One of the first things I look for is ease of use. My students are fairly tech savvy, but are very impatient. The technology needs to be a "no brainer" on execution. Another consideration I have is does the tool help me appropriately assess the learning of the information presented? Does it offer a variety of options within the tool? Finally, I ask myself is the tool adaptable to meet the varied needs and comfort levels of my students?
Francis,
Ooh. . . someone make a great comment about responsive tech support! It is killer when the instructor takes the "hit" for poor technology support. I also would add to your list ease of obtaining the data from the assessment. Ease of use should also include int instructor. Good post!
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
The big three:
Accessibility with a goal of anytime, anywhere.
Ease of Use/Navigation: Goal is to be intuitive but the tool should not be a course unto itself.
Tech Support...er, make that: responsive tech support
Jason,
Great post!!!! You make some great points. If your course is the first you DO set the done for success or failure of students whether you want to or not! I hope you have some consistency in how you use the technology in an online course and our colleagues' online courses look similarly. One failure I see in some online courses at an university is the inconsistency in technology tools.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
LE,
You are right. You as the instructor must take time to examine the product. I have used a few programs that had great students interface but getting the data out of the software was almost impossible.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Kathleen,
Great post. Yes content does drive the assessment. It is also important to know the resources of the university to help students.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
This topic is meaningful to me in that I teach the first course that students take in our online program. I believe that we, as instructors, must assess whether the students have a complete understanding of how to utilize the technology, access the instructor feedback, and be made aware of the importance of their feedback in regards to the course and the assessment tools utilized. I have found that often, if the students do not have a firm grasp of how to use the assessment tools, I spend the majority of the time focused on "how-to" rather than course content. I also find that if students are focused on number grades rather than understanding where and how to understand my feedback, they have trouble growing throughout the course. Finally, I believe some instructors shy away from pushing for student feedback about the course and tools used within because they are consumed by the idea of "negative" feedback.
The things that I think are most important are:
1) Ease of use for student and instructor
2) Type of knowledge assessed (I am not a fan of memorization)
3) Accessibility/Compatibility of the tool. Can it be used over the internet and how does it work with PC and Apple platforms.
I also consider it a plus if the tool can be used over mobile devices.
The key is to make sure that the students can easily use the tool without a long learning curve and the tool must function technically in a very broad range of environments. I do not want to waste time learning software when we should be on topic. This frustrates students.
There are several simulation programs out there that have terrible user interfaces. (Capsim Capstone is a prime example of a poorly designed and confusing user interface.)
1.What is the technology background of the students?
2. Does the student understand how to use the technology required, and is help available if he/she does not?
3. What type of online course (subject matter) is being assessed. Some subjects lend themselves to certain types of assessment.
Gail,
You bring up a great point; do we educate our students on how to "get" help? Do we push them to the help desk or do we as instructors end up enabling their helplessness with technology by not having them try to solve the problem. Just wondering. . . .
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Gail,
I agree with you. You MUST give students a technology orientation. I find our younger students don't know the difference between uploading and downloading. (just one example.)
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Gwenda,
I agree with you. I also think that students need to be exposed to a variety of learning environments so learning styles don't become a crutch.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
It just thought that one other thing to consider is whether the students have access to help for the technology issues that will come up. The faculty member will probably not be able to help with technical questions. I always tell my students to immediately call the help desk when they encounter a problem and make sure to stay on the phone until it is solved. This puts the responsibility in their hands.
I believe that one of the first things to consider is how well the students understand the technology. It has been my experience that many online students are older and not as used to using technology as many of the younger students are, so there needs to be some consideration given to orienting them to the technology that will be used. Another thing to consider is whether the technology being used is the best one for the task at hand. We don't want to insist on using the technology just because we can. Finally, when using programs to give students tests, we need to make sure that the questions require the students to think and not just locate information in a text.
First, the particular course content is important. Some courses/topics lend themselves better to certain types of assessments than others.
Second, the culture of the student body should be considered. Are students generally interactive, apathetic, is there a culture of academic dishonesty to combat?
Finally, remembering the different learning styles for students should always be a factor. Instructors should consider that the student learning is the highest goal and should strive to encourage that by providing diverse learning experiences.
Robert,
I agree with you. It has to be easy to use and to pull data from. You have to be able have data to make decisions with the data. You have to ease of use for input and output! Good post.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
I think the three most important things to consider are as follows:
- the validity of the assessment tool
- the user friendliness of the to
- student understanding of the purpose and use of the tool
revonna,
Good point. I do think that when you try something new you have to assess the tools to determine if it is worth doing again. When looking and new technology for assessment or for anything for that matter, I do look at the student information that is available. Are there tutorials, help, FAQ's etc. . . I find it so important to check to see what the technology can provide you for help for students.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
revonna,
True, an important determination regarding the technology is the possibility of it becoming a barrier.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
revonna,
Great pos, particularly the the third comment where we can measure the ability of the student's ability. You make great points.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
