How do you choose the best educational technology tools?

One of the best understandings of this came for me out of a New Pedagogies for Deep Learning workshop in Seattle, Washington in 2014. We talked in-depth about the 6 C’s of 21st C learning but in terms of technology it was about how these tools “leverage” the learning. You have to really think about that term in the way something is truly leveraged. When you get there, it really allows you to see how, for different students, and different learning environments, with different learning tasks, the technology will be different and sometimes won’t be there at all. The question always has to come back to what is the learning, and what specific technology can support it?

As a teacher, It is a must to focus on the lesson objectives and the use of technology can be secondary or third on the list. There are times when teachers focus on the slide presentations and then suddenly encounter no electrical power or a sudden technical challenge will arise. A teacher must plan the lesson well, on what alternative to do when a technical challenge happens. In lesson planning, choosing any tool whether traditional or digital tool must align with the objectives or learning goals. It should be easy to use by the teacher and learners and can be executed seamlessly. The use of technology or EdTech can augment in achieving lesson objectives.

One thing I found helpful is checking the availability of grants to help cover the cost of needed but expensive technology. Also very helpful to be aware of learning challenges you current and future students may have so they could be added with technology.

One thing I've learned is to ask a lot of questions. Who will use the tool? How is it going to be used? Will the tool integrate into existing systems seamlessly or cause headaches? As an LMS administrator, I have to evaluate the current state of learning tools to determine if adding a new tool is needed. If I see a need for the tool, then more questions come up. How will the tool be supported? How long will it take to set up? What strategies will we take to encourage users to use the tool? An ideal tool would enhance teaching and learning while being easy to integrate and intuitive to use.

A plethora of Educational apps are available online and teachers must be mindful and critical in choosing the applications to use. We can check sites like Common Sense media and other credible App evaluators for reviews and feedback (some may be bot reviewers) I also evaluate the app myself if it can apply to our context and the needs of my learners.

An example would be, the teacher distributes a survey to the students, asking about their preferred learning modes, their comfort level with technology, and their interests related to language learning. The survey responses reveal that some students are visual learners who prefer seeing images and written text, while others are auditory learners who benefit from listening to conversations and practicing pronunciation.