How to choose the best Ed-Tech tools for Online Instruction How many ‘ed-tech’ tools are out there that can enhance online learning? I’d guess hundreds if not more. It’s almost on a daily basis that I come across a new educational technology tool. Before we move on – what is educational technology or ed-tech??? Ed-tech is a term for technological applications or tools that can be used in an educational environment to enhance instruction.That’s the theoretical definition (though there are others) but .. what ed-tech can do when used effectively is to create meaningful, engaging instruction that motivates learners and supports learning objectives of a lesson or course. In this post I’ll share how educators can use educational technology effectively with the aid of a five-step strategy. For course instructors and designers it’s not so much of should I use one of these applications or tools in my course, but which one? Why use an Ed Tech tool if the first place? Integration Strategy How do you integrate a new ed-tech tool into a course? Like this:
Using Rubrics to Grade Online Discussions - ELC Support A rubric is a scoring scale used to evaluate a student's work. Rubrics spell out to students exactly what is expected of them, and they list the criteria instructors use to assess students' work. Rubrics also help instructors by providing guidelines for more objective grading. The Value of Rubrics Rubrics are useful for assessing work in any classroom setting, but they are especially helpful in online courses, where all information must be clearly stated in course documents. In some courses, instructors use rubrics for each assignment. Examples Here are some examples of rubrics used to assess online discussions and journal assignments. Rubric for Instructor-Facilitated Online Discussions This example lists expectations for student participation and includes a grading rubric for evaluating the quality of a student's participation in a discussion. Example 2: Student-led Online Discussion Participation Rubric This example assumes that students will lead and guide their own discussion.
7 guidelines for effective teaching online Inside Digital Learning asked four authors of books about online education for their expert advice on how instructors and their institutions can excel in virtual course instruction. The authors agreed that the online classroom is different enough from the traditional one that faculty members and adjuncts need to create courses for digital delivery that are substantially different from those they teach on campus. And they said teaching online requires an even keener focus on student engagement than the face-to-face model does. “Years ago, we used to say the danger of online courses was they were just going to become electronic correspondence courses,” said Rita-Marie Conrad, who along with Judith V. However, institutions and professors should be encouraging residential students to take classes online. More and more, employers are offering professional development courses online, he noted. Here are the authors’ top tips for creating engaging and successful online education: Be Present
can-we-teach-digital-natives-digital-literacy.pdf Questions to Consider As You Prepare to Teach Your First Hybrid Course | TeachOnline A hybrid course is much more than just an online course with a face-to-face class session thrown in for good measure. It involves asking, “What is the best way for students to interact with course content, construct knowledge, engage in critical thinking and problem solving?” Purposeful decisions are made by the instructor as to what activities are best included in face-to-face class sessions, and which activities would work well in a virtual environment. The term hybrid, or blended course, signifies a new way of thinking about how to harness the power of technology to promote learning and identify the best strategies to help students master important course concepts. However, it is about more than just teaching an existing course in a new format. “Blended [hybrid] learning inherently is about rethinking and redesigning the teaching and learning relationship. Blended or hybrid learning capitalizes on an important paradigm shift in instructional pedagogy. Additional Resources References
Online Design & eLearning Faculty Resources » Increase Online Student Engagement and Motivation Using TEC-VARIETY Online instructors at varying levels of experience are constantly challenged by the feat of motivating and engaging students. While most instructors do a fine job at keeping students engaged in a face-to-face course, many stumble when it comes to maintaining the same level of engagement in an online environment. If you are one of those who battle the distance and lack of physical contact in your course, take a look at this research-based resource. Adding Some TEC-VARIETY is a great resource for new and existing online instructors looking to engage and motivate their students. TEC-VARIETY principles are based on four learning theories that provide different perspectives on learner motivation over the decades: Behaviorism, Cognitivism, Constructivism, and Sociocultural Views. The ten motivational principles of TEC-VARIETY are: T – Tone/Climate: Psychological Safety, Comfort, Sense of Belonging E – Encouragement: Feedback, Responsiveness, Praise, Supports V – Variety: Novelty, Fun, Fantasy
Tools for Interactive Teaching and Learning: IU - Teaching Online It is tempting to fall into the habit of thinking that you have to use a lot of complicated online tools to provide opportunities for meaningful active learning. You can provide meaningful interaction with quite basic tools as long as they are well-structured and clearly support students in reaching learning outcomes. Consider the Experience While there are obviously arguments to be made in favor of some tools over others, it is more effective to first consider the experience you are trying to create for the student. What do you want the student to know and be able to do at the end of this activity? Consider leveraging the tools built into Canvas such as Discussions (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. Other Interactive Tools If you find that Canvas-native tools are not sufficient to create a robust active learning experience for your students, you can explore third-party tools. You'll see mention of lack of LTI support as a drawback on several tools listed.
Constructive Alignment - and why it is important to the learning process | Higher Education Academy Engineering Subject Centre What is Constructive Alignment? Constructive Alignment, a term coined by John Biggs (Biggs, 1999) is one of the most influential ideas in higher education. It is the underpinning concept behind the current requirements for programme specification, declarations of Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs) and assessment criteria, and the use of criterion based assessment. There are two parts to constructive alignment: Students construct meaning from what they do to learn. The teacher aligns the planned learning activities with the learning outcomes. The basic premise of the whole system is that the curriculum is designed so that the learning activities and assessment tasks are aligned with the learning outcomes that are intended in the course. Figure 1. Alignment is about getting students to take responsibility for their own learning, and establishing trust between student and teacher. Achieving Constructive Alignment Figure 2. Define the learning outcomes. Setting the Learning Outcomes Source
Using Biggs' Model of Constructive Alignment in Curriculum Design/Introduction - UCD - CTAG The main theoretical underpinning of the outcomes-based curriculum is provided by Biggs (2003). He calls the model constructive alignment which he defines as: …coherence between assessment, teaching strategies and intended learning outcomes in an educational programme. (McMahon & Thakore 2006) As currently articulated, the model is attributed to Biggs (2003, 1999) but the essentials were formulated by Tyler (1949) some 50 years earlier - and elaborated in the 1980s by Shuell (1986). At its most basic, the model requires alignment between the three key areas of the curriculum, namely, the intended learning outcomes, what the student does in order to learn, how the student is assessed. Figure 1: A Basic Model of an Aligned Curriculum. Figure 2: An Example of Constructive Alignment in a Curriculum (Further examples are given in Appendix 1) Biggs actually suggests that teaching and learning activities are designed second and the assessment regime third (page 30).
UDL: The UDL Guidelines The Use of Web Instructional Tools By Online Instructors (Study) Note: This article was originally published in The Technology Source ( as: Lucio Teles "The Use of Web Instructional Tools By Online Instructors" The Technology Source, May/June 2002. Available online at In studies comparing instructional tools and how they support online teaching, educators have stressed the importance of tools that support specific tasks, and thus allow more flexible teaching, facilitate access to resources and peers, and promote collaborative learning (Britain & Liber, 1999; Harasim, 1999; Bonk, 2001). To investigate how online instructors use instructional tools designed for the Web, we conducted a study with a group of 32 online instructors to address the following questions: (1) What tools are most commonly used by online instructors? Questionnaire respondents Participants in the study are instructors who teach in either mixed mode or entirely online mode. Results The Selected Tools References
20+ UK Twitter Users Educators Should Follow Curating your Twitter feed is an interesting task. Sometimes you know exactly what you want to get out of the people whose Tweets you’re spending your time reading. Finding new people to follow on Twitter can range from being fun to being a total pain in the neck. 20 UK Twitter Users Educators Should Follow BBC Education: Set up by @mario, supported by SchoolDuggery: Keeping an independent and occasionally caustic eye on schools and education. DfE: The official Twitter account for the Department for Education and its executive agencies – STA, EFA and National College for Teaching and Leadership. Laura McInerney: Taught in London. Ann Mroz: Editor and Digital Publishing Director, TES, and former editor of Times Higher Education Watchsted: Current Inspection Intelligence & Database of Ofsted Inspection Reports Greg Hurst: Education Editor at The Times Helen Warrell: FT public policy correspondent. Jonathan Simons: Personal feed. Toby Young: Classical Liberal
Wikis – ION Professional eLearning Programs - University of Illinois Springfield - UIS Description of Lesson: Although the idea is simple and the name evolved from a slang term for quick, wikis have quickly become a standard method of collaborative creation. A wiki represents a tool whereby users can jointly work on the same document that is stored externally on a wiki server. In a wiki-based lesson, students work to collaboratively construct a document designed to meet some educational objective. Appropriate Content Areas: All Examples: Annotated Bibliography construction For more examples of how to use Wikis in education, see the additional readings below. The Flat Classroom Project, Award winning educational wiki use, Goals & Objectives: Generally, the goal of a wiki activity is to allow students to learn and demonstrate that learning through the collaborative creation of some document artifact. During and after active participation in the wiki activity, students will… …as determined by successfully attending to 80% of rubric items.
How Google Glass Is Being Used In Classrooms Around The World I’ve been lucky to be a member of the Google Glass Explorer Program for the past year. I was excited to learn about how this technology could be advanced in terms of education and everyday activities… however it never dawned on me how much potential it truly had until I began the Explorer Program. Over the past year using Glass in class I have began to see the potential not only in education, but also for the everyday consumer. Right now Google glass is expensive and limited among education and consumers…but it is a technology that is moving towards being more cost efficient for all users. (Cost to Build Google Glass) This is why, as educators, we need to take a more in depth look at how this technology will reform education as a whole. Introspection So how does Glass fit into the education technology conversation? Glass in Action Soon after I was received my Glass, I was bringing it on a regular basis to my classroom. Glass in Other Classrooms