Professor Kate Redmon explains hi-tech classroom alternative approaches;   Professor Andrew Winters shares a variety of techniques to improve online learning; Professor Sandy Van Lieu showcases open educational resources (eliminating need to purchase textbooks)

Several Yavapai Community College faculty including professors Kate Redmon, Andrew Winters and Sandy Van Lieu highlighted  how they are using technology to enhance the potential for learning in their classrooms during the 2019 Faculty Showcase. The faculty presentations  are available on-line at the College’s Youtube channel and should be explored by anyone interested in learning how faculty are creatively using technology at Yavapai Community College. (Go to College youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5s89VOW14XpNQay9_AHAZw.)

Professor Kate Redmon

Among the 2019 Showcase presenters was professor Kate Redmon.  She credited developing a flexible approach to the use of classroom technology as increasing student success in her GED classes.  “Students in their GED class are actually getting their GED” she said.  “It used to be that they just struggled along a month of two and gave up and decided online was not their thing.” Now, because of her flexible approach to using a variety of hi-tech tools,  she is seeing more students complete their GED.

Students in Professor Redmon’s class are given three options in choosing what hi-tech learning method is best for them. She says that some students never use her videos.  They like the “on-line curriculum where they are just clicking buttons and going through and that’s all they ever do.”  She says that she has other students who “hate the online curriculum and can’t learn that way and all they do are my videos,” which are collected by her in an extensive video library.  She has a third group of students who “want to zoom with me and don’t want to do other things.” This involves live on-line discussions using Zoom propriety software where she and the students see and talk with each other interactively as a class.  These students “don’t want to do other things,” she says.   Professor Redmon considers the learning flexibility “beautiful.” To see Professor Redmon’s showcase presentation, please click here. 

Professor Sandy Van Lieu

Professor Andrew Winters

Professor Sandy Van Lieu explained how she has developed open educational resources, which replaces the traditional casebook, in at least one honors class. This class uses free, available online resources (mostly literary works) instead of requiring students to purchase a textbook or workbook.  The goal of is to reduce the cost of textbooks or eliminate their use where it is feasible to do so.  Professor Van Lieu’s explanation of how she accomplished this in one class may be viewed by clicking here.

Professor Andrew Winters shared a series  of techniques he now uses in his philosophy class to enhance the quality of online learning. He emphasized the value of online discussions among students in his class. As an aside, he also teaches students how to discover the “truth” of online news.  To view his view his video explaining a variety of techniques he has developed for use in hi-tech classrooms, please click here. 

There are other several other excellent faculty presentations posted on the youtube channel.