My colleagues have contributed some very practical discussions of tools and theories for teaching and learning. My entry—which I hope will stimulate some conversation—takes a slightly different direction: research in technology and learning.

The Clark/Kozma delivery truck debate¹ shifted the focus of educational technology research away from comparing media or delivery systems (i.e. is using a video lecture better than a face-to-face lecture?) to a more systems-based agenda. This approach recognizes that technologies do not stand on their own, but rather teaching strategy, context, and technology/media each play their part in the learning process. This holistic form of analysis encourages educational researchers to address the following questions:

• What are the particular strengths of a particular tool when used in a particular context to support particular teaching strategies?
• Conversely, what are the strengths of particular teaching strategies to support students in a particular instructional context, such as an online learning context?

As an example, Roblyer and Knezek (2003) suggest one research focus might be on ways to increase the learning impact of technologies already in common use. PowerPoint is an existing, commonly used technology. How might one examine the instructional benefits of PowerPoint in a particular learning situation?

We start—as always—with the learning objective: what will the students know, or be able to do? Consider the following example: “Students will be able to describe the overall concept behind and components of the Kreb’s cycle.” To assess this objective, we create standardized grading guidelines (a.k.a. rubrics) for an essay question assessment. Armed with a rubric and a specific assessment method, we can attempt to determine which of the following approaches will best help students grasp this concept quickly and retain it longer.

1. The concept is described by the instructor in a classroom lecture using a text-only PowerPoint that is then placed on Blackboard for 24/7 access.
2. The concept is described by the instructor in the classroom using a graphical PowerPoint that is then placed on Blackboard for 24/7 access.
3. Students collaborate to create a graphical PowerPoint describing the cycle and share it on Blackboard 24/7 with their fellow students.

In each case, the PowerPoint is posted on Blackboard. However, there are differences in the media—one is textual, one is graphical—between instances 1 and 2. The difference between these two cases and case three is, of course, the active-learning instructional strategy of having students collaboratively create the PowerPoint representation of their learning.

I’d be interested in knowing your thoughts on directions in research on teaching, learning and technology. What technologies and teaching strategies work well in your disciplinary context? Let’s start a conversation!

¹Roblyer, M.D. (2003). New millennium research for educational technology: A call for a national research agenda. Journal of Research on Technology in Education 36(1) 60-1.