DEVELOP PRACTICE SESSIONS
If technology is to be used for education, it is helpful if there are practice sessions related to the various technologies to be used. These practice sessions generally take two forms--presession practice for students; rehearsal of demonstrations to be used by faculty in instruction.
Pre-Class Practice Sessions
For the Integrated Distance Education Model, it was necessary to locate the students prior to the class to determine if they were connected to the World Wide Web and what e-mail systems they used. When new students registered late, it was difficult to accomodate their technology needs. In the future, there will need to cut-off dates for registration with faculty notified if there are exceptions.
When the class is offered again, we will develop a half-day presession for the rehearsal of the technology for those who need or desire more background on the actual use of technology. The Course Management System or Systems (which will then be in place at the University of Minnesota Duluth) will be demonstrated, chats will be practiced, e-mail will be sent and received, and the sending and editing of longer case studies will be demonstrated and practiced.
Rehearsal of Demonstrations by Faculty
The actual demonstrations of software use in editing the case studies, in engaging in dialogue through chats will continue to be rehearsed prior to use with students. The necessary hardware configurations will continue to be brought into the ITV rooms and rehearsed on-site. The small steps of using the right cables, noting the differences between PC and Mac Platforms will continue to occur. The rehearsals were invaluable in presenting viable ways to access and use the needed technologies.
The demonstrations will be infused within the class and will complement the presession training sessions. The goal is to use the technology to enhance teaching and learning rather than to simply learn how to use the technology.
Return to the RECOMMENDATIONS
Return to the INTEGRATED DISTANCE EDUCATION MODEL