Showcase Articles

Educators Welcome the Teach Act

Back in the days of VHS tapes and audio cassettes, long before iTunes and YouTube, copyright laws were relatively straightforward: always ask permission from the author and purchase all material before using it.  Every teacher and librarian is well aware that a hard copy of any material must be paid for prior to being used...  (more)

 

The Power of Peer to Peer Learning

As Stephen Covey insightfully explains it, ‘When you expect to teach, your mind is prepared to learn.’  Teaching is undisputedly one of the most effective ways to learn.  This is why BYU-Idaho has adopted the practice of peer to peer learning...  (more)

Foundations: Reconstructing General Education

It is impossible for any passing pedestrian to be oblivious of the changes taking place on BYU-Idaho’s campus with regards to the landscape.  The tumultuous noise of heavy machinery like backhoes and excavators serenade faculty and students on a daily basis.... (more)

Brown Bag Presentation

On September 20th and 21st, 2007, Peter Williams, newly hired Online
Courses Coordinator, gave a brown bag lunch presentation about the process
of developing online learning. The presentation showed how the BYU-Idaho
Learning Model allows the process of creating a course for on-campus
delivery to extend naturally into an online setting....(more)

Announcing I-Learn

I-Learn (full name: BYUI-Learn) is the next generation of teaching and learning technology at BYU-Idaho. It includes an integrated collection of technologies built by BYU-Idaho and our partner vendors,...(more)

Communication Students Collaborate Through Wiki

Students in Robyn Bergstrom's Communication classes used an online technology called Wiki for their paper refinement and upgrading. Over the course of the class, students write their papers, post them on Wiki, and have their peer groups analyze and write feedback that will help to improve the paper. In regards to this new technology Sister Bergstrom was enthusiastic, "I really enjoy it, and it's a great addition." ...(more)

Nursing Program Reaches On and Off Campus Students

Rumor on campus has it that BYU-Idaho's Nursing Program is one of the hardest to get into. There are limited slots available, which makes it very competitive. However, the institution of online classes is extending services to a larger student body, on and off campus. Currently in the BSN online program at BYU-Idaho, there are 350 students all over the country. ...(more)

Using Pod Casting and MP3s for Public Speaking Classes

Brother Bean was introduced to MP3 sound by a friend named Troy Hinckley. Using software called Audacity, he was able to record his mother's funeral. This inexpensive software has the sound quality of a 1985 professional recording studio. It didn't take very long for Brother Bean to begin to wonder how he could incorporate this new technology into his classes. ...(more)

Vocal Students Video for Feedback

Students in Rebecca George's voice classes were able to have their singing routines recorded and on file for their instructor to review and analyze during the semester. By using an electronic portable unit roughly the size of a suitcase, George was able to have her students individually recorded over the course of the semester. This hi-tech recorder unit is called Mediasite. Mediasite can not only record voice exams but a professor's lectures and presentations simultaneously. These lectures and presentations would be easily accessible to students online on I-Learn. ...(more)

Students Create Family History DVDs

In Brother Doug Ladle's Family History class, the projects are far beyond ordinary. Every semester, 20-25 students from each section opt to create a Family History DVD. These DVDs contain everything from family home videos and pictures to entire family stories, complete with narration and music soundtracks. However, some students are so far away from home they can not get their hands on home videos or photos. These students actually create video autobiographies of their life here at BYU-Idaho. ... (more)

Art Seminar Reaches the Students

Art Seminar is required for all art students to take at least four times before graduation. It is a motivating tool, a way to browse other art subjects the students might not know about, and educate the audience to the reality of the art world. Miriam Robertson, a photography major said, "...I have appreciated art seminar because it not only teaches me more about my area of art, but it helps me learn how the different art areas are interrelated once you graduate and get into the field in which you choose to work." ...(more)

BYU-Idaho to Offer Bachelor of University Studies Degree Online

It can be difficult though, for those with binding obligations to their jobs and families to simply return to school full-time or even part-time, especially if one does not live near campus. However, with today's technology, it may not be necessary for students to live near campus in order to receive a Bachelor's degree from BYU-Idaho.  ..(more)

Another Step towards Becoming a Disciple Training Center

Overall, the goal of the class is to train students to become Disciples of Christ by gaining knowledge, influence, and the ability to think critically.  Washburn, who completed the class last winter says, "(The class) helped me to think about issues, morals, principles, and doctrines in new ways.  As it deepened my understanding of these essential ideas, it strengthened my resolve to live them and become a more Christ-like person.  That's what discipleship is all about." ...(more)

Student Participation is Key

As a professor in the religion department, Brother Eaton has instituted several new ideas that help his students delve deeper into the classes, declare their opinions, and open up to the other students. His student participation techniques are unlike the usual hand-raising exercises. They include study groups, hot seats, and different student discovery techniques. ...(more)

Virtual Classrooms Coming to Life

We may not be able to travel at warp speed, and we may not have the capabilities to beam a student from the Spori building to the Ricks building, but we do have some technology that you might only have seen on Star Trek.  It's the ability for Captain Picard to look at a screen and see and speak with another individual as if he or she was present, live and in-person.  Professors like Don Campbell in the Accounting Department are honing into this technology and using it to supplement their online courses. ...(more)

Business Majors required to Own Laptops

Many universities across the nation are requiring their students to own laptops. BYU-Idaho's business program is no exception. By their junior year, all business majors must own a laptop. Business majors frequently use the web and Microsoft Excel in their classes. The fact that students have their own computer increases the efficiency of class time.  Says Brother Craig Bell, Chair of the Business Department, "We outgrew the labs... along with notebooks [comes] flexibility." ...(more)

Clickers Facilitate Interaction between Teachers and Students

Student Response Systems (SRS), or "Clickers" as they are more commonly called, are becoming a new trend in hundreds of university and high school classrooms all over the nation.  Many BYU-Idaho professors have taken advantage of this technology and been very pleased with the results.  Brother Hunt of the Biology Department states, "There is something to be said about the importance of chalk and an eraser, but if used appropriately, technology can enhance the learning environment." ...(more)