There have been several projects that have allowed me to develop technology skills in the classroom. Power points, Web Enhanced Learning, and my faculty Webpage. There are faculty that are not proficient in all levels and I have happily shared whatever expertise with them when they have asked. I have helped Pat Woodbery learn more about WebCT and I believe that she is much more independent with this technology than she was before. We have always had access to the instructional technology people but they are pressed for time and anything that we can teach or help each other with will be a more efficient use of resources. While not specific to the outcomes stated in this LO, I have worked with Rita Swanson and Anita Kavolsky in the development of scenarios for Sim Man in the Foundations course. I input all the voices for the handlers on the program.
I developed Pharmacology Online for the Transition students. This was a first effort and in need of some major work but I believe that we have made some strides. I have taught myself much with respect to WebCT and have much more to learn. I will be putting the seminar piece for the Generic students online this summer. I have plans for some interactive testing and it is my hope to have the entire course up by next Fall 2005 for online. If a course is well designed, any teacher should be able to pick it up and teach it.
Learning Centered teaching strategies rely on the principles that real life examples be used. The internet assignment provides students with the opportunity to see real websites and evaluate them. As stated earlier, patients and their families use the internet as a resource for everything...so do I! I just am more experienced in evaluating the content. Students who are not proficient in the use of the internet will find themselves at a loss in the real world. In order to facilitate learning computer skills, I have placed all notes for the course on my website. On the main page of the site, they will find tools to reinforce math skills, review for the tests, and take practice questions.
Student input on the course was demonstrated with the use a of a flashlight survey. This was done at midterm during the Spring Semester. I also used it for the math component which I will discuss in LO 3. There were 68 respondents and I was trying to evaluate which course tools that the students found most helpful. Overall, most students felt that the course tools helped them to some degree. As a result, none of the tools were removed. I do think that the learning questions and seminars will be changed slightly to accomodate new books, materials, and formats. What I found while teaching Spring 2004, is that students have little tolerence for lack of structure. As this was my first experience leading a course, I have discovered many mistakes that I have made this term regarding structure of the course and organization. I will take this knowledge into the subsequent terms and designs.