Teaching with Technology: Reaching Out in the Digital Age

Overview Of Digital Tools

Researchers and practitioners support the effectiveness of using technology when teaching online. As adult learners face the use of more digital tools in their daily lives, their familiarity to these tools increases and that makes instructors incorporate these tools into the learning experience (Olesen-Tracey, 2010). Digital tools refer to any electronic interactive tool or application used to enhance the online learning experience, e.g., wikis, podcasts, blogs, whiteboards. By using interactive and digital tools, educators can not only individualize and provide a quality learning experience for the adult student, but also boost student engagement if used appropriately (Manzo, 2010). Since there is an increasing number of adults returning higher education, it is vital to keep students engaged hence they can complete their coursework and degree (Fincher, 2010). Without the creative use of digital tools in an online course, educators run the risk of their students feeling isolated and confused. Consequently, students may drop out of the course and not enroll for future courses and have a negative perception of online learning. Poorly designed online classes may eventually be a barrier to learning and risk the existence of the online program if the turnover rate of students rises.