INSTRUCTIONAL MEDIA SERVICES

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Educational Technology with Doug Maynard

February 24, 2016 / martorav1 / 0 Comments

SUNY New Paltz has been finding new ways to keep classrooms up to date with current technology the past few years. Doug Maynard, a professor here at New Paltz for 14 years who primarily teaches courses in psychology and statistics, is one of many instructors that have taken advantage of the technology this campus offers. New Paltz’s Blackboard program in particular has been especially helpful.

Professor Doug Maynard

The use of Blackboard varies depending on the course, but one of its most vital capabilities is the ability to upload PDF files. Not only can these files be used as a resource in class, but students can have later access to the course’s content at their disposal. Professor Maynard also likes to take advantage of Blackboard’s discussion forum feature, which gives students who prefer not to talk in class the chance to participate in important conversations via the internet. This additionally gives students the opportunity to plan out their thoughts before sharing them. Furthermore, Blackboard allows blog links to be shared, whether it be through our campus’s “Hawksites” or just Wikipages. Maynard finds this feature useful, because it gives students the ability to construct their own informational blogs, and for others to supplement their information. According to Maynard, Blackboard has been used on campus for a long time, provides many assets, and is user friendly. Aside from Blackboard, Maynard’s statistics courses rely on an SPSS program to calculate and organize data. The application is available on most lab and faculty computers around campus.

Professor Maynard believes that technology has given instructors useful supplemental resources for teaching. In the past, Maynard has used virtual video games, such as Ingress, to engage seminars with a collectively shared experience. According to Maynard, “Using technology provides the opportunity to educate from a distance.” Instructors can stay in touch with students and the curriculum if they are unable to attend class. Not only has technology given professors more options, but, says Maynard, students now tend to be more tech savvy and embrace the changes that have been happening. Additionally, these alternatives to teaching have used less paper, which benefits the school and the environment.

Faculty has had to do as much learning as the students to adapt to the use of technology. The delivery of classes are changing and past ways of presenting material are, more or less, being replaced. This also means more opportunity for learning. As stated by Maynard, technology in an educational environment has “a lot of potential, depending on how it is used,” including New Paltz’s Lecture Capture program, which records professors’ lectures to be uploaded onto Blackboard for further reviewing by students. Maynard has used variations of this program, which as been useful in providing students with the PowerPoint presentation with the accompaniment of his words. He believes recording his statistics class could be useful, especially if a student is sick or in cases of bad weather, as long as students don’t use the recorded lectures in place of going to class.

SUNY New Paltz’s Lecture Capture during the 2012 Evos Conference

1/10: I.M.S. @ “Inclusion” by Dr Steven Jones

February 17, 2016 / kelleyk2 / 0 Comments

Today, Instructional Media Services had the honor of providing technical assistance to an important discussion in the multipurpose room of the Student Union Building here at SUNY. The discussion, which brought to light personal experiences of exclusion and our subconscious biases, was led by speaker Dr. Steven Jones. Stories were shared among the 50 plus attendants-students, faculty, and lecturers. At one point, a voice in the crowd mentioned the importance of multiple diverse voices to create a unit. I saw a parallel here: All of the equipment alone in the large, echo-y room could do nothing without the technical finesse and coordination of individuals working together to ensure that the visuals could be seen, and ideas made audible.

KT Tobin on Hybrid Course Technology

February 10, 2016 / martorav1 / 0 Comments

SUNY New Paltz offers hybrid classes to students during fall and spring semesters. These classes provide students with a blend of the traditional in-the-classroom-learning and a more modern online format. Professor KT Tobin, a New Paltz alumni, instructs the Introduction to Sociology hybrid class. She has previously taught seated classes and online classes, but this her first time teaching a hybrid course. According to Tobin, technology is useful when it comes to teaching, and she finds it helpful in her Introduction to Sociology hybrid class.

In class discussions may be uncomfortable for some students, which prevents the whole class from participating. As stated by Tobin, online discussions through SUNY New Paltz’s Blackboard program provide a richer conversation amongst students, and a more comfortable environment for people to share their thoughts. Blackboard provides an organized space where Tobin can create her discussion forums, and for both her and her students to communicate their knowledge. The program also benefits students and teachers all over campus with the array of features it offers.

PowerPoint is also a program Tobin finds useful in her classes. “You just need to update the slides before each lecture,” she says, which is something she prefers over relying on lecture notes. Tobin admits that she has tried going a semester without depending on the PowerPoint presentations, but students have made it abundantly clear that they prefer to learn by the visual presentations and examples it provides. Tobin also finds the application helpful because she can upload the content to Blackboard for students to access and continue using as a resource. In the future, Professor Tobin hopes to integrate Classroom Response Systems, also known as “the clicker,” which provides a virtual way for students to participate in classroom lectures. “It would help me touch base with students as I go along and see what I still need to spend time going over.”

Professor KT Tobin

Tobin asserts that technology has provided students today with quicker access to more information through the internet. This is different from when Tobin was enrolled here at SUNY New Paltz, because students were taught to navigate and conduct research through libraries, whereas now most material is gathered online. As she believes having information more accessible is a good thing, she warns that students should discern which sources are reliable and provide quality information.

KT Tobin says she is “always looking for ways to do things better,” and sees teaching as a two way street. While she imparts her knowledge onto her students, she appreciates when she is also able to learn from them. In the past, her students have introduced her to presentation software such as Prezi, which she now uses to present some of her research. Overall, she believes hybrid classes are beneficial because they provide the best of both worlds, and give students the opportunity to seek clarification in ways other than emailing. As she states, “This creates a learning curve for everyone.”