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Consider This...
Dr. Wilma Whale, a new faculty member at University, is designing a course on neurodiversity in healthcare. They’ve already developed the course goals and outcomes, planned key assignments and assessments, and organized the content. Now, they are focusing on how to deliver instruction, which includes selecting the most appropriate learning technologies for the course.
Professor Whale knows that Canvas is the University’s learning management system (LMS), which serves as the hub for course materials, assignments, and online discussions. However, they didn’t fully explore the other available tools at the University. As a result, they choose several apps for different course activities, believing these tools might be relevant to students in their future healthcare careers. Half of the selected tools store student data in the cloud, some require paid subscriptions, and at least one isn’t accessible to screen readers.
These choices could compromise students' privacy, violate FERPA regulations, and even hinder their learning experiences. What could Professor Whale have done differently?
The University offers a variety of learning technology tools and applications designed to support teaching and learning. This guide will introduce these resources and explain the benefits of using University-supported systems, helping you make informed decisions about the technologies you incorporate into your own teaching.
What are Learning Technologies?
Learning technologies encompass a wide variety of communication, information, and related tools designed to enhance learning, teaching, and assessment in face-to-face, hybrid, or online courses (Association for Learning Technology, 2024). These technologies can be used for purposes such as:
- Organizing and distributing course materials
- Encouraging discussions both in and outside of class
- Creating learning content
- Sharing multimedia resources
- Evaluating student progress
Examples of learning technologies include platforms like learning management systems (LMS) such as Canvas, and student response systems like PointSolutions.
Learning Systems
NEOMED learning Systems are available for free to all faculty, staff, and students and is centrally supported by the Institute for Teaching Excellence and IT Education Services teams.
- Canvas is NEOMED’s learning management system (LMS) for course delivery. Canvas is used as a hub for course content, assignments, grades, communication, and more. It is the foundation for building and integrating other tools into your course.
- Zoom is the academic audio and web conferencing platform for NEOMED, used for remote teaching, advising, appointments, group projects, recording video lectures, and more.
- EchoVideo is the university’s video and lecture capture tool used to record class sessions or lectures, screen or slide share with audio or video from a desktop computer, and upload recordings for publishing to Canvas.
- PointSolutions is a student response system that allows you to create an interactive lecture experience for students. Using PointSolutions, you can poll students, present discussion prompts, display lecture material, track attendance, and sync grades with Canvas. Students can respond to PointSolutions questions and prompts using the devices they already own, such as smartphones, laptops or tablets, or utilize dedicated hardware clickers.
- Microsoft 365 is available to all NEOMED students, faculty, and staff and encapsulates the suite of desktop and mobile apps, including Windows, Word, Excel, OneNote, PowerPoint, and OneDrive.
Classroom Technology
Technology within NEOMED lecture halls that are supported by the IT Department vary from room to room, but all will include a projector, a wall-mounted camera, and an in-room microphone to assist with lecture recording or hybrid sessions.
Please review our Knowledge Base - Technology-Enhanced Learning Spaces for more information on technology specific to each classroom.
What are the Benefits of Using University-Supported Technology?
By using university-supported technologies in your course, you can focus on teaching without concerns about student barriers or potential legal risks. Plus, technical support for these systems is available from our experienced staff at NEOMED.
When evaluating tools for use at the university, several factors are considered, including cost, accessibility, security, and FERPA compliance.
How Do I Get Technical Support?
As mentioned above, one of the benefits of using university-supported tools is that they are supported by the IT Department.
What About Other Systems?
Using systems that haven’t been vetted by the University can lead to a range of negative consequences for students, instructors, and the university. It's important to be aware of the potential risks, including:
- Cost to students: Students may face additional expenses or technical issues that NEOMED can't assist with, creating obstacles to academic success.
- Student data security risks: Unapproved systems could expose student data to vulnerabilities, potentially leading to exploitation and making instructors liable for any resulting harm.
- Breach of student privacy: Using tools that handle grades and personal information without adhering to FERPA guidelines puts instructors at risk of legal consequences.
- Inaccessible tools: Some tools may not work with screen readers or other assistive technologies, making it difficult or impossible for students who rely on them to participate.
- Unexpected tool changes: Without a formal contract, the vendor may alter the tool’s settings or features at any time, possibly disrupting its functionality mid-term.
- No Canvas integration: Tools that aren’t integrated with Canvas won’t allow student activity data to sync, causing disruption in tracking and grading.
- Wasted student effort: Students may invest time learning to use a tool that is only relevant for a single course or semester, particularly if the tool is complex or doesn’t align with course learning outcomes.