Communications of the ACM
Learning: No Longer a Textbook Case
Wake Forest biology professor Dan Johnson reviews learning nodes on an iPad with student Rebecca Perry.
Photo courtesy of Wake Forest University
Wake Forest University researchers are using emerging technologies to develop a new teaching method that better engages students who have learning disabilities and have struggled with traditional lecture-and-reading methods. The system enables students to access dozens of pieces of information, including text, videos, quizzes, and interviews with experts.
The Wake Forest researchers will spend the next several months developing and testing the system, which acts as a digital tool and an evolving learning space that can be customized for a variety of students. The system features as many as 50 learning nodes that let students explore subjects from different directions, along with supplemental material and self-evaluations to augment the learning experience.
Wake Forest professor Jed Macosko says that providing autonomy to the learning process engages students. "Think of a textbook--it's too long, has lots of text, and gives few opportunities to check your thinking," Macosko says. "It's our very nature to learn by questioning."
From Wake Forest University
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