Who's driving?

Some time ago, I had started a review of the many ways in which technology can be used to support teaching and learning.

Before launching any learning programme, it's always a good idea to mark out a baseline, working out your start point and what your finish goals are. Some tools you can use to find out what learners already know are surveys. If you winced at the word 'survey', try this painfree online survey tool.

You can also have some fun and help learners gauge their own progress with classroom response systems. And of course, you can improve access by offering podcasts and lecture webcasting. Carnegie Mellon offers an interesting overview of the possibilities here.

To help your learners work on their research and writing abilities, there are a range of social software tools - a module wiki, a group blog, asynchronous discussion forums, web quests, YouTube videos, podcasts and other forms of learner generated content, open to review and comment. All of these provide excellent built-in audit trails and enable learners to custom build their own e-portfolios and reflective journals.

For the presentation of data and research, there are now a host of charting and mapping tools available. This article sets out a few more tools available to academia.

More on e-learning tools here. The only way to really learn about the possibilities is to really use these tools. If you've been relying heavily on powerpoint slides and one-way transmission lectures, try turning the tables and letting your learners take the wheel for a change. Let them choose their own presentation tools. And let them have a bit of fun!