I challenge you, professor. LEAD, don’t follow.

Over the past few weeks, G51EDU has spent time surveying professors across the nation to understand the current landscape of resources used by professors in their courses. No clear pattern or relationship has emerged amongst those surveyed, however, the pure lack of enthusiasm around integrating new technology and mixed media into their subject matter should raise flags. Why do we say this? The majority of their students are begging for more interactive technologies which exponentially add value to their education, yet not all professors are listening as intently. By integrating technologies that expand classroom walls beyond the college campus, you invite real-world stories, scenarios, and seriousness to the subject matter. As such, a professor can add value through the use of technology and experiential learning without having to spend extra time developing new curriculum nor new resources. Not to mention, by growing up with technology at their fingertips these generations only relate to current, real-time information that clearly applies to their life today.

I challenge you, professor, to measure and compare your student engagement, critical thinking and overall resource effectiveness between pure lecture and text to a video-based, simulation-heavy education. What are your results?

Here are ours: Out of 400+ students surveyed at the University of Texas at Austin, 79% of students preferred video over text-based resources and 78% of students were motivated to work at their highest level when using these interactive, online technologies than pure text.