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David Schaal, the Lead Multimedia Instructor in Boulder’s Technology, Arts, & Media Program (T.A.M.), discussed the digital platforms he employed in his classes over the past several years to improve accountability and student participation in his Teaching with Technology presentation. Through testing various mediums to present class information, Instructor Schaal  has been trying to figure out the best ways for his students to receive information, read the given articles, and become more actively engaged with the material outside the class. Over the course of his presentation, Schaal discussed the different platforms, which ones worked, and which ones were ineffective.

For some reason, college students of today are less likely to read the corresponding course materials than their peers of the past. This situation is a challenge that every professor faces and one that Schaal seeks to fix. In his foundation class, the Meaning of Information Technology, students have many articles to read.  These readings are necessary for the students' participation in class as they must possesses a clear understanding of information technology. Over the years though, it became apparent that not all the students read the course materials. Some of the initial methods Schaal used include pop quizzes and clicker questions, but he found these techniques were not the most effective. When blogging first came out, students in Schaal’s class were expected to maintain their online journals about the class readings. However, all the posts would not aggregate in one place, making it too consuming to actually read through all the posts. Then all the students posts would be aggregated, but this technique proved to be too time consuming as it was impossible to read all their posts.

Some of the platforms that were used in the Meaning of Information Technology class over the years include Wiki, Ning, and GoingOn. In 2008, Schaal first used Wiki in his class and found that it was effective in generating stronger student participation as he would ask a question, and then students would respond. Unfortunately, the university did not like this system as the administration did not have direct access to the website, so Instructor Schaal tried out a few more systems. Ning, although it was decent,  it required a fee for usage, which did not seem worth it. Currently, GoingOn, a private academic social network, is the digital medium Schaal uses in his classes and he find that it helps to improve the out-of-classroom experience. First off, the syllabus includes embedded hyperlinks to the text, making it easier for students to access course information. Also this system includes a forum feature, which allows the class to engage in discussions while outside of the classroom. So far GoingOn has been successful in encouraging students to participate more and having them read the course materials.

Through trial and error, Schaal has been trying to determine how to effectively leverage technological resources to improve the student’s educational experience.  Although the perfect method has not been found, appropriate use of technology will continue to improve education for both the instructor and the students. Professors now possess more tools to hold students accountable, while students gain a stronger classroom experience.