After the course final exam , my students can see their work proudly displayed on the course webpage, and my students stay in touch with each other and with me via email. When surveyed about the course, my students say that they learn more in less time and have more fun . There s nothing unique about my course. The only surprise in my course is that this 60-year old professor, who had barely touched a computer until his strategy planning committee put a laptop in the hands of every Wake Forest student, is teaching with technology and loving doing it. 50 years of research has clearly established that students learn more when they collaborate.
Students learn more when they receive prompt, trusted feedback.
As professor I m receiving equally prompt feedback from them. When I counted several semester ago, the exchange was 1247 individual emails between myself and 15 students or 9 per student per week. The computer is allowing my students to learn on their own, to learn in groups, to learn by reading, to learn by seeing, to learn by hearing, to learn by studying alternate materials identified by fellow students on the web, to rerun my lectures if necessary. Research also demonstrates that learning increases when there is more contact between student and faculty. My students are in my office, in my computer, and in my ear more than they have ever been.