I feel the 3 most important things to consider is whether or not it is user friendly for the student as well as the instructor, whether or not it can help achieve the required outcome, and does it enhance communication and interactivity between the instructor and the student.
My favorite tool that I use is the Webex live meeting and teleconferences. Once my students attend the first one they enjoy it so much that they tell their classmates. Before I know it my whole class is attending at the same time. I think I can speak for my students and myself to say that they feel more connected with me and the lines of communication open right up.
Greetings!
This is a good question. Technology should be used to enhance the course material and/or topic(s). I also believe that technology should be developed from the student/instructor perspectives. In other words, the technology should be user-friendly.
Best, Eric Freeman
Penelope,
You are right on all three accounts. It has to be student and instructor friendly.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Being user friendly for students. Being relevant to the course topic. Instructor should be have a thorough understanding of said technology tools.
Louise,
Good post. It is interesting how you use whiteboards and live explanation with Powepoint. The tools have to work with LMS.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
The first consideration I have is what technology works with my teaching style. Specifically, I consider which technology will work with the lesson for that day. For example, I often PowerPoint online when reviewing items in the text. However, I do not use voice overs – I speak live when discussing the slides to enable a better response to student questions.
My second consideration is how the technology will enhance student learning. Providing links to other websites to supplement the discussion is one example. Another is to move from watching screens to generating responses in polls or whiteboards. I will use some other media in an occasional lecture to provide a different perspective and prevent boredom. This is an area where a pre-recorded video can be used. Even if it is the instructor, mixing a video with lecture can provide increased interest.
A third consideration is the ability of the technology to support my actions. I have had situations where I wanted to incorporate another teaching method into the online classroom. However, the school platform was unable to accommodate my method. Therefore, I have had to alter my lesson plans due to the issues with technology.
