Creative teaching strategies
Today an instructor has so many more teaching tools than ever before. We can literally involve our students in a real time discussion with students in other parts of the world. We are way beyond power point. We can use skyp, video, interactive games. For a creative instructor the possibilities are limitless.
Zack,
I agree. Students like stories, and it's one of the best ways to capture attention, get students refocused, and provide retention of important information.
Barry Westling
I have found that the more the students share about there experiences in the trade or field the more people stay focused.
Adrienne,
I agree PPT can be a "zone-out" maker. It's true, we should always balance what we "could do" versus what we "should do", with should being the effective tool for this moment, with these students, in this class, at this time. Really, it will vary from class to class.
Barry Westling
It's true that we have a lot of options, but I have also been in classes where the buzzers and whistles distract from the content. It can be tough to find the balance between technology and subject matter. I try to use some technology if it is appropriate to the task. I am not a huge user of powerpoint. I think it has it's place, but I also think sometimes it becomes a chance for students to take a nap (the lights are off after all). I tend to do most of my lectures with the use of a white board, unless it is directly related to a website. I also like to use films and youtubes. Sometimes just a little film clip will really jazz up a presentation.
Timothy,
Whenever students can "do something", they will stay interested and more focused. It also fulfills a sense of accomplishment, not unlike what they might feel when the enter the workforce.
Barry Westling
Starting out with some type of hands on and letting the students experience what is going to be discussed that day helps alot, gets students interested.
Hi Tim,
It is truely amazing how far technology has come. And yet, we are still faced with the same need to determine how best to teach a class. In aviation, they use flight simulators. Is the overhead not needed? Not necessarily, because there may be interactive problem solving that the overhead projector does perfectly. So as in this example we need to realize there are choices we make to determine what works best at a given moment in the instructional process.
Barry Westling
