Picking your Tools..

Photo courtesy of Shena Macdonald

When one trains educators to incorporate technology in their coursework, Machanic (2001)  with reference to Eastmond and Lawrence and Horgan (1998) notes that it is important to emphasise how technology supports pedagogy practices rather than the showbiz qualities of technology presentations.  Thus, Machanic (2001) proposes the notion that including technology in one’s course development is more than an aesthetic presentation element but rather a useful format that can be used to increase access to learning.  I would agree with this practice, as I have found that exploring the vastness of technological applications can be overwhelming and time-consuming.  Thus, basing one’s use of technology within a pedagogical context can provide a framework for one’s exploration and selection of technological tools.

Consequently, we have realised that our art department has subconsciously developed various criteria that influenced our selection  and use of information communications technology.  In my Master’s paper I will discuss how we reached a consensus on our criteria and selection of technological tools.  I will also explore how learners responded to the various tools and how their experience influenced our development of our online classrooms and implementation of technological tools.

Firstly we selected a learning area that we would like to present digitally, such as assessment and self evaluations.  We then discussed what we would like to achieve in that area.  We then looked at a variety of online tools that others were using and choose our own tools based on the following criteria.

Some of the Basic Criteria we used for selection of information communications technologies (ICT) were as follows.

Digital tools/ programs/ICT should be:

• free!
• easy to share (e.g tools should be link friendly)
• accessible to learners and educators (hence the emphasis on free)
• save educators time by mechanising administration
• improve presentation and record keeping
• speed up rate of communication between educators and learners
• allow dialogue/collaboration between learners and educators,
• easily edited (adaptable) as our online classroom is experimental
• build on basic computer skills (sharing between programs , microsoft office, editing images)
• save the environment by saving paper
• improve pedagogical practice
• optimise Visual curriculum requirements
• work well the school infrastructure (infrastructure is a major hinderance to online learning but I shall write another post about this)

I will expand on these criteria further as this blog grows. 

If you are thinking of introducing technology into your classroom, perhaps you should think about how what you want to achieve in your classroom? 
What criteria list would you create?  

Having an end goal in mind will help you stay focused when presented with a vast range of apps and fancy magic tricks.

Reference: Machanic, M. 2001. [online] 11.3 Faculty Development in Higher Education: "Best Practices" Review and Planning Recommendations for Technology-Rich Learning Environments; Mindy Machanic. Available at: http://www.ed.psu.edu/acsde/deos/deosnews/deosnews11_3.asp  [Accessed: 11 Feb 2014].43 (6), pp. 51--54.