Device (EdTech)
From The Learning Engineer's Knowledgebase
A device in educational technology is an object that is used by a person to perform a technologically supported task or for a technology system to interact with the person. The most common devices used by people today are mobile phones, tablets, computers, and game consoles.
Definition
In the modern technology sense, a technology device is an object with which people can do things and is connected to other technologies. With modern technologies, a device is usually internet connected and can be used to find information, use software and and communicate with other devices.
A device typically serves two functions:
- For a person to use the device to perform a technologically supported task (e.g., send a message, play a game, watch a video)
- For software or technology to interact with a person or within an environment on its own (e.g., notifications, surveillance)
Additional Information
From a technology perspective, a device in an educational setting is anything that a learner will use to interact with technology, or have technology interact with them.
A device can be used to interact with the activities, technologies, and interfaces of a learning experience. For instance, in an online course, a learner will need a mobile phone or computer to access and interact with the course activities. Similarly, a student in a music classroom will likely need a digital keyboard to compose and edit music using digital music editing software. The device is the technology object that is used to interact with software and other technologies. As such, there are many types of devices that a learner might use in an educational setting:
Types of devices
- Mobile phones. The most common device that will be found today. These are ubiquitously held by most people in any learning context.
- Computers. Tablets and laptops are portable computers. A desktop computer is also a device. A phone/handheld device is also a portable computer.
- Game consoles. Devices for playing games are common among people of all ages. These are devices that are an integral part of people's lives.
- Input devices. Some devices are specifically intended to input information into software. Electronic music equipment and microphones are examples of input devices. Additionally, smart assistants and displays also serve as input devices to listen for commands and take in information, such as Siri, Amazon Alexa, and Google Assistant.
- Sensors. Sensors can detect environmental information and turn that into digital signals. Information in an environment like light, temperature, movement, and sounds can all be captured by technology and used by software to take actions based on the programmed instructions. Multiple sensors are also built within mobile/handheld devices, such as a camera (light sensor), microphone (audio sensor), gyroscope, accelerometer, and geolocation sensors.
- Wearables. Wearable devices are physically worn on the body to send or receive information or to perform a specific task. Some wearables also fall under the category of e-textiles, or electronics that are embedded in clothing and even threads so that clothing and accessories can become devices.
- Micro-computers. Everyday objects can be integrated with small computers that can be used by people to control software, communicate, and record information. Affordable small devices such as an Arduino or a Raspberry Pi are common micro-computers or "micro-controllers" that can turn everyday objects into ones that can be used to interact with technology.
- Connected appliances. Often called "smart" devices, many household, school, and business appliances are now connected with technology devices that allow a person to interact with and control software from the appliance. Washing machines, refrigerators, home security systems and televisions all now have device controls that are connected to the internet and can do more functions than they used to.
Interactions with devices can occur in two directions. First, the learner can interact with technology via the device to do something (learner --> technology). This is the most common form of human computer interaction (HCI), where people are the ones acting on the technology.
Second, technology can also act on the learner where it does things automatically and interrupts or does something with the learner (technology --> learner). This is usually what happens when notifications are received on a mobile phone or a person is prompted to take some kind of action by a device.
Types of learner interactions with devices (learner --> technology)
- Accessing information or software.
- Communication with other people and software.
- Using software.
- Submitting and saving information.
- Production of media: documents, text, audio, video, etc.
Types of technology interactions with learners or environments (technology --> learner)
- Sensor and trigger monitoring.
- Sending notifications to a person.
- Data collection.
- Observation / surveillance.
Tips and Tricks
- Consider the types of technologies that you will use in your learning experience. Then, consider how people will access that technology - what devices will they use to interact with the technology? The device choices in design play an important role in how people will experience and use your educational product. Does your audience have access to devices that are sufficiently adequate to access the technology?
- Imagine the issues with device compatibility that may arise, or the potential that peoples' devices may not work in the intended way. How will you address this?
- Think about the ways that technology will interact with the learner - or where technology will push or notify the learner of things without the learner doing anything. Ask hat is technology doing automatically in your design and how will it automatically interact with learners to do things?
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