Overview
Technology can be a powerful tool that can help deepen learning by engaging learners in new ways. It also helps to create a more accessible learning environment for people with disabilities.
Technology refers to advancements in the methods and tools we use to solve problems or achieve a goal. Technology can be anything from low tech items such as paper, pencils, and whiteboards; to high-tech computers, tablets, software. These technologies can be in a variety of ways to enhance the learning process.
Useful Pieces of Technology
Presentation Software
Pieces of technology like PowerPoint and Keynote allow users to create beautiful presentations. These pieces of technology let the user present their material in a visually appealing way. They also allow for some interactivity when users embed videos, polls, podcasts, etc. into the presentations.
Google Apps
Google has a variety of apps that allow for content creation and collaboration. Apps such as Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, allow users to create documents, spreadsheets, presentations the same way a normal desktop publishing software would; but it also allows users to share these documents and collaborate on them simultaneously.
Learning Management Systems
Learning management systems such as BlackBoard and Canvas allow instructors to facilitate courses completely online. These websites host features such as discussion boards, assignment dropboxes, and file sharing, These tools allow for learners to complete a class entirely online.
Assistive Technology
With the advancement in technology, people with disabilities have more and more access to learning and education. Pieces of assistive technology such as screen readers, magnifiers, dictation software, etc. allow the disabled access to content that they never had before.
Mobile Apps
Whether it is a smartphone, iPad, or another tablet there are a plethora of different apps that can be used to enhance the learning experience. There is an app for almost anything you can imagine. Whether you want to explore the night skies, the bottom of the ocean, the human body, the structure of a sentence, etc. there are apps that allow you to do these things from your mobile device.
Videos About Technology
Can Technology Change Education? Yes!
This TedTalk discusses how technology has advanced education, and how using technology in the classroom does not always require a lot of money.
Technology in Education: A Future Classroom
This video takes a look at how technology could be used in a classroom.
How I Use Technology
While I’ve not spent much time in a classroom as a facilitator/instructor, I have spent a lot of time researching ways to incorporate technology into the classroom. I’ve designed many lessons that incorporate technology on some level.
Collaboration With Google Apps
Google Apps allows learners to collaborate with a variety of tools. Group work is revolutionized through Google Apps because all learners can interact with a document, presentation, spreadsheet, etc. in real time. These tools are also useful for sharing materials with students so that there is easier access to information.
Multimedia Presentations
In my work doing programming for Resources for Disabled Students, I find myself creating a lot of presentation for different things. When I create this presentation I find myself trying to bring in multimedia elements into the presentation. I do this to help accommodate to different learning styles, as well as to help make the presentation more engaging. I feel that incorporating some multimedia elements really strengthens the presentation.
Further Readings
Teaching with Technology
This article from the University of Washington’s Center for Teaching and Learning discusses what technology is and how it can be implemented and used in a classroom.
Assistive Technology Glossary
This glossary from the Colorado State University Assistive Technology Resource Center gives an overview of a wide range of assistive technologies.
References
Teaching with Technology. (2016). Center for Teaching and Learning. Retrieved from http://www.washington.edu/teaching/teaching-resources/engaging-students-in-learning/teaching-with-technology-2/
Teaching with Technology. (2016). Teaching Engagemetn Program. Retrieved from http://tep.uoregon.edu/technology/
Teaching with Technology. (2016). Center for Teaching Excelence . Retrieved from https://cte.cornell.edu/teaching-ideas/teaching-with-technology/index.html
Joe Tiner 