Instructors feel pressure to incorporate technology into their teaching: institutional pressure, collegial pressure, student pressure, and societal pressure.  If you are an instructor who is not particularly comfortable working beyond word processing and e-mail, then technology can quickly become a bête noire.

Below are the first five of ten tips for getting started. The tips are borne out of my experiences working with a variety of instructors with a range of technology skills and affinities. The goal is to make the prospect of teaching with technology a little less daunting and the bête a little less noire.

The progressive thinkers who post regularly to this blog have expansive, forward-thinking ideas that will likely form the basis of future teaching and learning. Those contributors may find this list too provincial.

While I agree that the ideal marriage of technology and education involves rethinking from the ground up, I am not looking in that direction here.  My hope is to encourage those who are starting to walk.  After you walk, you will be ready to run, and then you will fly with the wing walkers.

• Be sure that content and learning objectives are always your guides. Technology is not the end product nor is using technology the goal. Technology is a tool that is effective only when it helps your students achieve the learning objectives. Technology can be the catalyst for learning.Before you consider using blogs, wikis, or any other technology tool, think carefully think about your content and the learning goals.
  • Is there a goal that your students often have trouble achieving?
  • Is there a task your students regularly have a hard time realizing?
  • Is there an activity your students do not practice enough in class?
  • Are there materials you have always wanted your students to access but that have not been available?

  If you answered yes to any of these questions, then technology may be able to help.

  Even though the advice to avoid using technology for technology’s sake has become trite, it remains sound.  Better to pass on technology than to tack it on to you course because you feel you have to in order to keep up with the times. 

• Know that one size does not fit all. You know your content, and you know what it takes for students to learn in your course.  Consequently, with your expertise and some exploration, you can identify the kinds of technologies that can potentially help you teach and help your students learn.Like other teaching approaches and tools, a tech tool that works swimmingly for art history may not be at all effective for political science.  Be inspired by what others are doing, but try not to feel like you have to do the same thing. Never stray from the needs of your content.

 

• Start small if you feel tentative.Instructors do not have to start integrating technology into their courses by completely re-working everything from a to z.  Using tech tools is not an all-or-nothing choice.Everyone is at a different place on the tech-savvy spectrum.  No matter where you start, you have plenty of room to grow.
  • Start small.
  • Identify and try a technology tool.
  • Become comfortable with one technology tool.
  • Note how you learned and how you became comfortable with that technology tool.
  • Evaluate that technology tool’s effectiveness.
  • Gain confidence.
  • Repeat the process.

  The first venture is usually the most difficult.   After navigating and surviving once, you will be calmer, more confident, and better equipped to consider other technology tools that can help you and your students achieve more learning goals.

 

• Plan ahead.Generally, planning and developing prior to launching contribute significantly to the effectiveness of technology-enhanced instruction.Ideally, time would be available to
  • Think through the teaching and learning needs.
  • Learn and reach a comfort level with the technology.
  • Plan carefully your use of technology.
  • Test your technology piece (so you can identify kinks and troubleshoot as many problems as you can before students find them).

  Realistically, time is a luxury. You may not have time to design, develop, and test your technology before your course starts, so you have no choice but to develop as you go.

  If you do have a choice, then start planning and developing before launching. My guess is that if you were to ask instructors who have implemented technology-enhanced instruction both by developing ahead of time and by developing while teaching, they would recommend developing ahead of time if at all possible. 

• Become well acquainted with the technology you are using.You do not have to become a card-carrying member of the Best Buy Geek Squad, but you will feel more sure of yourself if you attain a comfort level with your technology tool before asking your students to use it.Even though UTA offers many resources for tech support, your students will ask you questions about how to post comments to your blog or how to record a clip with Audacity. Completely unforeseen questions will arise.  They always do.  At that point, of course, you can take time to research or call upon tech support.  If you can help with the basics, though, everyone benefits.