52 Tips for Evaluating Educational Technologies
When preparing to teach online or blended, you must consider what kinds of educational technologies will best support your students in achieving the learning outcomes for your course. In some cases, the choice will be simple: start with tools your institution supports. Here at Camosun, faculty and students have access to supported tools like D2L/Brightspace (yes, it’s the same as UVic!), Kaltura (called “My Media” in D2L), the synchronous tools Collaborate (supported by eLearning) and Zoom (which is supported by ITS but not eLearning), Office 365, and obliquely (meaning an eLearning instructional designer can help you set them up, but they are not supported b
Of course, there are literally hundreds of educational technologies (including textbook resources) out there that are not directly supported by the college, so what should you look out for when choosing a tool? Here are just a few things to think about.
Is it the best tool for the task/learning outcome?
If none of the tools supported by the college supports students to meet a learning outcome, then it’s time to search outside. If the tool provides the best way for students to meet a learning outcome, then it’s time to dig a little deeper. If you aren’t sure, talk to an instructional designer in eLearning and review our Key Considerations for Adopting Educational Technologies document.
Does it need to be integrated with a Camosun system?
If the tool needs to be downloaded onto a student device or integrated into D2L, for example, you will need to approach eLearning as we do not typically integrate any new tools with our existing systems unless there is a case for wide use across the institution brought to us. Vendors will often tell you that their tool is “easily integrated” into D2L, but there is usually a cost in time, money, and extended support for any new tool added to our system which we cannot often accommodate.
Does it need to be downloaded to a device or integrated with a Camosun system?
If the tool needs to be downloaded onto student devices in order to be used, you will need to find out what devices are compatible and if your students have good access to them.
What is the cost for students (or you) to use?
If there is a cost for students to download or use the tool, you should probably be discussing this tool use with your Chair or Dean, unless the tool is optional.
Where does student information reside, and how is ownership of materials created on (and potentially hosted by) this technology defined?
Privacy of information is an important consideration for using educational technologies. Some students will not want their personal information shared to foreign services, and the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act in BC may have implications for specific tools. In addition, make sure to review the Camosun guidelines around privacy and ???
Some tools have statements about who owns material created using their software,