Greetings KPU Faculty and thanks for checking out this blog post. As part of KPU’s VISION 2023 we want to expand on innovation in teaching, learning and curriculum. We also want to enhance the experiences of our students (and ourselves), and incorporating Ed Tech into the classroom is one way to make this happen!
In my own teaching practice at KPU, I use a plethora of software and hardware to incorporate video, online resources, and digital media into my curricula and classroom activities. In order to physically use these technologies, there are a variety of gadgets, dongles, thumb drives and hand-held devices that I employ to get the job done. I always take these items with me – even the ones that I don’t use very often. In this blog post, I’m going to show you what is in my teacher’s tool kit and what I use each item for.
Intro Video!
What’s in the bag?
Making a case for a pencil case…
Where to find these items online…
In conclusion…
These items range in price from $10 to $400. Your own tool kit will evolve slowly over time – don’t expect to purchase it all at once. Start with a few of the items you think you might use regularly and then keep a list of items you may have needed at a conference or in a guest lecture or in your daily teaching practice. I tend to look on Amazon.ca for the best selection, and retail outlets such as Best Buy and London Drugs often have sales on dongles, adapters, thumb drives, cables/chords, chargers, microphones, and hand-held cameras. Often when I am out shopping and just happen to see a good deal on an item I will purchase it and add it to my tool kit. It might be an item you only use once a year, but sometimes it is EXACTLY what you or a colleague might need in a moment of stress.
Please feel free to contact me at the KPU Teaching and Learning Commons if you have any further questions or suggestions for this blog post. I can be found online at gordon.cobb@kpu.ca or in the TLC office on the Surrey campus. And remember, teaching with tech is much more fun when the tech functions correctly – and at times it might be a small item you dig out of your tool kit that saves the day!
This work by Dr. Gordon Cobb is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.