Meadows School of the Arts Dean José Bowen grabbed headlines over the summer when he encouraged professors to “teach naked.”
Bowen wasn’t egging on colleagues to doff their duds; rather, he wants them to break out of the structured, computer-dependent lecture format and use time with students for more personal interaction and intellectual exchange.
In an interview with <emThe Chronicle of Higher Education last July, Bowen suggested that faculty members use class time more creatively to spark questions and discussions. He specifically rebuked the uninspired use of PowerPoint, a slide presentation program commonly used by educators, and proposed that lectures be posted online, either in a PowerPoint format or as podcasts or videos. Students would be responsible for auditing the materials on their own time.
“I’m not anti-technology in any way,” says Bowen. “I use podcasts and give online exams before every class. I just think the best place for most technology is outside of the classroom.”
The “teaching naked” philosophy struck a chord that reverberated around the world in a matter of weeks. To use an Internet term, “teaching naked” went viral.
The Australian, International Business Times, NPR Weekend Edition, Newsweek, Time Magazine (international edition), The Wall Street Journal, U.S. News & World Report and other local, national and international media carried reports about Bowen. The topic also burned through the blogosphere, with Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Washington State University and The Math Forum at Drexel University among the scores of blogs posting Bowen’s theory.
“I think it touched on a big question being asked in higher education: How is technology going to change what we do?” he says.
Like Bowen, educators across academic fields are trying to find ways to use technology to enhance the University experience while preventing it from becoming a distraction.
Millennials, the demographic cohort to which most current SMU undergraduates belong, “present a unique challenge to the University,” because their laptops are almost an extra appendage, says Brad Boeke, director of SMU’s Academic Technology Services.
A low-tech approach may seem counterintuitive when so many students regard laptops and cell phones as basic necessities. A study released in March by IBM and the Marist Institute for Public Opinion in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., showed that 93 percent of 1,600 college students queried nationwide owned a laptop.
“It’s difficult to teach when students seem to be paying more attention to their laptops,” Boeke says. “But the question is: Are they distracted or are they multitasking?”
“BORN WITH FINGERS ON THE KEYBOARD …” Read more
Read other features
Undergraduate Research
Immersion Experiences
Internships
Scholar Dollars
Happiness Found
The Labyrinth