October 26, 2011

I took a course relating to the Respondus program.  Creating tests in Respondus is much more simplistic than creating tests in Blackboard. 
You also have the ability to import tests created in other programs, such as Word.  The learning objectives for the class were as follows:

• Creation of Tests in Various Formats

• Importing Existing Tests from Other Programs

• Retrieving Questions from One Class to Another

• Utilizing the Companion Programs Study Mate and Respondus Lockdown

October 26: 12:30- 4:00 pm

Sandra and I finalized the framework for the class in the School of Nursing to include the Echo 360 Lecture Capture Software.  We stuck to our original plan to infuse more project based activity into the class and make learning more actively student centered.  

The professor normally uses the traditional teacher centric approach where learning is structured through reading assignments, lectures, and tests.  We thought group work using tech tools; such as, online discussion boards and wikis would be appropriate because the students could work together to analyze information and construct knowledge through collaboration.  
 
One concern I had about the class was the amount of information included in a somewhat short timeframe.  To successfully achieve deep learning, students must have the information grouped into meaningful chunks and feel comfortable with the pace of instruction.  I thought the students might find the present class structure overwhelming which of course leads to negative effects and loss of motivation.   By working through teams, it should create a more comfortable learning environment.     
 
Because, the class is set up on lecture, students must possess adequate note taking skills to succeed.   Most people will agree that note taking is difficult at times.  A person normally speaks between 125- 150 words per minute.  People certainly cannot write or type that quickly, so important information may easily be missed.  The lecture captures will give the student the ability to go back through the lecture at her/his own pace and access the information as many times as needed.  Students with learning disabilities and students that use English as a second language would benefit greatly from the ability to watch the lecture content after class.  With the lecture capture resource, students no longer have to be stenographers to succeed. 
 
In summary, we determined the professor could utilize a bank of lecture captures to add more flexibility to her instruction, by having the students access the lecture in sections from home and utilizing class time for more active learning activities.  She could also utilize lecture capture for demonstrations, guest speakers, and cross reference lecture captures from other relevant courses.   

We decided to suggest the professor balance her grading structure by giving more points to group activities or project work as opposed to the bulk of the grading being caught up in tests.  Lecture capture should make the learning environment less stressful and offer the teacher flexible means to create more active based learning within her/his class. If used efficiently, lecture capture can be a tool to promote active, process oriented, student centered learning.


For more information on lecture capture check out the link below:
www.lecturecapture.com