Teaching with Technology Faculty Spotlight

By Sara Baron

Stephanie Hartwell of the Sociology Department began to teach with technology as a way to be more innovative. While she thrives on traditional teaching, Hartwell sees the value of interaction and dynamic teaching using technology, and she incorporates it into her teaching, research, and service in many ways. Her experiences include using technology in point-to-point teaching, where students are located on two campuses and have real-time class meetings. Hartwell has also taught on-line classes and in-person traditional classes enhanced by video clips, PowerPoint presentations, short stories on tape, slide photography, streaming video, class websites, and Internet sites.

For example, in discussing the prevention of social problems, Hartwell asks her students to go directly to web sites in the classroom and complete health behavior checklists. She has motivated her students to think critically about alcoholism using an audio short story by Stephen King. "When we listened to that story, it stuck with the students," Hartwell said. "It is so fun to look at your class and see that they are actually engaged. That is when you know you have used a medium appropriately and it has caught their interest."

When asked how technology impacts her students’ learning, Hartwell points out that having a course web site is helpful because it is on line all semester, continuously updated, and complete with PowerPoint presentations. "I think that using the different mediums in the classroom makes for a much more creative and interactive learning experience. I firmly believe that keeping students stimulated through a variety instructional technologies in the classroom helps them learn," she said.

Hartwell has learned how to navigate the differences between teaching with technology in traditional classrooms and teaching solely on line. She has students who are extremely shy and would not be comfortable communicating in a large class, but who thrive in an on-line environment. However, she notes that the lack of spontaneous discussion flowing from real-time questions can be a challenge with on-line teaching, and that not all web site links incorporated into the on-line class are practical for traditional classroom teaching.

Hartwell maintains her proficiency with instructional technologies by participating in training programs in the Instructional Technology Center (ITC). In addition to learning about trends, she values ITC opportunities where faculty can converse with colleagues. She notes, "No matter what your department thinks about technology, you can go to a place that supports your interest, talk to other people and get to know who else on campus is using technology. I really enjoyed that. I have found the ITC support to be unbelievable."

Hartwell also trains fellow faculty in technology usage, such as point-to-point teaching. She has used technology extensively in her research and service. Using grant funds, she developed a virtual center that researches people with major mental illness involved with the criminal justice system. Researchers around the country contribute to the virtual center, the first of its kind.

Image: Stephanie Hartwell, assistant professor of sociology, has incorporated teaching with technology into traditional classrooms. (Photo by Harry Brett)

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