Opinion piece, University of Maryland Diamondback:
… [E]very professor, both future and incumbent, [should] be required to take a technology proficiency assessment prior to the start of the semester to make sure he or she understands the use and functionality of the technology used both in and out of the classroom. This assessment will ensure professors are well informed of these technologies and can easily navigate through multimedia extensions — a Professor 2.0, if you will.
Before Dr. Stonewall Jackson has a heart attack, this assessment will in no way prevent a professor from lecturing; failing the assessment will simply result in a mandatory classroom technology workshop..
November 8th, 2009 at 8:51AM
When I first read this, I inhaled my coffee…
Upon further inspection it is an op-ed in a student newspaper. UD did mention that it was an opinion piece.
Couple of quick thoughts, provoked:
First: being technologically adept does not mean knowing how to use an iPod or an iPhone or even using Power Point.
Second: despite the claims of technical adeptness by the author of the op-ed piece, I am amazed how much the average – we’re not talking computer gee here – undergrad knows about the simple operating system on their computer and how to use it.
Signed:
An Old Fart who cannot imagine voluntarily taking part in a technology assessment or mandatory workshop. And I have been working with computers professionally for 38 years.
November 8th, 2009 at 10:13AM
I am pretty tech-savvy (yep, better than most of my students at the things they need to do for my classes), but I constantly look like I don’t know how to use a browser because the classrooms have Windows machines and I have a Mac that is customized for me to a fare-thee-well, and I bog down when my shortcuts don’t work.
I have sympathy for him—it is ridiculous the amount of instructional time wasted to technology setup. I can’t imagine that his solution will work, but at least he’s proposing something that seems feasible from the outside. Why it’s not actually feasible:
When I first arrived at my job, I went to a Blackboard workshop. I learned approx 10 minutes worth of things in 1.5 hours. Never again.
They do classroom tech orientations before every term here—in exactly the week just before classes when professors are swamped. As I recall when I went, I had to *ask* all the "and what do I do when something doesn’t do what it’s supposed to?" questions.
It’s difficult to retain information you only use periodically—what’s needed is well-written troubleshooting guidance in every classroom that assumes people are using stuff for the first time (well-written, hah! but at least you’ve got a fighting chance of getting professors to read signs/instructions), or someone on call (too expensive—the biz/law schools do it, though).
Since it won’t work anyhow, no point in fighting the "brainwashing alert! brainwashing alert!" crowd.
But wow, kid’s been reading too much bureaucratic material lately, from that bit you quoted.
November 8th, 2009 at 10:41AM
Dance-
Our place doesn’t do much right, but they are on their toes as far as tech. There is a phone in the classroom and you can give an emergency call – they’re there toot de suite.
I go to a new (to me) classroom before the term starts and check it out with my computer. Even so, there are still sometimes problems.
But we do have wireless in the classroom. Since most students have laptops, it is usually possible to do business while the tech folks get things straightened out.
And yes Macs cause problems. I used to use macs, but have given up exactly because of such problems. Ubuntu is on the horizon and will eventually take over, by the way.
Best,
Bill
November 8th, 2009 at 12:24PM
We’ve got phone numbers, but they don’t have the labor to promise to come. Although I think they once brought me a VGA cord that had oddly vanished. (!? Really, when 10-15 people are rotating on and off the same unfamiliar setup, problems are guaranteed)
The biz/law people, I have heard, staff and assign techs to actually *be* there the few minutes before class when one is setting up, as a matter of course.
Ubuntu will take over, hee hee. That’s funny. What’s your horizon for "eventually"? But I disagree, for pretty much the same reasons as classroom tech doesn’t live up to its promises—having support for something is more important to getting people using it (well), than its existence, or cost, etc.
November 8th, 2009 at 12:32PM
I’m dismayed by how little my 18 year olds understand about application programs and operating systems and file management, about how trivial their experiences are. Instead, they use the machines to consume mind-numbing entertainment. Their common goal: figure out how to turn the machine on, hope that a web browsing application is obvious, hope that it connects to the inter-tubes pretty damn quick.
Years ago, before the convergence of computers and the entertainment we call "web two point oh," Steve Jobs remarked "you use a computer to turn your mind on, you use a television to turn your mind off." I miss those days.
November 8th, 2009 at 6:06PM
Ubuntu-
I’m really not kidding. The trick is to get IT to support it. What is going to kill MS and Apple when all these sweetheart deals run out is the expense. I’m running ubuntu – out of the box – on the lowest level laptop you can buy. Zero cost for OS. It also has free all the software you could possibly need and more. It would be great to teach students if you could be assured that they all had access to such a machine.
Timeline? Good question. But I’ve always seen these things happen faster than you I initially expect. In five years you can laugh at me.
Best,
Bill