Hi Everyone! Welcome back to our #TTT Blog site. We hope your teaching will continue to thrive as we approach the mid-semester season. Remember, the primary goal of teaching is learning (Bates, 2003), and if the latter has not taken place on any level, then has teaching really occurred? Feel free to let us know your views on this statement.
In our previous installments of TTT for the semester thus far, we have explored a range of topics including myeLearning access and support, myeLearning resources, Universal Design for Learning (UDL), and Active Learning. This week, we want to take a closer look at SECTIONS for #TechnologySelection in teaching and learning. As you continue to teach throughout the semester/academic year, these factors are quite important in 21st century education across all contexts, even if you are teaching in a face-to-face, blended or online format.
A – Selecting Educational Technology Tools
The 21st century is characterized by an abundance and plethora of technologies. In teaching and learning, the selection and integration of these technologies should never be an arbitrary decision, but more so a systematic process. This process comprises several steps and factors that must be considered during the course/lesson planning stage – long before you deliver the instruction during the class. Perhaps the most critical factors in technology selection include the availability, flexibility and cost-effectiveness. For instance, if a technology tool is inaccessible/unavailable, or is not very flexible, then it may become more of a distraction when actually used in the teaching and learning process. As such, the aforementioned should ideally be the first considerations when evaluating/determining which technology tool(s) to integrate in your course or lesson. However, deciding how and when to incorporate certain technology tools in your course module or lesson requires a few more considerations.
B – SECTIONS A Framework for Educational Technology Evaluation
Within the context of instructional design, Bates and Poole (2019) put forward a very practical tool for the evaluation of technologies for teaching and learning. More specifically, SECTIONS is a research-based, practical framework that aids in the selection and use of even more contemporary technologies for teaching and learning, based on the following criteria and guiding questions:
C – Tech-Meet
Click Here to register for the Tech-Meet Event
To further aid in the technologies you may possibly evaluate and integrate in your teaching and learning context, the CETL is happy to announce its upcoming second annual Tech-Meet event. Designed to develop a collegial community of learners and practitioners interested in educational technologies, this faculty-led event brings together educators interested in the integration of technologies for teaching and learning. Educators will have the opportunity to present/share their innovations regarding technology integrations in their teaching contexts, and train/orient others interested in doing the same. Throughout the day, this event will be divided into segments of 45 – 60 minutes each. Each segment focuses on one technology tool or technology-mediated teaching innovation that was used by a colleague who will illustrate and then train others to use the technology.
For more information on this event, you may visit the CETL’s Events Page: https://sta.uwi.edu/cetl/tech-meet/
We hope the aforementioned resources are helpful.
Should you need any further assistance, please feel free to contact us.
Regards,
The Centre for Excellence in Teaching & Learning (CETL),
The University of the West Indies (UWI),
St. Augustine.