Technology for Academics: Guidelines and Essential Tools

 “All that glitters is not gold” (or "glisters," as Shakespeare originally wrote in The Merchant of Venice). We are bombarded by tech companies trying to convince us that their tool will be the one that will “disrupt” education, “transform” the learning experience, and help us “pivot” as the educational landscape changes around us. With the shiny new tool dangling within our reach, it can be hard to resist the hefty promises attached to it. In this talk, we will first walk through a set of guiding principles that can help us be more purposeful in the educational tools we use. Next, we’ll put AI in historical context as we consider its impact on the future of education. Lastly, we will discuss some tools that are useful in class (e.g., Plickers, WheelOfNames.com), tools that are useful when working with research teams (e.g., Zotero, Trello), and tools that are useful for managing our own work (e.g., Phrase Express, and Ditto/Copyless 2).