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Technology is always changing, and it is important to stay on top of the latest developments so that you can provide your students with the best education possible. Even if you are a graduate student or seasoned professor, there are many things you may need to invest in to improve your student’s learning experience and make it more effective. Here is a list of five essentials to invest in as a computer science professor.
Plagiarism Checker for Code
Plagiarism is a serious issue in every field, and the computer science field is not an exception. Code theft and appropriation are common when professors encourage students to write their code since they use code they have found in their research as a point of inspiration. While you can and should use a plagiarism checker to check all text sources, it is also good to have a program that performs a similar check on code. Code plagiarism checker programs allow professors to run simple and advanced checks on source code by comparing it with millions of pages of open-source code, websites, and files.
While computers may seem like one of the most expensive investments you make as a professor, they are, in fact, the most important. You will be teaching students how to work with computers and write programs, so if your computer is outdated or slow, it will create problems for you and your students. You won’t be able to teach effectively if your computer freezes all the time or cannot handle downloading software or running multiple programs at once. Invest in a new computer with high-specification hardware and memory.
Programming Software
You will have to teach your students how to work with programming software, so you need to have the latest version of your favorite software. While there are many free and free trial versions of great programming software that professors can use, it is important that you have a license for all the teaching materials. Programming software such as Visual Studio, Eclipse, or IDEs like Vim allows professors to work on their programs without having to run them through a web browser, which is fast and efficient.
E-Reader or Tablet
Tablets and e-readers are lightweight and provide easy access to thousands of books, including textbooks, journals, and eBooks. You can also load your syllabus on these devices for easy reference, which is great for added convenience and organization. Once you have selected a suitable e-reader, you can download the Kindle App, which allows you to organize your books by title, author, and recently read, which is also a great way to reduce the clutter of your packed bookshelves or overflowing boxes of textbooks. As a bonus, if you choose a tablet over an e-reader, most tablets have easy access to many popular educational materials for students. Also, some tablets have the capability to run Adobe Flash, which comes in handy when you want to run interactive textbooks. As you evaluate your options, keep in mind the functionality you need: an e-reader is better for carrying around lighter textbooks, whereas a tablet offers more space for additional applications.
You may have thought about setting up cloud storage for your students but have hesitated to do so because of the associated costs. However, cloud storage is essential since you can use it to host and share files between multiple computers. Once a file has been uploaded to the cloud, it is easily accessible from any device with an internet connection. It is important to back up all essential files, and you can use cloud storage to achieve this goal by either saving your files onto the cloud or uploading them to a local, external hard drive. Google Drive, for instance, offers 15 GB of free cloud storage, which should be sufficient for most users.
It is not always easy to tell what technology is worth the investment, but it is important that you choose the right tools for your students. You will not only make your students better programmers, but you will also improve your teaching effectiveness as a professor and make it easier for them to learn what you have to teach.
