Author: msemilymiller (Page 4 of 10)

The two readings for this week were focused on online learning in K-12 classrooms in Canada. This perspective provided more insight for those of us that live and work in that context. I have used a ‘What?-So What?-Now What?’ critical reflection framework to guide my thinking on the topic based on the assigned readings, annotations on those readings, and class discussion.

“CoderDojo Linz” by rainerstropek@yahoo.com is licensed under CC BY 2.0

What? 

Online learning is becoming a more prevalent option for students because of the increase in technology application pedagogy, and understanding and Canada’s low population density (Blomgren, 2017). The online learning model allows students from remote communities as well as students that do not fit into the regular classroom, for whatever reason, an opportunity for equitable access to education.

One of the major points that Blomgren (2017) brings up in the article is that in order to strengthen the understanding of online education, there needs to be a refinement and agreement on terminology in this field. The language used to refer to online education and the frameworks that help to build their platforms, differ from province to province in Canada. Therefore, how is there supposed to be growth when there is no common understanding or direction for learning? I guess I was naive in the fact that there was a common language being used. I assumed that because Canada is often a leader in the field of education, the provincially and federally, the language within the context of education would be the same. Because of this, there is change being made and research being done in isolation in provinces but there does not seem to be federal plan or goal that educators are moving towards in the field of online education.

Therefore, it begs the question, is online learning becoming the ‘food back of education’ rather than an appropriate quality alternative? In order to be an alternative instead of a choice, there needs to be research into how to create learning platforms and frameworks that provide the same (and more) opportunities for learning as in class. In order to develop effective online learning opportunities, educators have to  take into account specific teaching practices that are different from classroom teaching (Crosslin, 2018). Below is a list of  her suggestions based on research in the field:

• spending time and resources to create a high quality learning experience
• creating lessons that focus on more active engagement and less on passive content
• shorter course duration’s with simple, straight forward organization
• less focus time on videos to watch and/or text to read per week
• one topic or module per week
• complete the entire course design before the start date
• utilizing networked learning and interactive activities
• instructors that participate in the social media outlets and discussion forums
• listening to and responding promptly to participant concerns
• connecting content with current events and current life experiences of the learners (time built into the schedule for educators to do this)
• well written goals/objectives/competencies accompanied by content and activities that align well with them
• clear communication for ALL aspects of the course

The communication piece is key, especially more so in an online learning environment. As Crosslin (2018) notes in her article, there are many different communication types that educators can be utilizing in their teaching (see below)

From (Crosslin, 2018)

As Leanne mentioned in one of her annotations for this week, she has a hard time as an online educator being able to monitor where students are at in their understanding as so much of the information we as teachers gather from students on a day to day basis in the classroom is based on our observations. She has noticed that there are a few assertive students in her classes that will reach out if they are encountering issues, however, others do not. In order to ensure all students are supported and are successful in online learning platforms, there needs to be a baseline and a general understanding of ‘best practices’.

Online learning programs and frameworks might be a great first step in some of the remote communities in Canada as it allows for flexible time and spaces. However, due to continuing issues, there seems to be a lack of connectivity and buy-in in some communities in Canada (Blomgren, 2017).  Due to historic atrocities, there has been a systemic lack of care and support for Indigenous communities by the government (Episkenew, 2009).

So What? 

The big question that has come out of these readings, for me, is how can there be systemic change when there is different language used across the country on the topic of online education? If there are different institutions running different programs and talking about education in different ways, it creates a fragmented general understanding. Technology is already an ever changing domain in which educators often do not feel competent in their understanding. So how can we expect educators to just jump on board when there is really no guidelines or safety nets? And especially for administrators, it is not fair for us to be asking our staff to be moving in a direction that is so unknown and with very little support. We are currently seeing push-back from teachers on this in Ontario based on the new proposed graduation criteria (Mauracher, 2020).

Connected to the lack of direction for online learning, there also seems to be a growing concern in this realm about ethics and privacy. Educational technology changes so fast and educators often want to embrace the newest toy in order to engage their learners. As a result, students are engaging on platforms that are not protecting their information and identity online. This puts children at risk.

Another question that came out of the reading and came up in small group discussion, was about the possibility to have a meaningful classes without grades. Elementary schools in British Columbia are testing out alternatives, such as a proficiency scale, use of a digital portfolio, and different descriptors but it is coming with limited success. Based on my own experiences, the younger students enjoy descriptive feedback and understand the proficiency scale, but as they get older, parents are still concerned with letter grades and percentages as they are getting ready to transition into post-secondary. Parents and students often compare the scales and feedback to letter grades anyways the emphasis continues to be on the number as opposed to the skills and content knowledge they have acquired. And this definitely has an effect on students learning.

Now What? 

I am currently a grade two teacher in a district that does not have online learning opportunities provided to students. Therefore, there is not much that I can apply to my educators toolbox in regards to effective online teaching practices.

However, what I can take into consideration in my role as a classroom teacher and Vice Principal, is to be more conscious about the technology that we bring into the building. We need to ensure that we are teaching them skills that they would not know otherwise, but doing it through ethical technology and platforms that will keep their privacy secure. My school district is now starting to take things on at a more district level (e.g. iPad apps are now uploaded and sent out from district IT and any new apps have to be reviewed by an ethics team). At a school level I can remind teachers about the importance of this, as well as model it through my own teaching.

References

Blomgren, C. (2017). Current Trends and Perspectives in the K-12 Canadian Blended and Online Classroom. In N. Ostashewski, J. Howell, & M. Cleveland-Innes (Eds.), Optimizing K-12 Education through Online and Blended Learning. Information Science Reference. 10.4018/978-1-5225-0507-5 http://ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/login?url=https://www.igi-global.com/gateway/chapter/full-text-html/159551

Crosslin, M. (2018). Effective Practices. In M. Crosslin (Ed.),Creating Online Learning Experiences. Mavs Open Press. https://uta.pressbooks.pub/onlinelearning/chapter/chapter-5-effective-practices

Episkenew, J. (2009). Taking back our spirits: Indigenous literature, public policy, and healing. Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press.

Mauracher, J. (2020, January 22). What is e-learning and why does it have some Ontario teachers concerned? Retrieved from https://globalnews.ca/news/6444006/e-learning-in-ontario-schools/

What?

Siemens, G., Gašević, D., & Dawson, S. (2015). Preparing for the Digital University: A Review of the History and Current State of Distance, Blended, and Online Learning. Retrieved from Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation website: Pages 199-230 http://linkresearchlab.org/PreparingDigitalUniversity.pdf

• Focus on: Future Technology Infrastructures for Learning
  • exploration of future technology infrastructures are required in order to help higher education prepare for next generation learning opportunities
  • this paper explores four factors that influence future technologies: who has control, how well are the technologies integrated with other tool-sets and the experiences of learners, who has ownership of the data and the technology, what is the nature of learning structure in terms of centralization and decentralization
  • knowledge has become an easily accessible commodity, resulting in greater emphasis on learning opportunities
  • the technologies selected by teachers will determine the quality of learning, the scope of teaching practices, and ultimately, how well learners are equipped for both employment and engagement in democratic and equitable models of modern global society (just like any other choice of material in a classroom)

Selwyn, N., Hillman, T., Eynon, R., Ferreira, G., Knox, J., Macgilchrist, F., & Sancho-Gil, J. M. (2019). What’s next for Ed-Tech? Critical hopes and concerns for the 2020s. Learning, Media and Technology, 1–6. http://ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/login?url=https://doi.org/10/ggc9w2

• It is clear that digital technologies are a significant factor in the ways in which our day-to-day lives are different from 20 years ago
• Therefore, will probably be a significant factor in how the future is shaped
• Education is still struggling with the same problems (even before the computer was introduced) – deficiencies in resourcing, inequalities of opportunity, poor quality teaching, curriculum and school organization (likely to continue to plague the education system)
• 6 substantial challenges that the authors expect critical educational technology scholarship to meets as the new decade progresses
  • new forms of digital in/exclusion – individuals who are well resourced and have strong educational backgrounds are most likely to benefit the most from digital education
    • tried to aid this by improving tech in school and homes (this focuses on responsibility for their position in society on themselves, and this response treats technology as an inherently ‘good’ thing
  • platform economies in an age of artificial intelligence
    • people are hungry for data as a result
  • ‘Divisions of learning’ across humans and machines
    • machines now seem capable of learning our habits and influencing our choices in unprecedented way
  • IT industry actors as a leading educational force
    • should major tech corporations continue to exercise ‘soft power’ in influencing and shaping education decision-making, while all the time profiting from the decisions being made?
  • Reimaging forms of EdTech suitable for an age of climate change
    • digital technologies have been excessively consumed and discarded over the past 20 years in the name of ‘innovation’
  • Finding alternatives: solidary economies, convivial technology, respectful design

Downes, S. (2019). A Look at the Future of Open Educational Resources. International Journal of Open Educational Resources, 1(2). Retrieved from https://www.ijoer.org/a-look-at-the-future-of-open-educational-resources/

• This article explores the impact of four major types of technoloogy on our understanding of OER – cloud infrastructure, open data, artificial intelligence, and decentralized networks
• A web page today is not just somewhere to find information, but a dynamic resource – connected to live data generated by cloud services
• New models of open educational resources  will be more like tools that students use in order to create their own learning content – learning happens through the use of the content (not the consumption of the content)
• licensing issues fade into the background? – learning resources distributed through decentralized networks
• creators of OER will need to reflect and be cognizant of the learning environment (and experiences within that environment) that they are creating – will require practice and application on new learning design

So what?

• Where is the most significant and influential learning happening in our societies? – this is a very interesting question (depends on the context and purpose)
• Is there much movement into critical EdTech research?

Now what?

• (From our breakout session) How do you develop OpenEd/MOOC spaces and balance the online platform and connection/interaction between students engaged in the program?
• I always come back to this question – who is going to make the change? (where does the push come for the move away from colonizing technology – consumers?) *if that’s the case, what is their incentive to change?

What?

Funes, M., & Mackness, J. (2018). When inclusion excludes: A counter narrative of open online education. Learning, Media and Technology, 43(2), 119–138. http://ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/login?url=https://doi.org/10.1080/17439884.2018.1444638

• Key questions:
  • Is participation in open education social media environments inclusive?
  • Does open online education succeed in breaking up exclusionary structures?
• This article states that the outlook on open education is one of aspiration and not based in reality
  • Pasquale (2016) suggests two potential approaches for dislodging mainstream ideology
    • critique cumulative research and challenge the premises of the mainstream narrative to cast ‘suspicion’ on its givens (confirm own theories with research and disregard relevant dis-confirming literature)
    • move outside of the mainstream ideology by offering a counter-narrative

Knox, J. (2019). What Does the ‘Postdigital’ Mean for Education? Three Critical Perspectives on the Digital, with Implications for Educational Research and Practice. Postdigital Science and Education. http://ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/login?url=https://doi.org/10.1007/s42438-019-00045-y

• Intention of this paper is to highlight the need for educational practice and research to pay more attention to the ways digital technologies are shaping the core of education
• Three different perspectives on shifting relationships with digital technology, with specific relevance for educational concerns
  • economic rationales underpinning educational technology, focusing on the platform and assumed benefits of sharing (digital as capital)
  • role of the digital in educational policy
  • increasing attention paid to issues of labour and the exploitation of natural resources required to produce digital technologies

Caines, A., & Glass, E. (2019, Fall). Education before Regulation: Empowering Students to Question Their Data Privacy. EDUCAUSE Review, 54(4). Retrieved from https://er.educause.edu/articles/2019/10/education-before-regulation-empowering-students-to-question-their-data-privacy

• privacy violations have whittled away consumers trust when it comes to data online
• in order to better understand how your data is collected and the potential risks of this collection, consider these questions:
  • What types of personal data do you think are collected through your use of digital tools for educational activities?
  • What value does your personal data have for different contexts and entities?
  • Who owns your personal data, who can sell it, and who can use it?
  • Do you have concerns about how your personal data can be used? If so, what are they?
  • Are there aspects of your identity or life that you feel would put you in a place of special vulnerability if certain data were known about you or used against you?

So What?

• How is the counter-narrative going to help improve the flaws in open education?
• The concern about how technology is changing the ‘humanness’ of the world = postdigital
  • There is no moving away from technology right now, it is infiltrating every part of our lives, so what is the point?
  • seems very altruistic and not based in reality

Now What?

• Conversation came up in class about how even as adults we are unaware of how much personal information is shared online
• We are not getting away from technology…so what are ways in which we can equip students to be more aware of what they are sharing and where?
• Are people really aware/scared enough about sharing their information? (lots of companies, school districts, and universities do not have restrictions on what/how information is shared online by their employees)

What?

OPEN SCHOLARSHIP

Veletsianos, G., & Shaw, A. (2018). Scholars in an increasingly open and digital world: Imagined audiences and their impact on scholars’ online participation. Learning, Media and Technology, 43(1), 17–30. http://ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/login?url=https://doi.org/10.1080/17439884.2017.1305966

• More and more scholars are using social media for a variety of teaching, learning, and professional activities (e.g. share and disseminate research finding through their own blogs or on dedicated sites like ResearchGate, LinkedIn for professional branding, or use of Twitter to cultivate networks to connect, support, and share resources)
  • only a few post secondary institutions have clear and accessible social media policies in regards to engagement and sharing online
• Being acutely aware of ones audience is an essential aspect of communicating effectively online
  • rely on limited cues
• When engaging on social media for professional purposes, recognition of blurred personal and professional boundaries
• ALL academics engaging online reflected on these: SHARING, FILTERING, and PROJECTING
• Study adds to increasing evidence that scholars online participation is intentional and thoughtful

OPEN DATA

Atenas, J., Havemann, L., & Priego, E. (2015). Open Data as Open Educational Resources: Towards Transversal Skills and Global Citizenship. Open Praxis, 7(4). https://doi.org/10.5944/openpraxis.7.4.233

• Open Data is the name given to datasets which have been generated by international oganizations, governments, NGO’s and academic researchers, and made freely available online and openly-licensed
• These datasets can be used by educators as OER to support different teaching and learning activities
  • good for developing critical analysis of data sets

MASSIVE OPEN ONLINE COURSES (MOOCS)

Rohs, M., & Ganz, M. (2015). MOOCs and the Claim of Education for All: A Disillusion by Empirical Data. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 16(6). Retrieved from http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/2033/3527

OPEN ACCESS RESEARCH

Couture, M. (2017, July 12). Academic Publishing at a Crossroads. University Affairs. Retrieved from http://www.universityaffairs.ca/opinion/in-my-opinion/academic-publishing-crossroads/

• There are 5 publishing giants that now publish the majority of academic papers – in excess of US$10billion
• Librarians are hard pressed by finding cuts and subscriptions cost increases well above the inflation rate – but still need to meet demands of researchers

So What?

• Teaching students about developing their online portfolio
• How does the imagined audience impact what and how you interact online?
• Developing of academic capital by engaging with a variety of people and providing insight on a topic over a period of time (George Curous talked about this in our summer course) – how to create a presence online
• OpenData makes learning more relevant to students (information is real and not ‘made up’ for the purpose of doing the work)
• Why would publishers move to open access when it is a profitable business right now? Pressure from users?
• Librarians are big supporters of open access

Now What?

• If we had not had the opportunity to see each other and connect over the summer, would our interactions in this course be different? Would there be as much discussion and conversation synchronously and asynchronously?
• How can we use Open Data in the elementary context? Is there relevant, accessible, and easily understandable data out there for kids? How do we know it is valid and reliable?
• Using OpenData to develop global citizenship – compare and contrast data from different areas and have conversations about the reason