Criteria for Technology

When deciding what type of technology to implement into a classroom setting, a teacher must consider several different factors.  When I decide on what technologies to use, I have several specific criteria.  These include:

1. Free or Low Cost

Technology in the classroom should always be free or of low cost.  It isn't fair to students or parents to have to pay extra money on technology when attending school because each family has different economic needs.  With free or low costing technology, students will all be able to participate and not feel left out because they can't afford to download a certain app or buy a specific technological device.  When technology is free, students will be able to access it anywhere, from school, to home or to the public library.

2. Easy to Understand/ Use

Technology can be confusing at times, especially for people who don't have a lot of experience using technology tools.  Younger children, such as elementary school students are being introduced to many new things in life, and technology could be hard for them so it's important to use a tool that is simple to use and navigate.  This also goes for older students as well, because some websites may require you to have background information in certain areas with computers such as importing files or backing up software.  Most collaboration tools such as backchannels are typically easy to understand, navigate and use which is why they are becoming more effective and common tools found in classrooms.  If an assignment requires something more in depth, such as embedding codes, it can frustrate students and take away from learning.

3. Little Personal Information Input by Students

As technology develops, so does lack of privacy.  More people are becoming more literate in technology, and hackers now have the ability to access people private information and use it against them.  It's important as a teacher to find a technological tool that requires little personal information input by students such as email, first and last name, street address, etc. so others can access this information.  There could be people who use this information for identity theft, or even to track where students live and potentially harm them.  It's important to choose a technology tool such as TodaysMeet where students don't have to create an account or put in there name/personal information.

4. Effectiveness

Any technological tool used in a classroom must be effective.  Students need to learn 21st century skills, which requires technology literacy, as explained on the Home Page.  If a teacher wants students to play a game in class, it should have some type of educational piece that enhances learning and is effective.  Some popular games, such as Call of Duty, are based off of different wars and gamers try and eliminate the enemy like they would in a war.  However, before each mission there is a short video that replicates what happened in different wars like World War Two that teaches gamers about different points in history.  In a classroom setting, however, there are many new types of effective technology tools, such as backchannels and polling websites that allows students to communicate, collaborate, conduct research and more.

5. Does it Work on Different Platforms?

Technology must be able to work on different platforms, such as computers, mobile devices or padlets.  This is important because some families may not be able to afford a smartphone for their children, so they will have to use a computer at home or at a library.  Also, some classrooms may not be fully equipped with computers so if a majority of students do have smartphones, they will all be able to do the activity.  Some of my favorite technology tools have this ability such as Socrative, where there is a computer version and a mobile app that is downloadable in the iTunes app store, or other app stores.  Being able to access a technological tool on different platforms allows students to access them outside of the classroom to enhance their learning.