College classrooms go high-tech to engage students

NEW YORK — Unlike many teachers, Beth Simon hasn't banned her college students from using their cell phones or the Internet during class.

Instead, the computer science professor encourages them to text message responses to her questions and research information on the Web while she is lecturing.

"They're going to use it no matter what," said Simon, of the University of California, San Diego. "How do you use this ubiquitous technology that's out there to change the dynamic of the classroom, to engage the students?"

The measure of a technology-enhanced campus used to be the number of computer labs and whether there was wireless access, but fast-paced advancements have destroyed the boundaries of classrooms, said Glenn Platt, professor of interactive media studies at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.

Some professors make their lectures available as podcasts, provide live streaming video of classes and maintain discussion boards so students can post questions. They encourage tweeting, blogging and chatting online with other students.

That's what it takes to engage this generation, said Gary Rudman, who has a consulting firm that studies teens and young adults. His GTR Consulting recently released a report on teens and technology.

"Technology is such an inherent part of their lives," he said. "They have come to expect it every step of the way. When they come to college, they are expecting this technology to be incorporated into their learning."

Schools are catching on. Scott McLeod, an associate professor of educational leadership and policy studies at Iowa State in Ames, has a backchannel, an online secondary conversation, where students can share information, ask questions, such as 'What did he just say?' and chat about a concept while he is teaching it. Think whispering to the friend next to you in a lecture. (Many people use Twitter as a backchannel).

Some may see this as a distraction, but students are used to multitasking, he said.

Classes are changing as a result of technology. Professors are not so much people who stand and spout facts with students taking notes, Platt said. The Internet has all of the information. And students aren't going to come to class for a lecture if it's on a podcast.

So that means many instructors are trying to make the classroom more interactive.