We are used to teach complex concepts to our students; the big difficulty is make them understand what we have explained. The whiteboard is the biggest aid but images and multimedia contents help for an easier task. I started experimentally the combo iPad-Apple TV this year.
I have to say that it has absolutely changed the dynamics of my lectures:
- I can use images «on the fly». Last week a student made a question about the configuration of a power contactor. I didn’t had an image at this moment, but I could make a fast google image search using Safari, picked up an image and pasted in Good Notes.
- My students take notes, like before, but the can check them when I upload my white boards to the Internet.
- It is possible to re-use all or parts of a whiteboard so I don’t spend too much time drawing. This is also useful when answering students’ questions.
- I recently started to record my own tutorials and uploading them to YouTube. This makes it easier to remember concepts and ideas. It is also useful when a student can’t assist to any lecture session.
- It is extremely easy to play multimedia videos or view multimedia contents.
- Examinations are faster and their results are objective when combining Moodle tests with mobile devices.
- Electric and CAD diagrams are easy to show by apps like AutoCAD WS. Students can send their PDFs and I can check them without printing and send them back if necessary.
- I can easily create diagrams with apps like iDesign, convert them to PDF and share trough the Internet or include them into my presentations.
- It is easy to take attendance, specially when a minimum is mandatory. I always have my stats updated, so I don’t have to deal any more with excel sheets.
- If needed, I can scan any printed figure or document and convert it to PDF on the fly.
And this is only the beginning…