Please answer the following question so that we may pre-assess your level of knowledge about this topic: What are Moodle, Padlet, Xtranormal, Vidyo and MOOC s? Thanks to our ability to collect instant polling data, we know that you correctly chose (d). Congratulations. For a long time now, technology has promised to revolutionize education. And with some notable exceptions, such as the printing press and nuns with rulers, technology has mostly failed. Despite advances through the centuries, most learning still happens the way it did in the days of Plato and Confucius: A learned instructor, the “sage on the stage,” imparts knowledge directly to a group of gathered students. But instructional technology might finally be living up to its promise. In fact, some say a revolution in education, like the technology revolutions that have rocked many businesses in recent years, is brewing. Like those changes, the educationtechnology revolution is not an overnight development. Instead, it is slowly but steadily making its impact felt. While the typical college lecture is still the mainstay in many courses and will be useful long into the future, today’s Bellarmine student often experiences something like this: After reading a chapter of an e-book on her iPad, a student takes a brief quiz online before coming to class in order to assess her own comprehension. When she comes to class, her professor divides the class into groups, where students use what they’ve already learned to define and solve a problem. Walking around the room and interacting with the groups, the professor is more of a facilitator of student-centered 22 BELLARM INE MAGAZINE learning than a lecturer. The professor might show a brief TED Talk or a portion of an online lecture by a distinguished professor from Harvard or Stanford. Using iPad education apps like NearPod or remote-control clickers, the professor might quiz students instantly to assess their understanding and decide whether to move on or go back over a lesson. One or more of the students might not even be in the classroom, but might attend class remotely via video teleconferencing because of illness, service-learning travel or an away game. Later, our hypothetical student might seek help from her professor via Google Hangout or work on a document in real time over the Internet using Google Docs. While not all of that technology is pervasive on campus today, it is fast becoming more mainstream, according to Shawn Apostel, the instructional technology specialist in Bellarmine’s Office of Academic Affairs. Hired in January, Dr. Apostel is a web designer and an expert in multimodal communication, which is a fancy way of saying communication that takes advantage of a variety of forms, including text, video, and various internet technologies. He holds a Ph.D. in rhetoric and technical communication and will also teach Multimedia Communication at BU this fall. But his day job is to serve as the new campus liaison between faculty and the daunting world of information technology. His goal is to “help faculty and students get the best kind of teaching and learning experience,” he said. Note that that doesn’t mean an impetuous dash into technology. “Some faculty are hesitant, and that’s a good thing,” he said. “We don’t want to dive in headfirst. We have to be calculated and deliberate so that every change we make has the support we need to make it happen.” But Dr. Apostel believes that technology can “liberate professors from the podium. What we can do here at Bellarmine is create a safe, academic learning experience that’s actually hands on – where students experience learning in social, emotional, physical, kinesthetic ways. Our research shows that lectures don’t work as effectively as engaged, student-centered learning. When you look at how much students have memorized from a lecture – a week, two weeks later – it’s much lower.” Dr. Apostel also has a secondary mission: to help students with dyslexia, attention deficit disorder and other learning disabilities. “I’m dyslexic. I’ve always had learning disabilities,” he said. “I’m also a graphic designer, and I’m very visual. With these technologies we can bring a liberal arts degree to the Bill Gatses and Steve Jobses, who learn visually.” He likens technology to the ramps, automatic doors and other features that make campus buildings accessible to physically disabled students. “We can have more dyslexic Ph.D.s, more ADD Ph.D.s – people who are normally not interested in an academic learning environment because they don’t learn that way.” Instructional technology is also a natural for millennial students, who are technology natives, Dr. Apostel said. “Our faculty know that technology is changing the way we teach and the way students learn. They see that their students are different. Smartphones have changed everything. Students have access to more information on their phones than I did in my entire library as an undergrad.” One techie who’s pushing the boundaries is Beth Ennis, assistant professor in the physical therapy program. Bellarmine gives all physical therapy students iPads, and Dr. Ennis uses them extensively in her teaching. “Our students read electronic textbooks on it,” she said. “They do their a. The newest residence halls on campus b. Dr. McGowan’s nicknames for five of his vice presidents c. The security codenames of the BU shuttle drivers d. Products in the burgeoning field of instructional technology
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