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LEARNING TECHNOLOGY DISSEMINATION INITIATIVE |
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Route map: Home Publications UseIT Thinking about CBL
So you're thinking about using CBL... |


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'What do I need to consider before I begin?'
A few challenges facing you and your teaching
- the drive to improve the quality and effectiveness of teaching
- the problems of time, and the balance between research, other
activities, and teaching
- the need to increase the attractiveness of courses in the
face of 'competition' in the 'market'
- the need to cater for greater numbers of students, from varied
backgrounds, and to broaden access (and to offer non-traditional
entry methods) to courses, and to support different forms of transfer
into HE
- the need to provide more flexible patterns of learning
- the desire to keep up with technological developments - for
example e-mail and the Internet
- the expectation of students that you will be ace researcher,
top manager and brilliant orator rolled into one
What are the broad aims of the course or module?
- to train students in a range of subject specific techniques
- to enable students to develop practical skills
- to encourage students to participate actively in learning
and to fully understand material
- to help students learn and remember a series of facts
- to encourage students to work collaboratively and to discuss
and argue issues and cases
- to encourage students' interest and competence in using IT
methods
What are your own aims and objectives in considering using
IT in your teaching?
- to enhance teaching
- to enable students to learn better or faster
- to save time for research
- to save time for assessment
- to save time for better teaching
- to save other resources
- to cater for more students
What benefits can using technology in teaching bring to me
as a lecturer?
- if the CBL is used well, students should react positively
towards it
- CBL can help in the flexible delivery of teaching to large
numbers of students
- students learn material effectively with potential savings
in time
- assessment and other marking duties may be reduced
- communication with students and colleagues may be improved
- there may be less routine enquiries to deal with
- students can become more responsible for their own learning
- some IT resources give access to documents, images, or information
which would otherwise be expensive or impossible to obtain
- students can potentially learn at a remote site - or from
home
- IT use is encouraged by Teaching Quality Assessment
- using IT in teaching should help you develop your own IT skills
What benefits can CBL deliver to my students?
- they can work anonymously at their own pace
- CBL usually enables them to learn (inter)actively, and encourages
them to do things, and to become involved in their own
learning process
- they usually get instant appropriate feedback
- they usually find CBL interesting, varied and fun
- they can work with real examples and/or practical cases
- they can access a huge range of varied information
- graphics, sound, animation/multimedia offer students a visual
and dynamic environment in which to work
- students can explore problems and obtain help in a non-linear
fashion, thus encouraging them to investigate and see problems
in different ways
- students should be able to understand and solve problems more
creatively
- students will learn about IT, and feel they are studying in
a positive modern department
What benefits might accrue to the institution as a result
of using CBL
- teaching costs (in the long-term) may be reduced
- staff will be able to cater for increasing numbers of students
- improvements will accrue to the institution's image and marketability
to students and funders
- improved quality assessment ratings
- flexible use of space and time
- opportunities for development of distance learning programmes
- good CBT fits in well with modularisation
Software types and styles you might consider using...
- drill and practice, where students practice particular activities
having been prompted by exercises questions on the computer
- microworlds or games, where students become part of a computer-based
'world' or problem-solving environment simulating reality
- practicals, where the software simulates physical activities
which might otherwise be carried out in a practical laboratory,
and which might otherwise be expensive or dangerous
- simulations, where the computer attempts to simulate real
events and allows students to alter or become part of the real
or imaginary situation
- tutorials, where the software leads the student through a
series of steps, much as a human tutor might
- analysis or modelling tools, where the computer offers tools
for students to build their own analyses or models
- information retrieval, where the software (often on CD-ROM)
allows access to a huge range of information
- on-line software, offering access to the Internet and the
World Wide Web
- communication tools, where students and staff can communicate
effectively using e-mail and conferencing
- presentation software, to enhance your teaching and presentations
- more general assessment or study skills software
Things you should consider about hardware provision
- which platform - Macintosh, PC-compatible, or other - such
as UNIX?
- what machines are available in various locations - on your
desk, in laboratories/University clusters, students' rooms or
halls, lecture theatres, your own department?
- what are the technical capabilities of the machines - how
much random access memory (RAM) and hard disk (HD) space do they
have; what monitors do they have ((S)VGA?); what peripherals,
such as CD-ROM, sound and printers do they have?
- are the machines networked, and how much access to the students
have to network software and hardware?
- can the machines be moved, or the layout changed, to suit
your own requirements?
- how great is the demand for network facilities, such as printing,
and at what cost to the department or students?
- can students gain access to machines for private study if
required?
- do you have access to amenable and supportive technical assistance?
- how far ahead do you need to book computer facilities and
technical staff?
Other resources you may need...
- academic support from colleagues, research assistants and
postgraduate students
- adminstrative support
- technical support
- equipment and facilities provision
- facilities and personnel for altering (or publishing) CBL
materials
- duplication (of disks etc.) facilities
- security arrangements
- an increased budget (to purchase materials in the short-term)
A few initial problems you may encounter
- lack of facilities
- the choice of software may not suit you
- a high workload in the year you adopt the CBL - adapting to
new methods and integrating the materials
- you may encounter technical problems
- computer rooms may seem noisy
- students' problems may be repeated at different times as they
work at their own pace
- if students become demotivated they may miss crucial sessions
- negative attitudes from colleagues
- organising the CBL activities
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Last modified: 27 January 1998.