Teaching With Technology

The 21st Century is here! Is Your Classroom Part Of It?

Quick Start

Why should you integrate technology in the classroom? How do you incorporate technology to enhance the classroom experience? What are you doing to meet the needs of a new, tech-savvy generation of learners? These are some of the questions that this module will help you to answer. As an instructor, keep in mind that there are tried and tested approaches to the classroom that will help you excel. Being Visible, Organized, Compassionate, Analytical, and a Leader-by-example1 can help you be a successful instructor like this. This one-stop resource will help you learn:

1. How Technology Creates a Better Learning Environment
Technology excels at doing mundane, repetitive tasks. It is important to be able to recognize those tasks if you want to apply technology effectively. Technology is not a "cure-all," it's an assistant.

2. Technology at USC and Elsewhere
No single technology can do everything. The trick is to find the right technology for your specific needs and to recognize clearly the point of diminishing returns. That is, the objective is not mastering the technology, but rather using technology to master your tasks as a TA.

3. How to Get the Most Out of Technology
Classroom applications are one area where your investment in technology really shows. Good planning is the key to keeping class sessions well-organized and productive. Identify your teaching objectives and then select the tools that help you accomplish them.

4. Limits and Hazards of Technology
In the classroom, the goal is effective communication. Be sure that the technology suits your lesson plan, not the other way around. In other words, let the technology recede behind the substantive ideas that you wish to communicate to your students.

Our focus in this module is on helping you achieve your teaching goals. We'll discuss how technology can help you to:

  1. Articulate the purpose of using technology to create a better learning environment
  2. Recognize the variety of possible technologies available at USC and elsewhere.
  3. Explain to the students the importance of using technology and direct them to existing facilities and available resources that can help them for their own work and research
  4. Check validity and functioning of resources before communicating them to students
  5. Plan ahead in order to make the technology session a well-organized and productive one
  6. Differentiate a passive from an active use of technology (one that enhances communication and can generate critiques and challenge students)
  7. Be aware of the limitations and possible hazards of technology

Good Luck



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