Topic
A7.3: Identifying and Assessing Available Technologies
Answering the Question "When"
When should technology be used? From a pedagogical
perspective, the answer is endless and depends upon the instructional
objective. From a technology perspective, it depends on the answers
to questions such as these:
Support Perspective:
Is this a technology supported at my school? If
not, are there other support options such as associations or free
resources? If yes, does this support come with a cost that either
you or your student will have to support?
Student Perspective:
Is this a technology that I can assume my students
know? If not, is there something similar to this technology that
they would have experience with and therefore limit the learning
curve.
Is this a technology that you have used yourself
as a student? Although this is not absolutely necessary, it is helpful
to understand what your students might go through when trying to
use the technology.
Is this a technology that the student has access
to? If not, are there resources where the student can go to use it
or is the cost to acquire the technology within reason?
Instructor Perspective:
Is this a technology that you know how to teach?
If not, are there resources or services that can help you teach your
students in the use of the technology?
Is the introduction of this technology going to
require that you add another learning/instructional objective? If
so, do you have the time and resources to meet this objective in
addition to meeting the core content objectives?
Instructor and Student Perspective:
Is this technology going to change either my or
my students§ workload? If yes, what activities might be reduced
to accommodate this addition?
Will this technology be secure or private? If not,
is it necessary? For example, will you be using copyright material
that must have limited access per an agreement? Will you and/or your
students be exchanging information that would best remain private
to the class?
This is just a short list of questions to ask. Answers
will vary from school to school and from strategy to strategy.
Learning
Activity IV - Answering the Question "When" |
Write an instructional objective. Design
two learning activities that would meet this objective, one without
technology and one with technology. Answer the questions associated
with each perspective above. Ask one or two colleagues to review
your strategies and provide feedback or discussion on what they learned
or how they may have done something differently. |
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