional Development

There are different resources that exist in my setting that marries technology and the traditional classroom.  (1) Laptop computers are available for online instructors, (2) Learning Management Systems (LMS) are used college-wide, (3) USB microscopes are used in our science labs, (4) Microsoft Office is heavily relied on and installed college-wide and available for students and faculty at home, and (5) Blogs are a mandatory component for online instructors.  Of all the resources, I am most familiar with LMS, USB microscopes, laptops, and Microsoft Office.  As an undergraduate student and teaching assistant, Blackboard was used.  Nowadays, my college of employment uses D2L and the colleges I attend use Blackboard and Sakai.  Microsoft Office has been integrated into my life since high school, as word processing and presentations were used for projects.  As a science professor, USB microscopes enable me to project onto the computer and overhead the images of tissue samples and highlight areas of interest.  This helps me to convey the lesson to a classroom and aid them in seeing what I see in a specimen.  Ultimately, I train he students' eyes while demonstrating study skills.

I am relatively new to using blogs to teach, and for now blogs serve as an introduction to the course.  I would like to embed links, videos, etc. that students can access supplementary to the LMS.  Through the college's professional development programs and Lydia, learning about LMS and Microsoft Word is readily available.  Some courses can be taken online via the school's LMS.  Outside of the college, MOOCs, massive open online courses like Coursera, and TED Talks conferences keep me up-to-date about pop culture, new technologies, and ideas.  Such platforms of informal learning give me ideas of how to relate to students or how to spark students' interests.  I can also engage in learning at my own leisure when resources are available through apps, podcasts, and social media.

The production team at North Dakota State University developed multimedia materials to support learning of molecular and cell biology, in efforts to engage students beyond reading textbooks, boost long-term memory retention, and provide a learning experience for those who do not learn through static images (Reindl, White, Johnson, Vender, Slator, & McClean, 2015).  Speaking from experience, it is hard to visualize many different enzymes collaborating on DNA replication or RNA production from a 2D image in a book, but seeing the animations brings about a new understanding.  Think back to the grade-school days (well, for me) of Bill Nye the Science Guy or the Magic School Bus- I understand that level of interaction and animation.


In a community college setting, students vary in background, age, socio-economic status, etc.  Many of my students want to rematch demos, experiments, and dissections; and LMS provides the platform to house videos and tutorials.  Many students are not science majors and those who are tend to be novices.  Sites such as YouTube and Khan Academy provide easily accessible clarifications to different topics; and I would like to recommend universities, colleges, and other schools create their own video database for students to learn 24/7.  This caters to those who are some form of non-traditional learner, where an informal setting can produce a learning resource, than can then be applied to the formal setting.  Dr. Tony Bates stated that taking into consideration the student demographics, institution's technological capabilities, and subject area, the dynamics of how courses are delivered can change (Laureate Education, 2013). 


 
References



Laureate Education (Producer). (2013). Dr. Tony Bates: Evaluating technology for teaching and learning [Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu


Reindl KM, White AR, Johnson C, Vender B, Slator BM, McClean P. The Virtual Cell  Animation Collection: Tools for Teaching Molecular and Cellular Biology. PLoS Biology. 2015;13(4):e1002118. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1002118.