TRAIN THOSE WHO WILL USE THE TECHNOLOGY

End user training is a fact that everyone recognizes in theory but glosses over in practice. There is no underestimating the importance of making sure that faculty and support staff know-how to extract value from the system.

“Studies suggest that teachers who receive formal training use technology more frequently for instruction, and this use can lead to significant improvements in student achievement,” explains Parveen from Edutech.

Remember, unused tools can never be successful, no matter how good they might be. In fact,Mark Reeves at Promethean says that “In our experience training is the difference between success and failure. Training the teachers who will be using the technology is absolutely essential.”

Vendors and implementers do not generally offer training free of cost. Buyers should negotiate an inclusive package involving training and end-user support, and make budgetary allocations for training at the outset to avoid cash crunches in later stages.

MAKE SURE THAT THAT THE TECHNOLOGY IS EASILY USABLE

A usable tool is a successful tool. Even with increasing technology literacy and technology sophistication among students and faculty, the importance of ease of use is critical to success of any learning technology.With today’s proliferation of tools to help learning and learning delivery, most top manufacturers, vendors and implementers are leaning towards engaging the end user.

But the technology buyer can also help. Interactive technology is highly customizable so that most needs can be catered to. It is up to the buyer to make sure that interactive technology is implemented in a participative manner that is understood by all stakeholders who will use the system.Buyers for interactive technology should choose those options that best fit the needs of their instructors and students, and should prioritize the equipment they require most. At SMART, CEO Nancy Knowlton believes that that, “The implementation of interactive methods is not about learning how to use technology – it’s about using technology to learn.” With pressures increasing on educational institutes to satisfy their core customers, measures of learning efficiency, performance outcomes and optimal resource allocations are taking centre stage. In such a competitive scenario, equipment that is not set up in intuitively user-friendly manner can become a bottleneck rather than a strength.

HAVE A STRATEGIC PLAN INSTEAD OF A BITS AND PIECES APPROACH

Buyers have been known to budget for the present, without a thought to how demands might be met two years from the date of purchase. This approach can not bring about true interactive learning. Rather, it will lead to a setup that seems to have necessary tools but does not produce the desired results. Investment in interactive technology – or investment in any asset for that matter- can not be a one off move without a long term plan. For interactive learning technologies to make a lasting positive difference to teaching and learning in the Middle East, they must be installed and used according to an overall strategy. For instance, rather than using a projector and whiteboard in isolation, buyers might want to give a thought to how interactive teaching and learning could be expanded institution-wide. As Parveen, Edutech, puts it, “The process of learning technologies moving to the mainstream of education must be managed with a clear vision, and purpose to ensure sustainability. Institutional leaders have a critical role in providing leadership and vision, in establishing clear polices, creating a technology strategic plan, reward excellence, ensuring long term funding and budgeting, and monitoring quality.”

The opinion is seconded by Knowlton from SMART, who observes that, “A clear vision of the purpose for which the interactive technology is being acquired is a must, as is a good understanding of how it will be implemented and used on a daily basis. In addition, those who are using the technology will be trained and developed, not just from the outset, but on an ongoing basis. Any interactive setup should have in place future plans to expand the offering to additional classrooms or locations to effect real transformation of teaching and learning,”

ENSURE THE RIGHT PEOPLE HAVE ACCESS AT THE RIGHT TIME

Some buyers use pilot schemes for the introduction of interactive technology, with out of the way classrooms and lecture theatres equipped before the technology is brought into the mainstream. However, network economies dictate that the benefits of interactive technology increase as the number of users rise. Technology that is installed in an out of the way place may not have the desired effect. Interactive tools that are marginalized at the outset stand a good chance of never being widely accepted.

This is not to say that buyers should always jump in without a pilot.However, they should ensure that the pilot includes main lecture halls and classrooms so that the maximum number of students and instructors try out the technology and benefit from it. Only then can necessary momentum be generated to extend the program. Without sufficient and timely access to technology, even the most advanced infrastructure will fail to deliver desired outcomes.Variables such as available network bandwidth, the number of workstations and PCs involved, and the equipment necessary to ensure equitable access should all be considered well.

INTEGRATED INTERACTIVITY

Find technology for a purpose, not purpose for a technology. Interactive technology might be fashionable. Trying to make an impact might be your immediate agenda. However, rotarized blinds and projectors running off wireless TCP/IP data streams will have little direct impact on how absorbing the education experience. In comparison, allocating the same funds for the acquisition of an interactive whiteboard hosting tailor-made content by trained teachers will yield a higher return on investment. Buyers need to figure out what technologies give them the most bang for their buck, and do away with the fancy trappings until they are truly needed.

There is a generally agreed upon list of important equipment that outfits a conventional classroom to go interactive. In an age of tight budgets and heightened competition, it is well worth prioritizing technology based on the value it delivers to the education experience. Dimming light switches and voice recognition can be brought in later. The canny buyer will stick to the hard-hitting basics until funds become available to do more.

HAVE CONTENT FOR THE TECHNOLOGY

“Preparing interactive content is key. If buyers simply take current text books and digitize them in some way or other, they are delivering the same content all over again.

Interactive technology opens up a vast array of opportunities to create and present content that engages students and trainees at multiple levels.When instructors and other users put some effort into creating quality content, the education experience benefits a great deal,” explains Mark Reeves, Promethean.

Content is the fuel that powers interactive learning experiences. Using existing material negates most of the benefits of using interactive technology, rather like using a petrol engine to generate steam to power a locomotive. Interactive learning technologies enable a plethora of new techniques for instructors, and these technologies will only offer markedly superior results when these techniques are used.

“At Promethean,we encourage the creation and dissemination of content that achieves results through our free online teacher portal Promethean Planet that now hosts a community of nearly 60,000 teachers globally who share ideas as well as flipcharts,” says Reeves.

INTEGRATION WITH CURRICULUM

For successful implementation of technology, care must be taken to ensure that it integrates seamlessly with the curricular and instructional framework. “When technology is integrated into the larger instructional framework, students will not only learn how to use the systems, but will also gain content knowledge. Using technology within the curriculum framework enhances important IT and communication skills that prove useful in the workplace,”observes Parveen,Edutech. Interactive technology is not a sideshow attraction. Neither is it restricted to specialist fields. Rather, interactive learning tools have the potential to open up new and effective ways of communication between instructors and students once the technology is integrated with the curriculum.

“Helping teachers to learn to integrate technology into the curriculum is a critical factor in the successful implementation of technology.Many institutions spend their funds on tangible goods such as hardware and software, but make little provision for how these investments link up with overall learning objectives,” notes Knowlton, SMART.