Over the emergent classes we have has many discussions that wrap around what we are interested in and listening to our peers talk about their ideas and concepts of what education is. Through discussions I have found that technology has been a growing force in education and the world for longer than I expected. I grew up in the age when computers were just hitting the markets and the internet was a concept that was ever-growing. What I did not realize was how many concepts had already been introduced and developed before the internet came into being and that the internet was just the appropriate platform to let these ideas grow. For instance, “learning objects” and “open source courses” were created long before the internet came around but had trouble picking up steam due to a multitude of reasons, including a lack of an appropriate platform. The internet allowed these larger theories to grow and provided an environment where they could be tested. Now there seems to be many ideas that have little theory behind them but are thrown into the Internet realm just to see how they will do. What catches on and what does not, does not always make sense but the opportunities are boundless. In the EdCamp we talked about all the different programs and platforms that are being explored by schools and how as teachers we are sometimes equipped with the knowledge to utilise these programs but the majority of the time we are floating in uncertainty.

Sure, there is hopefully more theory behind developing programs and ideas but there are many programs in the technology field that people develop and create that are just thrown upon the education system. This means that teachers have to weed through and pick the ones that fit their individual needs. There are some power houses that seem to dominate the scene such as, Google Classroom, Google Suite, ect but what I find interesting is that these companies have to continue to innovate to stay successful. I believe that many of these bigger companies will want to move towards a more open distributed framework that allows for more collaboration. For instance, Google Docs was revolutionary to secondary students who wanted to work together at the same time on a project and not have to send drafts back and forth. Overall, it’s a simple idea but Google created a tool that allowed higher degrees of collaboration. Even in elementary schools, students are learning to work together through technology rather than always working individually on technology. More collaboration hopefully leads to more innovation and the cycle continues. I know it is not that simple, but it is always interesting to ask yourself, “What is coming next?”

This idea brought up privacy concerns in many of our conversations over the emergent classes. What can companies be taking from us that is so valuable. Our information is the answer. It’s hard to imagine what they want with my thoughts on Media Richness Theory and my opinion is but after the conversations Google are looking at me through the lens that I am one small piece of information that can be combined with the other massive amount of users to get a general understanding of our information. It is my goal to dig deeper and become more informed about privacy policies that impact me.

I am so interested in what the next big thing is going to be in education concerning technology. I believe the big obstacles that education will face are money, training (understanding and utilizing the programs) and accessibility to specialized equipment.

Photo by Graphic Node on Unsplash

How does this impact me as an elementary teacher? Technology is becoming more and more prevalent in elementary schools. This year I have taken a real step to introducing my class to how we can use technology on a day-to-day basis. Not just all the fancy programs and tools but I have focused on the basics. It has been an eye-opening experience to take my class through the basics such as terminology (trackpad, address bar, ect) and basic word processing (changing font, centering text, ect). Unfortunately, I learned really quickly that students inherently want to go and explore on the computers and internet, but it is almost like they are trying to run before they can walk. They know the absolute basics, but they like to pretend that they know more than they do. Sure some do…. but many don’t.

 

Another point that was brought up during our group discussion which is very relevant in classrooms today are the skills that students gain by using a cloud-based program. Aside from the physical skills of typing and formatting their work, they are also learning life-long skills of organization and how to set up work that can be collaborated on. These skills are valuable as an adult or a student as they can learn the know-how to organize and stay organized as their workload increases. If students know the basics this will hopefully prepare them for more involved work in the later years of school.

My goal was to get them to understand how to use a computer and the internet properly (beginning of digital citizenship, consequences, understand the cloud, ect.)  and then move into the more complex programs for smaller children. This hopefully will give them the base they need to be more successful moving onto middle school, where completing larger amounts of schoolwork on a computer is expected. Hopefully through early exposure of working collaboratively on projects at a younger age will also increase the need for students to look at these opportunities as educational and not just a gimmick or something to mess around in. I relate it to students passing notes to each other back in the day. Students are always going to find a way to mess around and to not be focused but hopefully with more and more exposure to collaborative assignments, students can get past the goofiness and understand the benefits.

Photo by Rachel on Unsplash

Talking to our peers about  our different literature review was a great experience. We were able to talk about each others topic and ask questions. A couple conversations surrounding my project was  with more technology use in class and students having access to schoolwork at home, will this lead to parents being more involved in their child’s education? There is an opportunity for student learning to become more transparent than ever before. Students will no longer have the excuse of forgetting their homework or not knowing what to do. Students and parents will have access to the schoolwork at home and be able to track it. Parents could have access to the projects the students are working on and provide assistance or show more interest in the schoolwork the students are completing. This brings the opportunity for more learning at home and parents being directly involved with their child’s learning. This is all very positive and I wonder how this will evolve?

There was also conversations about how teachers could also collaborate on a more open basis as well. From the viewpoint of teachers collaborating with other teachers, open resource sharing could be a redefining moment in education. Personally, as a young teacher I would benefit from a district-wide sharing folder where a teacher can show their yearly plan and have their supplementary materials available. This could bring meaningful context (local knowledge, specific to the area, ect.)  to the material and allow teachers to find excellent resources applicable to them, while being able to put their own spin on it. This is where I could see a practical application of open resource materials making positive impacts. But the question is who wants to organize that? It would take major time, money and resources.

Photo by Melissa Walker Horn on Unsplash

Featured Image: Photo by naomi tamar on Unsplash