Organising and using resources
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It is an important part of planning a subject or a single teaching session to ensure in advance that all necessary resources are available to you and the students. When planning a subject, make sure all the books or other materials students will need to use are available from the bookshop, library or other source. Arrange with your faculty's liaison librarian to place required reference books in closed reserve.
Check well in advance that the room you have been allocated is the right size. It is easier to get a different room allocated before the semester starts than afterwards. Try to think of alternative teaching plans to suit the type of room available if you have not been allocated the one you want.
The properly integrated use of audio-visual equipment can be of great educational value by giving students an additional 'window of understanding' of subject content. If you plan to use audio-visual equipment or other teaching aids in a class, check in advance that they work properly, that you know how to work them, that they are actually present in the room before you need them, and that they can be clearly seen and/or heard by everybody in the room. Some audio-visual resources can be arranged through your School or Faculty, or contact Audio Visual Services (AVS). AVS can also provide advice and assistance on setting up and using equipment. It is advisable to contact them if you need support with using the lecterns available in some lecture theatres. Also, consider when you are evaluating the subject, to include an evaluation of the effectiveness of the teaching resources that you are using. If you are using resources from AVS let them know how effective these resources were and any recommendations that you might think about.
Further information on the use of overhead projectors, slides, chalkboards, computer projections and whiteboards is given in the following pages.
The Chalkboard/Whiteboard
The board is the most common visual aid. Its great virtues are cheapness, simplicity and flexibility.
Techniques to improve board presentation:
- Is it appropriate to use the board? Boards are useful for listing points writing down new terminology or developing an example along with the students. If you intend students to have a copy of large amounts of information, complex diagrams etc., it is better to use a handout then spend the class time explaining or elaborating on it.
- Try to avoid talking and writing on the board at the same time whenever possible. Students are likely to copy what you write, but not listen to what you are saying. Look at audience when speaking to facilitate hearing of what is being said.
- Always give students a chance to copy down the information you have taken time to put on the board (if it is intended that they should have a copy). Wait until they have finished writing and you have their attention before explaining the information. This will give students more of an opportunity to think about what you are saying.
- Plan your use of the board. This may be done quite simply by dividing board space into two or three vertical sections. These sections may be used for skeleton notes, diagrams and new terminology. Let students know what the different sections mean.
- Start a presentation with a clean board.
- Face the board squarely and move across the board when writing. This will assist in writing horizontally.
- Stand aside when writing or drawing is completed to enable audience to see the board.
- Concise information in skeleton note form is more effective than a 'newspaper' effect.
- Underline headings and important or unfamiliar words to give visual emphasis, or capitalise.
- Use colours liberally but with discretion. Yellow and white are suitable colours for most blackboard work. Dark blue and black are most suitable on white boards.
- Use erasable pen on whiteboards.
PowerPoint slides and Transparencies for OHP
Slides and transparencies can be useful for displaying the main points of a lecture, for showing diagrams, illustrations or simple tables. They are also easy to display and there is a danger of showing too much and too quickly, so that students spend all their time copying and little time thinking about the material. If you intend students to have copies of detailed sets of notes, complex diagrams or tables, it is better to give them a handout. It is also easy to end up with a series of dot points which all seem to be at the same level of importance and make it hard for students to see the structure of a lecture session.
Whether you're using PowerPoint or another program or preparing transparencies, it is important to note:
- Don't try to fit too much on the slide - four or five points or one diagram or table is appropriate
- Fonts should be no smaller than 18 point for small rooms, larger for lecture theatres (24 point)
- Typewritten material and photocopies from books must be enlarged several times for overhead projection. Check whether your overheads can be read from the back of the room.
- Try to use slides to highlight main conceptual points.
- Use blank OHPs or slides so that definitions from student discussions can be easily recorded to promote and debrief class discussion.
- Allow students to construct their own visual maps. Use butcher's paper and marker or give each group a transparency and a pen. They can brainstorm ideas and express them on these media and explain the results to the class as part of a de-briefing session. Students often enjoy doing this and they can demonstrate their creative skills.
E-Learning and Interactive Multimedia
New technologies should be used in the most appropriate way to provide a quality, learning experience for students. This necessitates taking a course/subject-based approach to the design of a learning experience which is focussed on the learner:
- what and how do we want students to learn?
- what and how do students want to learn?
- what is best learned face-to-face?
- what is best learned through other media eg. print, online, video?
The most effective kind of learning experience is determined not by the technology available, but by considering what is most appropriate for the students, the subject and the learning objectives and then selecting the most appropriate technology to use, be it a book, an online discussion a multimedia simulation, or a workplace experience.
Remember to keep the students needs at the centre of any e-learning initiative.
E-Learning is a broad term for any form of learning using technology. Increasingly, e-learning involves the use of the internet for interaction between learners and acces to a diversity of learning resources.
Some of the kinds of interactivity possible online or by using other forms of multimedia are:
- participation in conversations/ conferences via the Internet (tutorials, virtual conferences etc)
- electronic publishing, for example, the Sydney Morning Herald,
- games
- testing out theories using simulations eg what-if scenarios
- practice and feedback eg. self testing knowledge via online quizzes
- watching/listening to new ideas via MM presentations (for example; KMi Stadium) or participation in LISTSERVs
The Institute for Interactive Media and Learning (IML) run forums and events for staff and provide support and advice to Faculty groups on e-learning and related areas. Events are open to all staff, academic and support, of the university and are free of charge.
UTSOnline
If you decide that online learning is appropriate for your students and subject, you can choose to use UTSOnline. UTSOnline is the UTS name for a centrally supported web-based learning system (Blackboard). It is available for access by all UTS academics and students. IML can help with learning design and academic support for UTSOnline and also manages an online learning forum called UTSOnline community where users can learn from each other by exchanging online learning ideas, sharing tips and accessing some general resources.
The URL for UTSOnline is http://online.uts.edu.au
The UTSOnline home page has links to an instructor manual, a student manual and a website with information on how to request accounts for your subjects. The ITD flexible learning team provides technical support for UTSOnline and administers accounts and student enrolment processes.