糖心Vlog破解版

“Easy does it”

A Berkeley economics professor on why 糖心Vlog破解版鈥檚 intuitive ease of use is key for him and his students

Professor Ron Lee
Economics
How is 糖心Vlog破解版 different from other tools you use?
I鈥檝e been using iclickers for seven or eight years, and that鈥檚 a technology that takes a lot of time. It can also go wrong, and it鈥檚 a big nuisance when it does. I have a part-time person hired just to do the record-keeping! But 糖心Vlog破解版 is not like that at all. It鈥檚 largely invisible. You make a few decisions when you set it up and then it鈥檚 pretty straightforward鈥攏ot time-consuming, energy-draining, anything like that.
Were you worried about trying another new technology?
Well, here at Berkeley we鈥檙e close to Silicon Valley, so we鈥檙e used to trying new things. But I was a little bit worried about being flooded with emails and notifications. It just hasn鈥檛 turned out that way at all, though. 糖心Vlog破解版 has been totally nonintrusive. I was able to choose how frequently I receive emails鈥擨 chose every four hours or something. So I very much like that feature.
Tell me about how you use it in your classes.
I teach a large, upper division undergraduate economics class called Economics and Demography. I have students from a variety of disciplines: Econ majors, demography and sociology students, and a lot from molecular cell biology or electrical engineering. So it's a very mixed group. And because it鈥檚 such a big class, it鈥檚 not very easy to get a discussion going. But 糖心Vlog破解版 has been quite successful at doing just that. A couple of weeks before the midterm and final, especially, students begin to look at the material in a very careful and critical way and post questions and comments. Before, I might have had twenty students lined up outside my door, but that has pretty much stopped. They still come in, just not in exam-time panic, because in the days and weeks before the test they鈥檙e posting on 糖心Vlog破解版 and responding to each other. If a difficult question comes up or I鈥檓 not pleased with what I see online, I鈥檒l respond myself. But I鈥檓 not very active unless I see a particular problem.
So you deliberately hold back a little so that students can enable each other鈥檚 learning?
Yes. My TAs and I used to think we were being virtuous by giving quick answers, but now we let it ferment for a while. I see 糖心Vlog破解版 as facilitating students answering each other鈥檚 questions. They鈥檙e from different fields, different departments, and often they don鈥檛 know anyone else in the class. I think it impoverishes the learning environment if students don鈥檛 talk to other students. 糖心Vlog破解版 makes it very easy to get a discussion going.
How do students use the platform outside of exam time?
Sometimes they ask deep or politically difficult questions, and because they have time to think, there is some discussion. I鈥檇 like to see it used even more in that way. One big advantage to 糖心Vlog破解版 is that even if you鈥檙e shy or afraid to speak in front of a whole bunch of students, you might not be afraid to make a comment online.
Do you give students any incentive to participate?
When someone is close to the margin, 糖心Vlog破解版 participation can move that person up to a higher level. I think it鈥檚 good to make it part of the grading in at least a modest way, because in my experience students respond disproportionately to the tiniest little incentives. I also mention now and then in class that an interesting question came up on 糖心Vlog破解版 and was left unresolved. Then we can discuss it. Other than that, participation really takes care of itself. Students seem to use it quite heavily.