The Internet and Website Development, maintaining a presence in the classroom

This week's option topic was on the Internet and Website Development. The main scope which I gained from the presentation was that the Internet's development has a longer history than just when ARPANET was developed in the late 1960's. It was clear through the presentation of a timeline, as well as the activity that followed that many different people, from all over the world, not confined to time and place have contributed in many different ways. Not just computer technicians and those who worked for US government departments, but also mathematicians and logicians.

In regards to presentation, it was clear that maintaining a class' interest is a key component to running an effective lesson. Both during the peer presentation and the activity that followed. Students need to be kept on task, especially during group work, whether this involves moving (patrolling) around the classroom where noise levels are too high or asking students questions on the spot where disruption occurs, to get them back on task. Classroom management is important.

Also, the fact that the class in the activity is formed of students who have known each other for a considerable amount of time meant that friendship groups tended to often get in the way of classroom learning. Those presenting the lesson may need to be more vigilant in maintaining classroom focus, so that students do not drift from their work. I do like the idea of moving to parts of the class which are being disruptive, by maintaining a presence to maintain a focus.

One point to take home from the presentation was how information is presented. It was reaffirmed that it is best to be as engaging and interactive as possible when content can tend to be somewhat bland. The use of videos and multimedia can be effective in getting student attention. Steering away from using large blocks of text in presentations is also a good choice, however hard this can be when preparing and conducting an overview of a subject which students may easily get lost in.

This historical and somewhat humorous video highlights both bad and good methods of classroom management:

Video retrieved 13/03/2012 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHzTUYAOkPM