Page 112 - Educational Technology A Primer for the 21st Century

6.4 Indicators to Evaluate Learner Experience 101
interaction design includes the convenient, smooth, and multiple operations. More
important, a desirable educational technology must engage the learner in their
purpose of using.
Based on the above analysis, the following indicators for evaluating the usability
of technology-rich classroom are proposed: (1) Is it easy to switch to another
operating system? (2) How difficult is it to update the software and hardware
involved? (3) Is it easy to access the Internet? (4) Are data connections available for
different types of devices, such as USB, VGA, HDMI, etc.? (5) Are the user
interfaces friendly and intuitive?

6.4.3 Desirability—Do Learners Enjoy Engaging
with the Technology?

Desirability refers to the attractiveness and engagement of the activities in educa-
tional technology or the pleasing perception from teachers and students. A perva-
sive goal in education is to engage students in learning so that they are attentive and
mindful (Lavigne & Mouza, 2013).
Engagement involves three dimensions (Fredricks et al., 2004):

(a) behavior (e.g., participation in activities such as the number of times students
interact with virtual world characters, embedded tools, objects),
(b) cognitive-motivational (e.g., putting forth the effort, the belief of competence in
the content area or self-efficacy, desire to be optimally challenged),
(c) emotions (e.g., interest, curiosity, sense of belonging, and affect). Engagement
in an educational technology depends on the content presentation methods, the
digital resource, software systems, and interactive design.

Vahey et al. (2013) listed four key benefits when using dynamic-representation
technologies in mathematics classrooms: (a) providing rich representations for the
student to understand some difficult concepts, (b) providing an opportunity for the
student to focus their attention on the same point, (c) supporting the utilization of
narrative as a type of representation, and (d) engaging students in the class.
Dynamic-representational environments have also been shown to increase student
engagement in mathematics. In order to promote young children’s collaborative
communication and thinking skills in science learning activities, Kershner et al.
(2010) suggested that the interactive white board can be used collaboratively in a
variety of science activities closely related to common classroom practice, for that
whiteboards provide the opportunity for children to interact with learning content,
and it can satisfy the needs of more desirable vivid interaction for children.
The indicators for desirability in a technology-rich classroom could address the
following questions: (1) Does the size of projector screen match the classroom?
(2) Do 1:1 computers/devices match the content? (3) Do interactive whiteboards
match the activities? (4) Is the content presented on the screen using multi-screen
technology? (5) Does the student response system provide active learning?