Spring Break
Technology upgrades in store for five university buildings
Brenna McCabe
Issue date: 9/17/08 Section: News
09/17/08 - Most professors don't encourage students to use Wikipedia, but Wikispaces, where anyone can create their own site on a topic, have become a different story.
As part of a technological upgrade through a $5.6 million state grant, pre- and in-service instructors are starting to find more ways to incorporate technology into their classrooms. The state grant comes as part of the New Order, Multi-Modal Advanced-Design (NOMAD) initiative, working to create classrooms to keep up with the ever-growing demand for more efficient, stimulating activities.
Last Friday, the Governor's K-16 Council met and discussed the ongoing use of technology in higher education classrooms in Rhode Island, including those in the University of Rhode Island, Rhode Island College and the Community College of Rhode Island.
Director of the School of Education David Byrd and David Porter, director of media and technology services, provided the K-16 Council with classroom models for higher and secondary education.
Included in their Power Point presentation were short videos of instructors and students using devices like Tablet PCs and the iClicker.
"Classes run so much better with Wikispaces and Smartboards," URI senior Neil Gagnon said in an interview yesterday. "It's so much more proficient with technology."
Gagnon, a secondary education and history major, said he hopes to incorporate e-mail and Wikispaces when he becomes a student-teacher during the spring semester.
"I think college students really take technology for granted," he said. "You'd think middle schoolers in Newport would know how to use the Internet, but there are those that may not know how to use it effectively. It's always useful to integrate it into all of your lessons."
Gagnon said many of his friends were already keeping on top of new technological developments in their own classrooms.
"One education major taught fifth grade students last year and had them upload one of their projects on Wikispace," he said. "He collaborated with a school in Australia and the kids exchanged posts. They were kind of like, 'Hey, I have a pen pal in Australia now. That's kind of cool.' I think kids are more inclined in their effort to work hard when we can give them tools like this."
As part of a technological upgrade through a $5.6 million state grant, pre- and in-service instructors are starting to find more ways to incorporate technology into their classrooms. The state grant comes as part of the New Order, Multi-Modal Advanced-Design (NOMAD) initiative, working to create classrooms to keep up with the ever-growing demand for more efficient, stimulating activities.
Last Friday, the Governor's K-16 Council met and discussed the ongoing use of technology in higher education classrooms in Rhode Island, including those in the University of Rhode Island, Rhode Island College and the Community College of Rhode Island.
Director of the School of Education David Byrd and David Porter, director of media and technology services, provided the K-16 Council with classroom models for higher and secondary education.
Included in their Power Point presentation were short videos of instructors and students using devices like Tablet PCs and the iClicker.
"Classes run so much better with Wikispaces and Smartboards," URI senior Neil Gagnon said in an interview yesterday. "It's so much more proficient with technology."
Gagnon, a secondary education and history major, said he hopes to incorporate e-mail and Wikispaces when he becomes a student-teacher during the spring semester.
"I think college students really take technology for granted," he said. "You'd think middle schoolers in Newport would know how to use the Internet, but there are those that may not know how to use it effectively. It's always useful to integrate it into all of your lessons."
Gagnon said many of his friends were already keeping on top of new technological developments in their own classrooms.
"One education major taught fifth grade students last year and had them upload one of their projects on Wikispace," he said. "He collaborated with a school in Australia and the kids exchanged posts. They were kind of like, 'Hey, I have a pen pal in Australia now. That's kind of cool.' I think kids are more inclined in their effort to work hard when we can give them tools like this."
