People constantly build models of real world systems to inform activities like business strategies, classroom technology deployments or a software development project. This model takes some subset of real-world conditions, make assumptions, which then drive the project. And often the solution will influence user behavior — the medium is the message. The world is constantly changing, and so must our models and resulting assumptions and solutions. And at one university their model of the classroom no longer includes PowerPoint.
These days it is not hard for students to have personal technologies that surpass what is available in their classrooms. So why not take advantage of these to extend learning activities outside of the classroom. Perhaps it could reduce the amount of physical time needed in the classroom. Use the classroom time for the one communication in which it excels — face-to-face discussion. Save the one-to-many communications for out-of-class, internet-based technologies. The world is changing, and the model we base our decisions on needs to change to. As a bonus we all gotta cut our budgets, so classroom technology replacements can now take the hit.
The Wired Campus – Can Removing Computers From Classrooms Improve Teaching? – The Chronicle of Higher Education
The dean, José A. Bowen, wants to discourage professors from using PowerPoint because they often lean on the slide-display program as a crutch rather than using it as a creative tool. Class time should be reserved for discussion, he contends, especially now that students can download lectures online and find libraries of information on the Web.
Systems thinking – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Systems thinking is any process of estimating or inferring how local policies, actions, or changes influences the state of the neighboring universe.
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Randall Rode's online home for thoughts, notes, and experiments with a wide range of technology topics. Visit the about page for info on my recent projects and professional background. I welcome your comments!
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