{"id":579,"date":"2010-04-14T21:02:20","date_gmt":"2010-04-15T03:02:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/?p=579"},"modified":"2014-09-12T12:02:09","modified_gmt":"2014-09-12T18:02:09","slug":"on-becoming-a-university-part-iii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/2010\/04\/14\/on-becoming-a-university-part-iii\/","title":{"rendered":"On Becoming a University (Part III)"},"content":{"rendered":"Approximate Reading Time: <\/span> < 1<\/span> minute<\/span><\/span>

Realize that becoming a 21st-century institution requires that faculty learn how to use 21st-century technology.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\u2026Part Three in the series on \u201cBecoming a University<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n

In order to make the transition from a college to a university\u2026\u2026<\/p>\n

There are people on campus who are very innovative in their teaching to be sure, but there are also a great many who have taught the same way for decades and believe that since hand-written monochrome slides on an overhead were fine for a community college, they will also be fine for an institution wishing to become a top-ranking undergraduate university.<\/p>\n

This technique is not bad in and of itself (it is possible to do great and fascinating things on a blackboard with a piece of chalk), but if that is ALL you can do (or are willing to do), then that IS a problem. Teaching remains the primary focus at MRU <\/a>and it is one of the things that attracted me to it, but in order to lead the pack (and I really believe it can) people must be helped to embrace modern technology.<\/p>\n

As Vygotsky said, “The invention of new methods that are adequate to the new ways in which problems are posed requires far more than a simple modification of previously accepted methods.” ADC <\/a>can play a key role here, but the faculty must also be encouraged to shift their attitudes into the current century.<\/p>\n