Education Software

Today, Vince DiStasi, the CIO for Grove City College gave a webinar regarding integrating technology in the classroom in a meaningful way.

Here's an overview from my perspective. The first part focused on the hardware, infrastructure and why it's important to consider several perspectives.

Don't underestimate what you need for your network. Infrastructure is incredibly important. You'll need more bandwidth than what you initially expect.
Hardware that is reliable and quality is important to faculty. They won't want to create a meaningful classroom technology plan if the hardware won't consistently work for them.
Make sure there is enough work space for students (previously this meant actual work space, now that means enough screen real estate on their devices).
Applications supporting the classroom experience are important as well. Some are discipline specific; others will have campus agreements.
Students won't always use the tools if they have them. They must understand what they are and how they are used. For example, students use MS Word to take notes, because that's how they've always taken notes on a computer. Once OneNote is explained (more as a collection tool for gathering information, like note taking), they are more likely to use it.
Why a Tablet PC? A Tablet PC is "a laptop on steroids." It's particularly useful for when a pen/pencil is needed.

The second half of the presentation focused on DyKnow software.

With DyKnow, you're not asking faculty to change a lot about the way they teach. If they write, they write on a Tablet PC instead of a chalkboard.
If they like PowerPoint, they now have a PowerPoint Plug-In to use. They can use existing PowerPoint, create polling questions during prep time, keep animations, and even launch a DyKnow session from PowerPoint.
The DyKnow Suite has many layers -- like an onion.
It's a good tool because most students today are not good note takers -- DyKnow makes it easier for them to understand what is important. But the key is not to make them passive learners. There are interactive tools in DyKnow to ensure students are involved.
The software ensures that students are able to replay all of their notes after class. If a teacher records audio during class, that stays with the notes from class.
A very useful part of DyKnow is that it provides different ways to collect student work. There is no handing out and collecting paper. Everything is done in DyKnow. For example, a quiz is sent to students, collected upon completion, reviewed after class and the graded quiz is sent back to students electronically.
DyKnow is client/server, not peer-to-peer. So it allows student to connect from a distance. They have students in France take a class with students in PA. Students are paired up in a small group, even though they are not physically together.
Another way to collect feedback is through a poll. This way it is anonymous, but the results are there for the entire class to see.
There have to be pedagogical goals (engagements, problem introduction, challenge artifacts, etc) with any sort of activity implemented in DyKnow. Students will know if you are just giving them busy work.
The idea of collaborative note taking is powerful. Faculty determine how much information to give to the students.
What's important to the faculty? The finished product or the process the student took? Replay allows faculty to see the process that the student took.
If you are using small groups, you only have to grade the groups' submission once and it will send the graded paper back to all of the students in that group.

In closing, it's not just about the technology. The infrastructure has to be there and be reliable. In today's world, everything is about access and mobility. The true reason to use technology is to leverage the power to help meet the objectives of the classroom and the school.