High-Tech Teaching

From Google Earth to Civilization, professors embrace new media

October 21, 2008

Faculty members Ash Nichols and Ed Webb discuss new approches to teaching with Instructional Technologist Todd Bryant.

Professor of English Language and Literature Ashton Nichols had no trouble getting his book manuscript published. The problem was that only 15 of the more than 300 scanned pictures and illustrations could be included.

A tech-savvy colleague suggested he put everything on the Web where image storage was plentiful. "The first time I heard that, I didn't know what they were talking about," Nichols says with a laugh. Twelve years later, he boasts more than 11,000 hits on his Web site and readily uses the Internet to build a scholarly electronic network that connects his students with the worldwide intellectual community. Nichols, the John J. Curley '60 and Ann Conser Curley '63 Faculty Chair in the Liberal Arts, is one of 15 faculty members exploring ways to use new classroom technology through the Willoughby Fellows Program in Academic Technology.

The first of its kind at Dickinson, the Willoughby Fellows Program provides hands-on instruction, technical support, community resources and teaching models to help professors better engage students by using new media in the classroom. Sponsored by Library & Information Services and the Office of Academic Affairs and funded through endowment income from LIS' Willoughby Fund, the program helps faculty apply what they have learned in courses they will teach in the spring.

"We want to empower faculty to use as many venues of communication as possible," explains Rafael Alvarado, special projects coordinator.

Blowing the lid off classroom technology

The program kicked off last summer with a seven-day institute that offered hands-on training in a variety of technical teaching tools including Google Earth, blogs, wikis, image and video editing, podcasting, sound files, moviemaking, XML and gaming. The course also provided instruction in new media course structure, media literacy evaluation, electronic information gathering and assessment of digitally produced projects.

"We covered a lot of ground," says Instructional Technologist Todd Bryant, who is one of the program's nine instructor/liaisons. "For some of the fellows, this was all new information. Others had developed expertise in one or two areas, but wanted to see what else was out there."

According to Nichols, it was a great success.

"The Willoughby project blows the lid off technology in the classroom," he says. "It's remarkable."

The program's success lies in its collaborative spirit. To be truly successful, fellows must exchange ideas—with other program participants and with interested colleagues during and after the program.

Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Studies Ed Webb understands this point well.

"What I'm getting out of this is the chance to structure my thinking about how to get the maximum amount out of a teaching experience," explains Webb, one of several fellows who have successfully used gaming in their classrooms. "Each time I compare notes with other fellows, I learn something new."

Bryant, who spearheads gaming initiatives on campus, worked with Webb and other professors to incorporate situated learning into past courses, and he is helping Webb develop a text-based game that students will write themselves as part of Webb's spring ‘09 course, Authoritarianism. Webb says that because the game-writing software is intuitive, most students can get started on their projects within a half-hour.

Discernment is key

The tools taught through the Willoughby program are relatively easy for professors to learn, as well. The challenge lies in deciding which teaching tool works best for a given professor in a given course—and in deciding when to forego high-tech solutions altogether.

"I'm not a technological fundamentalist. I love books and I make students read a lot of them," says Webb, who stresses that it's important to teach students to differentiate between sound and unsound references, be they electronic or traditional. "We, as a faculty, need to avoid getting blown away by what we can do without working out what we should do."

Alvarado feels confident that the Dickinson faculty is up to the task.

"They are natural critics in the best sense," he says.

Nichols agrees, and adds that he is "very optimistic" about the future of higher education in the increasingly technologized years to come.

"Today you can link to the blogs of your colleagues around the world, and there is a collaborative exchange of ideas," Nichols says. "We're interacting with the wider world. It's like being a pioneer. This technology has become a really exciting part of my professional life."

Faculty members who are participating in the Willoughby program are: Tom Arnold (biology), Sarah Bair (education), Lucile Duperron (French), David Jackson (physics), Wolfgang Müller (German), Ashton Nichols (English), Sharon O'Brien (American studies), Abraham Quintanar (Spanish), Dave Richeson (mathematics), Susan Rose (sociology), Shalom Staub (sociology) and Ed Webb (political science). Instructors and liaisons from LIS are: Rafael Alvarado, Theresa Arndt, Todd Bryant, Ryan Burke, Jeanette Gribble, Brenda Landis, Mark Wardecker and Jean Weaver.