Monday, November 28, 2011

Undergraduate Expectations

In the research survey Undergraduate Perceptions of the Usefulness of Web 2.0 in Higher Education: Survey Development, undergraduate expectations of Web 2.0 use in education was analyzed.

Take a few moments to answer some of the following questions through comments on this blog post.

Questions

·         What would be your answer to the two research questions?
1.    Which Web 2.0 technologies are currently used by undergraduate students in different disciplines on-campus?
2.    Which  Web  2.0  technologies  do  undergraduates  find  most  beneficial  for  learning  in  their respective disciplines?
·         Were any of the findings in this survey surprising?
·         The article makes the claim, “digital natives expect to learn with new technologies,” did you have this assumption when beginning classes? Has your experience at DePauw altered your expectations of technology use?
·         What do you currently use technology for? (word processing, email, surfing the Internet, creating content?) Since the beginning of the year, have you begun using additional technologies?
·         Based on the survey’s findings, how should Universities approach using technology in teaching and learning?
·         Will undergraduate expectations change as technology is used more frequently in teaching and learning?

5 comments:

  1. My answers would be:
    1. Moodle, Blogger, Google Docs
    2. Moodle is usually useful for most disciplines, but I use Google Docs more often for English/Communications-based classes.
    -Nothing from this study was too surprising. One result that I wasn't expecting was the fact that most students do appreciate the use of technology in their education. It seems to me that many students feel bothered when they have to integrate technology into their classes.
    -I did have this assumption entering classes at DePauw, because the University's use of technology was really stressed to me during my senior year of high school. If I had entered another college, though, I don't think I would have expected it as much.

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  2. When I came to DePauw, I did not assume that I would be using new technologies in the classroom. However, my experience at DePauw has altered my expectations of technology use. While DePauw does try out new technologies in the classroom, these implementations are carefully thought out and fit well with course content. Having seen technology used very effectively in the classrooms here I would have the same expectations elsewhere

    Based on the survey's findings, Universities should be innovative in their application of social technologies to teaching and learning and stay up-to-date with newest developments. However, they should be very cautious in their application of social technology to pedagogy making sure that their goals and expectations are clearly defined, and that the technology is a good fit for the subject matter.

    As technology is used more frequently in teaching and learning, I am certain that undergraduate perceptions of specific technologies and their applications will change. However, I do not think students will be less discerning in their evaluation of how much technology contributes to their learning. They will still value technology in the classroom only as much as it contributes to or facilitates their learning.

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  3. 1. Current Web 2.0 technologies used on campus include blogs, podcasts, videos, google apps, etc. The area of study definitely determines what type of Web 2.0 technology will be used. Science and math based courses need to have a visual component to their site while social sciences and human culture classes can use technologies that are mainly audio.
    2. I think the most beneficial technologies are the applications like google documents because it allows students to interact and comment on each others work without having to be in the same room. Also, I think that the Moodle site is extremely important to students because it organizes their classes and assignments. I think any Web 2.0 technology that makes communication easier is also extremely beneficial.

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  4. Web 2.0 technologies that are used by undergraduate students would primarily be Google Documents for accessing material and sharing documents. However, I believe in general online discussions, YouTube, Social Networking, Blogs, and Wikis are used by a variety of students for many different purposes. These "technologies" provide a variety of useful information for a variety of topics/courses for all types of students. These "technologies" are used for resources for personal and educational purposes.

    I believe the expectations of undergraduates will change over time just as the way students are being taught in classrooms.

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  5. 3. I definitely go into a class expecting to use the latest technology to learn the material. One of the most frustrating experiences that I've had so far is a professor that refuses to let students use any technology in class. It made the material much more difficult to learn for me, and made the overall teaching less effective that I would prefer. I had taken previous courses in the exact subject area with technology used to teach and found that I grasped the material faster and more accurately.
    4. I use technology almost constantly and in every way possible. Everything from cooking dinner over break to relaxing while playing Skyrim over thanksgiving break somehow involves the use of technology. I have begun using all sorts of new technologies this year, and am constantly looking for anything new that can streamline my life.
    6. I think that expectations will change as technology becomes more and more integrated into the average classroom. As it makes learning more effective, students may expect to be able to grasp more difficult concepts without as much trouble as they would have previously. This may lead to some frustration when things are progressing slowly, as many people have this feeling that everything should happen quickly now, but overall I think that people will find that their expectations have been met.

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