Ed-Tech List Members,
Our first year students were entering first grade on this date in 2001, when the Twin Towers came down. Most of us lived it, moment by moment. They probably didn't understand what was happening back then, and now,, for many of them, it is history.
One rule of learning is that if something relates to you personally, you learn it better. Experiential learning permanently anchors things. I remember the lack of airplanes in the sky. I remember helping a faculty member from California, caught here with no way to teach his class back there. I remember our students gathering in the UC Lounge, staring at the TVs. I remember the images on TV of the disappearance of the buildings, the people running from the debris field, the posters of missing people, and the digging for survivors.
My brother, Dr. Vilberg, teaches Psychology in upstate Pennsylvania. At the end of every unit/chapter/topic he has his students write in a journal (electronic on Blackboard) "How does this material relate to me, my family, my life, or my experience?" That simple act, which takes no class time, entwines the material with the students' lives and experiences. The material has meaning to them that it would not have otherwise. Their learning is enhanced.
Try asking your students to relate the course material to their lives. Have them write about it. Have them share it with you, and you provide some brief feedback. You may be amazed at their ability to do this and how much it enhances their learning. You might think that this can only be done in a discipline like Psychology or Sociology, but you would be wrong. Whether you ask them or not, students are drawing associations between what you teach and what they have experienced. Getting them to write about that can help both you and them.
Want to use Blackboard for this Journaling activity? Here are some videos and handouts to get your started.
How to Create a Journal (video with audio): http://goo.gl/XkV1p
How to Comment on a Journal Entry (video with audio): http://goo.gl/TH5Dc
Other Uses for Journals (pdf handout): http://goo.gl/P1MwO
Blackboard Interactive Tools, including Journals (pdf handout): http://goo.gl/bc7PU
You can also call 305-284-3949 (8-3949 on campus) 9-5, M-F, for assistance from our Blackboard service desk.
Bill Vilberg
Instructional Advancement Center
Information Technology
Richter Library, Room 325
bill.vilberg@miami.edu
8-3944 or 305-284-3944
Instructional Advancement Center
Information Technology
Richter Library, Room 325
bill.vilberg@miami.edu
8-3944 or 305-284-3944
