Teaching with Technology
Teaching with Technology
Educational Technologies
Why is it important to use educational technologies in your teaching?
There are several reasons why it is important to use educational technologies in teaching:
- Enhancing Student Engagement: Educational technologies, such as multimedia presentations, interactive simulations, and gamification, can help capture and maintain student attention, increasing their engagement and motivation to learn.
- Increasing Accessibility: Educational technologies can provide access to educational resources and tools to students who may not have been able to access them otherwise, such as those with disabilities or in remote locations.
- Personalized Learning: Educational technologies can enable teachers to deliver personalized learning experiences tailored to the needs and interests of individual students, which can lead to better learning outcomes.
- Efficiency and Organization: Educational technologies can help teachers streamline administrative tasks such as grading and assessment, allowing them to focus more on teaching and interacting with students.
- Preparation for Future Careers: Educational technologies are increasingly becoming a part of modern workplaces, and by incorporating them into teaching, students can gain valuable skills that will help them prepare for future careers.
Overall, the use of educational technologies can help create a more engaging, efficient, and personalized learning experience that benefits both students and teachers.
Specialists
Using Multimedia Tools to Create Purposeful Content
How can multimedia tools be used to create purposeful content?
Multimedia is a broadly encapsulating term used to describe multiple rich-media sources that are composited together to create a single media artefact.
Whether the final product is audio-based (podcast, interview, feedback), video-based (didactic video, instructional guide, case study, interview, feedback), or a graphic (diagram, instructions, mind Map) - there are many tools available either through the university or freely available to support the creation of these resources.
However, there is a process in developing these resources, considering the best product to support the Design intent, and then working through the creation of the product itself.
Knowing the potential and limits of tools is a critical first step; then, considering your unit and the constructive alignment of the resources to ensure that any Multimedia creation is fit for purpose is another important consideration to keep in mind during the early stages of development.
Finally, ensuring the longevity of the product, developing a process for review and updating as appropriate, and ensuring data integrity and management of the files for future projects are all tertiary considerations of any project.
Specialist
Flipped/ Blended Learning Teaching Strategies and Subject Design
What are blended learning strategies?
Blended - also known as flipped - learning is where the lesson, or theory, is taught and learned prior to the in-person class, where the time spent in class is focussed on the application of the theory to practice.
The nature of the activities needs to be considered based on the subject matter, and finding the most appropriate, meaningful tasks that address learning requirements and meet the authentic representation of the skills or thinking needed in the 'real world'.
It is critical appropriate Learning Objectives have been considered and developed for these units in particular; as the less traditional approach puts more onus on students' self-directed learning, thus requiring very clear goals and objectives needing to be worked towards, as well as making these explicit to the students.
Further, it is important to consider the 'class time' aspect: as far as the physical space, and appropriate length of time being spent in these sessions by students. Ideally, a 2 or 3-hour workshop would be set aside for these in-person sessions to maximise the opportunity to put into practice the learnings and facilitate the most appropriate activities accordingly.
Specialists
Developing Custom, Content Specific Videos
What are the benefits of developing custom, content-specific videos for teaching?
The benefits of using multimedia - specifically videos - to support teaching and learning is well established in Education. The main benefit is being able to narrate and explain concepts or activities, whilst an associated visual is presented on screen. This visual is often live-action, animation, a combination of both, or even further composited imagery.
Other formats have also become popular such as interviews, talking heads, on-location, and 360 / Virtual Reality. Each of these has different affordances and features that can help students to understand and experience situations or scenarios without having to travel!
It's important that the intent of the video is considered first and foremost, before getting too distracted with the production potential.
This is why speaking to someone who has both expertise and experience in creating a variety of Multimedia, in an educational context can help you get the most out of your multimedia production desires to support your teaching and learning.