Technology's Impact on Graduate Level Reading: Using Technology to Improve Student Assignment Completion Rates.
This paper discusses the critical relation between professor, student and technology in the process of encouraging graduate students to read required textbook sections. It discusses how using online management software, graduate students are required to submit weekly chapter summaries to the professor by 5:00 pm on Fridays. In addition to the chapter summary, graduate students write a personal reflection on how they will connect and use the selected reading assignment in their professional/personal life for self-improvement. Finally, this paper discusses the graduate student's positive and negative reactions towards the integration of the online management software system. My graduate students are all veteran teachers who are taking additional classes to obtain various licenses as supervisors, principals and superintendents. These students are sometimes difficult to motivate after a long day at their respective school districts. They find reading educational administration textbooks to be often tedious, too theoretical and therefore boring. As with any good teacher, one must remember the Four Aces of Teaching. according to R.T. Walls'(1999) Psychological foundations of learning. These Four Aces of effective teaching are summarized below: 1. Outcomes: * Let students know where they are going and why. * Drive hard toward clear goals. 2. Clarity: * Make the content as clear and simple as possible. * Build on what students already know. 3. Engagement: * Don't lecture for more than 30 minutes before running an activity that involves all students. * People learn what they DO, so have student DO everything that you what them to learn. 4. Enthusiasm: * If you hate to teach it, your students will hate to learn it. * The only key to motivation is success. Using an online software management system for my students has allowed my courses to come alive and become more meaningful for my graduate students and results in them reading all assignments on-time. Here is how the Four Aces of Teaching ( Walls, 1999) are applied as a technology strategy to assist in assignment completion. Outcomes "Expect more and you will get it. High expectations are important for everyone--for the poorly prepared, for those unwilling to exert themselves, and for the bright and well motivated. Expecting students to perform will become a self-fulfilling prophecy when teacher and institutions hold high expectations of them and make extra efforts." (Chickering & Gamson, 1987) Using the online software management system called WebCT (version 4.1) I can post a course syllabus that clearly defines the rationale, objectives and learning goals for each of my web-based courses. In addition, I require a face to face meeting with all the graduate students in the class to review the syllabus including the schedule of text assignments as well as how the WebCT will be used ill the course. The textbook chapters are listed and assigned weekly with the requirement to send an email to me. The email must contain a chapter summary with a personal reflection and be received by me no later than 5:00 pm on Fridays. I also set ground rules as to the amount of prose required to satisfy the requirement. Students report that they enjoy reacting to the chapters knowing only I will be reading the summaries. Clarity "Knowing what you know and don't know," focuses your learning. In getting started, students need help in assessing their existing knowledge and competence. …