SMARTboard

Jason Woollard, Ph.D Physical Therapy

Admin

Overview

Over the past year I have used technology to enhance student engagement in the classroom using SMARTboards and PollEverywhere.  My main technology project has been to determine the best method by which to allow students in their PBL groups to easily share and present journal articles and website information during their PBL sessions.  This will be done using Google Drive.

Implementation

PollEverywhere was used in our Research/Evidence-based Practice courses to allow me to assess students’ understanding of course concepts.  The instant answers can be viewed by everyone in the class and the results used to discuss concepts that appear to be misunderstood.

Google Drive will be used this summer in our Musculoskeletal course to allow students to easily exchange and view each others shared materials during each PBL session.

Success/Challenges

Our students have reported PollEverywhere to be a worth-while tool for quickly assessing their understanding of course concepts.

While we will not be implementing the use of Google Drive until April, the process of choosing a software allowed me to consider the strengths/weaknesses of using Evernote versus Mahara versus Google Drive for facilitating this hopefully improved level of collaboration and group interaction during PBL.

Perceived Value

Currently, during PBL sessions, it is difficult for students to share with the group journal articles or valuable websites that a student has found.  Hopefully, Google Drive will allow everyone to see the same material (presented on the SMARTboard) as the person presenting and will result in improved discussions within the PBL group.

Pat Downey

Pat Downey, Ph.D. Physical Therapy

Admin

Dr. Downey explored the use of the interactive SMARTboard to enhance group interaction along with viewing items such as radiology images, patient videos and EKG strips related to the patient cases. Dr. Downey also incorporated Poll Everywhere into lectures to increase student interaction and confirm their understanding of complex material. Most recently she has been using the iPad to teach surface anatomy palpation in a clinical skills course. The musculoskeletal anatomy apps have become great teaching tools since they allow for 2 dimensional viewing. This past term she used Panopto with the SMARTboard and her cell phone as a recording device to capture Electrotherapy lectures. In addition, the PT faculty are experimenting with their faculty meetings held remotely in Google Hangout.

The biggest challenge during the past 2 years of being a faculty technology fellow were dedicating the time to explore and learn new technologies. Having the accountability of a fellows program really helped with that. Knowing that we had monthly meetings where we updated each other on our projects was invaluable. I learned as much from their projects as I did from mine.

The biggest success I have had is not related to the individual teaching projects or  technology that I have mastered but rather my attitude toward using technology. I have overcome much of my own personal resistance and am more willing to devote the time and energy to dabbling in new technologies. Knowing that I have access to excellent support (Chatham Technology Specialists: Lauren Panton and Becky Bush) makes it doable!

I would highly recommend being a Chatham Faculty Technology Fellow to anyone and everyone on faculty. There are wonderful benefits to both the nervous novice (me) and the experienced faculty geek. A wonderful additional benefit is getting to know faculty who you might not otherwise cross paths with. I had a great time getting to know: Dave Fraser, Kyle Beidler, Kathleen Sullivan, Mary Jo Loughran and Emily Eckel.