Introducing Technology onto a Traditional Course: Turning the Classroom Upside Down

This paper reports on the integration of a wide range of information and communication technology (ICT) tools into an undergraduate module in biosciences. The aim of the integration was to shift the balance of talk during classroom sessions, away from the lecturer and to the students. Over the four-year period covered by the data presented two distinct approaches to achieving this aim were taken. One of these exploited the use of a web site to facilitate preparation for face-to-face discussion during classes. The other relied on the use of asynchronous threaded discussion boards to promote interaction outside of timetabled classes. In the latter approach classroom sessions were used mainly for group work and to provide one-to-one feedback to students. In both approaches traditional lecturing was reduced to virtually nil. Both approaches were on the whole welcomed by students and tutor. However it was clear that during the semester, the majority of students only made use of the electronic tools and materials provided when they were needed for the completion of assessed coursework