Teaching in 2010 — A few tools to help you

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We are already a month into 2010. You have probably had time to make your first resolutions, and perhaps even to break a few ;). I would like to look at education in 2010, particularly the teaching of technical knowledge to students and professionals.

Why this subject?

Education is changing on every front: needs constantly evolve, conditions are improving (in principle), and even students are changing. In my field, it is not unusual to encounter classes where students already know a good part of the syllabus, or even have real professional experience in the subject. The class is permanently connected, both internally and to the outside world. The slightest statement can prompt a Google fact-check or a tweet.

These changes are not necessarily negative. Let me introduce a few tools I regularly use, or at least try to use, in the classroom.

The tools

Mind mapping

Mind mapping, also known as an association diagram or heuristic map, is a representation technique used in many fields, particularly research and development and academia. In Finland, primary school pupils use mind maps for taking notes.

There are many tools in this field, with varying degrees of maturity. I mainly use MindMeister, an online mind-mapping tool. It lets you store mind maps online, access them anywhere, including offline, and collaborate on them in real time.

I mainly use it while preparing classes, to write or visualize the lesson plan. It can also serve as a resource for students.

Podcasting

Podcasting, webcasts, and screencasts are not new. In a nutshell, they are lessons recorded as audio or audio/video and distributed over the Internet. What is changing is that tools previously confined to fields close to computing are gradually opening up to more and more disciplines. For over a year, Academic Earth has offered free courses from leading American universities. Closer to home, OTablo, from the creators of Weecast, will soon offer mathematics lessons for middle- and high-school pupils.

Apart from the time needed to prepare and record quality videos, making your own webcasts is straightforward. Expression Encoder 3 is a free Microsoft tool for encoding videos, particularly for Internet distribution. It comes with Microsoft Expression Encoder 3 Screen Capture, which lets you capture all or part of your screen, optionally including audio and even webcam video.

You can distribute those recordings with another Microsoft tool: Learning Content Development System. This tool, also free, lets you create online courses identical to Microsoft’s own e-learning courses. You therefore have all the tools needed to create courses that can be distributed online.

Bringing feedback to life

Some time ago, I came across a report about a university lecturer who used screencasting to mark students’ work. Instead of receiving a grade and an overall comment, the student receives a video of the lecturer reading and commenting on their paper.

I have not personally had an opportunity to test this method on assignments I set. However, I think it has significant benefits for students. I am used to providing explanations alongside the grades I give, but this goes a step further. I also think the technique could easily be applied in many subjects, including mathematics and literature, perhaps with purpose-built tools and tablet PCs or graphics tablets for live annotations.

Interactivity in the classroom

Interactivity can help address a common problem: lack of attention. Well-prepared computer-based learning or exploration sessions can help reduce it. However, setting up computer rooms in educational institutions is expensive, and it is not unusual to have one computer for two or three pupils, or more. In that situation, those who are not in control of the computer may pay even less attention.

Microsoft recently released Windows MultiPoint, a set of tools addressing this problem. They share one principle: allowing several mice to perform different actions on a single computer. This is an inexpensive way to let multiple users share the same application and terminal. Three products are currently available:

• Microsoft Mouse Mischief is an add-on for PowerPoint that makes slides interactive. Each pupil can interact with them using their own mouse.
• Windows MultiPoint Server 2010 lets several students share a computer simultaneously. Exactly how it works is not yet entirely clear, and I encourage you to watch the videos to learn more.
• Windows MultiPoint Mouse SDK is a development kit for integrating these capabilities into your own applications.

All these tools are available free on Microsoft’s website.

Twitter is one of the most interactive tools around. Although it can seriously distract your audience, you can use its main characteristic, real-time communication, to gather feedback. Some teachers have already tried this successfully in subjects far removed from computing. Why not start by integrating Twitter into your PowerPoint presentations?

A project: an open book — Education with new technologies

To continue this discussion beyond the article, I am launching an open-book project on the theme of “education with new technologies.” What is that? Simply a book written collaboratively, published under an open license, available free online, and also published in print. YOU are invited to take part! If you are a teacher, lecturer, trainer, or even a student, and have ideas or have successfully used new technologies in your courses, you can contribute to the book.

You have until May 1, 2010 to send me your ideas or a proposal to participate, through an online form or by email. After that date, we will start writing the remaining sections and putting the book together. Publication is planned for summer 2010. Please spread the word ;).