Michaella Hammond, MFAAssistant Director for Instructional

Design @ The Reinert Center for Teaching Excellence

Saint Louis University

Incorporating Technology

into Teaching

Identify learning technology trends

Discuss how educational technology can improve learners’ experiences and possibly learning outcomes

Our objectives

“Education will be more about how to process and use information and less about imparting it. This is a consequence of both the proliferation of knowledge – and how much of it any student can truly absorb – and changes in technology.”

Lawrence H. Summers, former president of Harvard, speech from The New York Time’s Schools for Tomorrow conference

When you think about technology and education, what opinions, concepts, images, debates, words, or thoughts come to mind?

Spark!

Today’s Learner{Students born between 1981 and 2001 tend to…}

Multitask & enjoy collaborative learning

Often depend on others for direction

Be at ease with new technologies

May need support using technology for academic and professional purposes

Benefit from additional practice with critical thinking and independent decision-making skills

(Lynch qtd. in The Economist, 2008, p. 11)(RIT Online Learning: Adult Learners, 2012)

Today’s Learner{Students born before 1981 tend to…}

Be self-directed and active learners

Question theories and ideas

Seek relevant, problem-based learning experiences

May need support using technology for academic and professional purposes

Bring real-world experiences that contextualize world view

(RIT Online Learning: Adult Learners, 2012)

Photo source: l_hilt’s photostream on Flickr

“Learning technology is the broad range of communication, information and related technologies that can be used to support learning, teaching and assessment . . . you do not have to be called or to call yourself a learning technologist to be one!” (UK’s Association for Learning Technology)

First, a definition.

“So, our purpose is not to demonstrate how to use these technologies, but rather to demonstrate how learners can use these technologies. The process may be more difficult, but the meaning that you and your students derive from it will be deeper. We believe this approach is worth the effort” (Howland, Jonassen & Marra, 2011, para. 2).

*Meaningful* use of technology

Peer-based and scholar-based communication via social media (e.g., Stanford’s Encyclopedia of Philosophy)

Mobile learning, or m-learning (e.g., BYOT, flipped classroom model)

Incorporating play more widely into higher education (James Paul Gee’s: “preparation for future learning”)

Tech trends assisting

discovery

“Social Media Explained a la @ThreeShipsMedia”

“A Low-Threshold Application (LTA) is a teaching/learning application of information technology that is reliable, accessible, easy to learn, non-intimidating and (incrementally) inexpensive” (TLT Group Resources Collection, 2009).

Low-threshold application

Tracking changes in Microsoft Word documents Collaborative writing projects in Google Docs, blogs, wikis, etc. Using Instant Messenger and web conferencing programs for remote office hours or

study sessions Adding audio narration to presentation slides Using social bookmarking sites to help students learn how to evaluate and curate

research Using digitized recordings or videos to respond to student and peer work (e.g., Jing,

iMovie, Audacity, etc.) Twitter backchannel in the classroom as a means of informal, formative assessment

(checks for understanding) Discipline-specific apps that transcend platforms BYOT – “Bring your own technology” into the classroom

LTA examples

What Low-Threshold Applications of educational technology have you or learners you know been influenced by?

LTA discussion

Systemic or institutional applications of meaningful learning technologies that “require substantial reorganization and rethinking of faculty roles” (Chickering & Ehrmann, 1996).

High-threshold application

Course, curriculum, and classroom redesign

Flipped classrooms (leveraging Tegrity, SLUGlobal, screencasting, podcasting, etc.; e.g., Khan Academy)

Universal Design and Universal Instructional Design

Institutionalized problem-based learning, service learning, and/or simulations for degree-granting programs or schools

Electronic portfolios transferable and visible from a learner’s academic life to professional career

The possibilities are endless, too, but there are challenges with implementing purposeful, systemic learning technology in the classroom.

HTA examples

Flipped Classroom

Model

Source: The Flipped Classroom: Turning Traditional Education on Its Head, http://www.knewton.com/flipped-classroom/

What High-threshold Applications of educational technology have you or learners you know been influenced by?

HTA discussion

Educational technology works best when explicitly connected to learning outcomes

Today and tomorrow’s classrooms are shifting towards more learner-centered, guide-on-the-side environments

Learning technologies have the capacity to improve learner access in terms of accessibility, geographic location, socioeconomic status, and modes of engagement

Key take-aways

“Dewey believed that education and life were inextricably bound, that they informed each other. Education wasn’t just something you did in a classroom to earn grades. It was something you lived.”

Neal Gabler, Professor at Stony Brook Southampton, SUNY

If you would like to read more about some of the ideas and technologies mentioned in today’s presentation, please visit:

http://bit.ly/myers_edh670

References

Michaella (Kella) HammondEmail: mhammon8@slu.eduPhone: 314-977-1910Twitter: @Reinert_CTETwitter: @kellahammondWebsite: http://cte.slu.edu/

Contact me

Thank you for your time and the

opportunity to talk with you today!