> Tbers, The posting below looks at "Teaching in the Era of YouTube,"and points to some interesting new technologies for stimulating student thinking. The article is by Kendall Madden a science-writing intern with the Stanford News Service, on a presentation by Professor Tom Byers of Stanford University as pat of the "Award-Winning Teachers on Teaching" series sponsored by the Stanford Center for Teaching and Learning. The article is from the Stanford Report, March 7, 2007, Volume XXXIX, No. 19, http://news.stanford.edu © Stanford University. All Rights Reserved. Reprinted with permission. > 'The Brave New World' of > Classroom Technology > > Tom Byers, faculty director of the Stanford Technology Ventures > Program, gave a talk as part of the "Award-Winning Teachers on > Teaching" series. > > Teaching in the technology age can be daunting, even for Tom Byers, > a seasoned professor (teaching) of management science and > engineering. "It's a brave new world of technology out there, and I > am just a professor of entrepreneurship in the School of > Engineering trying to make my way," Byers said Feb. 22 during his > "Award-Winning Teachers on Teaching" lecture, hosted by the Center > for Teaching and Learning. > > Despite his humble protestations, Byers, the founder and faculty > director of the Stanford Technology Ventures Program, is an > international leader in technology entrepreneurship education. The > McCoy University Fellow in Undergraduate Education, he has received > Stanford's Walter J. Gores Award for Excellence in Teaching, the > School of Engineering's Tau Beta Pi Award for excellence in > undergraduate teaching and three recent national teaching awards. > > "Today there will be no death by PowerPoint," Byers announced to > the group of about 40 students and educators gathered in the > Hartley Conference Center to hear his lecture, titled "Teaching in > the Era of YouTube." "We are just going to use everything else. I > am going to show you some of the tools I use when I teach." > > Byers then took his audience on a tour through Educators Corner > (http://edcorner.stanford.edu/), a website dense with multimedia > teaching resources, such as video clips and audio podcasts of > various professionals speaking about their experience and thoughts > on entrepreneurship. He showed the audience two thought-provoking > video clips featuring Kavita Ramdas, chief executive officer of the > Global Fund for Women, and Guy Kawasaki, managing director of > Garage Technology Ventures. > > "Why might I use these in a class setting?" Byers queried the > crowd. Some audience members said clips give students exposure to a > diversity of voices in a lecture, whereas others pointed out they > help with pacing. Byers said the clips also allow the professor to > jumpstart conversations, as for example, in Kawasaki's video, where > he says the point of entrepreneurship is making meaning above > making money. > > Audio podcasts have many of the same advantages as video clips. But > Byers said he has found the visual component more engaging for > students in a class setting. Podcasts could be used for class > assignments, he recommended. > > Teachers can use a host of other technologies to enhance their > courses and students' learning experiences, Byers said. These > include course-specific websites with available resources and > links, wikis, animations, simulations and course discussion boards. > > But simply having technology at hand is not enough, Byers said. > Instructors must stimulate their students to want to use it. > "Unless I show that I am excited about this technology and care > about it, the students will not care about it." Byers gave an > example of his experience running the Mayfield Fellowship course, a > work/study program designed to teach students about > entrepreneurship strategies while providing them with a hands-on > internship experience with a local start-up. "When I stopped > posting on our course discussion board, the students also stopped > posting as often," he said. > > Byers acknowledged that the use of technology has a few caveats. > For example, technology tools are not substitutes for good teachers > and good teaching. Some things may still need to be taught the old- > fashioned way, with chalk and chalkboard, Byers said. > > Incorporating technology into a class session also can greatly > increase the amount of prep time involved. For a two-hour class, > Byers said it takes him eight hours to prepare. And the creation of > a website like the Educators Corner requires a great deal of > technical expertise as well as funding. Byers gave significant > credit to the technicians who, according to him, had done much of > the heavy lifting in the creation of the website. Robyn Dunbar, > senior associate director of the Center for Teaching and Learning, > added that departments and disciplines are increasingly encouraging > the use of these types of tools and investing in them. > > "The possibilities are very exciting," Byers said. "Ten years from > now I'll be saying, 'Remember when I gave that lecture on classroom > technologies? Look what's happened since.'" > > © Stanford University. All Rights Reserved. Stanford, CA 94305. > (650) 723-2300.