Overview

With the influx of new technologies, it can be hard to keep track of and find new technologies to implement into your teaching practice. Here are a few ways you can stay updated with new technologies.

Although new ed technologies can be exciting, we need to pause and evaluate any technology we might want to adopt, so that any implementation is needs-based and learning focused. When assessing any new ed technology for adoption, use the following guidelines, designed by Lauren Anstey & Gavan Watson. As each ed technology has a different context of use, not all these guidelines may necessarily be applicable to the technology you are considering.

Functionality

• Scale: can the technology be adapted for different cohort sizes and classroom environments?
• Ease of use: is the technology easy enough to use that most users could understand it almost right away?
• Tech support: what level of support is there for the technology? This could be official support from the Ed Tech team at La Trobe University, the knowledge of other library staff, comprehensive help documentation from the provider or user forums.
• Hypermediality: can you interact with the technology in different forms of media and in a flexible, non-linear fashion?

Accessibility

• Accessibility standards: does the technology meet legislative accessibility standards as well as generally accepted guidelines, such as the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Web Accessibility Initiative?
• User-focused participation: does the technology address diverse learning needs?
• Required equipment: what equipment does the technology require the user to have? The less equipment needed the more accessible it is.
• Cost of use: how much does the technology cost?

Technical

• Integration: how well does the technology work with the systems you're already using?
• Operating systems: what operating systems and web browsers is the technology compatible with? The more operating systems and browsers it's compatible with the more accessible it is.
• Additional downloads: does it require additional downloads to work? Ed tech that requires learners to install additional software or browser plug-ins isn't ideal. As in the case of Adobe Flash players, which were initially popular but later blocked by many browsers due to security issues—if an e-learning tool relies on another piece of software in order to work, it risks being rendered obsolete due to factors beyond the tool developers' control.

Mobile design (for ed tech accessible on mobiles)

• Access: can you access the technology regardless of mobile device?
• Functionality: does the technology have full functionality on the smaller screen?
• Offline access: is the technology available offline to support those that have limited or intermittent connectivity?

Privacy, data protection and rights

• Sign up/sign in: does the technology require students to disclose personal information to use it?
• Data privacy and ownership: who owns content made on the technology and who has access to that content?
• Archiving, saving and exporting data: does the technology offer protection against data loss through export and backup options?

Social presence

• Collaboration: does the technology allow for collaboration between users? This can include synchronous and asynchronous channels for communication or the ability to create user profiles.
• User accountability: does the technology allow you to identify users and moderate communication channels?
• Diffusion: does the technology have a similar userface to other technologies the students may have experience using? This can help with the cognitive load of adopting a new technology.

Teaching presence

• Facilitation: are you able to provide timely input, information and feedback using the technology?
• Customisation: are you able to customise how students will interact with the technology to align to learning outcomes?
• Learning analytics: does the technology provide statistics to track use and student performance?

Cognitive presence

• Enhancement of cognitive tasks: does the technology add functional value to a learning task? Technology shouldn't be adopted just for technology's sake and should connect to learning outcomes.
• Higher-order thinking: does the technology support higher-order thinking by supporting tasks that involve critical thinking, problem solving and reasoning?
• Metacognitive engagement: does the technology support student reflection on their learning?