Customer Reviews

Using Technology in Teaching

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This book is central to improving teaching and learning. The 'easy to do' technological alternatives presented in this book are founded in educational research and designed to make a positive difference in the student learning experience. Instructors who aim to advance their teaching should read this book as should instructors who are uneasy about using technology. This book is perfect for faculty development programs.

Attention Students! Using Technology in Teaching, by William Clyde and Andrew Delohery, is designed to assist professors in utilizing technology in their classrooms. It is rare to find a text intended for faculty that aids the student as well. As a returning student, I was confronted with professors who had decided to "get on board" with the new technology and, instead of being handed a syllabus, was told to find it on WebCt (similar to Blackboard), a campus-wide computer link. Although familiar with simple Mac and PC programs, this would be a new arena. This book skips the initiation to the computer-the baby steps-and assumes the reader has basic computer skills. Perfect. I didn't have to wade through information I already know. Instead, the text takes you to the next level, how to navigate within a course management system (i.e. WebCt and Blackboard). Set up in easy to follow chapters, Using Technology also highlights new vocabulary that is critical to understanding the text. Also, the included CD provides tutorials, specifically from the "Student's View," which were concise and easy to follow.

Overall, this book is a must have for any student, both those returning to college after an absence, as well as, incoming freshmen. Using Technology in Teaching is destined to become as crucial for students as their St. Martin's Handbook.

The authors have created a collection of technology solutions to routine learning management needs in college courses. The book is a kind of cookbook with lots of recipes for particular occasions. I also found that reading it straight through served as a compilation of the many technological tools for teaching and learning (in my case, it was fun to see how many of their solutions I already knew and which ones were new to me).

I know of NO other book that approaches this subject this way. The work is original in organization and supported with appropriate research. What is more important is that the technological interventions that are proposed are, in fact, standard, tested, ready-for-prime-time uses of technology. The authors are not proposing new or unusual uses of technology to enhance teaching and learning. The strength of their materials is that they are suggesting the Best Practices in this area.

If I was a faculty technology support person (and I was), I would want copies of this book to hand out to my faculty. The work is not platform specific, so it would work at either a Blackboard or a WebCT campus.

The style, coverage, and pacing are all fine. Because the authors are encouraging readers to pick sections as they need them, they must repeat certain items (like the warnings about being sure students have appropriate access to computers or various technologies). These repetitions don't bother the reader who is moving through the whole book because they quickly learn to skip them. The book has a rhythm and uses it to assist the reader in organizing the multiple solutions (and the use of some solutions for multiple problems). The hyperlinked vocabulary is thorough, so there is no techno-babble issue.