Technology as a tool to increase teacher efficiency and learner effectiveness
Technology as a tool to increase teacher efficiency and learner effectiveness
Whilst the private sector has seen multiple products and systems innovate productivity in their workplace, educational systems have not yet developed at the same place. Yet whilst the educational sector has not seen the same rate of development in the technological areas aimed specifically at productivity and planning there has been some crossover between private and public sectors. These common themes often look at the measures of performance evaluationss of the institution and individual as well as the cost-benefit analysis for the organisation.
Outside of the educational setting where research and student successes are not the primary focus one disadvantage can be the cost of the technology. If the technology is not purchased by the organisation it is often down to individuals or students to purchase the tools. This can cause the best tools to be limited to a smaller number of students or teachers. The crucial element with embedding technology in the classroom and planning stages is to enhance productivity and quality through tools that allow for streamlining of the workforce (De Grip and Sauermann, 2012). Another area which needs to be addressed is how do we improve teaching practices and increase the adoption of new techniques effectively. When many Continued Professional Development (CPD) or training sessions look at short one hour sessions there is little evidence to suggest that these CPD sessions do much to enhance teaching outside of advertising a new product. These short CPD sessions have a low efficacy of success in the classroom and software, hardware and training need to be embedded within the professional development of the teacher to enable growth in the classroom. It has also been found in some sectors especially in the higher education arena that a shift towards a more rounded approach to training could actually enhance learning, and educating the teacher in how to use a software product, would allow for greater individual growth as well as the application of new techniques (Shortlidge and Eddy, 2020).
How technology is applied is equally important. Meyer and McNeal (2011) found that providing lecturers and professors with a tool is important but allowing them the freedom to shape the structure of this tool is also critical. In the current climate with online learning likely to continue to expand, technology is crucial to the growth in the education sector however, this should not take away from the creativity of the academic. In the Meyer and McNeal (2011) study they found that discussion boards and hosting platforms varied from forums to blogs or projects to support learner success. Some of the academic subjects also used these tools to create workshops for their students, external individuals and peer staff members all of which allowed for growth in the classroom and outside for both the products (qualifications) and productivity (learner success). Freeman, Haak and Wenderoth (2011) compared measures that utilised active learning and activity based learning to assess whether it bridged the gap for learners who exhibited poorer performance. It could be argued that if the elements of taught content were more closely connected to that of the assessment method it would improve the learners performance in formative assessments which can be measured over the course duration. If these events occur more regularly due to elements of repetition (which a software product can take from the lecturer material and use to automatically develop assessment material) the learner is likely to benefit from reviewing the taught material. This is also likely to save teacher or lecturer time (e.g. by reducing marking and preparation time of this material).
De Grip, A. and Sauermann, J., 2012. The Effects of Training on Own and Co‐worker Productivity: Evidence from a Field Experiment. The Economic Journal, 122(560), pp.376-399.
Freeman, S., Haak, D. and Wenderoth, M., 2011. Increased Course Structure Improves Performance in Introductory Biology. CBE—Life Sciences Education, 10(2), pp.175-186.
Meyer, K. and McNeal, L., 2011. HOW ONLINE FACULTY IMPROVE STUDENT LEARNING PRODUCTIVITY. Online Learning, 15(3).
Shortlidge, E. and Eddy, S., 2020. The Trade-Off Between Graduate Student Research And Teaching: A Myth?. Gale Academic.
