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Administration and governor harness Active Learning classrooms and other technologies in attempt to graduate more CSULB students

It could be unnerving sitting in a classroom, marker in hand, knowing the mark won’t stain the table, but being unable to stop thinking it will. Then the lights go down and each individual screen flips on, reminiscent of a drive-in movie but at the table.

Technologies on campus, including the active learning classrooms, are altering students’ educational experiences.

Each of these classrooms cost from $100,000 to $150,000 plus additional costs if the actual room needs remodeling, Mike Uhlenkamp, executive director of news at Cal State Long Beach, said in an email.

Linguistics major Jennifer Rodriguez attends her Linguistics 420 Phonology class in an active learning classroom. Rodriguez said the resources available in the rooms aid in learning more obscure languages.

“[My class] is incorporating a lot [of] information that’s, for the most part, found online as opposed to text,” Rodriguez said. “It’s smaller languages so there’s not a lot of written work out there versus stuff people post online.”

Senior geography major Daniel Gamboa said he sees the value of the classrooms but thinks there are limitations.

“Your face is on one screen or on your desk instead of facing the professor,” Gamboa said. “I think the one-to-one [interaction], you’re kind of missing out on that.”

Beyond the 10 active learning classrooms found in the Language Arts, Business Administration and Academic Services buildings with monitors installed at the tables and wall-scribbling capabilities, there are more programs at CSULB exploring technology’s role in education.

The CSU-wide Course Redesign with Technology program is funded by the Chancellor’s office. For the 2015-16 year, CSULB received $246,458, according to Uhlenkamp.

Uhlenkamp said the program helps instructors to restructure their course using technology or to build upon an already successful redesign model.

“If [instructors] have been doing things in terms of incorporating technology into a class and [they] can show us results that show that this leads to student’s success then we want to help [them] do more of that,” Uhlenkamp said.

Over the winter break, more than 30 faculty members underwent intensive training to restructure existing courses.

Instructors can incorporate technology by adopting either a hybrid model, where half the class is online, or a flipped model, which makes lectures available online before class through videos, podcasts, or audio recordings.

“You have a more robust discussion rather than just sitting there and having them regurgitate that stuff to you,” Uhlenkamp said. “You’ve already taken [the lecture] in and you have a lot more time to drill down and really get into it.”

According to President Jane Close Conoley, putting classes totally online can help by giving busy students a chance to fit a class into their already full schedule. The modern design of flipped and hybrid classes can focus on creating a collaborative community for students.

“Now when we design these things we’re trying to get the most out of the technology but try to build the human experience,” Conoley said.

Galen Pickett, a professor in the Physics and Astronomy department, said the physics department sought support from the program to take the successful redesign they’ve already done and further develop a successful feature: online physical science labs.

“We recognized it would give us resources not only to look at how people do in individual courses but see how the courses relate to each other,” Pickett said. “How to make success in one course relate to success in another and another.”

The Koondis software used in the course takes groups of three or four students with an instructor-given prompt. Students can then work through the lab like a small-scale academic research project. Pickett said the lab works because of how authentic the experience is.

Shawna Dark, vice president of academic technology, said the flipped and hybrid models of classes have been successful uses of technology that still maintain the in-person classroom experience.

“You can take material that is easier for students to get online and then have them come in the classroom where they are doing that collaborative learning and exchange of information,” Dark said. “So in some respects that really is the best of both worlds.”

Dark said another technological resource that’s still preserved personal communication is the electronic advising software, or e-advising.

The program tracks student progress and alerts their academic adviser if grades slip below C range. According to Dark, advisers then reach out to students instead of waiting for students to come to them.

“This is specifically designed so that we have a more personal touch and proactive interaction on a personal level,” Dark said.

Both Gov. Jerry Brown’s latest proposed budget and discussions during CSU Chancellor   Timothy P. White’s recent visit to Cal State Long Beach focused on technology.

White spoke with faculty during an open forum at CSULB Jan. 21 and said technology is one of his main concerns when it comes to learning outcomes, and that he would like to “use technology wisely to take advantage of the value it can bring to the university,” while Gov. Brown’s budget proposal plans continued funding of technology to promote student success.

Uhlenkamp said the Course Redesign program will be an ongoing project for CSULB.

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