Tips for Evaluating Educational Technologies

Emily Schudel

52 Tips for Evaluating Educational Technologies

When preparing to teach online or blended, you must consider what kinds of educational technologies will best support your students in achieving the learning outcomes for your course. In some cases, the choice will be simple: start with tools your institution supports. Here at Camosun, faculty and students have access to supported tools like D2L/Brightspace (yes, it’s the same as UVic!), Kaltura (called “My Media” in D2L), the synchronous tools Collaborate (supported by eLearning) and Zoom (which is supported by ITS but not eLearning), Office 365, and obliquely (meaning an eLearning instructional designer can help you set them up, but they are not supported b

Of course, there are literally hundreds of educational technologies (including textbook resources) out there that are not directly supported by the college, so what should you look out for when choosing a tool? Here are just a few things to think about.

Is it the best tool for the task/learning outcome?

If none of the tools supported by the college supports students to meet a learning outcome, then it’s time to search outside. Try not to choose a tool because it is bright and shiny and new, or because a vendor comes to you and gives you a hard sell. If the tool provides the best way for students to meet a learning outcome, then it’s time to dig a little deeper. If you aren’t sure, talk to an instructional designer in eLearning and review our Key Considerations for Adopting Educational Technologies document.

Does it need to be integrated with a Camosun system?

If the tool needs to be downloaded onto a student device or integrated into D2L, for example, you will need to approach eLearning as we do not typically integrate any new tools with our existing systems unless there is a case for wide use across the institution brought to us. Vendors will often tell you that their tool is “easily integrated” into D2L, but there is usually a cost in time, money, and extended support for any new tool added to our system which we cannot often accommodate.

Does it need to be downloaded to a device or integrated with a Camosun system?

If the tool needs to be downloaded onto student devices in order to be used, you will need to find out what devices are compatible and if your students have good access to them.

What is the cost for students (or you) to use?

If there is a cost for students to download or use the tool, you should probably be discussing this tool use with your Chair or Dean, unless the tool is optional.

Where does student information reside, and how is ownership of materials created on (and potentially hosted by) this technology defined?

Privacy of information is an important consideration for using educational technologies. Some students will not want their personal information shared to foreign services, and the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act in BC may have implications for specific tools. In addition, make sure to review the Camosun guidelines around privacy and ???

Some tools have statements about who owns material created using their software, especially if hosted on their systems. Make sure to review these policies for yourself, and go over them with students so they also understand how their material may be used outside of their control.

Is the tool accessible?

This can mean many things, but typically we are defining accessibility as: cost (covered earlier), ease of use (covered next), available to students who are visually or hearing impaired, or who required accessibility tools to access technology, requiring proprietary equipment (or even “easily available” equipment to use, accessible on multiple devices (laptop, tablet, phone), or accessible offline.

Bear in mind that not all students have access to technologies some of us think of as ubiquitous. Some students still need access to library computers to complete course work, work on WORD documents, etc. and library computers will not allow students to download other technologies or talk into a microphone to record something.

Is the tool easy to use?

Don’t assume your students will pick up a new technology just because they use their phone all day long. Before adopting a tool, ask some of your colleagues or students to try it out and see what they say about how easy it is to use. The simpler the tool is to navigate and understand, the better, but also consider things like: does the tool need to be updated regularly, is it accessible (see above), does it do what students expect it to do? If you do adopt a new tool, we recommend spending time in class going through the tool with students, showing them how it works, and answering any questions they have.

Does the technology provide support and if so, what does it look like?

If you are adopting a tool outside of Camosun, you will be unable to ask Camosun ITS or eLearning for support. Make sure to explore what options the tool’s developers or vendor offers for support. Is there easily accessible and clear documentation (and if there are video support resources, are they closed captioned?) Is support 24/7 and how quickly do they reply to support requests? Does it cost money?

Has this technology been around for awhile, and how long do you think it will be around?

We usually advise not picking tools that are just on the market especially if they are cloud-based. Tools come and go with alarming regularity, and often a start-up tool, while amazing on the surface, is suddenly bought up by a larger company which changes its purpose, and often its cost. Trust me – this has happened to us!