Into the Driver's Seat

by Perry Samson

"After more than 30 years as a Professor, and despite my obsession with educational technology I still hold a fond spot for overhead projectors.  I believe it was more effective a tool for teaching than projected Powerpoint slides will ever be.  I stood facing the students, watching their expressions, which I could see since the lights were sufficiently bright.  I could draw on the screen and change directions as questions arose.  In fact I will argue that the ‘golden age of college teaching’ if there was one was stimulated by the addition of the roller to the overhead projector.  It allowed the combining of student response, just-in-time teaching, constructivist development and several other educational buzz terms in one simple device.

It’s been downhill ever since,

"…until I discovered I could do everything the overhead could do plus a lot more with my iPad."