Michelle Miller, the Director of First Year Learning Initiatives and professor of psychological sciences at Northern Arizona University, will present on Teaching Effectively with Technology as part of the Campus Conversation speaker series on key topics in distance education, Friday, February 3 from 11:30-1:00 pm in the City Campus Union. In her book, Minds Online: Teaching Effectively with Technology, Dr. Miller highlights specific strategies and technological tools that give students the opportunity for “effortful practice as a way to master complex skills.” Dr. Miller makes it clear that “technology alone does not promote learning, rather learning requires focused attention, effortful practice, and motivation –concepts that align with recent syntheses of leaning science.”
To help students boost learning, provide many opportunities for them to draw material from memory and use it in different contexts. You can use the online testing features already part Canvas or Blackboard to provide repeated, challenging practice; set up multiple scenarios, simulations, and case studies; or customize the pacing and content for different students. This strategy can be used in fully online courses as well as with online components in traditional face-to-face courses.
Contact Marie Barber at mbarber2@unl.edu for more information.