#4: Utilizing Technology Wisely
Explore the challenges of integrating technology into your teaching and find strategies to overcome them
Welcome to the summer 2024 “Top 10 Essential Practices” series for new faculty! Catch up with the series introduction here and #10: Understand Your Learners, #9: Clear Learning Objectives, #8: Using Active Learning, #7: Providing Timely and Constructive Feedback, #6: Promoting Belonging, and #5: Staying Organized and Managing Time Effectively.
The first day of fall has come and gone, and I am still working on wrapping up my summer series! I feel like that’s pretty par for the course in academic life, so I hope you’ll bear with me as I stretch summer for a few more days.
This Tip is about using technology wisely. I spend a decent amount of time supporting instructors in teaching online/hybrid courses, in all the varieties that these courses come in, and there are definitely some consistent challenges many faculty face.
Challenge 1: Overcoming Institutional Limitations
The institutional context in which we operate can significantly limit our ability to adopt new technologies. Often, access to educational technology is constrained by the resources and support our institutions provide. For instance, a tool that we find particularly useful may no longer be supported due to institutional policies or funding limitations.
Strategies to Overcome Structural Hurdles:
Advocate for Institutional Support: Engage with administration to discuss the importance of technology in education. Propose pilot programs or initiatives that highlight successful tech integration.
Explore Open-Source Alternatives: If certain tools are not available, consider open-source options that may provide similar functionalities without the need for institutional licenses. I’ve collected a set of past posts on tech tools, below, that might be a good place to start.
Challenge 2: Managing the Time Investment
Introducing new technologies into our teaching practices requires a significant investment of time. Whether transitioning to a new Learning Management System (LMS) or simply experimenting with a new polling tool, faculty need time to learn, adapt, and refine their approaches.
Strategies to Overcome Time Constraints:
Start Small: Begin with small-scale implementations. Choose one tool to experiment with in a single course before expanding its use, or commit to spending 30 minutes testing something out with a colleague before launching it in your courses.
Dedicated Training Sessions: Many institutions to offer regular training workshops that allow faculty to learn new tools in a supportive environment - take advantage of these, or request 1:1 mentoring/training.
Challenge 3: Navigating the Knowledge Gap
The rapid evolution of technology means that there is always more to learn. Many of us feel overwhelmed by the vast array of tools available and we may not even realize what we are missing. We don't know what we don't know, and when it comes to educational technology, there’s a lot we don’t know!
Strategies to Build Expertise:
Professional Development Opportunities: Advocate for ongoing professional development that focuses specifically on educational technology. This can include workshops, webinars, and conferences. It can also be helpful to seek partnerships with colleagues across departments to pool resources and advocate for shared access to technology tools. I also recommend reaching out to your institution's instructional designers and IT staff - there’s frequently someone (or a whole office, if you’re at a large institution) whose job it is to help instructors learn to use new technologies, whether that’s the classroom equipment or programs they support.
Online Communities of Practice: Join online forums or communities where educators share insights, resources, and experiences with technology integration.
’s Wondertools is an excellent place to get recommendations from someone who thoroughly tests different tools for writing and teaching. His newsletter is one I read consistently, and always find something useful.
You can effectively navigate the complexities of integrating technology into your teaching by addressing three key challenges—structural hurdles, the time commitment required for adoption, and the need for expertise. Ultimately, the goal is to familiarize yourself with various tools and platforms - such as learning management systems (LMS), multimedia resources, online collaboration tools - so that you are better poised to select tools that align with your learning objectives, enhance content delivery, and improve engagement. Of course, it’s always important to consider accessibility by designing your digital materials and activities to accommodate diverse learning needs, providing alternative formats for content, captioning videos, and using accessible design principles. Finally, regularly evaluating the effectiveness of the technology tools you use in your teaching, along with soliciting feedback from students, can help you adjust your approach as needed.
What are the programs, apps, tech tips you can’t live without? Please share in the comments!
For more reading…
Here’s a collection of past Tech Thursday newsletters covering a wide variety of ed tech tools.
Google Suite: “Publish” from Google Drive - Google Classroom updates - “Make a copy” function in Google Drive - Working in shared Google docs - Collaborating in Google Slides - Turn Google Forms into a formatted document
Canvas: Canvas chat - Custom dashboard labels - Canvas “What-if” grades - Deliver assignment instructions as a Quiz
Zoom: Name Breakout Rooms - Screen share in Zoom - How to Zoom in in Zoom
Over time I explored different tools and techniques to support student engagement in online/hybrid/HyFlex classes:
Student engagement: Free Chat - Climer cards - Digital exit tickets - Interactive quizzing - Online question management for classes & presentations - Wheel of Names (random name generator) - Providing audio feedback
Tools to support the thoughtful design of materials, particularly for students consuming materials via their computer or mobile device:
Accessibility: Accessibility Infographics - Two programs to reduce eyestrain
Using images: Extract text from images - Remove distracting backgrounds from photos - Using screenshots
Design: Choosing Fonts - More on Fonts
And finally, different tools to help faculty in our non-teaching work:
Research: Managing references - Find free versions of articles - Text Capture Apps
Productivity: Set times for tasks - Finding OERs - Study Skills Videos - Keeping Notes on Students - Keyboard shortcuts - Text Expanders - Mailbird email program - Voice-to-text options - Custom URLs & QR codes - DropBox Paper for collaboration
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