Choosing Educational Technology
Resources for Researching Educational Technology
It's important for educators to stay informed and current with the latest research-based improvements to educational technology. Here are three resources that educators can use to research educational technology to facilitate student learning in the classroom:
- The SAMR Model
The SAMR Model functions as a way for educators to evaluate how they incorporate technology into the instructional apparatus. Creator of the SAMR Model Dr. Ruben Puentedura compares his model to a ladder that serves to enhance and transform learning, the latter of which promotes the development and growth of higher-order thinking skills among students.
Using the SAMR Model, teachers can determine if the technology integrated into a lesson serves the purpose of enhancement by substituting technology as a tool for the lesson while effecting no functional change, augmenting the lesson with technology for functional improvement, or transforming the lesson by way of technological modification that allows for a significant redesign of the task, or instead a complete redefinition of the task into a new format that was previously inconceivable without the inclusion of technology.
Promoting learning activities enhanced and transformed by educational technology helps students to learn and practice skills like analyzing, evaluating, and creating, "which are essential to Common Core State Standards and 21st Century Learning" (Common Sense Education, 2016).
2. The Triple E Framework
Developed in 2011 by Professor Liz Kolb at the University of Michigan, the Triple E Framework centers around extending, enhancing, and engaging learning through the integration of educational, technological tools in the classroom. Kolb (2019) developed the Triple E Framework to "bridge research on education technologies and teaching practice in the classroom" (The development of the triple E section, para. 1) She designed the framework to allow "educators to easily evaluate how to select tools that meet their learning goals," while still recognizing that "effective technology integration begins with good instructional strategies and not fancy tools" intended to supplement that instruction (Kolb, 2019).
Kolb asserts that other models for educational technology integration are flawed, failing to account for how the educational technology will help students achieve predetermined learning goals or meet standards. As a practical tool envisioned to assist teachers in combining effective instructional strategies with "learning goals and purposeful tool selection," the Triple E framework can assist educators in selecting technological tools to implement in the classroom by creating scaffolds, building skills, and motivating student learning in processes that enhance, extend, and engage learning, respectively (Kolb, 2019).
Educators who employ the Triple E Framework as a tool to guide their research of educational technology to facilitate student learning are advised to consider how their integrated technologies will create new opportunities for students to experience learning beyond the confines of the classroom, if the new technologies will aid students in developing a more sophisticated and comprehensive understanding of the curricular material, and how the technology permits students to become more active social collaborators in their learning process.
3. The TPACK Model
According to Koehler et al. (2007) from Michigan State University, the TPACK Model describes a framework of teaching with technology based upon "Lee Shulman's construct of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK)" adjusted "to include technology knowledge." Combining technological knowledge (TK), pedagogical knowledge (PK), and content knowledge (CK), this framework for integrating research-based technological solutions with student learning was devised to help educators identify intersecting elements from each of these three knowledge bases and facilitate student learning while teaching and engaging learners through integrated technology.
Specifically, the goal of TPACK is to improve student learning by encouraging educators to examine their own relative expertise in the relevant curricular content, how instructional strategies like project-based learning (PBL), assessments, and teaching methods affect instruction, and what technology should be used to further lesson goals and redesign tasks in the interest of improving instruction.
For this intersection of PCK to effectively improve with the inclusion of TK, educators must know how to select and operate appropriate technological tools for each technologically integrated lesson while also bearing responsibility for curating "the quality of content that students access through apps, websites, and games for learning" (Common Sense Education, 2016). Common Sense Education (2016) further explains that integrating educational technology into curricular content helps develop students' understanding of a topic, thereby helping to "deepen individual students' inquiry within a given discipline."
Strategies to Integrate Classroom Technologies
In the expandable section below are two brief summaries of methods and strategies available for educators to incorporate educational technology into the classroom to facilitate student learning.
Educational Games
Utilizing educational games for learning is an effective method of engaging students with learning that still affords a certain amount of autonomy to the student in their learning. There are plenty of websites that host free educational games and cover a whole range of subjects and age demographics. Some of these games are collaborative, too, allowing students to work together to find solutions and deepen their understanding of the content.
Rather than assign individuals in a classroom a task, a teacher seeking to incorporate technological educational content into a lesson might instead direct learners online to an age-appropriate game designed around the subject of study. So long as the content of the game has been curated by the teacher and the technology has been determined to either enhance or transform the lesson while facilitating student learning, the teacher might include the educational game as a way of either improving collaboration between students or increasing learner engagement.
Expert Testimony
One benefit of modern technology is the instantaneousness of communication. Consequently, one method of technological integration in classrooms is connecting students with a prominent subject expert. However, this specific method of educational technology integration might thus prove more difficult to implement simply due to scheduling conflicts with experts or the possibility of differences between time zones.
Regardless, connecting students directly to a field expert in the subject of current classroom study is sure to engage individual students more directly in their own learning. Exposed through educational technology to prominent persons with real-world importance in the classroom's current subject of study, learners will be more capable of directly applying the curricular content to jobs and career paths beyond school, thereby improving individual students' motivation to learn (Common Sense Education, 2016).
"Triple E Framework" by http://tripleeframework.weebly.com is licensed by CC BY-NC 4.0
Common Sense Education. (2016, July 12). What is the SAMR model? [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9b5yvgKQdqE
Common Sense Education. (2016, July 12). What is the TPACK model? [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMQiHJsePOM
Koehler, M., & Mishra, P. (2007). What is technological pedagogical content knowledge? CITE Journal, 9(1). Common Sense Education. (2016, July 12). What is the SAMR model? [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9b5yvgKQdqE
Kolb, L. (2016, December 20). 4 Tips for choosing the right EdTech tools for learning. Retrieved from https://www.iste.org/explore/Toolbox/4-tips-for-choosing-the-right-edtech-tools-for-learning