Internet And New Media For
Teaching
Parag Shah
Freeman Murray

Agenda
● Learning... before and now
● The shift
● The problem and some solutions
● How the Internet can help us
● Summary

Why The Shift?
● Half life of knowledge is 18 months
– Students will have to deal with totally new knowledge
when they start work
– Teachers have a hard time keeping up with new
advancements in their fields
● People play multiple roles in their career
● Information is available in abundance on the net
● The Internet has made learning interactions
possible

How Do We Adapt To The Shift ?
● Free Teachers Time So They Can Update
Themselves
● Teach Students How To Learn
● Help Create A Culture Of Participatory Networked
Learning
● Create a Learning Trail

Perhaps The Internet Can Help Us
● The Internet is responsible for this mess... It is
right that it gets us out of it as well...
– The Internet is an ever adapting source of information
– The Internet is the world's water cooler
● Synchronous and asynchronous
– The Internet is a hosting platform
● Information
● Applications

Books And The Net
● Books are good but they do not get published as
fast as they should be
● We cannot talk to books
● We cannot change a book after it has been
published
● Books have a high carbon footprint
● We still need books... but we also need the net

Internet Tools
● Blogs
● Podcasts
● Twitter
● Delicious
● Wiki
● Online course management

Blogs
\"A blog is a personal diary. A daily pulpit. A
collaborative space. A political soapbox. A
breaking-news outlet. A collection of links.
Your own private thoughts. Memos to the
world.\"
-- Blogger.com
IT IS REALLY WHAT YOU WANT IT TO BE

Blogging For Teachers And
Students
● It is a micro publishing platform
– It is your own personal academic journal
● It is a network
– Connect with your peers
● It is your learning trail
● A space where teachers and students participate
and collaborate in th process of learning

Some Actionable Items
● Start reading blogs
– Subscribe to blogs in Google Reader
● Participate in the conversation
● Write your own blog
– Free hosting / self hosting
– Maintain the schedule

Podcasts
A podcast is a series of digital media files, usually
digital, audio, or video, that is made available for
download via web syndication.
-- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podcast

How Can We Use Podcasts ?
● Listen to podcasts to keep updated
– Good use of time
● Make some course content (especially
fundamental principles) available as podcasts
● Student can convert their presentations into
podcasts to create a learning trail

Some Actionable Items
● Search the Internet for interesting podcasts
● Subscribe to them in iTunes
● Listen to them on the comuter or on the go
● Record parts of course content and publish it as
podcasts
● Search for audio resources that could offer
extended learning to the students

Screencasting
● Screencasting is recording your screen with an
intention to show “how to do something”
● Succeeds where words can fail
● Excellent tool for education

Screencasting
● Screencasting is recording your screen with an
intention to show “how to do something”
● Succeeds where words can fail
● Excellent tool for education

Some actionable items
● Search relevant screencasts and use them in course
work as supplementary artifacts
● Create screencasts wherever relevant
● Ask students to create screencasts instead of
presentations wherever relevant

Twitter
● Microblogging platform
● Good for quick conversations, sharing links
● A teacher actually asked students to twit while
they were in his class

Some Actionable Items
● Create a Twitter account
● Send out twits about what you learn, what's
important to you, links, ...
● Join the conversations
● Good way to tap into the thoughts of some very
brilliant thinkers

Delicious
● Delicious is social bookmarking
● Maintain your bookmarks on the net
● Share your bookmarks with students and peers

Wiki
● Blogs, podcasts, videos, links
● Notes, FAQs
● Best practices
● A wiki brings them together

Some Actionable Items
● Create a course wiki
● Add content
– Dates
– Relevant material
– Notes
– FAQ's
– Setup instructions
– Assignments

Course Management System vs.
Wiki
● This is an open topic
● There are pros and cons
● Online course management
– Secure
– Good for accepting assignments and publishing grades
● Wiki
– Open
– Accessible to alumni and others
● Maybe we can use both

Course Management System vs.
Wiki
● This is an open topic
● There are pros and cons
● Online course management
– Secure
– Good for accepting assignments and publishing grades
● Wiki
– Open
– Accessible to alumni and others
● Maybe we can use both

Summary
● The Internet is a global classroom
● New media can be used to
– Share
– Stay informed and connected
● Teachers and students participate in creating a
culture of teaching and learning