It seems university classrooms are jumping on the same technological bandwagons as the students who use them; chalk and blackboards are in the midst of becoming relics of the past.
Over the past several years, classrooms in public universities across the country have seen a greater integration of information technology. Many public research universities, including the University of Colorado, Denver, have had "smart" classrooms and lecture halls for years. But for smaller or private colleges and universities, upgrading classroom technology can be expensive and requires almost constant updating and complicated repair. For instance, Gina Siesing, associate director for education technology for both Tufts' undergraduate and graduate schools, acknowledged that "smart blackboards" — those with high-tech or interactive capabilities — are rare on the Medford/Somerville campus.
But while it is certainly easier for public colleges and universities to pay for new gear, similar technologies have started to disseminate into life at Tufts as well, although on a smaller scale.
Many professors use Microsoft PowerPoint presentations instead of traditional lecturing methods. Physics and Astronomy Research Associate Delia Perlov, along with others, are utilizing YouTube.com in the classroom.
"We are lucky that we have access to magnificent videos in addition to photographs," Perlov said in an e-mail to the Daily. "I think a video experience can be captivating and moving and hopefully leaves a lasting
impression."
In addition to YouTube videos, classes like Perlov's "Astronomy 10" course, which holds over 100 students, are also benefiting from the use of technology with the relatively newly implemented i-Clicker technology. i-Clickers are palm-sized remote controls that students bring to class that are registered in their names and when turned on are connected to a program on the professor's or the classroom's computer.
While the program can be used for attendance-taking purposes, teachers primarily use this technology to interact with their students in large classroom environments. These remotes can also be used to answer multiple-choice questions and alert a professor that someone in the class has a question in a much quicker and more effective manner than a raised hand in a classroom full of people.
Student reaction to the i-Clicker technology and the greater use of Blackboard is overwhelmingly
positive.
"The immediate feedback that you can get with the i-Clickers is really great," junior Zach Groen said. "It helps you gauge your understanding of the material."
Groen has also been in a course that utilized the Blackboard discussion forum, which he also found convenient and helpful.
"It is much easier to [be able to] just log into Blackboard and post something than to have to have the entire class meet somewhere on a day when we don't have class," he said. "[Mandatory
posting also] makes you accountable for the reading and lectures between tests."
In an e-mail to the Daily, Siesing described the support that the University Information Technology (UIT) Academic Technology group and Information Technology Services (ITS) provide to faculty and staff regarding the evolving technology.
"Our UIT Academic Technology group does partner with ITS on i-Clicker support," she said. "We piloted classroom response systems across the university, and a number of faculty are teaching with clickers in [Arts and Sciences] and [the School of Engineering]. ITS is responsible for [the] Blackboard course Web site and community site support. [The] faculty consistently report very high rates of satisfaction with Blackboard and their associated support from ITS."
