Technology, innovation and how to avoid snake oil

 The deadline for submitting entries to our award for Innovation in Case Teaching is approaching fast and I know that many of the entries will focus on the adoption of new technologies.  There is no doubting that technology has the potential to transform education for the better when it is combined with effective teaching practices and many schools are dedicating considerable time and resources to the question of how best to respond to the opportunities it offers. 

So here are a couple of articles you may be interested in reading.  

The first is Decoding Learning a new report from Nesta - the UK's innovation foundation.  Nesta argues that too often technologies have been imported into classrooms without the necessary changes to teacher practice and school organisation to support them.   



From tablets to voting pods, whiteboards and games, individual technologies have been sold to schools in the promise of enhanced learning but with no real understanding of how to use them or their potential benefits. Millions of pounds is being spent on shiny new equipment that is only ever toyed before being left to gather dust in school cupboards with almost zero impact on student learning.



Geoff Mulgan, chief executive of Nesta, says "A tablet replacing an exercise book is not innovation - it's just a different way to make notes."  

Education technology should be designed around how students learn. Technology used to support existing teaching practices, rather than transforming teaching and learning, is an opportunity wasted.

  

So what strengths of digital education should teachers build on? 

Nesta identifies five: assessment tools; learning through making; techniques for practising; taking learning outside the classroom and social learning.  

The report demands evidence of what things work and calls for a move from 'plug and play' to 'think and link' - where tools are used with lots of other types of resources.

Another useful contribution to the debate can be found in the December edition of the Journal of Management Education  An Examination of the Effectiveness of Case Method teaching Online: Does the Technology Matter?  by Sharon Watson and Jann Marie Sutton

Watson and Sutton examine the effectiveness of the case method when teaching online and how it is affected by the choice of technology,  and particularly on how the decision to use either synchronous or asynchronous communication affects student learning and satisfaction. 

Their findings suggest that engagement and interaction with the instructor and fellow students is what most determines student satisfaction and perceived learning in online courses.

Both papers suggest that the best way to take full advantage of technology is to start by really understanding the characteristics of each technology and medium and asking how best to use them to deliver learning objectives.  Each technology, each medium, each approach will be stronger or weaker in one area or another.  Let's avoid being dazzled by technological bling.

I'm looking forward to reading those Innovation in Case Teaching Submissions.