Texting the Teacher.

Texting the Teacher.

 

Imagine going into a class where it's not only okay to take your mobile phone, but you're encouraged to use it.
by Bette Flagler.

That's what it's like in Eusebio Scornavacca's information technology courses at Victoria University.

 

If you think about it, classes where you interact with the teacher and other students tend to be more interesting and you usually learn more. But when the class is really big - say 300-400 students, typical in a university lecture - interacting is more diffi cult and sometimes it's even scary.

 

No one wants to look stupid in front of all the other students and everyone knows how embarrassing it is to ask a basic question in front of the whole class.

 

Eusebio, a PhD student at Victoria University, was trying to fi gure out a way to increase student participation in those big classes and developed TXT-2-LRN, a way for students to ask something and not suff er through the humiliation of sniggering mates.

 

Anxiety is especially common during the fi rst year at university, says Eusebio. "I don't think most fi rst-year students would want to stand up in front of 400 peers and make a comment or ask a question. Some of them feel very comfortable, but others don't."

 

Using basic software, the text messages go from Eusebio's mobile phone to his laptop and he says the results have been terrifi c. He gets much more interesting questions than in a normal setting and students bring up points and raise questions that he doesn't think they would if they didn't have the system.

 

"When I'm teaching, I'll pause and say, 'are there any questions or comments?' and at the same time, I can look at the laptop and see if anyone has texted anything. I fi nd my lectures are better with it; if a student brings up something that's not a good point, I can ignore it; but if it is a good point, I can say, 'what do you guys think of this, this and this?'" Overall the student's level of satisfaction is high: at the end of the course last year, Eusebio surveyed the class and found that while about 16% of the students favoured raising their hands to ask a question, 62% favoured text messages (22% didn't care) and 75% of the students found the class more interesting because of the text messages. The system can also be used for things like multiple-choice 'mquizzes' and the speed to type a comment or question, says Eusebio, is the same as taking a note. With 98% of the students in class having mobile phones, he'd rather the students were texting him than their friends.

 

Eusebio has been impressed with the level of maturity of the students and, while most of the students use the system productively, once in awhile, he gets funny comments like 'your fly is open'. When it's not.

 

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