Welcome back everyone.
As we resume our blog series, let's take a closer look at SECTIONS for #TechnologySelection in teaching and learning. As you continue to teach, these factors are quite important in 21st century education across all contexts, even if you are teaching in a face-to-face, blended or online format.
A – Selecting Educational Technology Tools
The 21st century is characterized by an abundance and plethora of technologies. In teaching and learning, the selection and integration of these technologies should never be an arbitrary decision, but more so a systematic process. This process comprises several steps and factors that must be considered during the course/lesson planning stage – long before you deliver the instruction during the class. Perhaps the most critical factors in technology selection include the availability, flexibility and cost-effectiveness. For instance, if a technology tool is inaccessible/unavailable, or is not very flexible, then it may become more of a distraction when actually used in the teaching and learning process. As such, the aforementioned should ideally be the first considerations when evaluating/determining which technology tool(s) to integrate in your course or lesson. However, deciding how and when to incorporate certain technology tools in your course module or lesson requires a few more considerations.
B – SECTIONS
A Framework for Educational Technology Evaluation
Within the context of instructional design, Bates and Poole (2019) put forward a very practical tool for the evaluation of technologies for teaching and learning. More specifically, SECTIONS is a research-based, practical framework that aids in the selection and use of even more contemporary technologies for teaching and learning, based on the following criteria and guiding questions:
We hope the aforementioned resources are helpful.
Should you need any further assistance, please feel free to contact us.
Regards,
Justin Z.
