Four Cs of Technology Integration

Four Cs of Technology Integration

I'll be highlighting my four Cs in the context of a role I'm aspiring toward, such as a instructional technologist, instructional designer, or general curriculum developer.

By: Jack Roeback

Introduction

Both lists of Cs (Communication, Critical Thinking, Collaboration, Creativity and Creation, Consumption, Curation, Connection) serve as important pieces that make up the process of technology integration in today's classrooms. While some may apply more than others (depending on the role - although two people can hold entirely different values regarding specific Cs even for the same position!), in some way, they all apply to any technological integration for educators and their classes.

An Overview of My Selected Cs

Creativity

Collaboration

Critical Thinking

Communication

The basis for successful technical integration.

Promoting unique learning experiences.

Working together effectively.

Solutions, benefits, and drawbacks.

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01

Communication

C of Communication: What It Means To Me

Vital for any role. To effectively coordinate and plan out courses that utilize technology as part of lessons, this is a must. It applies to every aspect of my current position and will be critical to my success for my future aspirations.

Whether I become something like an instructional designer or technologist, I will constantly be using clear and effective communication to plan, train, support, and even troubleshoot (thanks to my background) the technology that teachers want to integrate. With my current IT experience, I'll make sure to also take into account any feedback they provide and even provide support to keep things up and running.

Some Examples and Tools

How this can be applied through the use of technology

Providing training

Describing tools

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Giving feedback

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02

Critical Thinking

C of Critical Thinking: What It Means To Me

With technology becoming more widely used in classrooms, I think I need to also focus on taking what I've learned from the time I spent in IT support for a university and translate my understanding of educational technology to the work I hope to do in the future. I'll need to be aware of what tool fits what needs for each teacher.

As someone who's hoping to become some sort of instructional designer, I'll thoroughly need to weigh the benefits and drawbacks of each tool for every subject matter that I work with. Different teachers will most likely need different tools, so I'll need to come up with what I think would work best for them (while also keeping in mind what they've already suggested) so we can come up with the best tool that makes teaching easier for them and the content more engaging for their students.

Some Examples and Tools

How this can be applied through the use of technology

Evaluating tools

Reviewing lesson plans

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Examining learning activities

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03

Collaboration

C of Collaboration: What It Means To Me

This ties in with communication. With what I've been doing now and what I'm aiming to do and achieve later on, working together with those around me is critical for the successful integration of technology that will truly benefit both the teachers and their students.

I'll be working directly with teachers, and most likely the IT staff as well, to make sure that the technology tools are being efficiently and effectively integrated into their lesson plans. I hope to always have it set up in a way that promotes easy accessibility and high engagement without the students getting too distracted by the technology itself, and since each teacher has their own style of teaching and goals for their students to achieve, I'll need to be working closely with them every step of the way to achieve that.

Some Examples and Tools

How this can be applied through the use of technology

Working with fellow designers

Working with teachers

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Working with the IT department

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04

Creativity

C of Creativity: What It Means To Me

This can tie in with critical thinking. When I'm working with educators to help them decide what tools to use, we'll be thinking of their purpose in the classroom and the context of the lessons that they plan to teach.

It's not supposed to be the tool itself that fosters engagement, but more so in how it's being used and structured around the content in a way that is engaging and designed effectively to facilitate real learning. This is where creativity comes into play - not using technology for the sake of using technology. I'll be there to assist teachers with those decisions and to avoid choices that may lead to those outcomes.

Some Examples and Tools

How this can be applied through the use of technology

Adopting tools

Designing lessons

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Creating Content

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Thank You

With my IT background, I also work with the IT department to help them troubleshoot any technical issues and make sure that integrations with outside technical tools are imported seamlessly and are fully functional within the LMS. Tools: Canvas, MS Teams to work with IT, and IT's ticketing system.

After a couple weeks of instruction, I get feedback from the instructors to determine how well students have been able to access and engage with the material, then make adjustments where necessary based on that feedback and how well the students performed. Tools: Analytics Hub in Canvas and Google Forms for instructor feedback.

Going back to the previous LMS example, let's select Canvas. I explore the platform to evaluate how modules, materials, and assignments should be structured. I'll compare shells to see what works and what doesn't so I can plan more effective layouts. Tools: Canvas and either document or graphing software to plan out course outlines.

I show teachers how to effectively utilize a new LMS platform that their school is adding. I showcase some of the main features and what they can take advantage of to better align how things are structured with their goals and content. Tools: MS Teams for presenting, and then an LMS platform like Canvas, Blackboard, or Moodle.

I follow up with each instructor after the integration goes live to see if any of them have any questions or suggestions for things that can be improved with the way things have been set up. Tools: Google Forms, Teams Q&A sessions, and online teacher forums (A to Z Teacher Stuff).

I take the time to explore various technologies on my own to find ones that I think will help teachers enhance the way they do their lessons, checking for things like accessibility and how well it fits with their course layout and content. Tools: Sutori, Padlet, Canva, Visme etc.

The technology used in classrooms is meant to promote creativity and provide unique ways for students to learn. There's plenty of tools and applications available, and depending on how well a tool is utilized, that makes all the difference in the learning experience.

I work with each instructor to review their planned course outline and identify where their lessons can be enhanced to foster engagement and shared learning through things like group discussions boards and collaborative assignments. Tools: Canvas, MS Teams for meetings.

I create resources that the teachers can view later regarding various canvas tools and templates. These will also include various tutorials for the things I mentioned prior (like Padlet and Visme) so the teachers can more easily understand how they can be developed and tailored to their own content. Tools: MS Teams meetings for Q&A and VoiceThreads.

I help teachers lay out and design the shells based on the lesson plans that they developed, coming up with creative ways to incorporate various technology (if it fits) in ways that increase engagement without overwhelming them or their students. Tools: Canvas along with blogs/websites that can help me discover new concepts to suggest to teachers.

This involves coming up with effective solutions and alternatives (especially when standard methods don't work). What are the benefits? What are the drawbacks? For every technology integration in the classroom, how does it impact the teachers, and more importantly, their students?

Using Canvas, I work with the teachers to help them lay out their course structures in a way that fits the goals they hope for their students to achieve. We lay out the modules in a format that they think will be easy for students to navigate and complete assignments. Tools: Canvas and document or graphing software to plan out course outlines.

Technology tools should be set up in a way that fosters environments where we work together. No matter if it's online or in-person, it's crucial to consider all the options available and select the best one that promotes those meaningful shared experiences (both for the selection of tools and actual classroom use).

I work with fellow instructional designers to review course layouts after meetings with each teacher to determine what should be kept and what can be adjusted. We then give feedback to each teacher and work with them to make improvements to their shells. Tools: Canvas, MS Teams, and Loom to share videos regarding certain tools and features.

How can I clearly share the ideas I have with the teachers I work with? How do we handle hiccups or misunderstanding during any part of the integration process? How will the tools themselves promote or hinder communication?

I'll schedule times to meet with each instructor to let them have some practice with navigating the LMS and at the same time offering ideas of where they would like certain things located for their course. Tools: Meeting platforms such as Teams, the LMS system, more video and article tutorials found online that we run through together.