Goals - Integrating Technologies Into the Class

Now that you know the outcomes, and have a sense of how you want to approach the class, it’s time to explore how the technological tools can support your work as a teacher.

Consider what you want to do and then find the tools to do it. 

At Highline, there is a broad range of tools that can be used to support teaching and learning. Many reside within Canvas, such as online quizzes and discussions. Others are available in face-to-face classrooms, like document cameras and built-in webcams for recording lectures. Add to that an array of publisher-created tools and free(ish) tools on the internet, and there are a host of possibilities.

Often these tools are flexible enough to support different approaches to teaching and learning. For instance, Panopto is designed to record lectures delivered in a classroom. It can also record a short video you create in your office, or be used by students to record a presentation.

The instructional mode for the class - online, hybrid, or face-to-face - will often dictate some of these choices. For instance:

  • Document cameras work great for interactive exercises in face-to-face classes, but in online classes, you would need to make recordings of those activities ahead of time.
  • Discussions are usually vital to online classes, but can also be used to extend the classroom for face-to-face classes. How you structure them and fit them into the course might differ, though.

How do you find out about what’s available?

There’s no one source for all of the various tools and techniques available to you. Some tools seem to align with certain academic disciplines than others. A few good places to look are:

  • Ask your department coordinator and colleagues what they use. Often this will get you some common tools that others teaching your subject have found helpful.
  • Work with a member of the Educational Technology team (id@highline.edu). This is the kind of question we love to discuss with you. Faculty-in-residence teach a variety of modes and have experience working with many of the tools available both on campus and the internet as a whole.
  • Explore the Educational Technology (ET), Information Technology Services (ITS), and Library websites. These three groups share support for different aspects of technology-enabled instruction. Visit all three, as you will hear different perspectives on the questions you bring.

How do you match the tech to the course outcomes and your goals?

The most important consideration is matching the capabilities of the tool with the approach you plan to use. For instance, if you plan to spend most of the class lecturing, a more interactive tool like discussions might not be a good match, but Panopto would. 

Many ed-tech tools on the Internet are marketed around high level goals like ‘improving student outcomes,’ or ‘creating interactivity.’ You’ll have to dig a bit to find out how they do it. What will students be able to do? What will you be able to do? Again, the Instructional Design team and your colleagues are often the best source of information.

Other questions you should ask:

There are a few other questions that you should ask when considering a tool for your class.

  • Who buys? Some tools are licensed by the college (e.g. Canvas, Panopto, Zoom). Tools provided by the publisher usually require the students to pay a (sometimes hefty) fee to have access. Students that don’t have the money won’t be able to participate in that part of your class. Others are free to the students, but require you to pay a monthly or annual fee. Your department may fund that.
  • What is the privacy policy? A common internet slogan is “If you’re not paying for it, you’re not the customer. You’re the product.” This applies to our students as well. They’ll be using the products we select, and if they are “free to use,” the company will be using our students’ data for other purposes than helping them learn. This may be an acceptable trade-off, or it may not. We need to consider that in how we select tools.
  • Is the technology accessible? Is the product usable by students who are blind or deaf? It’s not unusual to find a student in your class who requires accessible technology. In fact, it’s the law that technology used with students needs to be accessible to all students. You can contact the vendor directly if it’s not a tool we already have at Highline.
  • How easy is it to use? The tool should be easy for you to use and even easier for your students to use. You want to spend most of your time in your course on the course content and not on how to use a particular piece of technology. 

For more information

"White House Champion of Change, Forbes 30 under 30 leader, and BBC Women of Africa Hero, Haben Girma is an acclaimed accessibility and inclusion advocate. The first deaf blind person to graduate from Harvard Law School, Haben champions equal access to information for people with disabilities, earning her recognition from both President Obama and President Clinton. Through this presentation, Haben will share how designing with accessibility in mind benefits not just users with disabilities, but developers, too. Throughout history, disability has sparked innovation, leading to breakthroughs in wide-ranging inventions from keyboards to telephones. Hear Haben's remarkable story and learn how incorporating universal access principles into product development can increase access for people with disabilities while simultaneously improving the overall usability of your app."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bC7Mvy7Vn4 Links to an external site.  

Haben Girma talks specifically about accessible resources in educational settings.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfC_Xl80W40 Links to an external site. 

Eady, M. J., & Lockyer, L. (2013). Tools for learning: technology and teaching strategies Links to an external site.. Learning to Teach in the Primary School, 71.

Okojie, M., Olinzock, A. A., & Okojie-Boulder, T. C. (2006). The pedagogy of technology integration Links to an external site., 32(2). https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.21061/jots.v32i2.a.1

Educational Technology website

Information Technology Services (ITS) website

Library website