{"id":61178,"date":"2018-08-10T16:34:28","date_gmt":"2018-08-10T21:34:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.uww.edu\/instructional\/?p=61178"},"modified":"2018-08-10T16:34:28","modified_gmt":"2018-08-10T21:34:28","slug":"ted-tips-issue-6-what-is-learning-technology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.uww.edu\/instructional\/2018\/08\/10\/ted-tips-issue-6-what-is-learning-technology\/","title":{"rendered":"TED Tips \u2013 Issue 6: What is \u201cLearning Technology\u201d?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Technology has become more and ubiquitous in higher education. \u00a0Technology allows students to conduct research and analysis, collaborate and communicate, and to create rich multimedia experiences. \u00a0Interacting with digital learning environments help develop deeper skills like problem solving and critical thinking.<\/span><\/p>\n

Over the last few weeks, I have introduced myself and started to explore the themes of Technology, Education, and Design. \u00a0This week I want to describe the meaning of the phrase \u201clearning technology\u201d and some of the context of the work we do in The Learning Technology Center. <\/span><\/p>\n

I work in the Learning Technology Center (TLC). The LTC is a unit in the Instructional, Communication, and Information Technology (ICIT) Department in the division of Academic Affairs. \u00a0ICIT focuses on using technology to meet \u201ceducational, research, learning, organization, administrative and public service\u201d needs. As part of ICIT, the Learning Technology Center supports faculty and instructional staff. \u00a0The LTC looks
\nfor ways to integrate pedagogy and technology to develop effective learning experiences.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"procution<\/a>

LTC Media Production Studio<\/p><\/div>\n

What is \u201cLearning Technology\u201d<\/strong> and how does the LTC support it?<\/p>\n

The Association for Learning Technology defines \u201cLearning Technology<\/strong> as the broad range of communication, information and related technologies that support learning, teaching and assessment\u201d.
\nLearning technologies support the process, design, and delivery of education.\u00a0 In addition to learning, teaching, and assessment, tools can aid faculty in other ways such as analytics that provide insights into student progress and support data-driven decision-making and intervention. \u00a0Tools that support research can also be included.<\/p>\n

What types of topics fall into the broad category of \u201clearning
\ntechnology\u201d?<\/p>\n

Digital Learning Environment<\/strong> The University of Wisconsin System uses a \u201cdigital learning environment\u201d to support teaching and learning in all modes. \u00a0As we have explored over the last few weeks on this blog, the UW-System is moving to Canvas Instructure as that main platform. \u00a0The LTC supports faculty by providing training and workshops on how to use Canvas, migrate content from D2L to Canvas, and explore specific tools within Canvas. This support extends beyond how to use Canvas and its tools, but promotes the best practices and advocates for sound pedagogical approaches to using those tools.<\/p>\n

The digital learning environment extends beyond the Canvas platform. \u00a0It include other ways to design, develop, and deliver learning materials, interactive experiences, and assessments. \u00a0\u00a0For example, multimedia video has been shown to increase student engagement; the LTC has a professional media production and recording studio to help create, manage, and distribute streaming video for classroom use.<\/p>\n

Incorporating technology into learning spaces.<\/strong> \u00a0\u00a0Higher education increasingly incorporates digital elements into the classroom. \u00a0Learning technology can support traditional face-to-face classrooms by incorporating digital content or active learning
\nmodels. \u00a0Technology also enables the facilitation of other course modalities, for example, online classrooms or hybrid and blended spaces that fall somewhere in between. \u00a0More recently, classroom interactions often support multiple devices including mobile smart phones and the use of student response systems.<\/p>\n

Evaluating emerging technologies.<\/strong> \u00a0As new technology emerges, there are different possible applications for classroom use. \u00a0The LTC supports pilot projects to help
\nmonitor and evaluate trends related to emerging technologies for potential use at the UW-Whitewater campus. \u00a0Additionally, the LTC supports technology adoptions that meet both instructional and non-instructional needs.\u00a0 For example, the LTC is currently exploring adaptive learning with instructors.<\/p>\n

While technology can be fun and shiny and new\u2026we believe that technology should not be used for technology\u2019s sake or because it is considered \u201cfun and shiny and new\u201d! \u00a0Instead, we believe in understanding the underlying issues and trends, exploring multiple options (including possible low or no tech solutions), implementing strategies, and evaluating their effectiveness.<\/p>\n

I hope that this week\u2019s TED Tip elaborates on what \u201clearning technology\u201d means and some of the ways the LTC supports using technology to enhance teaching and learning. \u00a0\u00a0Next week I will explore in more detail some of the specific services, workshops, and training opportunities the LTC offers.\u00a0 I invite you to participate!<\/p>\n

\u2013 Ted Witt
\nTeaching, Learning, and Technology Consultant<\/p>\n

Resources:<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.uww.edu\/icit\/ltc<\/u><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.uww.edu\/icit\/about<\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.alt.ac.uk\/about-alt\/what-learning-technology<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

TED Tips — Issue 6: What is “learning technology”? Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7625,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3141,284729,284747,1],"tags":[284740,284742],"class_list":["post-61178","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-for-instructors","category-for-staff","category-ted-tips","category-uncategorized","tag-for-instructors","tag-for-staff"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2U0PY-fUK","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-26 06:59:36","action":"Draft","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uww.edu\/instructional\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61178","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uww.edu\/instructional\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uww.edu\/instructional\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uww.edu\/instructional\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7625"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uww.edu\/instructional\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61178"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uww.edu\/instructional\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61178\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":61189,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uww.edu\/instructional\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61178\/revisions\/61189"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uww.edu\/instructional\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61178"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uww.edu\/instructional\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61178"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uww.edu\/instructional\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61178"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}