BYOD....T? (Bring Your Own Device Technician?)

My adventures in online learning continue. This week, I've been asked to revisit some programs that I've used previously (VoiceThread, Jing) and to check out a few others that I've heard of before (Audacity--which I haven't used because I have a digital recorder) as well as to try one that's new to me (Voki, an avatar creator).

I'm auditing my course as a guest from another institution, and the hardware that I'm using differs from that used by most students in the course. The technical questions I have aren't the kind I'd want to ask my instructor, as they are questions specific to my device. What to do?

When I asked a colleague of mine about this, he shared that in his online teaching, he rolls out the welcome mat for technical questions--but he also advises students to find someone local who can look over their shoulders at their devices when they run stuck. In so many words, he suggests that when they bring their own device, they also ensure that they also "bring" their own technician.

My colleague doesn't require students to make these kinds of arrangements for local technical support, and I can assure you that he isn't trying to push them away. (He really does love to help others solve technical mysteries, and he's a great teacher!)

Rather, he knows that for most of us, it's really challenging to learn a new technology and new content at the same time. Learning a new digital technology means learning a new language--a new set of codes, symbols, and actions--and doing that while learning the practices of a discipline (diction, theories, practices, resources) takes a lot of "extraneous cognitive load" (Clark, Nguyen, & Sweller, 2006). He also knows that many students may be shy about asking an instructor for help--regardless of how much they need it.

I like my colleague's advice to his students: it makes sense when I think about it through the lens of my experience. We have excellent technical support on our campus, and I've been able to take advantage of that in-person help to improve my online learning experience. For me, it's been great to know that I can work through learning the big ideas of the online class -- with the assurance that help is just a drop-in visit away when my computer and I need some help getting along.

But what about students who aren't well connected with someone whom they can easily (and comfortably) access for in-person help? No instructor can expect to offer remote technical support for every technical problem that a diverse array of students (with their diverse array of devices!) will bring to a given course. Given that reality, it strikes me that an institution offering an online course

1. Is responsible to notify students in advance about the technologies that they'll need to use, and at what level of proficiency. 
2. Would be wise to provide students with advance online access to tutorials for the technologies that they'll need to use. 

This two-pronged approach allows students to make informed choices about their readiness for a course--and if they determine they aren't yet ready, it may also allow them to get ready (time and other resources permitting).

Kudos to the instructor for my seminar, who shared this kind of information in advance through the syllabus and also advised us to download programs and apps in advance. The goal, I think, is to help our students prepare in advance for installation and configuration--so that when they come to class, they can focus on application.