Welcome to my summary of learning. This is the first EdTech class I have ever taken, and it felt important to me that I take it. I teach middle years students and we use technology regularly in the classroom, and because of that I’d like to make sure that we are using it appropriately and effectively for learning. I also recognize that the world is swiftly moving into a technological age, and as a teacher, this is something that I…
Is online learning detrimental to the social and academic development of children? This is a quite the loaded question to pose to educators that have recently been forced to abandon ship and convert to online teaching at the drop of a hat, due to the covid-19 pandemic. Yet that is just what the brave debate teams from my last EC&I 830 class did. Many of us, especially those of us who are also parents, may face some PTSD when recalling…
This week debaters in my EC&I 830 class asked us to decide whether it is the job of educators to help students craft their online footprint. Before weighing in, it’s important to examine what a digital footprint is. Rae and Funmilola from the agree side of the debate addressed this in their opening video explaining that it is “a trail left by all of your interactions online”. They further explain that this could include things like what you watch on television, your browser history, what you shop for,…
The debate teams in my class last week asked us to consider whether social media is ruining childhood. My first inclination was to agree with this statement. I mean working with middle school students for a number of years has given me a front row seat to the bullying, inappropriate behaviour, and drama that can be channelled through social media. Then I thought about my own daughters, aged 11 and 8. My husband and I limit the time our girls…
Ah the cellphone, what a modern delight. I am of an age that allows me to appreciate how far cellphone technology has come, from the old school bag phones of the 90’s to the smart phone of today. To be quite honest, I often wonder why we still call them phones, since that is only one of the multitude of functions they serve. Even though I was initially a hold-out to jumping on the cellphone bandwagon once they became more widely available…
Schools should no longer teach skills that can be easily carried out by technology. What a controversial statement to pose to a bunch of teachers! This statement became part of a debate assignment in the EC&I 830 Contemporary Issues in EdTech class I am taking currently. When I read the topic initially, I immediately saw terrible dystopian visions of robots at the front of classrooms carrying out instruction because it can easily be done with technology. Meanwhile the students are at their…
Recently I participated in a debate assignment for my EC&I 830 – Contemporary Issues in Edtech class. The debate topic was as follows: Educators Have a Responsibility to use Social Media and Technology to Promote Social Justice. My team represented the agree side, and though we worked hard and fought valiantly, we were ultimately bested by the disagree side. There were three distinct arguments that were repeatedly brought up by, and in favour of the disagree side during class discussion….
The issue at debate here is whether technology has led to a more equitable society. Before delving in, it is important to understand that equity is not the same thing as equality. Equality means that everyone gets the same thing, and equity means that people get what they need to be on equal footing with others. So, in terms of technology providing equity, it must mean that marginalized people can access the technologies necessary to place themselves within a more equitable…
A poem about technology in the classroom. Technology in the classroom is great, if…. If it works regularly. If there’s enough to go around. If it’s accessible. If the students know how to use it effectively and appropriately. If the internet works. If the teachers are digitally literate, or are willing to learn. If there is professional development around it. If digital literacy is woven throughout the curriculum. If…. The idea of technology in the classroom is grand, but let’s…
I am of a generation that saw a technological boom grow up just behind my youth (GenX). I remember when I was in grade 8 my class got one of those old school IBM PCs with the green screen. Nobody really knew what to do with it, so it mostly sat there collecting dust. In high school we took typing, not keyboarding skills. In my late teens my family got dial-up internet but I didn’t have much to do with…