Also, I have attached the actual article from the Computers & Education journal that the CBC story Evan referred to was relying upon, just in case anyone wants the real thing.
David.
David MacAlister, M.A., J.D., LL.M.
Associate Professor | Associate Director: Planning, Policy & Procedure
Associate Professor | Associate Director: Planning, Policy & Procedure
School of Criminology
Simon Fraser University
8888 University Drive | Burnaby, BC | V5A 1S6
tel: 778.782.3019 fax: 778.782.4140
From: "Anke Kessler" <akessler@sfu.ca>
To: "Evan Tiffany" <etiffany@sfu.ca>
Cc: "academic-discussion" <academic-discussion@sfu.ca>
Sent: Thursday, September 12, 2013 1:02:45 PM
Subject: Issues with AV support and Re: old-school notetaking
Dear all,
To: "Evan Tiffany" <etiffany@sfu.ca>
Cc: "academic-discussion" <academic-discussion@sfu.ca>
Sent: Thursday, September 12, 2013 1:02:45 PM
Subject: Issues with AV support and Re: old-school notetaking
Dear all,
The study that Evan alerted us to and the preceding discussion ties in well with the problems I was encountering while teaching my 3rd year Econ class this semester. The class has 120 students enrolled and I've been teaching it for a number of years now.
(as a side remark, I do not allow laptops or handheld devices in the class, and am glad that I can now rely on actual evidence to justify this. Thank you, Evan.)
I do use the projector to present PowerPoint slides (which students can download them ahead of time from the class website), but I also have in the past relied heavily on notes written in class on an overhead projector.
In my view, this encourages student note taking, class participation, instructor-student interaction, allows for more flexibility in leading the discussion, and, perhaps most importantly for the students, real-time writing slows me down when I present the material. The feedback is invariably positive - I occasional do a quick poll on whether people want me use the overhead or PowerPoint, and the majority always favors the overhead.
Unfortunately, this type of teaching seems to be dying out, at least judging from the difficulties I encountered this year. The first class room I was assigned to was flat, very wide and not very deep, SWH
1004. The design necessitates 2 projector screens, located at opposite ends of the classroom. While this arrangement works if you are using a computer to project slides onto the screen, it is obviously impossible to write on an overhead on both screens simultaneously. To be sure, there were two overhead projectors located in the class, but their functionality eludes me. Frankly, it was *impossible* to use the overhead as a teaching tool in this particular classroom, because the AV (in conjunction with the classroom design) simply wasn't set up for it, and couldn't be changed.
Consequently, I asked for a room change and (lucky me) was indeed assigned a new lecture hall, this time WMC 3260. The layout is much better (amphitheatre), it has only one centrally aligned projector screen, and an overhead projector. I was very happy with the change, until I discovered about 10 minutes into the lecture, that it is impossible for me, as the instructor, to temporarily shut off the projector from teh computer to switch to the overhead. I called AV services and they informed me that there is no remote control for the projector and I would have to *call them EVERY time I'd like the projector switched on, or off*. In other words, I cannot present something on a PowerPoint slide, say, and then explain it in more detail, by writing notes on the overhead. Except, that is, if I am willing to subject myself to the whim of AV and call them whenever I wish to do so. It seems to me that not investing in a handheld remote that allows an instructor to control the media in her classroom and relying on a centrally controlled system instead is putting the carriage before the horse.
(There are creative ways to get around the problem, as I discovered later, but the basic issue of course remains)
I was wondering whether anyone has had similar problems or whether I am the only one bothered by this. The budget for IT services has increased dramatically over the years if I am not mistaken.
Anke
On 12-Sep-13, at 11:17 AM, Evan Tiffany wrote:
This reminded me of a report on CBC radio a few weeks back on note taking and multi-tasking. They were reporting on a recent study at McMaster. I haven't had a chance to look at the published study, but the CBC summary can be found at http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2013/08/14/technology-laptop-grades.html)
The results showed that students taking notes on laptops vs. pen-and-paper did 11% worse on a test they were given after the lecture they were asked to take motes on. Most remarkable was that students who were seated near a student who was multi-tasking on their laptop did 17% worse than students not distracted. And those students did not even realize that they were being distracted ( they did not report feeling distracted on the exit survey). This seems like strong evidence in favour of banning laptops from lectures (or at the very least making them sit at the back where no one else can see).Evan
Sent from my iPhone.Dear all,This term, coming back to full teaching load after 2 yrs in an administrative role, I have been struck by how many of my students -- I would say 90% -- have gone back to pen-and-paper notetaking in class, as opposed to laptop or tablet. I mentioned this in a seminar today and was rewarded with fervent nodding and murmuring. Are students receiving encouragement to go back to the future in this way? Or has it just happened? And are there implications for online learning, etc.? JD Fleming
--James Dougal Fleming
Associate Professor
Department of English
Simon Fraser University
778-782-4713