Interactivity: Lessening the Teacher's Burden and Heightening Student Interest

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Interactivity Lessening the Teacher's Burden and
Heightening Student Interest

• Kara McBride
• Saint Louis University

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Overview

• Key concepts
• Models of classroom interaction
• Example activities

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Key concepts

• Interactivity and interaction
• Millenial students (students of college age now)

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What is interactive

• Active learning
• Computer sense of interactive
• Student-centered, as opposed to teacher-centered
• Constructivism
• Process over product
• Social nature of language

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Interactive, interactivity and interaction

• Real communication
• A conversation
• Keeping their attention
• Can they understand?
• Can they hear?
• Memorable, interesting
• Sometimes very small, technical things can be
  delightful
• Not just display questions

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• The mediocre teacher tells. The good
• teacher explains. The superior teacher
• demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.

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Millenial students

• Computers arent technology.
• The Internet is better than TV.
• Reality is no longer real.
• Doing is more important than knowing.
• Consumer and creator are blurring.
• Learning more closely resembles Nintendo than
  logic.
• Multitasking is a way of life.
• Staying connected is essential.
• There is zero tolerance for delays.
• (Frand, 2000)

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Self-authorship

• Two ways
• Stage of intellectual development
• Students making materials used in class

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Self-authorship

• Stages of intellectual development (Kegan 1982,
  1994 Meszaros 2007)
• From dualism/received knowledge
• To commitment/constructed knowledge

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Self-authorship

• Authenticity, authorship, authority -
• Agency and the presentation of self

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Interactivity in the class
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Example activities
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Student contributions to quizzes and study
material

• Have the students participate in making a quiz or
  study materials
• They send in pictures, Q A
• You edit
• They get thinking about whats more important and
  whats less important
• Pride in their work
• Not purely voluntary

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Student contributions to quizzes and study
material

• Hot Potatoes
• http//web.uvic.ca/hrd/halfbaked/index.htm
• Freeware
• Compatible with several course management systems
  like WebCT
• Can also be used offline
• Many print alternatives as well

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Group projects
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Business meeting

• Handout

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Presentations

• Cultural material
• Story telling

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How do you feel about group work?
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• I honestly dislike most group projects because
  there is always at least one person in the group
  who does not do their part and it seems very
  unfair... However, this is the real world and I
  know I must learn to work together with others,
  so what better time than now to learn?

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Blogging about possible topics
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Blogs

• www.blogger.com
• Baños Ecuador.htm

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Wikis

• http//www.youtube.com/watch?v-dnL00TdmLYfeature
  user
• Film

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Sign up for one

• Tracks all participants contributions
• Interface in English

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Social networking sites?
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Chat or instant messengers

• Commercially available (AOL, Yahoo, etc.)
• Novel activity
• Free of pronunciation worries
• More time to monitor
• More equal participation
• Shyer students, minority groups more
• Teacher less
• Creates transcripts
• Students need to be guided in how to connect

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Product sharing

• Using each others materials, such as study
  guides
• Peer critique, review, response
• Must be well-defined, guided

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Evaluation

• Rubrics
• Involve students in decisions about how to
  evaluate their work

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Student response

• Especially positive response to the extent to
  which the course is personalized
• Topics they choose
• Although slow to grasp that they have a choice
• Having a say in the evaluation, but wanting to
  leave it mostly up to the instructor

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Balance
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Lessening the Teacher's Burden and Heightening
Student Interest

• Could be?

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Thank you!

• ? Contact Dr. McBride kmcbrid8_at_slu.edu
• ?? Give me feedback! See link on
  www.slu.edu/kmcbrid8/