Educational technology, or edtech, can enhance learning experiences, support teachers, and foster collaboration. But how can you design edtech that puts the learner first, rather than the technology itself? Here are some principles and practices to guide you in creating learner-centered edtech.
Before you start developing any edtech solution, you need to understand who your learners are, what their goals and needs are, and how they prefer to learn. You can use various methods, such as surveys, interviews, focus groups, or personas, to gather and analyze data about your target audience. This will help you tailor your edtech to their context, motivation, and learning styles.
To create learner-centered edtech, prioritize understanding user needs through feedback. Ensure accessibility for all, leaving no one behind.. including those with disabilities. Opt for a simple, intuitive interface, and incorporate adaptive learning to customize experiences. Regularly collect feedback for improvements and always prioritize data privacy and security.
Try using collaborative, visual canvases like FigJam or Miro to document responses during the gap analysis & user interview phase. You can easily start identifying common threads by grouping the responses thematically. Then, share with the team!
Tailoring educational technology for students means making it user-friendly, engaging, and effective. Consider the students' age, learning preferences, and abilities. Ensure the interface is intuitive, content is age-appropriate, and interactions are engaging. Additionally, incorporate features like progress tracking and assessment to help students monitor their learning journey and achieve their educational goals.
All that already does exist - include more of your own intuition in the learning process and follow your students suggestions !
Educators with contemporary and emerging technology mindsets have been able to deliver useful and acceptable education technologies to augment the teaching, learning, and assessment. However, there have been challenges differently for two extreme generations -- a) digital immigrants like me and b) digital natives like 21st century learners who were more digitally savvy. During the COVID pandemic education technology was not one option but necessarily the only option given the closure of physical spaces. From my experience, appropriate behaviors are more important than the knowledge and skills of technology. Because, it can either connect or disconnect the learning with teaching, particularly in digital or blended spaces.
Once you have a clear picture of your audience, you need to define what you want them to achieve with your edtech. What are the learning objectives, competencies, or skills that your edtech will help them develop or improve? How will you measure their progress and performance? How will you provide feedback and support? You can use frameworks, such as Bloom's taxonomy, SMART goals, or backward design, to align your edtech with your desired outcomes.
It is really hard to measure something that is subjective more than objective. We could give names such are objective outcomes but they would be always caused and influenced by subjective role. It is almost impossible to measure it!
Don't try to be the "everything app." It is better to specialize and be successful than try to be average at everything. Develop your brand around a central, needed, desirable and highly engaging feature.
Now that you have your audience and outcomes in mind, you need to choose the tools and platforms that will best suit your edtech. There are many options available, from websites and apps, to games and simulations, to podcasts and videos. You need to consider the affordances and limitations of each tool, such as its functionality, accessibility, usability, and compatibility. You also need to evaluate the costs and benefits of using existing tools or creating your own.
Everything works already and you "just" have to reach for it: everything is already packed nicely and tied with the cherry on top! Just be careful in using it in order not to abuse it!
The next step is to design the content that will deliver your edtech. Content can include text, images, audio, video, animations, or interactive elements. You need to make sure that your content is relevant, engaging, clear, and concise. You also need to apply principles of instructional design, such as chunking, scaffolding, sequencing, and feedback, to structure your content in a logical and meaningful way. You can use models, such as ADDIE, SAM, or AGILE, to guide your content design process.
You could make your own model from different material as well. Students are more likely to join this kind of activities. Make a balance
Items and interfaces must be logically laid out and appear where they are expected to appear. If teachers or students cannot find or execute a task in the technology, it is now a barrier to learning and needs to be reworked. A good tool disappears into the background and is not noticed; it is when it fails that it gets our attention.
Before you launch your edtech, you need to test it with real users. Testing will help you identify and fix any issues or errors that might affect the quality and effectiveness of your edtech. You can use various techniques, such as usability testing, beta testing, or A/B testing, to collect and analyze feedback from your users. You can also use tools, such as Google Analytics, Hotjar, or SurveyMonkey, to track and measure user behavior and satisfaction.
In my experience, you have two main methods to test: 1) Proper use by inexperienced users. The tool needs to work for its intended function with minimal training and the experience needs to be intuitive. 2) Experienced users who want to push the tool to its limits in terms of use cases. These are users who want to use the tool for a related or closely intended purpose. Both are useful forms of testing but the experience for the base user must be what is kept in the forefront, even if you get requests from advanced users. Too many features waiting to be implemented is not good.
I involve tech-savvy students in testing my edtech. They share their favorite edtech tools and reasons why they prefer them. This helps me identify strengths and weaknesses in my prototype and ensures it meets their expectations.
Finally, you need to remember that designing edtech is not a one-time event, but a continuous process. You need to monitor and evaluate the impact and outcomes of your edtech on your learners. You need to collect and analyze data, such as usage statistics, learning analytics, or user feedback, to assess the strengths and weaknesses of your edtech. You need to make adjustments and improvements based on the data and feedback. You need to keep your edtech up to date and relevant to your learners' needs and goals.
You need to have a firm understanding of your users and what their tolerances and expectations are for user interface and features. Many tools have great ideas that are let down by poor navigation or a challenging user experience. Remember that educators and students BOTH need to be considered across all levels of experience.