Web tools and apps

Here's an interesting talk by Nick Peachey on criteria for evaluating web tools and apps. It's a very interesting topic, which connects with the SAMR model discussed on a previous post, since this criteria helps us evaluate whether what we intend to use is correct or not.

The following criteria, which has been extracted from his blog, will be used to evaluate a web tool:

1. Accessibility - Will all the students have the necessary equipment to use it? Will it work across all / most mobile platforms and also work within a desktop web browser?
2. User friendly - Will students be able to learn how to use it reasonably quickly?
3. Registration - Do students need to register to use it?
4. Security - Is the app secure?
5. Price - Is it free or affordable?
6. Business model - Is there a business model to support the app? Is it clear how it makes money?
7. Digital literacy - Does learning and using the app help students to develop a useful or transferable digital literacy?
8. Authenticity - Does it have an authentic purpose beyond language learning? Is it an app that a native speaker would use for a genuine purpose outside of a classroom?
9. Personalization - Does the app enable user to express some aspect of who they are and what they believe?
10. Learning goal / outcome - Is there a a possible learning outcome that use of the app will lead to?
11. Interaction / communication - Does it support interaction and communication between users?
12. Prolonged use - Does the app need prolonged use to achieve a satisfactory outcome?
13. Assessment - Is the work on the app assessable by the teacher? Does the app support the delivery of teacher response and feedback?
14. Collaboration - Does the app support collaboration between users?
15. Context - In what context would the app be useful? For whom is the app more useful?
16. Reusable - Does the app have sufficient depth of purpose to support multiple activities and tasks?
17. Learner autonomy - Can app be used independently outside of the class by the student to support some form of learning?

Technology and the web: The final frontier

I'm 23 years old and I have been in contact with tech since age 0. I know how to go around the web and how to get many things done. Still, the internet is so vast that I probably haven't even discovered 1% of what is out there to try out.

Moreover, it is really important to point out that, even when I know how to use the web for personal purposes, when it comes to taking it to the classroom it may not be the case. Teachers sometimes find themselves trying to include technology in every step of a lesson. My question then is, is it really necessary to do so? How and when should be appropiate to inject technology in the classroom?

Dr. Ruben Puentedura, from Hippasus - a consulting firm  focusing on transformative applications of information technologies to education, has designed a very interesting model for selecting, using, and evaluating technology in education. This is the Subtitution, Augmentation, Modification and Redefinition model, otherwise referred to as SAMR.

The SAMR model tackles the different ways technology can interact with our lessons, and whether it is necessary to use it at all times.

Although I am not currently teaching at the moment, I personally feel that, since technology is ubiquituous in our lives nowadays, we should try to include it in different ways so as to enhance and transform learning as much as possible. Using MS Office apps is a clear example of how we substitute simple tasks such as preparing a handout. Augmentation could be present when playing videos or recordings, since the medium thorough which they experience the language is not just a text. To modify the classroom, a great idea would be to have students record a video themselves to share it with others.Playing MMORPGs is a fantastic way to redefine the classroom. By doing so, we are taking learning to the next level, by exploring worlds impossible before, and allowing students to interact online in a completely different way.

However, it is very true that not always will we need to use technology when other resources are available. Sometimes a pen and a paper is all it takes to deliver a great lesson!

Take a look at this very interesting flowchart that helps you decide what kind of approach you should take depending on your goal.

-f