Objectively working with TEL innovations

With technology enhanced learning (TEL) there seems to be many great ideas and innovations floated out-there (I know I’ve done it), that we genuinely believe will fundamentally change the way students learn, or so we think. But over the years I have seen only very limited objective trials done of many of these innovations. We think that student evaluations of their learning environments equate to research led practice. It’s not, it is a quasi-experimental indicator that simply provides us with a signal that there may be something worth investigating further here. 

We need to move this on, as it is no longer good enough to say, ‘I reckon this is great’, as we are playing with our student’s futures here. In other words, the stakes are too high. So, by all means let’s go with your idea, but don’t assume it’s a great one yet. It may be, but time will tell.Run your idea past and experienced User Experience (UX) Designer. But don’t be fooled by the fancy title, not all UX Designers are created equal. If you can, check-out what theories and research underpin their practice. 

The exploration and trial is the key. Research to see if something like this has been done before. Collect samples of similar innovations and study what has been done to validate that it works. More importantly be clear on why you think yours will work, based on these previous instances. Check out the Learning Science and understand what underpins your ideas

Then build it and research again, but this time research the outcomes of the event as this fundamentally defines the veracity of both the object and the foundation on which it is built. Then test your ideas-out in the higher-ed research marketplace through a peer reviewed journal. It’s not enough just to stick it on LinkedIn ;-)