Mini-Course on Technology: A User-Experience Framework for Selecting Classroom Technology

This mini-course was developed with the idea that selecting a technology to incorporate in the classroom is much more involved than just picking a cheap option a teacher is familiar with. I believe that there should be a controlled, logical framework that allows educators to consider their students first when determining what to use. Given that, I have developed this min-course, basing it on common usability testing and design principles where the goal is the safe, efficient use of a system by its intended user.

With that in mind the course is set up around three modules; the first being conducting "user research" to understand what requirements should I technology meet to accommodate your students? The second module is centered on analyzing the user data to select a technology to validate for classroom use. Finally the last module is on how to exercise that technology to determine if it is actually the appropriate tool for your class use. I have included lots of reading material to help the intended audience learn about the usability methods in more detail and also to provide education professionals guidance on how to select a technology.

Digital Toolbox Showcase

I have been utilizing technology, especially digital, online tools for approximately ten years in my educational and professional career. There are a whole slew of applications I use frequently and without much consideration: SharePoint, Firefox, Adobe Acrobat, Microsoft Office, Tableau, SPSS and many others. These are all specific to my professional career, human-computer interaction. Given that, it is interesting to consider what is the best way to discover and implement technology for the classroom. After reading the assigned weekly content I started to review technological frameworks to identify the criteria that make the most sense to me.


I ended up settling on a framework designed for elementary and middle-school students. It consists of the following requirements:

• Active - Do students actively use the technology or are they passively learning?
• Usable - Is the technology easy to learn and use? Does it accommodate students with special needs?
• Collaborative - Does the technology allow for collaborative, team-based learning?
• Relevant - Does the technology pass on a skill or competency that is useful outside of the classroom context?

As a user interface designer I have a passion for technology that meets the needs of the expected users (in this case elementary and middle-school students). It must be accessible and usable, it must promote active learning, it should accommodate collaboration and team-building, and it should be a technology or skill that is useful outside of just the classroom environment. Other considerations (not included but probably critical before final approval): cost, complexity of implementation and use for instructors and staff, length of license (yearly renewal or do we own the product?), and also can the student access and use the application at home?

Digital Citizenship

During this weeks module I came to realize that a lot of the knowledge I take for granted regarding technology use is perhaps not quite as obvious as I thought. For example, I was noticing that in the article, 'Nine Themes of Digital Citizenship' the author highlights digital commerce as a theme. They go on to describe it as, "The mainstream availability of internet purchases of toys, clothing, cars, food, etc. has become commonplace to many users. At the same time, an equal amount of goods and services which are in conflict with the laws or morals of some countries are surfacing (which include activites such as illegal downloading, pornography, and gambling)." I just assumed this was generally common knowledge.

As an employee of the federal government (US Navy Reserves and Dept. of Veteran's Affairs) I have to take annual computer security and usage training. I have taken some form of this training every year for 10 years, of course it's common knowledge to me! I realize now that is really the point, Digital Citizenship as a curriculum should be taught to everyone, not just people with technology-centered jobs (and really how many jobs are there that are not technology-centered these days?). I think that teaching people when they're young how to be competent, respectful, safe users of technology and the internet is the smart and responsible thing to do.

I think the best way to do that is through the action plan that my Module 4 partner, Sarah Newsome and I put together. We propose utilizing free resources (including curriculum) from Common Sense Media to teach school staff. We then propose directly instructing the students with a lesson plan designed around digital citizenship. Our next step is to incorporate the tenets of digital citizenship into our regular course materials. Finally we propose utilizing parent nights to provide them with basic internet security tips and materials so they can reinforce the digital citizenship tenets our students learned in class.

For more on our action plan, please view our presentation here: