Leveraging Technology Effectively, Part 3
In the third article in this series, we’ll look at what students will do to develop this competency.
By Gwenna Moss Centre for Teaching and LearningIt’s important that USask learners know how to use the technologies they’ll need in their classes and beyond the university. “Using” technology isn’t just about how to format a document, prompt a GenAI tool, create a video, or collaborate on an online document. Students also need to be critical in their use of technology, choosing the right tool for the job, following copyright regulations, recognizing bias, and understanding the environmental impact.
The USask Student Competencies are just that, student competencies. They are what learners should be competent in by the time they graduate. As we continue this series on the Leveraging Technology competency, it's time to focus on what learners will do in courses and programs to develop this competency. This article will explore this under three broad themes – access to learning technologies, ethical considerations when using it, and how to integrate learning technologies in ways that will support learners to meet the competency.
Accessing Learning Technologies
Tools that appear in the A-Z list on the Learning Technologies Ecosystem (LTE) Toolkit website typically carry no additional costs for students. You can see which tools have or have not been approved for use with USask learners, as well as which integrate with Canvas and the level of support available for each tool.
There are additional USask-approved learning technologies that do not appear on that list. These tools are typically more limited in use at USask. These may be paid for by the institution or individual colleges, or the might be approved for use at USask but carry direct costs for learners. An example of this may be homework systems, which are sometimes attached to commercial textbooks. Speak with students about the costs. The costs may be a barrier to student success in the course. If you're interested in alternatives, contact the GMCTL to talk about options.
Explain to learners that using learning technologies that aren't approved for use at USask may jeopardize their privacy, intellectual property, or the security of their data.
Considering the Ethics of Using Learning Technologies
There are a number of ethical considerations when using learning technologies, such as bias, environmental impact, and copyright concerns. It's important that, as part of meeting the Leveraging Technology competency, students learn how to be critical in their use of technologies. Ask learners what their concerns are about using technologies. Discuss with them how they and others might use technologies in their field in an ethical manner.
USask will be launching a free, online course on AI literacy this summer that includes a module on the ethical considerations when using AI. Much of what's in that module relates to other types of technologies as well.
Integrating Learning Technologies
Often, it's assumed that students know how to use whatever technology we expect them to learn, whether that's a tool, a set of tools, or online resources. In reality, without instruction, practice, and feedback, they may not know how to format a Word document or search the Library's databases, let alone how to create a podcast or determine if a resource they find online is legitimate. They are also unlikely to know how to choose appropriate technologies for the job. We'll address both of these in the next article.
The page about the Leveraging Technology competency includes several examples that may spark ideas for you on how to integrate learning technologies into your course. Here are some additional examples.
- Give students a choice of how they provide evidence of their learning (does it really need to be a written paper?), and suggest they consider creating a podcast, website, or resource that other learners (current and future) could use.
- Coordinate with your colleagues to embed the use of ePortfolios across the program so students can track, provide evidence of, and reflect on their learning and growth.
- Have learners debate ethical issues around using various technologies (e.g., social media, AI, cloud storage, etc.)
- If you coordinate with the other instructors in the department or program, you can scaffold activities that will allow students to learn how to use technology, including discipline-specific technologies, in a skillful and ethical way, starting from the first year and building on it through graduation. Departments should determine which technologies they want students to become competent in.
Make sure that whatever activity you have learners engage in, that activity aligns with at least one of the course learning outcomes.
It's important to integrate appropriate and accessible learning technologies so that learners can use them in ethical and responsible ways. If you would like to discuss ways of doing this in your specific courses, please contact the Gwenna Moss Centre for Teaching and Learning.
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Watch for our next article (coming soon), where we'll explore how students can learn how to use the technologies and choose the right one- or more, for a given task.
Articles in this series Leveraging Technology Effectively:
Title image - Ludovic Delot on Pexels.com