ICT in College Teaching in 2013-2014

Here is an overview of texts published since March 2013 filled with stimulating information related to college ICT integration for your teaching.

The Effectiveness of ICT

These first four articles spotlight the effectiveness of ICT in the teaching and learning process.

• Portrait of ICT use by College Students with Learning Disabilities, Strong Readers and Very Poor Readers (article available in French only)
  Adaptech Collective Research Network, Cégep André-Laurendeau, Dawson College, Collège Montmorency, Cégep du Vieux Montreal and the Cégep de Sainte-Foy
  The authors present the viewpoints of specialists from the college community and students with learning disabilities on the effectiveness of information and communication technologies (ICT). The article spotlights the findings of the second phase of a study conducted by the Adaptech Research Network with the cooperation of Dawson College, the Cégep André-Laurendeau, and the Collège Montmorency. Learning-disabled students seem less familiar with ICT than strong readers, while very weak readers are located somewhere between these two groups. Efforts to make students more aware of how to use ICT must therefore be initiated or pursued. (Vol. 26, No. 4, Summer 2013)
• The Direct and Indirect Effects of Laptop Multitasking in Higher Education
  Tina WESTON, Student, York University
  Faria SANA student, McMaster University
  Melody Wiseheart, Professor, York University
  This article discusses the use of laptops in classrooms in higher education. The article is based on two stages of research conducted with undergraduate students. (Vol.27, No.2, Winter 2014)
• Addressing Mixed Levels in Courses Using Information Technology
  Norm SPATZ teacher, (Link to French edition will be updated as soon as English edition appears) Cégep du Vieux-Montreal
  This article tells how the author (Profweb’s English editor) came to create virtual classrooms that bring teachers and students together from two colleges. The article explains solutions put in place to manage a class with students at mixed skill levels and describes the contribution of information technology. (Vol. 27, No. 3, Spring 2014)
• Has Antidote error correction software had an effect on learning in French language classes? (article available in French only)
  Martine Ouellet, Professor, Cégep de Drummondville
  Some teachers are concerned that the use of Antidote could affect the acquisition of French language skills for native speakers. Others wonder if the software prevents students from considering issues of grammar and language. The article’s author presents the results of her PAREA program research on the measurement and assessment of the effects of text correction software. (Vol. 27, No. 3, Spring 2014)

Instructional strategies and ICT

The 4 following articles focus on active learning, the inverted classroom and peer learning where ICT has been used to reinforce pedagogical strategies.

• The Adoption of Socio-Technological Environments to Drive Classroom Change
  Elizabeth and Chris S. CHARLES WHITTAKER, teachers, Dawson College;
  Nathaniel Lasry, Professor, John Abbott College
  The authors describe how the integration of new socio-technological environments must necessarily take place within the framework of an active student-centered pedagogy in order to produce positive results. (Vol. 26, No. 4, Summer 2013)
• An Applied Example of the Flipped Classroom
  Dave BÉLANGER, teacher, Cégep de Lévis-Lauzon
  To counter the fact that students would come to class without having completed their homework, the author tried the inverted classroom. Without seeing a cure for all these problems, this biology professor found that the inverted class had a very positive effect on the commitment and motivation of his students and on the dynamism of the course.
  (Vol. 27, No. 1, Fall 2013)
• Peer Instruction: The pedagogical contribution of Eric Mazur (article available in French only)
  Germain Bouffard, Cégep de Lévis-Lauzon
  A professor at Harvard University, Eric Mazur has contributed greatly to the development of peer instruction. Peer instruction is a teaching method in which the student is required to strengthen collaborative relationships within a team and is obliged to reformulate this knowledge as a part of the process of its construction. The author presents information from the book that started this whole movement by Eric Mazur called Peer Instruction: A User’s Manual. (Vol.27, No. 2, Winter 2014)
• Oops! I flipped my classroom!
  Nathaniel and Michael DUGDALE LASRY, professors, John Abbott College
  Elizabeth S.CHARLES, Professor, Dawson College
  A team of physics teachers who already favored collaborative and peer learning in their classes were looking for a way to improve the efficiency of their teaching strategies. The teachers first explored the Just-in-Time Teaching method as proposed by Eric Mazur. However, students did not always arrive well prepared and did not do all the assigned readings. The authors of this article show how in wanting to adjust the “just-in-time” method, they have come to inadvertently invert their pedagogy. (Vol. 27, No. 3, Spring 2014)

Easy Access to Higher Education through ICT

Also watch for these upcoming articles in the next theme issue on accessibility within higher education (Vol. 27, No. 4, Summer 2014):

• Access to Higher Education and Distance Learning
  Violaine Page, Project coordinator, Cégep à distance
• Exploring New Frontiers for Access to Higher Education: the MOOC
  Isabelle Delisle, Jean-Claude Massé, Evelyne Abran, Philippe Olivier Picard and Philippe Flamand
  Research and Development Service, Cégep à distance
• Innovation to Promote the Accessibility of Higher Education in the Regions
  Marie-Hélène Bergeron, techno-pedagogical counsellor, Cégep de la Gaspésie et des Iles

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Bonne lecture!