Integrating low-tech technology into teachingwhat, when, why and how

Alasdair Rae, Dept. of Town and Regional Planning

Here’s what I plan to do

1. Define “low-tech”2. Talk about my rules3. Provide examples of what I

do– Give you some new ideas– Show you some student feedback

07624 806 527

1. “Low-tech”?

Definition: easy to learn and easy to use.

2. My rules for ‘e’ stuff

• Avoid the George Mallory approach

• It must be time efficient• Human beings need human

beings• Avoid unnecessary jargon• Benefits must be obvious• Feedback must be used to justify• Try to make it look pretty

3. Examples from my work

1.Teaching in lectures2.Teaching outside the

classroom3.Teaching software skills

Basic PowerPoint issues…Teaching in lectures

Teaching in lectures

Videos in lectures (and examples)

• The obvious:

• The not so obvious:

• The Swede:

• The others:

Teaching in lectures

What do the students say?

“the news film examples helped me understand

the context of the policies”

“Alisters use of videos made the

lectures more interesting”

“Alaisdir’s lectures made

good use of videos”

“the videos broke up the

lectures – made dry

subjects less boring”

Teaching in lectures

Examples from fieldworkTeaching outside the classroom

• The options?• Lille 2009 blog…

Teaching outside the classroom

Teaching outside the classroom

Software skills

• Issue 1: many disciplines use specific software that is unfamiliar to students

• Issue 2: this is often a key part of a module or a course

• Issue 3: it is often not ‘easy’ – to use; to look at; to get help on

• Issue 4: there is only one of me…

Teaching software skills

Teaching software skills

Teaching software skills

Feedback and stats

• Typical comment:

• “I would have been totally lost without the videos – it must have taken you ages!”

The big ‘so what’…

• Enhanced learning?

• Efficient teaching?

• Enjoyable?

• Entertaining?

The big

endorsement…“Alasdair is very good –

he knows how we learn”

“Alasdair made an exceptional effort to make sure we all knew what we

were doing”

Contact, links, ideas

a.j.rae@sheffield.ac.ukMy blog: undertheraedar.blogspot.com

• Link to this presentation

–http://bit.ly/gIwr1H• Link to the handout

– http://bit.ly/gWZzKK