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.

Western education to date has focused on vocational training for preparation in a manufacturing economy where academic subjects were arranged in hierarchy according to economic value. In addition, due to technological innovation, many of the jobs of the people our education systems currently produces will likely disappear in the near future.

Adaptability rather than short term recall of content will be the key to success. Schools like High Tech High are showing that hitherto disconnected subjects need to be integrated, but school subjects are siloed, thus we can’t transfer knowledge to future problems.  Here, interdisciplinary approaches connect content from alternative perspectives, integrating ideas that enable learners to make hitherto unseen connections to foster new frameworks. Additionally, conventional schools uniformly assess students to meet a subjective standard level of education; assessment must be meaningful to each student and accurately determine preparedness for advancement. Schools need to blend factual knowledge and concrete skills with student-led process learning. Giving students agency to tackle problems in a way that interests them is intrinsically motivating and provides the conduit to creativity, which is the goal of teaching.

The experience of High Tech High shows the need for tighter relationships between teaching programs and schools such as a standardization of pedagogical methods is required. Paradoxically, the classroom management component of my Educational Psychology course was removed, which exemplifies the current disconnect between the profession and teacher programs.