First, and this has nothing to do with the blog title, I think clickers are awesome. I've used them for review sessions in my 3980 class and it definitely made things run more smoothly. I would like to try to incorporate them in other ways in the future...maybe for the RAMs next time I teach the class?
So, rolling with the punches I think says it all...especially when technology does not always cooperate in the classroom. Something I experienced today, in fact. I had to move classrooms, for the second time this semester (although the first was by choice). The new room had recently been renovated and had technology updated yet I get in the room and there is NO internet connection...on a day when I had three YouTube videos in my lecture. Grrr!!! As a general practice I now post all videos I show during lecture on eLC. That way students can re-watch them, or when technology in the classroom does not cooperate, watch them after the lecture. When I would come to the point in my lecture where I was going to show a video, I would explain to them what it was about and why they SHOULD go on to eLC to check the video out. I'm also thinking about just bringing my laptop onto campus on lecture days, just in case. I know this issue is a pretty minor one in the possibilities of problems associated with technology not working when you want it to. But, it's the only issue I've really had so far, thankfully.
How do you improvise on the lack of youtube videos? Do you do a song/dance of what they should be about? :)
ReplyDeleteHa! I wish I were brave enough to do that but I don't. I just tell them a little bit of what the video's about and direct them to the link I post on eLC. Or I show it during the next class period that the equipment is actually functioning.
ReplyDeleteUsing YouTube in class is a great idea - except when the technology fails us! Your backup plan is perfect, Tori. Curious, have you asked your students to post videos that they have found on class topics? May not work with all audiences and topics, but perhaps with pop culture references could work well.
ReplyDeleteTori, I think everyone's been dealt a blow by Murphy's Law when it comes to technology. In my former life, I was a news producer. And there were a few occasions when a reporter's mic wouldn't work ... or the tape (video) wasn't ready for a story ... or the teleprompter decided to eat/delete several upcoming stories. My only recourse? "Go to weather!"
ReplyDeleteI even accidentally aired a segment showing tiger skins being ripped off of (to be fair, dead) tigers. During a morning show. You know, while people were eating breakfast. (I don't think there was opportunity to "go to weather" on that one...)
Anyway, I like the above suggestion about acting out the YouTube video for your class. That should definitely keep your students' interest. Just remember to bow your head at the end and say, "Scene!"
Anyway, I'm still on the fence regarding clickers. While they seem like a great addition to the classroom, I'm hesitant to deal with the logistics. But who knows? I might come around one of these days.
@Sherry I try to encourage students to post anything they come across that's related to what we talk about it class but I haven't asked students to specifically do that for pop culture references. I have asked them to do it for research ethics. I ask that they find a video or article about research ethics in the news (current or in the past), give a brief description of it, and provide the link to the media they found. It usually ends up being ethics violations but it's great because they end up finding things that I don't have the time or energy to search for. I've also had students send me YouTube videos related to other topics we've discussed in class but research ethics seems to be the most fruitful.
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