Demonstration of Collaborative Teaching Using Educational Technologies

Demonstrate how to incorporate various education technologies into our dental courses to facilitate learning styles common to dental applicants including auditory, kinesthetic and visual. Collaborative teaching method utilizing multiple educational technologies to teach dental anatomy will be shown. A printed textbook is replaced with a CD-ROM, including various interactive models, exercises, and quizzes on dental anatomy and tooth morphology to supplement lectures. Interactive lectures used media presentations, super-size model teeth, graphic displays, and two instructors to highlight anatomy in different formats during each presentation. A course management system was used to post presentations, announcements, assignments and study guides prior to lectures. Weekly assessments, asynchronous threaded discussions and online grades provided immediate feedback to student and instructor. Discussions included a question per week which paralleled the lecture theme to give practical application of the subject to their daily lives. This increased the breadth and depth of students’ exposure to dental anatomy. Lab exercises which solidified the didactic information, both visually and tactilely will be shown. One exercise had students become teachers to small groups of classmates. Students took turns to intensely study a particular tooth, then present the unique identifying features of the tooth anatomy and morphology using visual aids of their own creation. Student presenters stated this laboratory exercise helped to strengthen their knowledge, while encouraging their creativity The use of technology is expanding in education and dental practice. A solid foundation in Dental Anatomy is also essential. Dental educators attempt to facilitate each student’s particular learning style while they seek to prepare students to be successful clinicians in the world of dentistry. The collaborative use of technology in learning fulfills this responsibility.