Usability is a factor that has been recognized as playing a role in the widespread adoption of ICT to meet the strategic and logistic goals of businesses and industries other than education. Designers recognize that usable systems decrease extraneous cognitive load, and thus facilitate knowledge building. In general, usability is associated with the extent to Read More
In order to assess the degree to which educational technology is influencing teaching and learning in any school data must be gathered from three different perspectives. It is reasoned that together these provide the most complete assessment of all five dimensions of the instructional and information (I & IT) systems installed in the school. Users’ Read More
Sufficient Devices Are there sufficient computing devices available in the school? Sufficiency exists when there exists: Enough devices so teachers’ decisions are not limited; Enough capacity that students can create products teachers deem appropriate; Methods to easily share limited resources. Robust, Reliable, and Secure Network Is the school’s information technology network reliable, robust, and secure? Read More
Whereas the effects of instruction are generally understood to be determined by measuring learners’ ability to answer questions in a testing situation after the instruction has concluded, the outcomes of authentic learning (Herrington, Reeves, Oliver, 2014) are generally understood to be demonstrated in products and performances. Artifacts of those products and performances (along with learners’ Read More
The newest type of device to enter the educational market is the Internet-only notebook. When these devices were first marketed, they had no functionality without the Internet, but later generations have added some offline functionality. Still, however, these devices are most useful in schools when they are connected to the Internet. The dominant device used Read More
The two dominant mobile operating systems are Apple’s iOS (which is installed on iPads and iPhones) and Google’s Android operating system (which is installed on a range of tablets and phones). Microsoft makes a version of Windows available for mobile devices and the open source community also makes version of Linux available, but these are Read More
There are some tools educators should not be expected to use without direct instruction and IT managers must plan for these needs when newly hired educators are “on-boarded” and to support educators during major transitions. The IT systems that require direct instruction include: • Procedures and credentials for logging on to all systems that are Read More
The web service for managing repair requests that is web-based are often called “ticketing systems,” because one submits a “help ticket” that summarizes a problem; the ticket is assigned to someone with the skill and network credentials to fix the problem, and notes regarding steps that are taken are added to the ticket. Once the Read More
Fundamentally, computer networks are simple systems. To build a network, one provides a pathway to move data from one node to another (through electrical signals transmitted over wires or radio signals that travel through the air), gives every node a unique address (so the network “knows” where to deliver packets), and then keeps track of Read More
Several years ago, I was asked to gather some “data” regarding “how our school technology is doing.” I was familiar with technology acceptance model, and intended to ground my answers to the inquiry in data collected with a valid and reliable instrument. Turing to the literature, I found there were instruments for measuring Unified Acceptance of Read More