The November 2017 Interest Group on Educational Technologies (IGET) meeting focused on evaluating educational tools and strategies, per the interest expressed by the IGET community via a survey. This slide deck was used to facilitate the session.

Overview/Relevant Research

The meeting began with sharing of relevant sources of reliable research and other information on the topic:

• Online Learning Consortium – Articles, journals, and information about topics in online learning
• Educause Research – Articles and research information
• Educause Learning Initiative – Multiple research and informational resources
• 7 Things you Should Know About – 7 things and a case on instructional technology tools and applications
• Lanny on Learning Technologies – Lanny’s blog on teaching and learning

Small Group Discussion

We then broke into smaller groups to discuss the question: “What would you like to assess/evaluate/measure regarding educational tools/strategies?” Subquestions included:

• What are you evaluating or what would you like to evaluate?
• Why are you evaluating that?
• What results are you seeking?
• Is it a specific technology?

Notes that were taken during report-outs from each group.

Panel Presentations

A few experts in evaluating educational technologies then shared their thoughts.

• Lecture Video Capture Talk
• Student Response System Considerations

Product Demo: Yellow Dig

We concluded the meeting with a product demo of Yellow Dig, which offers a Facebook-like platform for sharing content between students and faculty with more visual pop than typical LMS discussion boards. Other features include a leaderboard, analytics, and some level of LMS gradebook integration. This service is available as a pilot on campus at no cost for now.