Best Practices for Technology-Enhanced Teaching and Learning: Connecting to Psychology and the Social Sciences PDF
Preview Best Practices for Technology-Enhanced Teaching and Learning: Connecting to Psychology and the Social Sciences
Best Practices for Technology-Enhanced Teaching and Learning This page intentionally left blank Best Practices for Technology-Enhanced Teaching and Learning Connecting to Psychology and the Social Sciences Edited by Dana S. Dunn , Janie H. Wilson , James E. Freeman , Jeffrey R. Stowell 1 2 011 1 Oxford University Press, Inc., publishes works that further Oxford University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education. Oxford New York Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With offi ces in Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam Copyright © 2011 by Oxford University Press, Inc. Published by Oxford University Press, Inc. 198 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016 www.oup.com Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Oxford University Press. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Best practices for technology-enhanced teaching and learning : connecting to psychology and the social sciences / edited by Dana S. Dunn ... [et al.]. p. cm. Includes index. ISBN 978-0-19-973318-7 1. Internet in education. 2. Computer-assisted instruction. 3. Distance education. 4. Educational psychology. 5. Educational technology—Study and teaching. 6. Science—Study and teaching. I. Dunn, Dana. LB1051.B469 2011 371.33'44678—dc22 2010025249 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper For Bill Hill Teacher, Leader, Friend This page intentionally left blank Foreword When I was invited to write the foreword for this book, I was fl attered but perplexed. Never having written a foreword before and not being especially prone to reading them, I wondered what, exactly, I had agreed to. My fi rst action was to swivel in my desk chair and see what other people had written in forewords to other books on my shelves. The only one I found, by William Buskist in a previous book in this series (B est Practices for Teaching Statistics and Research Methods in the Behavioral Sciences, 2007), gave me an excellent model to follow, but I was uncomfortable with a single sample and did not have other examples at my fi ngertips. Or did I? What if I searched the Internet? A few words typed into the search engine and, as the French would say, voilà . Examples, defi nitions, and how-to-write-one advice. Ah technol- ogy! Some of us may be slow on the up-take, but we get there eventually. If you see yourself in my example, thinking of technology only after trying a strategy that has worked for you in the past, this book is for you. And if you don’t see yourself in my example, being either less or more techno- logically sophisticated than I, this book is still for you because it covers the gamut. Some chapters have the novice (technophobe, Luddite) in mind, gently urging dipping one’s toes in the ocean of features available. Others have more adventurous and experienced users (technophiles, Geeks) in mind. According to the Internet sources I consulted, it is not my job as fore- word writer to point out which chapter is which–that’s a job for the editors viii Foreword in their Introduction. But it is my job to urge you to sample at least some of the chapters. The book is not, after all, like a novel that must be read cover- to-cover to make sense of the plot. You might pick and choose from the Table of Contents based on the specifi c technological tools, such as presenta- tion slides (AKA Microsoft PowerPoint ® ), “clickers,” YouTube videos, course management systems (e.g., Blackboard Academic Suite™ , Moodle™ ), inter- active whiteboards, and virtual worlds (e.g., Second Life ® ); you can choose based on the type of course (hybrid, wholly on-line, wholly face-to-face) or task you face (e.g., advising, encouraging student interaction or collabora- tion, quizzing); or you can choose based on the authors, although I would be hard pressed not to just read the book from cover to cover if authorship were my criterion. Many of these authors are my dear colleagues. Some I have met at an earlier Best Practices conference. Others have corresponded concerning a manuscript they submitted to T eaching of Psychology or a resource they submitted to the Offi ce of Teaching Resources in Psychology (OTRP). They may have served as reviewers for OTRP resources. We may have met over grading Advanced Placement tests or on the Executive Committee of the Society for the Teaching of Psychology (STP, which has sponsored this book). No matter the venue, I have come to respect their energy, their enthusiasm for the enterprise of teaching that we share, and most importantly, their expertise that they now share with you. As I read their chapters, I was impressed by how down-to-earth these authors are. Their advice is practical. They anticipate what questions you’ll have and offer answers; they anticipate your problems and offer strategies for problem-solving; they anticipate your reluctance to try something new and offer encouragement. So let me do the same: Should you read this book? Yes. It is often as important to know what does not appeal to you as to know what does, so reading about the pros and cons of the particular advances in technology these authors cover is useful information. How can you choose from the vast array of suggestions they offer? Figure out what element of your course is most in need of a fresh approach and start with chapters that address your immediate concerns. Is it worth trying to learn to use a new technology? Yes, in general, but perhaps No in a few instances, and authors of this marvelous volume tell you which is which through their empirical data and personal experiences. Both the faint of heart and the brave can wade into the technology ocean and not fear drowning, and all can learn something new from this volume. Enjoy! Ruth L. Ault, Davidson College Preface The days of the mimeographed handout are over, and those of the marked up transparencies are numbered. Laptops, cell phones, and MP3 players abound. Technology is all around us and, as much as it is a cliché, it’s quite true that it is always changing. Technology is also affecting how educators teach. How can teachers keep up with new and ever more recent advances? How should instructors use technology to improve teaching and learning in their classes? What technological tools are appropriate for different purposes? These and other pressing questions affect teachers in all kinds of educational settings along the secondary to post-secondary spec- trum. At some point, even the most technologically-cautious instructor must take the leap and integrate some new technology into their teaching. We developed this book to help teachers everywhere on the technology of teaching continuum—from simple to savvy to sophisticated—think about how current and emerging tools in our increasingly digital age can positively impact their students, whether close at hand or in virtual communities. Thus, this book discusses a variety of timely issues related to best practices for teaching well with technological enhancements, including: • How teachers who eschew technology can learn to use it wisely • Ways that technology can foster collaboration among students, as well as between students and faculty
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