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Using IT with Sociology Students

The Guardian described this site as:

"Something a little bit different. Written in Hot Potatoes software created by Half-Baked Software, this site is an excellent example of innovative ways in which students can be encouraged to learn. What you get is lots of online tests in various formats, short slide lectures, and crosswords. And, if you can't think of the answer to a question you can ask for it! Of course such tests are limited in that they can only really test knowledge, but then a sound sociological knowledge base is a good foundation for exam success."

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The Guardian reviewer is quite right in saying that the thrust of material on the site is mostly to do with developing Knowledge and Understanding. The Hot Potatoes exercises and the slideshow-type material on this site are designed to enable students to learn and reinforce their Knowledge and Understanding. The emphasis is on doing something with the material, rather than clicking through it, or using the site to distribute handouts. So, most of the material is interactive. This material has been designed mainly for students to use outside classes to support face-to-face teaching. However, any exercise can be used with groups in class.

The new material being added in 2003 is designed to take students beyond using online material for recalling or developing knowledge, and begins to tackle skills.  The Word Searches and Hangman Game are designed to help students identify key terms, but they are also designed to help them learn to spell them! These exercises take the form of games - you either try to beat your own time in the Word Searches, or save the sociology student from the noose in the Hangman Game.

There are specific exercises on evaluating research in the Research Methods test section.

If you have an interactive whiteboard, you can do many of the activities in class. The drag-and-drop activities lend themselves to getting students out the front, and can be done with a finger as well as a mouse.

The activities here were originally designed to be done by students outside class, either in a Learning Centre or at home.