Ed Tech Resources

Ed Tech Resources

 

by Mark Sivy

Here are links to a few educational technology resources that I’ve used over the years. I hope they prove to be as useful to you as they were to me.

Wikipedia

Educational technology, also termed instructional technology, information and communication technology (ICT) in education, Ed Tech, and learning technology, is "the study and ethical practice of facilitating learning and improving performance by creating, using and managing appropriate technological processes and resources." A closely related…

Educational Technology News

This blog is an ongoing source of the latest news, events, issues, etc. that are associated with ed tech. For example here’s the latest from the Tifton Gazette - Changes in technology are changing the way we educate students. This school year marks the beginning of a new program that allows Tift County students to learn online. Blended learning is a new format in which students are taking online classes, but are doing so in a…

Educational Technology Clearinghouse

The Florida Digital Educator program supports the appropriate integration of technology into K-12 education…

ISTE

Join our tribe of passionate educators, leaders and experts who are committed to expanding the horizons of education technology. Home to the ISTE Conference & Expo and the widely adopted ISTE Standards for learning, teaching and leading in the digital age, the association represents more than 100,000 professionals…

Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies

Directory of Learning & Performance Tools. Listed in the left hand sidebar are the main pages of the Directory of Learning & Performance Tools. There are over 2,000 tools for learning and working in education and the workplace listed. If you would like to submit a tool…

SETDA

Building the capacity of leaders to improve education through technology. The State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA) is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit membership association launched by state education agency leaders in 2001 to serve, support and represent their emerging interests and needs with respect to the use of technology for teaching, learning, and...

Ed Tech Feasibility Study

Creating an Educational Technology Feasibility Study

A thorough feasibility analysis provides necessary information in making decisions concerning an educational technology project and much of what is needed in developing a business plan.  The following outline will help the project team capture and examine the variables that are necessary in making an informed decision concerning the investment of time and resources.

The details in a feasibility study for a given project are unique, depending upon the project team and objectives. One of the most important aspects through the process is the level of consideration and care that go into communication. This includes messages that are sent and received, and those that are delivered to dispersed teams, individual employees, and stakeholders.

Below is a list of feasibility study elements, followed by a brief description of each.

Study Elements

1. Executive Summary
   
2. Introduction
3. Scope
4. Terms and Acronyms
5. Project / Concept Overview
6. Description of Objectives, Products, and Services
7. Assumptions
8. Consequences and Risks
9. Alternatives
10. Technology Considerations
11. Product and Service Market Analysis
12. Marketing Strategy
13. Talent Development and Training
14. Staffing and Organization
15. Timeline
16. Benefits
17. Financial Projections
18. Findings and Recommendations

Element Descriptions 

1. Executive Summary
The executive summary provides an overview of the content contained in the feasibility study document. This section is written after the rest of the document is completed.

2. Introduction
Describes the reasons for the concept or project and also the intended outcomes from the feasibility study.

3. Scope
Describes the scope of the feasibility study as it relates to the project, stakeholders, and those who it will impact. This is sometimes captured in the introduction.

4. Terms and Acronyms
Provides a list of the terms and acronyms used in this document and the definition of each. Working with team members and suppliers who are at-a-distance requires this section to be comprehensive and to provide a clear and common understanding. This is particularly important when members are internationally dispersed or have different cultural backgrounds.

5. Project / Concept Overview
Offers a brief overview of the proposed project or concept. This will serve as a point of reference for the remainder of the document.

6. Description of Objectives, Products and Services
This section provides a more detailed description of the objectives, products and/or services which are being considered as part of the feasibility study. The purpose of this section is to provide detailed descriptions of exactly what the organization is considering so this information can be applied to the remaining sections of the document.

7. Assumptions
Determine the project assumptions, such as operational life of the proposed system, maintenance, training, sustainability, and scalability.

8. Consequences and Risks
Includes consequences of not taking action, what delays and risks might occur during work, and what delays and risks can be tolerated.

9. Alternatives
Describes an alternative(s) to the suggested system and states the reasons why the alternative system(s) was (were) not selected.

10. Technology Considerations
This section should explain any considerations the organization must make with regards to technology, including hardware, software, infrastructure, skills, and interfaces. Technology may be developed or implemented internally or contracted through a service provider. This must consider the needs of the virtual organization and technologies that facilitate virtual collaboration and teamwork.

11. Market Analysis
This section provides and assessment of the existing domestic and overseas markets. It will describe who makes up the target market, who the competitors are, how products and services will be distributed, why users might select the products and services and how the market may change in the future. 

12. Marketing Strategy
This section provides an analysis of the market and a description of the marketing process. This includes considerations such as a global competitor analysis, differentiating the organization and outcomes from competitors, determining who the marketing will target, and what types of marketing will be used.

13. Talent Development and Training
This is usually not included as a dedicated element in a traditional feasibility study, but in the instance of virtual undertaking it is a crucial component. Realistically, most leaders and team members are inadequately prepared for at-a-distance operations and this is a common reason why many virtual efforts meet with unexpected difficulties, cost overruns, or failure.

14. Staffing and Organization
This examines the people who are needed to implement an idea, including skills, backgrounds, and knowledge. At this point it is also necessary to consider the international nature of the undertaking, including differences in time zones, languages, and cultures. There will also need to be a plan for integrating additional staff and responsibilities into existing organization structures and staff.

15. Timeline
This section will provide an overview schedule, which serves as a guideline and includes major milestones and estimated time frames.

16. Benefits
It is important that the feasibility study captures the most important outcomes of the products and/or services that are being considered as well as how they may benefit the organization, workforce, end-users, and clients.

17. Financial Projections
This section provides a description of start-up costs, operating costs, revenue projections and profitability.

18. Outcomes and Recommendations
This section will summarize the outcomes of the feasibility study and explain what course of action is recommended. This section may include advantages and disadvantages of doing the project and suggestion to enhance project success.

Every feasibility study has its own character and should be formatted accordingly. For other ideas on performing a feasibility study, there are many good web-based resources such as the Together Works discussion, HUD template and Wikipedia information.

Reflection Point - An absolute can only be given in an intuition, while all the rest has to do with analysis. ~Henri Bergson

Ed Tech Reality Checks

 

Educational Technology – A Cycle, a Model, and a Theory

Throughout the years, there are some basic “tools” that I’ve used to guide me through the consideration, adoption, and implementation of educational technologies. 

Gartner Hype Cycle

During my career I’ve found the stages of this cycle to be almost dead on accurate and I keep it in mind when I read about the next “greatest” technology. The five phases of the Gartner (1995) Hype Cycle are:

1. Technology Trigger – breakthrough, product launch, and events create an interest
2. Peak of Inflated Expectations – there are publically generated over-enthusiasm and unrealistic expectations, often from having only a superficial understanding of capacities and logistics. The technology, which is still in its infancy of development, becomes a fad.  More failures than successes with the first generation technology occur.
3. Trough of Disillusionment – expectations of the technology are not met, the media abandons the hype, and the public’s embracing of the technology as being trendy dissolves.
4. Slope of Enlightenment –individuals, groups, businesses, and institutions that thought beyond the media spectacle and who have a more complete understanding and vision for the technology, continue to develop the benefits and practical application of the technology.
5. Plateau of Productivity – the tangible benefits and applications of the technology become widely accepted and embraced. The technology becomes more stable and is perceived as being user-friendly as it evolves through second and third generations of development.

A rendition of a generic hype cycle with more detailed explanations of the various points along the timeline can be found on the DigitalTonto website.

Technology Acceptance Model

Having an awareness of human psychology and tendencies when adopting new technologies has also proven to be useful for me. Moving forward with the selection and implementation of an educational technology should include an awareness of end-user needs, expectations, and usage behaviors. A simplified model for this can be seen in the Technology Acceptance Model (Davis, 1985): 

Other aspects that can be assessed during such an evaluation process would be the educational and social perceptions of the technology, the learning curve, complexity of the user interface, effort required to produce an educational experience, the level of required support, differences due to age and gender, and learning community behavior patterns. These variables coincide with a more complex acceptance model, the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (Vehkatesh, Morris, Davis, and Davis, 2003):

Theory of Diffusion of Innovations

An additional premise which had implications in my evaluation plan was the Theory of Diffusion of Innovations which addresses how, why, and at what rate new ideas and technology spread through cultures. According to Rogers (1995) there are groupings of adopters (realize that all group characteristics are generalizations and do not necessarily apply to all individuals in a group):

• The first 2.5% of the adopters are the "innovators". Innovators are willing to take risks, youngest in age, have the highest social class, have great financial lucidity, very social and have closest contact to scientific sources and interaction with other innovators.
• The next 13.5% of the adopters are the "early adopters". These individuals have the highest degree of opinion leadership among the other adopter categories. Opinion leadership is created by an active user of innovations providing interpretations and explanations to those who are lower-end users. Early adopters are typically younger in age, have a higher social status, have more financial lucidity, advanced education, and are more socially forward than late adopters.
• The next 34% of the adopters are the "early majority". Individuals in this category adopt an innovation after a varying degree of time. This time of adoption is significantly longer than the innovators and early adopters. Early Majority tend to be slower in the adoption process, have above average social status, contact with early adopters, and show some opinion leadership
• The next 34% of the adopters are the "late majority". Individuals in this category will adopt an innovation after the average member of the society. These individuals approach an innovation with a high degree of skepticism and after the majority of society has adopted the innovation. Late Majority are typically skeptical about an innovation, have below average social status, very little financial lucidity, in contact with others in late majority and early majority, very little opinion leadership.
• The last 16% of the adopters are the "laggards". Individuals in this category are the last to adopt an innovation. Unlike some of the previous categories, individuals in this category show little to no opinion leadership. These individuals typically have an aversion to change-agents and tend to be advanced in age. Laggards typically tend to be focused on “traditions”, have lowest social status, lowest financial fluidity, oldest of all other adopters, in contact with only family and close friends, very little to no opinion leadership.

Reflection Point – “Good, bad or indifferent, if you are not investing in new technology, you are going to be left behind.” Philip Green

References

Gartner Organization (1995). Understanding hype cycles.

 

Davis, F. D. (1986). A technology acceptance model for empirically testing new end-user information systems: theory and results. MIT Sloan School of Management. Cambridge, MA: MIT Sloan School of Management, 1986.

Rogers, E. (1995).  Diffusion of Innovations, 4th Edition. New York: The Free Press.

Venkatesh, V., Morris, M.G., Davis, F.D., and Davis, G.B. (2003) User Acceptance of Information Technology: Toward a Unified View. MIS Quarterly, 27(3), 425-478.