Assessing student and teachers technology skill levels is very important since you need to know the skill levels of the group that you are addressing. For teachers, how you present new technology and try to have them integrate into the classroom can be tricky. Most teachers feel that they have enough items on their plate and now you are adding something new. If you do not know that your targeted group has a high skill level with technology and you talk down to them, they will feel insulted and have a negative attitude to what you are presenting, even if it is a very helpful tool to use in the classroom. Likewise, if you teach at too high of a level when your targeted group is low then it does not matter how great your presentation is, the teachers will feel lost and frustrated to use the new tool in the classroom.
The same can be said of the students, they may have a high level of technology but the application could be lacking. For instance, a student will know how to search the internet for a piece of information. As a teacher this may show that they have an advanced skill with technology, but are they checking to see if the source is reliable? The student may be going straight to Wikipedia and see that the information is provided, but they may not know that anyone can go in and change the information on that topic as a joke. The next thing you know your student is turning in a paper that says there are 4 planets in our solar system and everything rotates around Neptune, the closest planet to the sun.
As a presenter, you should be constantly assessing what your audience knows and does not know, whether that be fellow staff or students. A short little pre-test can be given over the topic to see how you present the topic. By knowing what your audience is capable of will determine how basic and deep you will present your topic or if more sessions are needed to get the full effect of what you have presented can do.
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