While many professors find comfort in the familiar, devising courses with specific student input at regular intervals, modern teaching methods are placing more power in the hands of students. Graduate instructor Rebecca Longtin readily admits she gave students wide latitude on a video project that's part of her "Introduction to Philosophy of Film."
"Students have complete freedom to explore the philosophy of film and how philosophical ideas are portrayed," says Longtin, a fifth-year graduate student. Last fall, Longtin participated in the Technology, Pedagogy and Curriculum (TPC) initiative, a twice-weekly workshop developed by Emory's Center for Interactive Teaching, where she and other graduate students learned how to use blogs, podcasting, social networking tools, e-portfolios and other emerging technologies in their teaching.
"This workshop represents an opportunity for graduate students who seek to understand the ways that technology can be part of their teaching—as well as to consider the ways that technology is changing the academic profession more generally," says ECIT Director Wayne Morse.