As I was watching some video case studies of technology use in some instructional settings a couple of things struck me as interesting. The first was the amount of background noise present in many of the videos. Some of the noise was PA announcements, some was equipment noise and some was noise by the learners.
This made me think about the learning environment and how noise can be a distraction or it can be seen as a regular part of the working and learning environment. As I work at a location where announcements are kept to a minimum (email and a phone in every room helps reduce the need for announcements), constant announcements would be very distracting to me. However, I work in a room full of computers, with fans whirring, keyboards rattling and mice clicking, all which I pretty much do not even hear. During an “electronic” exam session in June, a student was unable to get past the first page of questions because the sound of the fans, keyboards and mice made it impossible for the student to comprehend what was being read. We did find a solution for that student (ear plugs) but I was left wondering about the effects of the unplanned and unexpected technological side effect on the student’s performance on the exam.
Technology often has unexpected side effects, one we do not think about because the teachers, the technology implementers, the course designers did not think about things like the noise level from 30 cooling fans, or 30 keyboards clicking. This is not to say ergonomic concerns are ignored, but that we do not always extrapolate from one piece of equipment to 10 or 20 or 30.
As well as ensuring technology is appropriate for the task, is financially efficient, and integrates with existing equipment, we must also put in some due diligence into examining potential side effects of the technology before we finalize purchasing it.
maurice
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