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Introducing Technology into a No-Tech Zone

As a new professor at UP, Dr. Alice Gates,Assistant Professor in Sociology & Social Work, liked the fact that her students didn’t automatically hide behind laptops in class and many took notes with paper and pen.  But she started to feel as if her position of “no technology in the classroom” was not very well informed.  She became curious enough to explore the use of video in her Social Welfare and Policy class.
Alice Gates Photo

I had a sense there were creative ways to use technology to actually enhance my teaching.  It wasn’t just going to be a distraction…video is everywhere in politics and in lawmaking so it was sort of a natural next step.

Gates’ students were excited about the project, though found it challenging to jump right in.  with support from ATS, digital lab watched student anxiety level diminish the more skills they attained. Gates set aside class time for work periods in the digital lab for students to work on projects with their groups.

According to Gates, the videos are “artifacts” of a process that represented a lot more learning than could be captured in the short videos produced.  Because of this video project, Gates said her students became more critical consumers of media.
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UP TechTalk Podcast Episode 4 transcript

 

Show Notes

To see some of the videos created by Dr. Gates’ students visit

 http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTzxYfk6lRIhQPAFFphOLXsQ-ftUPWZOe

Samuel Williams

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