Category: EDCI 336 (Page 2 of 3)

Students should have the opportunity to express learning through a variety of media formats. The integration of technology in the classroom allows students to create, share and publish their own content. This is clearly desirable as we as high school educators need to prepare our students to succeed whether in a university or workplace setting. The majority of content is now produced on digital platforms and visually engaging content is essential. For this to occur, educators themselves must possess the ability to create meaningful original media. I think incorporating visually engaging teaching materials would build credibility for the teacher as most students are naturally adept at this using technology outside of the class much more than they do in the classroom. 

This week’s class showed me that enhancing the graphic component of a class need not be expensive or time consuming for the teacher. Indeed, programs such as photoshop are available, but I was pleasantly surprised at how I could enhance the visual component of my lessons by simply using PowerPoint, which I have used for a decade in presenting material, but wasn’t aware of the full potential of the program. I have already improved a PowerPoint presentation that I will use in another class. For myself, I believe it is a question of time allocation. We have been presented with numerous programs and apps that can without question improve the quality of instruction for our learners; however, it takes time to become proficient enough to create something of quality in a timely manner; a skill I have not yet acquired. In my situation, I hope I can choose one or two of the available graphic technologies and focus on incorporating these into my practice. 

Teachers are being asked to adapt to a stunning transformation in technology where we have little time to understand new technologies before even newer ones emerge. Nevertheless, this creates a opportunity for the teacher to simulate real-world uses of technology in the classroom which will give them practical skills for which they can use in future employment settings. On the other hand, we still have very little idea of the psychological impact of many of these new technologies.

The speaker Jessie Miller put forth a strong argument for arguably maximum inclusion of technology in the classroom, viewing as ‘embracing normalcy’, and that technology works ‘for the purpose facilitating something’. This requires teachers to judiciously determine when tech can enhance a lesson or improve communication of a lesson’s objectives. Multimodality is a reality in the contemporary world of business and employment (i.e. video conferencing, video business proposals, webpages/blogs) and we would be doing our students a disservice if we did not prepare them for this. To the speaker’s credit, he acknowledged that certain times and spaces were unacceptable for devices and advocated a ‘culture of time and place’. I agreed with his assertion that this is an opportunity for student accountability where students can collectively police each other to avoid losses of privileges. We have all experienced feelings of burn out from technology and I would build in ‘zero tech’ days in my classroom to combat this. Moreover, teachers can employ the Premack principle where cell phone use can be used as a reward/break after quality production by students in a lesson. However, the speaker admittedly stated this technology is aimed at kids. I am less comfortable with social media app usage in education. For example, Twitter and its 280-character limit practically lends itself to shallow, superficial analysis and it is unknown whether this format has an effect on the probability of the exchange of vitriolic comments. The pitfalls of this technology for teachers and students alike is great, with potential loss of careers, income and academic suspension one impulsive moment away. Rather, I can see Twitter as a passive resource to view trends in a field among peers. 

What?

The advent of cloud computing, or using the internet to manage and store data on remote network services, has caused an enormous transfer of personal information previously stored on personal computers to both domestic and foreign online service providers, particularly social networking sites. To regulate this, FIPPA (Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act) ensures that information is used and collected in a legal, appropriate way.

So what?

FIPPA affects how a teacher may use personal information about their students. For example, any information which can identify a student must remain confidential and secure. Moreover, it is required that personal information be stored on servers within Canada unless consent is first given by students and parents. Importantly, even though the majority of students are already routinely using a variety of social media and web tools in their private lives including Google Docs, Dropbox and Skype, incorporating that technology into the classroom creates new responsibilities on the part of the instructor. Teachers will therefore have to determine whether the benefits of the technology outweigh the potential inconvenience with regards to an assignment. As students have the right to refuse the disclosure of personal information, teachers will need alternative means of creating an assignment that still meets the instructors intended learning goals without putting them at a disadvantage with to other students because of their refusal. However, many technologies allow the uses of aliases, which would allow teachers to get around difficulties regarding FIPPA compliance. I fear that many teachers, especially ones who are uncomfortable with social media and technology, will avoid the potential headaches involved with sites such as Instagram and opt for safer, traditional means of communication and information delivery.

Now what?

Although the challenges of FIPPA compliance seem daunting, it is encouraging to know that there are many tools which can replace many of the perceived ‘taboo’ apps. For example, students can communicate and share information using Word Press hosting, which is web hosted in Canada. Mattermost, which we use in EDCI 336. can replace non -compliant sites such as Slack and Microsoft Word can be an alternative to Google Docs. With a clear understanding of the value of a given technology and a little flexibility, teachers can safely navigate around FIPPA while still encouraging students to engage in multi-literacies in their learning.