Post-Secondary Ramblings

It’s been a week since school started, and like most people, that was long enough to build some first impressions on the different classes. Last year it was BIOL121 that really stood out for me because well, I’m a Biology major so that was natural, but also because Dr. Greg Bole was simply the best.

This year, I actually have two that stick out for me. Both my BIOL234 and CHEM233 use Twitter in the classroom, and being a Twitter fanatic, I was super excited to hear about it all. In my opinion, Twitter fits right into the classroom setting, especially in today’s society where technology is steadily advancing.

In BIOL 234, we use the hashtag #biol234 to ask questions, and once in a while, Dr. Redfield would pause and answer questions. She encourages us to also have background discussions and to retweet those questions that are important so they get bumped to the top. Since lectures haven’t really started yet, I haven’t had the chance to see how well this works, but personally, I can see myself asking more questions in class as I won’t be put on the spot and ask questions by putting up my hand.

CHEM 233 uses Twitter differently. My professor has a Twitter account, @chem233ubcjay, and encourages us to follow his tweets, and I suppose ask him any questions that arise. I find that this is another effective way of having students ask questions. I personally, have tweeted him a few times, and had some friendly replies. After knowing that he isn’t as intimidating as all professors seem, this may be the first that I actually drop by during office hours for a visit!

I guess one downside to that is that some people think it’s immoral. I had a friend that thought I was getting too close to my professor because we were tweeting each other. I can see where he is coming from, but I believe that it is no different than dropping by office hours or emailing a professor– it’s just a more informal setting. As long as the content doesn’t cross the line, it’s a great way of building on a professional professor-student relationship.

I’m glad that UBC instructors are starting to catch on all the new different ways to incorporate technology into their lessons!