Week 8: Technology Tools to Enhance Learning

Photo Courtesy: http://steedie.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/technology-title.jpg?w=393&h=305&crop=1

After these 8 weeks of our Webskills course, I can nothing but state that technology has influenced both my teaching and my students' learning a lot. The influence has almost unanimously been positive.

Technology has provided both me, as a teacher, and my students with greater availability of teaching materials. Resources are available even if some f2f classes are skipped by students.

Additionally, my students autonomy in learning has increased. They have learnt to be more interested in research. They freely link to additional resources and make use of much more learning devices. They have also become aware of their own responsibility for their learning.

Photo Courtesy: http://bfbm.org/ckfinder/userfiles/images/class_technology.jpg

One of the issues that has to be addressed with a lot of care in the process of incorporating technology into classes is quantity. One at a time, step by step...these are the golden rules! Teachers have to be very careful not to overwhelm the students with technology, which can cause frustration and negative attitude to the course. Students should be completely at ease and comfortable with one tool before a new one is introduced. In addition to that, there should be a choice of a few tools that will be used. There cannot be constant addition, as Jeff Magoto has stated in one of his posts as a guest instructor in Webskills Course Week8.

Finally, backup plan is a must! Just consider the photo below...

Photo Courtesy: http://sharmskee.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/technology-school.jpg