So Many Tools, So Little Time
After reading Dr. Power's list of digital tools and systems commonly used in education I must admit I had to Google a lot of them. I had no idea that I had been using "RLOs" because I had never refered to online teaching resources as "reusable learning objectives". Sometimes terminology can be more complicated than technology itself!
Are types of tools missing?
A type of digital tool that isn't listed specifically are marking programs. Although this doesn't directly impact instruction, it has a huge impact on evaluating students. An issue that I have noticed is how evaluating and calculating student marks is not done consistently and one of the reasons is that teachers use a variety of programs (Excel, Easy Grade Pro, Students Achieve, and MarkBook are just a few). Some new marking software allows students to have access to all of their summative evaluations through a mobile app, such as Fresh Grade . This allows evaluation to be as transparent as possible, and students can track their progress which encourages assessment as learning. Having students self asses their progress throughout a course can improve student metacognition and help them understand how they learn (Brown, 2004).
Another subject specific online tool for Science and Math are gizmos found at www.explorelearning.com. These are excellent Science animations/virtual labs that help bring Science concepts to live, especially those that occur at the molecular level that we can't observe in real life. Another online tool I use to deliver lessons and cast lessons from my computer to each student's mobile device (laptop, tablet, or phone) is nearpod. Nearpod allows you to build lessons on the website and then begin a live session that provides students with an access code and they can have all of the lesson components on their device in real time as you go through the lesson. It is a very powerful and engaging tool!
Tools that I have experience with:
As a student:Learning Management Systems (UOIT Blackboard, Desire2Learn at Queens)
Collaborative workspaces (Adobe Connect general meeting room, Google docs, wikispaces)
Scheduling tools (Doodles)
Multimedia Production (Google docs, microsoft office suite, camtasia studio)
Communication tools (email, twitter, discussion forums, blogs)
Data Collection and Analysis (Google forms, polls within Adobe connect)
As a Teacher:
Learning Management Systems (Schoology, Desire2Learn)
Learning Object Repositories (Ontario Education Resource Bank - OERB)
Collaborative workspaces (Padlet, Google docs, office 365)
Scheduling tools (Remind)
Multimedia Production (Easel.ly, office 365, powtoon)
Communication (Twitter)
Data Collection and Analysis (Nearpod, Kahoot)
Which tools are useful?
Something that I have learned throughout my time in the M.Ed program at UOIT is that the focus of using technology in the classroom shouldn't be on the technology itself but how the technology is being used to transform learning. Many online learning tools can lead to a more learner-centered education (Graham & Robinson, 2007). Before a teacher decides to implement an online digital tool or system in their classroom they should first decide what they want to use the technology for and how they will have students use the technology. Teachers should also consider the task-technology fit to determine how the technology will lead to certain impacts on the learner (Goodue & Thompson, 1995).
I personally find that nearpod is an extremely useful tool in casting lessons to student's personal devices in class while engaging students in content. My goal when using the technology is to engage students to be active learners and participate by contributing to surveys, and answering and submitting formative discussion questions. Another teacher may want to use nearpod as a way to have students access course slides from home and they may not find the technology useful. This is why task-technology fit is an important consideration when choosing what technologies are useful.
Evaluating an Online tool
One of the first questions I would have when evaluating on online tool would be how user-friendly the tool is (from the perspective of both the teacher and the student). It isn't realistic for a teacher to use a tool that takes in depth training to use. Teachers do not have a lot of time to dedicate to learning a new technology nor do they have a lot of time in their classes to teach technologies while getting through the curriculum.
Another important question would be how the technology will meet my instructional goals (as mentioned above with task-technology fit). Aside from ease of use this should be one of the most important considerations that a teacher has in choosing to use a new technology.
References
Brown, S. (2004). Assessment for learning. Learning and teaching in higher education, 1(1), 81-89.
Goodhue, D. L., & Thompson, R. L. (1995). Task-technology fit and individual performance. MIS quarterly, 213-236.
Graham, C. R., & Robison, R. (2007). Realizing the transformational potential of blended learning: Comparing cases of transforming blends and enhancing blends in higher education. Blended learning: Research perspectives, 83-110.
Responses to Blog Post #3
The following are replies to classmates blog posts. These comments have also been posted to their blog posts
1) Dave Swerdfeger: I'm very interested in your work with D2L and the creation of this textbook tool. The school board I teach with is in full swing of moving all teachers to using D2L as their LMS instead of other options (e.g. edmodo, schoology, moodle, sharepoint). I understand the reasoning to having all teachers use the same webpage as it is easier for the students to have a "one stop shop" rather than potentially four different websites in one semester. That being said I find D2L a bit lack lustre and very hard to change format wise (I spend hours setting up three classes the way I wanted them). Another thing is the lack of a mobile app (I used to use Schoology and there was a great mobile app students could use to access it from their phones), it is great that this textbook you have used is easily viewed on a phone. I personally feel that textbooks are an awful investment both for individual students and also for school boards to be purchasing. I would like to see more development in "e-textbooks" or online resources that take the place of a textbook. Textbooks are static and can't hold nearly the same amount of information as an online resource could. I will definitely check out "Foundation" however I am not familiar with HTML so I'm hoping it is user friendly. Is this the correct site? http://foundation.zurb.com/
2) Shannon Brandejs: I admire your honesty with respect to your dislike of Adobe Connect. I agree that webcams are awkward but on the flip side it helps build community when you can actually put a face to a name. I find some profs choose only people who are presenting to turn their webcams on and I think this is a great compromise. Like you said it doesn't make sense for everyone to have their webcam on when they aren't talking and it often slows down the system. I think webcams should definitely be used in breakout rooms as it is a bit more intimate and you can tell who is talking when you collaborate. A great activity for week one of classes is to have all students post a 1 minute video introduction of themselves to the course website. It is a quick and easy way to feel as though you have "met" your classmates and when you hear a student speak in class you can put a face to their name.
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