With a plethora of new technological devices debuting every day, determining which devices are suitable for a teaching environment can be difficult.
“I think that almost 99 percent of new instruments can’t be used in education,” said Susanna Herndon, director of Technology Enhanced Learning in UT’s Division of Instructional Innovation and Assessment. “We look at the 1 percent that can and see how it can be useful on campus.”
Several emerging technologies that could change conventional methods of teaching at the college level were exhibited at the See and Touch Technology Showcase, which was part of the Innovative Instructional Technology Awards Program hosted by the division Tuesday.
The mobile ongoing course assessment, or MOCA, is a program that gives instructors an online tool for getting prompt student feedback through polls, surveys and quizzes. Any device with browser capabilities — including the iPhone and laptops — can use the program to respond to questions posed by instructors.
“The main benefit of MOCA is convenience,” said Francis McGrath, senior systems analyst for the division. “So many students already have phones or devices with browsers, so MOCA will eliminate the need to use different clicker devices in different classes.”
The program will be tested in the summer and ready for use by the fall, McGrath said.
Another new program displayed was Second Life designed for universities, offering a 3-D virtual world built and owned by its users. In the program, users “encounter digital continents affording venues for entertainment, educational experiences and commercial opportunities,” according to the division’s Web site.
Several new and familiar gadgets that were on display could “replace the use of a normal laptop computer,” said Keene Haywood, the division’s manager of new media.
A microprojector that connects to an iPhone, iPod touch and digital cameras to project a 60-inch image would “be very handy for small groups to watch videos and display images,” Haywood said.
The Livescribe Pulse Digital Smartpen could alter note-taking, Haywood said. The pen creates digital copies of everything written, can record audio and uploads the data to a computer, which could then archive the notes and make them searchable.
If the Kindle, an electronic reading device manufactured by Amazon, started to offer electronic textbooks, it would be more convenient to carry instead of normal textbooks, he said.
Other devices on display included handheld video cameras and iPods.
“The only thing missing from this collection is a netbook, which is basically a smaller, low-powered form of a laptop,” he said. “Although all of these items may be expensive, their total value would still be less than that of a traditional laptop.”
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