All educators approach online education with varying degrees of enthusiasm and concern. I think I hold an optimistic perspective about online learning. Delivering courses online could offer more learning opportunities for students. For teachers, parents, and students, it is important to consider both the pros and cons of online learning so teachers and parents can help their children better prepare to face the challenge of studying online as well as embrace the new opportunities that it has to offer (University of Illinois, 2021). Strengths of Online Learning Anywhere & Anytime There are many reasons why online learning become popular among teachers, parents and students. As the disagreed side mentioned, online…

Internet usage is now thoroughly embedded in many children’s lives. Although young people are frequently online, they do not consciously consider how their usage affects their digital identity, focusing instead on the short-term benefits of being able to network with friends (Buchanan et al., 2017). As Dan mentioned in his video, “Teaching Students About Digital Footprints and Digital Citizenship,” what you put online today, may stay there forever; anything you put online or sent to someone can be saved or screenshotted, will exist forever and you can’t take it back. It’s your digital legacy. Children need to be aware of their digital footprint and digital identity because they will have…

On the agree side, I still stand by my point. Cellphones should be banned in the classroom. Besides the few reasons that have been elaborated on during the debate, as Breanna (2019) mentioned, she has noticed in her own classroom that students have become increasingly dependent on their phones, and students are dealing with nomophobia, the fear of not being able to use one’s phone or the many apps that these devices now offer. This phenomenon leads to other issues including the inability to focus, stress and anxiety, and the inappropriate use of cellular devices.  Nomophobia & FOMO How many of you are attempted to check your phone, like text, social media…

I was initially on the agree side of this topic, but after the debate and reading provided materials, I start questioning my position and questioning if social media is ruining childhood. I need to admit that social media does have some negative effects on children, but it’s not ruining childhood. We need to be aware that the time is different now, childhood for kids is different now, and parents’ responsibilities are different now. Stop Making a Comparison I hear both debate sides as well as as the videos from Matt and Dr. Brenna mentioned somethings like “when I was a kid, I don’t have so many screens in front of me except TV,” and…

I was originally on the disagree side of this topic. After the debate and reading about articles, I kind of switched to the agreed side: Educators have a responsibility to use technology and social media to promote social justice under the condition that educators will do it appropriately and have actions back up. Neutrality Education Kari, Jessica and Jenny mention that education is not neutral either, such as curriculum design. It makes to think about the foundational question of education, “what is education for?” As Henry Giroux mentioned, education always plays a central role and transforms the world into a fairer, more caring and democratic place, education is key. If that is…

I would like to start this blog by introducing an interesting paper I recently read, “The future of employment: How susceptible are jobs to computerization?” by Carl and Michael from the University of Oxford. In this paper, they develop a novel methodology to category occupations according to their susceptibility to computerization because of the recent advances in Machine Learning (ML) and Mobile Robotics (MR), and then they implement this methodology to estimate the probability of computerization for 702 detailed occupations and examine expected impacts of future computerization on US labour market outcomes. They find out some occupations have a high probability of computerization, such as Bus drivers, transit and intercity,…

Today’s education technology has lifted the limitation to the walls of a classroom, especially for students with disabilities. We are entering a time where equity in education has the potential to be closer than ever before. According to the opening debate statements by the agree side, technology has created more equitable opportunities for people with disabilities to access and participate in education, e.g. mobility aid, hearing aids, computer software and hardware, so that they can function more independently in this society. Same as children with disabilities, they are more likely to actively participate in classroom activities and make meaningful progress. Education technology helps students to access education globally if they…

Technology in the classroom has both positive and negative impact on students’ learning. Before the first debate, I am totally on the agree side of this topic. I think technology is creative and innovative, thus, in the physical classroom, it is essential for increasing student engagement. Especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, perspectives are changing, classes have moved online overnight, and teachers have relied on technology more than ever before. However, after the debate, I start looking at the negative side of using technology in the classroom and begin to thinking the best practice of using education technology in effective teaching and learning that “harness the good, limit the harm.” I.…

Before this class, I have never paid attention to the technology I’ve used although I am surrounded by various technologies in my daily life and work. I don’t think I am a tech person, and sometimes I even prefer the traditional ways. When I think of a tool that I used to connect with others. It depends on who I would like to contact, if I am going to contact people who are in China, the first tool that pops into my mind is Wechat. Some of you probably don’t know what is Wechat. WeChat (Chinese: 微信) is a Chinese instant messaging, social media, and mobile payment app developed by…