Let me say up front that I’m a walker, a roamer, someone who likes to circulate around the classroom while lecturing. My intent is to make sure that no part of the classroom feels like a neglected corner (and perhaps to ensure that the sleepy students or the ones drifting away remember that I am still there). On those days, though, when I am doing a slide presentation, my desire to move about is undercut by the tedious task of returning to the podium to click the mouse or keyboard to advance my next slide. Last year, I invested about $25 of my own money to purchase a presentation remote control that would allow me to move slides forward (or backward). After using the remote extensively in the past twelve months, I can highly recommend it.
Setting up the remote is dead simple. There are usually two parts to the remote: a receiver unit that looks like a flash drive and is plugged in to any USB port on the machine you’ll be using and the remote itself, which is usually about the size of a thick highlighter pen. Once you plug in the remote, the computer will take a few moments to recognize just what kind of a device you are setting up and then let you know you are good to go.
Getting the hang of clicking while you walk about is easy and, ultimately, an act of liberation.
Teaching from different parts of the classroom is a good way to engage students. Stephen Brookfield, author of The Skillful Teacher, addresses this in a chapter entitled “Lecturing Creatively.”
While I teach faculty and staff, I admit I do not do enough of this. I have noticed that I do come out from behind the podium or table when I lead discussions. I think it’s my way of joining the group by limiting physical barriers. And certainly when I have participants do group exercises, I walk around and listen in or answer questions.
This post is a good reminder to move around the classroom as we’re teaching. Thanks.
The remote sounds like a great idea. I’m going to check if it’s available at Baruch from audio visual and will report back.
Susan
Any thoughts or tricks for lights? When I use PowerPoint, I like to periodically stop, engage students in a short discussion, and go back to PowerPoint. Orchestrating the overhead lights is often a bother and sometimes a disaster!
I only dim the lights at the front of the room so that the projected image is visible but the rest of the room is bright enough for students to see their own notes.
I’m a walker, too, but lately I’ve gone back to setting the chairs up in a circle, joining the class by sitting in one of those (impossibly small!) desk chairs.
I do still roam when I’m at the board – and notice that the energy shifts when I get up to write something on the board, so I’m conscious to do it every so often. It helps create a certain pace and add some variety to the discussion.
Thanks for reminding me of this.
I learned that the college does not own wireless mice to allow us to move around. It might be a good idea for such items to be purchased.
Thanks for the interesting discussion.
Susan Chambre