Earth and Geographic Sciences Professor Incorporates Teaching with Technology Into His Classroom

By Sara Baron

Richard Gelpke, an assistant professor in Earth and Geographic Sciences, has successfully incorporated technology into an undergraduate Global Environment course with over 100 students. Because visualization helps greatly in understanding the concepts of physical geography, Gelpke uses a variety of visual media, including digital images, digital slide presentations online, and a digitizing writing tablet.

While Gelpke does use the course management system Prometheus for student e-mail, he has found that the development of a customized website provides more flexibility for his teaching. His teaching assistant, Peter Baisley, created a website that includes links to the syllabus, class notes, slide shows, assignments, and e-mails (www.faculty.umb.edu/richard_gelpke/101.html). Baisley notes that the site gives students the opportunity to visualize what Gelpke has discussed in class, and for those with English as a second language, another chance to review vocabulary and notes online after class.

Gelpke finds that technology enhances his teaching in several ways. Developing PowerPoint presentations requires him to think through the material and organize it in a way that is easily understandable for students. More important, it allows him to incorporate digital images essential for the content covered in his course from the thousands of pictures Gelpke has taken himself, geographical and topographical maps, and images downloaded from the Internet. Gelpke believes the photographs act as "outer doors to the natural environment," and he has students analyze them in depth, much as students might diagram a sentence. When looking at an image of a natural park, Gelpke asks the class questions such as: "Where do you see the impacts of man physically on the landscape?" "What has been the impact of water in this area?" To add impact to the discussions, Gelpke uses a digitizing tablet to "write" on the PowerPoint slides and highlight areas of the image.

For example, when showing a map that includes rivers, Gelpke uses the tablet to write on the image and show students where the river starts, merges, and stops. He may also circle the area of the drainage basin. Much as using a marker can be used to circle an overhead transparency, the digitizing tablet allows Gelpke to interact with the materials and clarify issues for students.

Gelpke feels that using technology in his teaching is essential to meeting the needs of visual learners today. He says, "I have to use technology. Students expect it." He also believes that part of his role as a university professor is to expose students to the possibilities of technology, and require them to use it as part of assignments.

"If we do not require students to use technology, even as a tool, then we have done them a disservice," he says. He encourages faculty thinking about incorporating technology into their classes to explore the options provided by Prometheus and training available at the Instructional Technology Center. While Gelpke admits that his teaching area is particularly visual, he still encourages other faculty, urging, "Incorporate technology however it fits within your disciplin-- if only to communicate with students."

Image: Richard Gelpke, an assistant professor in Earth and Geographic Sciences, has mastered teaching with technology in his Global Environment class (Photo by Harry Brett).

Go to menu