Inspiring times for pedagogy, my digital thoughts...

Once, I just had a few choices to put a lecture series together, PowerPoint, ohp, or simple chalk and talk. For me, they all have significant advantages and disadvantages.

But now, you can add to the above prezi, articulate, audio podcast, tweeting, ebooks, dynamic hyperlinked word documents to name a few!

I've previously blogged about using my iPad and now my iPhone as a lecture platform. This allows base ppt and ebook texts to be made available via our vle, blackboard. To this, I can add live, in class, hand scribing onto note pages that can then be emailed as a PDF. I can use twitter for in-class and post-class clarification and discussions, often the limited characters is beneficial to both parties.

By far the most popular, and initially counterintuitive, is making live notes in the lectures. Sounds familiar? This is how I learnt 20 yr ago, rolling acetates have been replaced with an iPad connected to a projector, but whilst the principal remains the same, most crucially what is being taught had changed significantly.

At university in 1993 I was receiving knowledge from an expert. In 2011, students can now gain that information instantly via the Internet. Often, this is done live in class, and I've seen seasoned lecturers challenged on facts from behind the wi fi connected lap top!

I passionately believe that students no longer want facts delivered in a didactic manner by slide after slide.

They need guidance through all the information. What is relevant in an ever increasing mass of noise.

They need techniques to deeply understand the data. Hence, the live notes and diagrams in class. Yes, you can can find a clinical sensitivity and specificity graph online in a few seconds, but can you draw it from scratch, and then manipulate it to explain how it drives treatments such as deep vein thrombosis (dvt) or breast cancer?

This is why students need distinctive and quality, evolving lecturers, who ate committed to both research and pedagogy.








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VC Distinguished Teaching Award Nomination

I have been nominated for a DMU VC distinguished teaching award. I didn't win, but very humbled and inspired by the following comment from a student.

Dr Basten is an amazing lecturer and teacher. He consults us on how we would prefer to receive our lectures. He doesn't just write a powerpoint, stick it on BlackBoard and read it to us. He gets involved, draws diagrams and explains how what we're being taught will be helpful after university and how we should answer any exam questions that may involve this subject. He's always available when we need help, either after a lecture or available by email to which he always quickly replies. I think he deserves an award because I look forward to his lectures, which I find easy to understand although the content is difficult. He is amazing."




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Left brain dominant

Apparently, according to my phone I am
LINEAR. SEQUENTIAL. SYMBOLIC. LOGICAL. VERBAL. REALITY BASED. you have a Left Hemisphere Dominance, you process information in a linear and logical manner, from part to whole. You are probably a list-maker: you enjoy making master schedules and a daily planning, and take pleasure in checking the tasks off when they are accomplished. Likewise, learning things in sequence is relatively easy for you: you have no trouble following a conversation, you are good at following directions and pay special attention to details. You are comfortable too with symbols, which involve linguistic and mathematical endeavors: you have no trouble expressing yourself in words, you are a good speller and you feel comfortable with assignments involving reasoning and analyzing. You adjust well to changes in your environment, adapt well to rules and have no trouble following them: In fact, if there are no rules, you will probably make them up to follow!

Is this me?

Tweet me @grahambasten and let me know!

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