Every day I hear about more innovations in the delivery of education at every grade level and it amazes me to hear about the technology-based activities kids are involved in these days. I have seen "commercials" created by middle school students that were worthy of television air time. Some local high school students created a web site to teach their peers about the dangers of smoking. But, what I have been most impressed by is the increasing use of technology at Florida Community College Jacksonville (FCCJ).
This blog may be a bit biased as Dr. Jeff Smith heads up the Dental Hygiene program and is a member of the Board of Directors for my organization. Nonetheless, he is inspiring me to dig deeper into my technosoul.
Jeff and other professors at FCCJ are ahead of some of our local universities when it comes to using technology to teach. His newest 32" flat screen monitor (that size was needed for showing a class of students the most current digitally displayed topic) and superfast Mac computer, and the latest versions of video editing and complementary software have me green with envy. (Or maybe that's just because St. Patrick's Day is around the corner!)
The dental program offers most every class session in video format that students can download on to their computer or iPod. In addition, five other programs offer free educational/training videos through iTunesU. There are currently over 250 videos available in Dental Hygiene, Culinary Arts, Math, English, Medical Lab, and Financial Studies.
In addition to the technology being used to teach students, the students are also provided with an opportunity to learn how to podcast and edit videos as part of their homework assignments.
Is Dr. Smith concerned that distance learning may take students away from traditional classroom programs? No. "Why shouldn't a student be able to learn about the anatomy of a central incisor by listening to a lesson while waiting in line for their espresso at Starbucks?" he said. "Isn't it better to utilize the long hours spent in a car commuting to and from school to listen to a lecture on the nervous system of the head rather than a popular music station?"
Hi Teri, nice touch with the personal interview of a medical professional about use of technology in professional training. I've been researching use of distance education innovation in the medical field, and I've become more convinced than ever that the clinical fields are especially good candidates for using technology to enhance the learning experience. Professions like doctors, dentists, etc seem to use alot more high tech solutions in practice than, say, accountants would. So it seems like we should expect the clinical professions to be much more aggressive in using high-tech learning tools.
ReplyDeleteDr. Jeff's offering of all classes in video format seems like a great idea to me!
And by the way, I was really impressed a few years back when my own dentist started using a big screen monitor and camera probe to show me what he'd done in my mouth -- it almost took the sting out of the $1500 I had to pay for a crown! (I said ALMOST).
Thanks for sharing this example of innovation and the comments by Dr Jeff, Sheri
Hello Teri,
ReplyDeleteGreat post and great blog site!
To follow up with Sheri's comments, great idea to interview a professional in the field. I agree with Dr. Jeff about a student being able to use anytime, anyplace time to learn from multimedia sources. As far as podcasts, twitter, wikis and ipod-like devices, the future has arrived--now on to body-teleportation to visit a professor (ala)... Star Trek!
Diane
Hi Teri, I enjoyed your post. I liked the idea that the students get a chance to learn how to do their own podcasts. I would like to cast my vote also that the technology is here - we cannot ignore it! Now to convince the administrators!
ReplyDeleteThis article also reminded me about my own new dentist. When beginning his new practice, he went paperless. Everything is done digitally. It is really nice. Kathy