Page 33 - Educational Technology A Primer for the 21st Century

20 1 Introduction to Educational Technology
number of problems with the implementation can be discovered and addressed
during development. A variety of educational technologists are likely to be
involved during development (see the roles of educational technologists below).
Coordinating their various efforts is a challenging task and one that best resides
with the lead educational technologist or instructional designer (not the content
expert nor the system administrator).

1.2.5 Deployment

Prior to full-scale deployment on a school-wide or larger basis, it is generally wise
to try out the course with a small but representative group of students, including
both high-performing students and those who are not doing as well. It is likely that
such a trial field test will result in a need to make changes in the design and/or the
development of the course. Again, this is a step in a design research approach and it
should be well documented, as should each step in this evolving process.
Finally, the course goes live. Is the work of educational technology now done in
this case? If you said yes, do not pass, go, or leave the room—there is much more
work yet to be done.
For the learner: What else do you think needs to be done for the newly created
logic course to be considered a success?

1.2.6 Management

It is likely that the emphasis will shift from the educational technologist to the
system administrator and the content expert who will monitor progress and report
problems back to the educational technology team should they occur. Plans should
be made to (a) monitor student progress, (b) gather and report student performance
outcomes, perceptions, and reaction, and (c) track students subsequent to gradua-
tion. In some cases, it is required to have a management plan in place; for
large-scale efforts, such a plan is advisable even if it is not required.

1.2.7 Evaluation

Once the course is deployed, the natural question to address is whether or not it is
achieving its intended goals. To what extent are goals being met? That question is
what drives a summative evaluation of the effort—or periodic summative evalua-
tions of the effort. It was mentioned earlier that documenting the effort as it was
being designed, developed, and deployed was important. That documentation and
associated observations and interviews with key persons as the effort evolves
constitute what can be considered a formative evaluation of the effort, again con-
sistent with a design research approach. It is often difficult to interpret the findings
of an impact study or summative evaluation without the results of a formative