Why technology?

Too much technology?

This post has has been building up in me for a while now.  At Boston University I was involved with a variety of educational technologies and in the course I worked with we used quite a few: Blackboard, ALEKS, Turning Point, WebAssign, OWL Google+, and Sympodium.  I’ve also used or learned about WebCT, Sapling, MasteringChemistry, Learning Catalytics, ECHO, iPad capture apps, Piazza, and more.  This post will be my general thoughts, so future posts about specific technologies will have a context.

Before working about what technology to use or fighting with how to make it work, you better start by deciding what you want from the tech.  Lets me start by providing what I believe the primary goal of educational technology is:

“Education technology’s goal is to make the students’ time with the ‘expert’ as effective and efficient as possible.”

What can technology do?

There is so much to teach and I only get a few hours a week with my students.  I don’t see technology replacing professors, but tech should enhance the time students and professors spend together, and make the times they are apart more useful.  I want technology to make both times as impactful as possible.  Here are some ways when technology is well suited to do this (that I want to use).

1. Move learning outside of class – Many of the skills, information, and concepts (SIC) students need to learn in a course, they are able to get on their own.  Converting kg to grams and defining the oxidizing agent shouldn’t be taking up class time.  This is already what the textbook is trying to do.  Tech can give the students even more support during their pre- and post-class learning, and gives me the flexibility to move beyond the basics in class.
2. Enhance learning during class – Assuming the point above, my time in class can be much more productive already.  Not spending time on very basic SIC and moving to real life examples, motivation, complex problems, etc.  When it comes to delivering information, technology allows just about anything you can imagine (assuming can figure it out).  I don’t think I need to argue that technology can be used to make a better lecture.
3. Assessment during class – Whether you prefer a traditional lecture, flipped classrooms, or any other flavor of class time, it never hurts for the teacher to know what is going on in the students’ heads.  Technology (e.g. clickers)can make it so you can more easily assess students, without the hassle of “get out a piece of paper” every 5 minutes.
4. Communication – Students (particularly the ones that take the class seriously) are suppose to have questions.  I love questions.  It challenges me, it shows they are thinking, it allows me to identify misconceptions.  Not only that, students learn when the teach each other, so optimally I want students trying to answer each others questions, then coming to me when they are really stumped.  The problem is I can’t be with the students every moment they are confused.  Tech can overcome this barrier and make all communication with the students better.

Technology barriers: net benefit, glut, and cost

Every educational technology sales rep will tell you they can meet one or many of the objectives below.  They probably aren’t even lying.  The barrier I’ve seen is that the technology just can’t be good, it has to be a “net” benefit.  That is it must be so good, that it is worth more than the hassle for me and my students.  I don’t think all the technology meets this level.  Sure your homework system might be bundled with the book Mr. Sales Rep, but if it filled with errors, the interface is a pain for the students, and I have to constantly spend my time answering questions about it, then I don’t want it.

Another interesting issue I’ve run into is technology glut.  We were using so many technologies in one classroom that the students were managing 5 different log in portals.  So even though I would argue all 5 of the technologies we implemented actually met the net benefit criteria individually, as we implemented more and more the hassle factor got worse.  So not only must you choose good tech, you must choose the right amount of tech that you and your students can handle.

Finally, the technology can’t be prohibitively expensive.  I don’t want students spending $150 on a textbook, then paying another $50 a semester for tech.  Part of the problem is text books are ludicrously expensive for what they are providing.  Bringing that cost down to make way for learning technology is a good start, but still the course technology has to be priced fairly.

What I want from technology

I think what each person wants exactly is probably different.  Maybe you want to do quizzes online outside of class.  Maybe it is very important to you to be able to be able to upload resources to your students and have them upload their work back to you.  Here is exactly what I want from my technology and which ones I think would/could do the job well.

1. A single portal (Learning Management System, LMS) for students that manages all the technology.  This site has to be fast and integrated into the Registrars office.  It has to be easy for me to make a course calendar that has their assignments and assessments.  Also should integrate the e-version of the textbook.
   • Moodle – Because it is open source, some VERY good tech person could hack it to work.  Anything but Blackboard.
2. A discussion board function where students can post questions and both I and other students can answer them.
   • Piazza – I’ve only begun to play with it, but it is AMAZING.  I’m also not afraid of Facebook, and Piazza can interface with it.
3. A place I can post resources that I make or find.  Maybe allow students to post stuff
   • Dropbox – It is fast and free, but it doesn’t have a great interface for what I want on its own.  Hopefully the LMS can manage it.
4. I really like forward-based homework.  This is where students to work on basic SIC before they come to class.
   • ALEKS – This is by far, hands down the best designed technology I’ve used for tutoring students in chemistry.  Only limitation is that it doesn’t get as hard as my tests.
5. A way to help students manage their time that I can assist them with.  Must integrate with the LMS to be updated with their assignment schedule.
   • Persistence Plus – Never used it, but looks like it would fit the bill.
6. Homework system that takes allows them to move beyond basic SICs and on to test level material.
   • No idea.  I haven’t used one I really like yet.  Unless I take a year off just to write questions into a current homework system, I don’t know if this exists.
7. Video capture of short lessons and homework solutions.  Gives me the ability to provide very specific content for my class.
   • ShowMe – There are so many of these capture apps, but this one seems pretty good.
8. Student response systems are very powerful, but my courses will be small enough I think I’m ok right now without one.  If I were using one, then maybe
   • Turning Point – Cheap, easy to use, and integrated into power point.  A bit buggy with MAC, but I use Windows.
   • Learning Catalyics – Haven’t used it yet (its brand new), but it looks amazing.  Currently it is too expensive and requires 100% of your students to have something internet ready in class.
   • Poll Everywhere – Free version that allows text messages and web responses.  It’s free for <40 students.

That isn’t too much to ask, is it?  Most of the technology is out there, if someone could just license and package them properly.

UPDATE – (6/20/2012) My friend Dr. Nic Hammond, U of Rochester’s Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, responded to my post and said one role of technology is that we use to help develop the students into active learners.

If students came in as mature learners, we’d not need to use ALEKS or OWL or clickers… they’d read the book (as we call it), work problems, formulate questions, prepare for lecture, attend lecture, etc. But they’re not ready for that immediately. So we prop up their learning style… or perhaps guide it toward what we have found to be effective.

I think this an interesting point that technology can play the larger role of guiding students into good learning habits.  Maybe this is another good goal for technology because it can be with the students all the time.

I think I would say that even if I already had a mature learner, who was motivated and developed enough of a learner to do what Nic mentions above, I would still want a lot of the same tech.  Even mature learners need guidance to learn efficiently.  I want the technology to support the learner (either passive or active) though the material.  I still want the tech to communicate, assess, and provide content to them more easily.

UPDATE (12/16/2012) A great article about the challenge of technology in the classroom.  In the same way Bill Gates described how putting computers in the classroom can be a horrible idea, technology is only as good as the user can leverage it.

UPDATE (5/10/2013) Article on how it must be the appropriate technology to make an impact.  Right at the same time this article described some of the hazards of technology.

UPDATE (7/5/2013) Maybe add this piece of technology to your school,  Student Engauge.  A mobile app that allows students to respond in real time to what is going on in class and on campus.