New technology transforms classrooms
Zacc Lawton
Issue date: 9/14/09 Section: News
|
Now education and technology have paired up at UMKC to help both students and professors.
In fact, podcasts and video are now the up-and-coming tools for education in the eyes of Vishal Kurup, software support analyst for UMKC Information.
"One exciting project we have been working on is course casting and podcasting course lectures," Kurup said.
Software called Tegrity allows professors to create a video recording of their lectures as they present them in the classroom.
"Faculty seem to indicate that in some courses, they are seeing an increased number of As and Bs since introducing course casts into their courses," Kurup said.
Justin Guggenmos, manager of Information Services Project Management and Process Improvement, has helped improve classroom technology.
Guggenmos said to address the increasing need for classroom technology in more rooms at UMKC, Information Services has installed 43 additional ILE (Ideal Learning Environment) classroom systems this year.
"All ILE classroom systems have been upgraded to work with Tegrity to allow faculty to capture and publish their lectures to Blackboard," Guggenmos said.
Professor Brian Hare, of the School of Computing and Engineering, has been using the Tegrity podcasts for some of his courses for more than a year.
Hare said his attendance has held steady since he began using podcasts, however, there has been a difference in quiz scores.
"There are fewer Cs and Ds, more As and Bs," he said.
When it comes to unexpected technical problems, Hare said there have been the occasional glitches.
As for any future breakthroughs in classroom technology, Hare thinks predicting that future is risky.
"Smart boards and advanced camera systems will future reduce barriers and make distance learning easier," Hare said.
But, no matter the technology, Hare said there is a trial and error process when adapting a new style of learning.
"I'm still learning as I go," he said.
zlawton@unews.com
Be the first to comment on this story