Wired and Ready to Learn.
In the Spotlight: Daniel Bernardi
According to Dr. Daniel Bernardi, students who come to the Media Arts Department are ready to have “media be taught through media” and he has been happy to oblige. In both his online and more traditional face-to-face courses, Dr. Bernardi incorporated technology into the learning experience in a number of ways.
As a former assistant professor in The University of Arizona’s Media Arts Department, Dr. Bernardi spearheaded the use of technology for the entire department. This led him to take advantage of a number of services and expertise available from the Learning Technologies Center and in turn the Center became a valuable resource for the entire Media Arts Department.
Dr. Bernardi believes that students now come into school “wired, as multi-taskers and network thinkers” and he looks for ways to add value to courses and to fully interact with students.
“High content and high production values make the learning experience better, produces higher student evaluations and even though it’s commonly agreed that the classes are often harder, the drop out rates are lower,” he said. The bottom line is that the students are learning and enjoying the process at the same time.
A successful course is one where “students think it’s too hard
but can’t wait to take another!” he said.
Dr. Bernardi has taken advantage of a number of areas of expertise within the Center, but primarily his dealings have been with Audio & Video Production and our technical services folks. He and others at the Media Arts department have relied heavily on both groups to help make course Web sites successful.
Streaming audio and video
Audio & Video Production Services was instrumental in setting up streaming audio and video segments for Dr. Bernardi’s class. He was advised on the technical parameters of streaming audio and video, as well as the linking of PowerPoint presentations with streaming audio lectures.
WebBoards for online discussion
The LTC Technical Services department not only coordinated the hosting of the sites but also advised and helped develop WebBoards for classes. WebBoards are online discussion boards often incorporated into a course Web site to allow asynchronous conversations to take place among the students and faculty. Questions can be posted or responded to by all involved. Participation in the WebBoard discussions can be monitored and graded and can become an important part of the learning experience.
The technology that Dr. Bernardi and his colleagues choose to incorporate
into their courses isn’t just used in the online/virtual environment.
Some use the same tools in their face-to-face courses in order to enhance
the learning experience. Dr. Bernardi was also instrumental in creating
templates for the virtual classroom environment in the Media Arts department.
A typical use of the combined technology is where groups of students from a traditional face-to-face course are assigned to watch video clips of movies online and then use the WebBoard for discussion purposes. It makes a great collaborative tool and all they have to do is “coordinate the time” which, as Dr. Bernardi points out, is “a lot easier than coordinating both time and space.” Students also had the opportunity to listen to previously delivered lectures via streaming audio.
Getting it done
Often instructors have an idea of what they’d like to achieve with technology but don't always have the knowledge or expertise to accomplish it. This is where the Center can help. Dr. Bernardi knew about the issues and problems but had no real idea of the range of solutions. He said he appreciated the expertise and technical support that he received from the Center, which were invaluable to him and the Media Arts department.
Feel free to contact us to discuss how you can incorporate technology into your teaching and create an interactive learning environment for your students.
