ELearning Backpacker Uses Innovative Tool Suite to Engage Students

When Gary Dick, a professor in the College of Allied Health Sciences, applied to be an eLearning Backpacker he said, “I’m at a point where I would like to start the journey.”

The Backpack project, started by the Center for Excellence in eLearning, provides UC professors with innovative tools to help them create and deliver course information and engage with students.

Ten professors from six different colleges within UC were selected and given a backpack full of tools to enhance their teaching methods. The tools included: an Apple TV, iPad Air 32GB, a wireless USB mic, Swivl and Camtasia Studio Software. 

Dick has over 30 years of teaching experience but was inspired to apply to the program to learn more about online learning. He is currently instructing a face-to-face course about research in social work. He said he is enthusiastic about using new technologies but has simply lacked the training. 

“Teaching, learning and education have changed with technology, and the whole idea of imparting information is such a small piece of it now,” Dick said. When students learn at home, they have more in-class opportunities to experience real world applications of the material. 

Using the backpack tools, Dick makes his teaching style more interactive and engaging. He uses the wireless USB mic to record lectures for students to listen to at home and can teach concepts more in depth by utilizing supplemental materials online. Dick also plans to take videos of his lectures to put online, but he is learning about the new technology as he goes. 

“It’s fun as a professor to learn new, cutting-edge ways of doing things,” he said. “I think that in time we can help students retain more knowledge and have a deeper understanding from online learning.”