Teaching with computers

"How to" Guideline series is coordinated by Helen Mongan-Rallis of the Education Department at the University of Minnesota Duluth. If you have any questions, comments,

To replace writing on the chalkboard/white board/overhead:

Instead of writing on the board, instructor or a student takes notes on the computer and projects this onto the screen so the whole class can see this. Purposes: Enables the students to read what has been written more easily than instructor's handwriting. This can then be saved as a record of class (summary of class discussion or group work) then e-mailed to the whole class or posted on the course web page. Students can work in small groups and use laptop computers to take notes on their group's discussions (replacing the use of poster paper or handwritten overhead transparencies). When they share their group's findings with the whole class, they copy their work to disk and bring it up to the front of the class to project using the instructor's computer.

PowerPoint - to replace slides, pre-prepared overhead transparencies, and even video:

Creating own presentations for class. Creating own presentations for class and uploading these to course web page. Using presentations that come on CD with textbook. Having students create PowerPoint presentations to give presentations in class and for presenting assignments Creating presentations but printing them out and creating overhead transparencies of the slides (where faculty member does not have access to a computer in the classroom or does not feel comfortable with giving PowerPoint presentation).

Course web pages:

(Either using TopClass course management system or faculty member creating own site using PageMill or other web-authoring software).

Having a collection of pages for each course (a course site) that includes some or all of the following: syllabus, class schedule, assignments, links to readings, on-line class discussion, posting of student work, on-line testing.

Internet:

Outside of class: Required readings (having students read specific web pages as assignments). Especially useful: on-line journals (e.g. ISTE).