RUNNING HEAD: Sound Strategies for the Integration of both Open & Institutionally Supported Technologies

Sound Strategies for the Integration of both Open &

Institutionally Supported Technologies in Ones Teaching
How to effectively use both types of technology together
By Prof. Jonathan Acua Solano
Monday, August 24, 2015
Twitter: @jonacuso
Post 186

How do you effectively use both types of technology together? As an educator

working with F2F and online teaching/learning environments, the use of both open and
institutionally supported technologies is a challenge. And it has been a provocation for
not using open educational resources due to the lack of a manual for integrating them
within a learning platform such as Moodle, Blackboard, or others. Though the task to
integrate both types of technology is not meant to be easy, here you have some simple
but effective suggestions I have found useful for my language and university teaching
within a hybrid learning environment.

First, it is a good idea to check whether your Web 2.0 tool allows you to produce
an embedding code. Embedding codes will allow you to display material from an open
technology available on the Web onto your virtual space in the LMS such as Moodle. Take
the case of Prezi; it is a good example of an open educational technology that is
commonly used by learners and instructors to create presentations for class content. By

Sound Strategies for the Integration of both Open & Institutionally Supported Technologies

means of its auto generated embedding code, after being used in class, the teacher can
have it displayed in their virtual classroom for students to see the presentation again.
Viewing the presentation may help newly-acquired knowledge consolidate and become
real deep learning.

Second, something to always bear in mind is the control you must exercise over
those open technologies. By control here, it must be understood the instructors ability to
use the tool confidently. If such control is absent, desist from trying to use that open
educational technology till you become an expert; you can experience lots of problems
and/or embarrassing situations. But control also must mean the educators regulation of
his/her own account for that open technology. Using somebody elses account does not
sound like a sound idea.

Third, exchange of ideas, practices, and insights with other colleagues is as

important as knowing how to use an embedding code or having control over an open
technology. Talking to partners, or even to students, can be a highly satisfying ritual
for a community of practice. Keep in mind that you are not alone in trying to integrate
open and institutionally supported technologies; other partners can have insightful
notions of how open educational resources could be used within a synchronous or
asynchronous teaching environment. Talk to peers and strengthen your community of
practice to grow professionally.

Four, try to get a complete guide of the LMS your institution is using; that helps
a lot and saves tons of time. Oftentimes, especially after an LMS training session usually
led by an IT worker with no teaching background, we forget what we have been shown
or demonstrated. A complete guide of all functionalities for teachers is really important
to have. With it, you can start exploring what you are entitled to do within the LMS and
on online forums you can see how that platform tool can be used and combined with

Sound Strategies for the Integration of both Open & Institutionally Supported Technologies

open access technologies. Tutorials on video can also be tremendous assistance for us to
comprehend what we can do and how we can do it.
I am sure that any reader can continue to add more and more points to this short
list of strategies to combine the use of open and institutionally supported technologies.
It is our professional expertise in their educational usage that makes us better users of
them to benefit students and help us foster deep learning among our learners.