CoAS moves to implement technology based learning
Carter Membrino
Issue date: 6/4/04 Section: News
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This fall, Drexel will begin offering new online courses in forensic science and organic chemistry under the College of Arts and Sciences.
"What we are trying to do is to provide tools to the faculty that will make their teaching better," Coordinator for e-Learning for CoAS Jean-Claude Bradley said.
Bradley also teaches the organic chemistry course.
Bradley's class is not completely online; it is a hybrid, incorporating online technologies into a normal classroom environment. One of the tools that he uses is a Smart Board, a marker board that records everything that is written on it digitally.
Each lesson, a record of what the teacher wrote on the board and video of Bradley teaching are placed on WebCT. Bradley tells his students to use Media Site Live Viewer, a program that synchronizes the data from the board with video of the lesson. This gives students the ability to move back and forth through each lesson.
Currently, Drexel has one room with a Smart Board available to CoAS. Other technologies that are being considered include pen tablets and laptop computers that a user can write on with a special pen. These tablets can be connected to a projector, displaying the lesson to the class while simultaneously recording it for online use.
Bradley said that the three most important aspects of any online class are the interaction between students and teachers, content of the courses, and the assessment of students. Interaction can take place through e-mail, online forums and chat rooms. Content includes homework and multi-media. Assessments include video surveillance of exams, which is done through the Korman Center.
An online course can also provide instantaneous feedback to the teacher through the use of surveys. A teacher can ask the students for comments or complaints, and then they can adjust their course accordingly.
Steve Smith, director of engineering management, is involved with online coursework with the College of Engineering.
"What we are trying to do is to provide tools to the faculty that will make their teaching better," Coordinator for e-Learning for CoAS Jean-Claude Bradley said.
Bradley also teaches the organic chemistry course.
Bradley's class is not completely online; it is a hybrid, incorporating online technologies into a normal classroom environment. One of the tools that he uses is a Smart Board, a marker board that records everything that is written on it digitally.
Each lesson, a record of what the teacher wrote on the board and video of Bradley teaching are placed on WebCT. Bradley tells his students to use Media Site Live Viewer, a program that synchronizes the data from the board with video of the lesson. This gives students the ability to move back and forth through each lesson.
Currently, Drexel has one room with a Smart Board available to CoAS. Other technologies that are being considered include pen tablets and laptop computers that a user can write on with a special pen. These tablets can be connected to a projector, displaying the lesson to the class while simultaneously recording it for online use.
Bradley said that the three most important aspects of any online class are the interaction between students and teachers, content of the courses, and the assessment of students. Interaction can take place through e-mail, online forums and chat rooms. Content includes homework and multi-media. Assessments include video surveillance of exams, which is done through the Korman Center.
An online course can also provide instantaneous feedback to the teacher through the use of surveys. A teacher can ask the students for comments or complaints, and then they can adjust their course accordingly.
Steve Smith, director of engineering management, is involved with online coursework with the College of Engineering.
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