technology wherein students reflect on their assumptions and biases, understand diverse points of view, and create new knowledge for others to read, reflect on, and tinker with.
Shared Online Video. While Wikibooks activities have been the most challenging and perhaps exciting technologies we have embarked on, in the fall of 2007, Dr. Lee and I found a simple way to embed technology in our classes while empowering and motivating students—this approach involved shared online video presentations of course concepts. Prior to the start of the fall semester, Dr. Lee and I discussed how to motivate our students in weekly lectures and discussions. One activity we incorporated into our classes was the use of a cool resource provider. Students signed up to be a cool resource provider for one week of the semester. They could have been a cool resource provider alone or with a partner. We asked the ―Cool Resource Provider‖ to ―explore the Web resources for the course, for the week, and beyond the course and present them to the class.‖ Such work might include online psychology tests, simulations, animations, models, videos, or audio clips, etc. as well as paperbased information. A corresponding handout was helpful but not required. The presentation took from a mere 4-5 minutes to perhaps an hour or more followed by question and answers from the class and explorations in a computer lab or at home after class. The cool resource provider(s) might also be asked to help moderate discussion for that week by introducing and briefly summarizing some of the ideas from the chapter as well as a few starter questions and controversial issues.
The majority of what students discovered and presented was online resources and ideas related to their content. Some students decided to create PowerPoint presentations, others moved the class to a computer lab for guided Web safaris of resources that they had found, and still others showed specific Web sites and online videos after which they fostered interactive small and whole group class discussions and reflections. It was not the particular format of their presentation that was important but the fact that students were empowered to be the instructors of the class. By the end of the semester, it was clear from these presentations that there are a plethora of Web portals and online resources for learning theory and instructional design.
Dr. Lee and I used the same books, assignments, agenda, and course activities. As part of these efforts, we shared with each other videos that related to each