Resources: human capital, time and space for schools of the future - Teaching with Technologies: The Essential Guide - page 175

Table 9.3 The characteristics of effective technology-based tools and digital resources for subject

teaching

Characteristic Effective technology-based tools and digital resources are

those which:

Pedagogical characteristics · have tasks which are realistic and authentic: e.g. tasks

use credible circumstances and are related to local
environments where possible
· are designed for teachers by teachers where
appropriate
· provide extra learning power for conventional tasks:
e.g. through additional links to activities and resources
· are adaptable for different purposes including sEn
· are open-ended, creative, flexible, engaging
· allow teachers and users to control the pace and
direction of learning

design characteristics · have explicit pedagogical models underpinning their

design
· are intuitive, easy to use, modify and update and easy
to return to sometime later: i.e. 'save' facilities are
available
· support a quick start but also allow for growth
· protect work held on the school learning platform so
this cannot be wiped including by the service provider
· have updates which are quickly and easily accessible
· have a sensible licensing or subscription model
· are flexibly structured
· provide a single clear focus
· demonstrate value for money and added value
wherever possible
· include additional follow-up activities and resources
· allow student authors to own their work on the school
learning platform

Technical characteristics · are multi-platform

· are economic on bandwidth
· are safe and secure
· provide a good, rapid-response back-up service
· integrate with and are compatible with other systems
including home systems and are interoperable with
other tools
· put technical quality and robustness first before price