Tech Tools of the Teaching Trade

With the rise of remote learning, educators and students need to navigate through a dizzying array of technological tools, from hardware such as laptops, tablets, and mobile phones, to online learning resources like GeoGebra and YouTube videos, and learning management systems such as Echo, Canvas or Google Classroom. And it’s set to grow even more — the online education market is projected to reach US$ 350 billion by 2025.

In response, Western Sydney University researchers have des­igned a framework to help educators ensure such tools are used to their maximum potential.

The Technology Integration Pyramid (TIP), designed by Professor Catherine Attard and Professor Kathryn Holmes from Western’s Centre for Educational Research, is a comprehensive framework to assess the effectiveness of technology as a pedagogical tool. Attard believes it will help educators evaluate whether the latest technology will make their work more effective.

At the Pyramid’s base are the contextual elements of technology use. These are the things that make each classroom or tech use case unique, and what differentiates them in terms of how students would benefit from technology use.

The sides of the pyramid represent the four most important considerations to ensure effective technology use — pedagogy, the subject being taught, student engagement, and the technological tools themselves.

The research that produced the TIP was gathered in mathematics classrooms. Attard and Holmes looked for teachers who were considered by their peers to be exemplary users of technology and studied the commonalities between their methods. This was complemented by interviews with students and parents.

Holmes says this research will help teachers understand that technology is just a tool, and that focusing on the teaching is the priority. In one example, a classroom that Holmes visited had children equipped with laptops who were all copying from a PowerPoint presentation on the board. “It was supposed to be a science lesson, but it was basically a typing lesson,” she recalls. 

Conversely, in a different school where students were not provided with devices, a teacher whose only technology was her personal phone, an app called Plicker, and an interactive whiteboard was able to conduct a multiple choice quiz that captured real time information about how well her students understood a topic. “You don’t need a lot of technology, it’s about your teaching practice,” explains Attard.Attard and Holmes are now turning the TIP into an accessible tool for teachers to ensure they use technology in the most effective and productive ways.