A Learning Session

Before the start of each semester, the community college where I teach holds a review session to go over the online information that is available as well as some of the technology in the classrooms. I have been to a number of these sessions. Sometime I feel like I would prefer to stay home but each time I go, I learn some new things.

Teaching a public speaking course, I devote a class or two to discussing working with visual aids. I also explain to the students that if they are giving demonstration speeches, there are ways they can show us how to do something other than by using the actual item itself. For example, if they are giving a speech about changing the oil in the car, pictures or a model car often times work better than actually taking us out to the parking lot and using the actual car.

One of the things I learned yesterday is, there are actually interactive animation features available for a whole variety of topics. In the health care field, there is a picture on the operating table and you have to put the parts in the proper place to resuscitate the individual. If you do, you see him come to like. If you do not put things in the proper place, you see the monitor flat line, the individual turn blue and the breathing stop.

As much fun as it might be for me to use this, and I very well might, I am thrilled with the idea of showing this to students. I plan on incorporating this into my lecture on visual aids and letting them see all of the ‘fun’ things they can do with the computer.

I truly believe that some of the students will really enjoy working with this and, if they enjoy it, chances are, there speech will be even better.

I will let you know if it works the way I am hoping.