New technology is continuously released, resulting in increasingly more infinite and innovative ways to incorporate it into curricula. However, many instructors are prone to adding unnecessary technology into the classroom. Before adding technology to a course, instructors should carefully consider their options by using the concept of Backwards design.

What am I trying to accomplish with this tool?

The first step is to start by considering the desired result. What do you want to accomplish with this tool? There needs to be a clear end result – whether it is teaching a new concept or testing the student’s knowledge of a difficult concept.  Often, the technology component will provide a way for students to demonstrate their understanding of the specific topic at hand.  By identifying what you want students to demonstrate, you can determine if a new tool can help reach this goal.  The ultimate goal must be beneficial to you or your students or, ideally, both. What about this new tool makes it more effective than what you are currently using? Is it going to enhance the learning environment for your students? Any instructional tool should always support the course, not the other way around. Too often an instructor will try to make the instruction work with the technology. More often than not, this strategy will fail.

How can I tell if the students ‘got it’?

You need to consider how you will assess students’ knowledge and mastery of the concepts. More importantly, you will need to determine whether this new tool aided in that process. In evaluating the new tool, consider how you would be able to assess the students’ use of the tool. With this step, it is a good idea to develop a rubric or scoring mechanism in order to determine the success, or failure, of the new tool.  When looking at the potential benefits of using this tool, also consider whether it added unnecessary extra work that may have compromised the success rate of the students.

Now, how do I use this in my class?

After going through the above steps and asking yourself these critical questions, it is now time to consider how the new technology will actually be used in your course.  What activities will it replace? How will the students gain access or use the tool? What type of demonstrations or samples will you be providing? This new tool is probably something your students have never seen before, so it is going to be important to provide some training and support. The first time you use it in your course, it would also be helpful to get feedback from students about how they would like to see it improved or how it could be better implemented in your course. This direct feedback will be helpful for moving forward. Since you start knowing what your end result will be, you can specifically tailor implementation to reach that goal. In the final observation, review each of the steps in reverse order and make sure you have gotten back to the desired end result.

It is important for instructors to try to stay current on new technology trends and developments as the potential to enhance student learning is immense. However, it is equally as important to make critical observations in determining whether a new tool is worthwhile for the course. Just because it looks cool is not a sufficient reason to add it to a course. It must directly support the instruction and should be seen as a supplement to, rather than a replacement for, the learning objectives of the course.

[Featured image from: http://tinyurl.com/elearning-img01]

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