Challenge Two: Technology Supports
What it is:
The Technology Supports competency means integrating technology into our courses by intentionally selecting appropriate tools for different tasks. This includes evaluating technologies for factors such as ethics, accessibility, and affordability. In addition, we strive to reduce students’ cognitive load by providing the proper support to help them be successful with the technology. This may seem like a big task, but helpful frameworks exist to guide decisions about choosing educational technologies to use in the classroom.
Why it is important:
Since there are many educational technologies available to use in the classroom, it’s essential to evaluate these technologies from multiple perspectives. This will help ensure that an ethical, accessible, and affordable technology is chosen. It’s also important to avoid assuming students will automatically understand how to use the chosen technology. While some students might be proficient at using technology in their personal lives, technologies used for learning in the classroom may be a different matter. It’s crucial to include proper support so that all students can be successful. Overall, getting to know our students’ needs and abilities, choosing tools with purpose, and ensuring that we and our students have the proper support.
Examples:
- Browse a snapshot of the educational technology tools being used across the province in 2019: Educational Technology at Work in British Columbia: The ETUG Community Survey Results (blog post)
- Explore this edtech demo to see how others have built on existing models to create a rubric to assess technologies for use in the classroom: More Tools Than Time: Sharing a Rubric for Aiding Instructors’ Predictive Evaluation of eLearning Tools (video, 50 minutes)
Multimedia Activity
Choosing and evaluating a technology to use in your classroom is a multidimensional decision that involves many perspectives beyond the technology’s ability to do what you need it to do. The SECTIONS model offers a helpful framework based on eight important factors to consider. To begin to familiarize yourself with the model, click on each of the hotspots on the image for a question to consider when choosing technology. We will apply this model later in this challenge. The image below is from the chapter on choosing and using media in Teaching in a Digital Age by Tony Bates.
Learning Activities
1. Learn it for yourself
When considering integrating technologies into your teaching practice, a great place to start is exploring what’s available at your institution for both you and your students. This way, you and the students can gain access to free and supported tools that take student privacy into account.
To help you discover and document the technologies and supports available at your institution, download and/or print this scavenger hunt activity. Browse your institution’s website or speak with staff in service areas (e.g., information technologies