Tech N Teaching

Hollands, F., & Escueta, M. How research informs EdTech decision-making in higher education: the role of external research vs. internal research. How do we assess how effective an EDTech tool can be? Well there are a few different ways to do so, in my opinion. We can assess with data, we can ask our students, or we can research before we pick our EDTech tools. The third of which is what is talked about in the article I recently read. The article talks about the success of different educational tools that use tech, and their use in higher learning. The article mentions that research is a key factor for choosing and implementing EDTech in the classroom. However, it also mentions that quite often the people in charge of making the decision to select (and pay) for the tools would go for a cheaper option, shocker I know. When qualified researchers are used there are better results, but they so often are not involved in the decision-making process, and for a few reasons. 1....

Scanlon, E., McAndrew, P., & O'Shea, T. (2015). Designing for Educational Technology to Enhance the Experience of Learners in Distance Education: How Open Educational Resources, Learning Design and MOOCs Are Influencing Learning. Journal Of Interactive Media In Education, 2015(1), Summary:    The main points of this article talk mostly about how technology can be used to make learners experience better. This article is sure to tell you that technology by itself is not a good enough tool, it can enhance learning, but once again it is pedagogy (how something is taught) in conjunction with technology, that will have the biggest impact. The article also talks about how more learners felt motivated when they are made to feel like they are in control of their own learning. The article mentions how open educational resources, the learning design, and the learning analytics factor into a positive learning environment for these students. These are all talked ab...

De Bruyckere, P., Kirschner, P. A., & Hulshof, C. D. (2016). Technology in Education: What Teachers Should Know. American Educator, 40(1), 12-18,. Technology in Education: What Teachers Should Know By: De Bruycekere, Pedro; Kirschner, Paul A., Hulshof, Casper D.           This article is framed using 5 myths in order to illustrate it's points. The Myths are, as they point out in the article, fallacys that people say that to shine a negative light on technology. The article goes though each of these myths and discusses their merits, as well as arguments that can work against them.  Myth #1: New Technology is causing a revolution in America The article counters this myth with the fact that pedagogy (or how someone teaches) is more important than the technology used to do the teaching. Technology is the tool with which to do the teaching, but just like any tool, it is only as useful as the wielder. The hypothesis with which the au...

I had an idea this week, well it was more like late 2017 when I actually had this idea. The idea was to create a series of lesson all about the impact that YouTube creators are having on children.  If you're familiar with YouTube, then you probably know that it is a site where people can create and upload content in order for it to be viewed by as many people as possible. This is a fantastic idea, because it allows people from all over the world to be seen by millions of perspective fans. People like Justin Bieber (say what you will about the guy, he is famous) made their fame on YouTube. It started as a place were people could create, share, and discuss their ideas with everyone, but it has become something different. I assume that since you are reading this blog, you know technology enough to use the internet and therefore have probably been to YouTube. If this is the case then you may have seen a video uploaded by a creator named Logan Paul. I won't get into specifics, b...