Capturing Learning Moments Digitally

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Enhancing Learning

Capturing Learning Moments Digitally

2/20/2008

By Ruth Reynard

Wherever there has been a black board, a white board, or a flip chart, there have been messages left in desperation warning those next in a classroom not to touch what was written or drawn or diagrammed on the particular surface provided. For those coming into the room to teach, it can be both annoying and frustrating.

How can alternative surfaces be found? Who would know if I erased it? This is impolite and not at all collegial! Whatever the actual words expressed, the feelings are legitimate particularly when faced with your own group of students with whom you have to work for the next 50 minutes or so and for whom your best diagrams or notes must be provided.

Therefore, the idea of capturing learning moments is not new. Teachers have always been aware that if something must be written or graphically represented in order that students understand, then it is of the utmost importance that it remain intact so that every thought, every idea or connecting point can be captured and that an effective continuation of the work already done can take place. Teachers have also always realized how wonderful it would be if that one moment of brilliance or that one experience with students during which everyone was engaged and students reached a new level of understanding could be captured and demonstrated again in the future for other, perhaps struggling students.

The Digital Tools
While the need for capturing learning moments is not new for teachers, some of the new digital tools for capturing remain unfamiliar--if not in knowledge, then in application. Teachers remain aloof and distant from some of the digital tools available that can capture and distribute learning moments more efficiently than ever before.

Interactive Whiteboards
These boards have been around for quite some time, and we now have several "variations on the theme," so to speak. Most of the boards offer similar functionally and provide opportunities for brainstorming with students and capturing concept maps, dialog sessions, and conversations about topics, ideas, graphics, etc. Interactive boards also provide an opportunity to collaborate on the development of various content themes or ideas and promote student involvement. While many classrooms now have interactive boards, the use in instruction often remains two-dimensional and teacher-driven, rather than collaborative and student-driven. Most faculty like the idea that PowerPoint screens can now be progressed by the touch of the board and that various graphics can be projected and discussed more effectively in class. Some teachers also enjoy writing on the interactive boards but remain distant from the full capturing and distribution capability of the technology. Now, with multi-sensory or multi-touch screens, more can be achieved in screen manipulation and dimensions. While some distance educators use these boards as an online teaching tool in video conferencing, for example, as the flow of instruction still remains mostly teacher-driven, the full implications of the interactivity are not maximized. Again, the technology itself will not increase interactivity or student engagement, only the actual applied use of the technology in the teaching and learning process, together with intentional instructional design can accomplish those outcomes.