3 Explain Your Choice
Uncertainty is one of the biggest drivers of change-related stress, so you can make a significant positive difference by simply explaining to students why you are having them use a particular digital tool. Be as specific as possible about how the technology supports specific pedagogical goals of the course and the ways in which it is either supporting you in your teaching of the course or supporting the students in their learning. If it is truly a good fit for your course, it will do both.
This is a particular challenge if you are using technology that someone else has chosen, but that is a great moment to call on those who made the decision to provide you with what you need (see “Being Assigned Technology“). Ideally, you will also have had enough time to explore the tool to develop your own sense of its affordances.
Even after you have been using learning technology for an extended time — hopefully successfully! — it is still a good idea to explain your choice to each new class of students. Unless the technology you are assigning is in broad, common usage, it is likely that it will still be new to the individuals in your class and they will benefit from understanding the purpose of what you are asking of them.