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The Digital divide, and the importance of dividing learning

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The Digital divide, and the importance of dividing learning

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This course has made me realize the breadth of divide between what tech can do for learning, and what it is doing, especially in my own workplace. Japan's public school system's vehement rejection of giving students uncensored technological access is showing its effects in decreased international performance scores, [cyber-security ministers who have never touched a computer], underdeveloped critical thinking, and nonexistent media literacy, and with a plan to only include digital and media literacy into the national curriculum in 2023, students in private schools may just end up usurping the decades-old prestige of public education.
It's incredible how much 21st Century skills like problem-solving can be developed in classes where such skills were normally neglected, simply by adding in a dash of digital devices. We live in an age where students are being required to learn more and more at a faster rate; information is being updated faster, the competition is no longer local or national but global, lesson and homework times are getting longer, lifelong learning is an expectation not an exception. I'm all for interdisciplinary education and skills integration, but part of me is wondering if students are going to have time to breathe in between trying to get ahead. I hope future developments in both technology and education keep in mind the importance of learning to live, not just to be productive.

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I recently learned of a side to VR that I never considered, which I believe, is by far, the most important: empathy. Filmmaker Chris Milk credits the true power of VR to the ability to connect between people in a way like no other form of media can. Well worth watching! You will laugh and be inspired. Through VR movies in which viewers feel present with the people in the film and experience their world in a way that feels real, we can instill empathy for others’ pain and suffering, we can teach people to accept and respect the differences between us. If in fact VR is ultimately a machine that makes us become more human (Milk, 2015), then for the good of humanity, it is our duty as educators, to guide students to step into other realities, so that it touches their own.

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Chris Milk: How virtual reality can create the ultimate empathy machine

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Chris Milk uses cutting edge technology to produce astonishing films that delight and enchant. But for Milk, the human story is the driving force behind everything he does. In this short, charming talk, he shows some of his collaborations with musicians including Kanye West and Arcade Fire, and describes his latest, mind-bending experiments with virtual reality.

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No matter what age we live in learning will never stop only the ways of how and what we learn will evolve. I see future of educational technologies as highly personalized concept in future and more global.
A start-up venture IMAX program based in India is transforming and rethinking education in India which is highly personalized and very specific which leads to effective learning
More and more acceptance to self placed learning and distance  learning will be given which is not so common currently.
AI, of course will steal the show in every technological aspects. I believe AI will not just provide learning solutions but will help us understand how we learn more precisely and solve more harder problems which humans just can dream of.

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One of the things I am excited about is not so much what is the "next tech thing", but the fact that it seems a new perspective on learning has emerged. The idea is that learning is not something that is time stamped; that is, we finish learning once we have our degrees or our careers underway. Instead, the idea now is that it's cool to just keep learning new things! The proliferation of MOOCs is such a great example. People take these course more for learning sake than anything!

As well, with the amazing developments in peer to peer technology and the ubiquity of such advanced technology, it is becoming easier and easier to share learning, learn together in a mass community kind of way!

I find that really exciting:
Check this out:

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I would love to see the future as being much more open, and not just open textbooks.. but open resources, simulations, cases, problem based learning examples. I would also like to see more collaboration and the sharing of ideas and practices. If it is all about the students, why not collaborate for that purpose. Shauna

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Competency based education is one of the most promising practices in improving education. I see that our K-12 education is more focused on outcomes and competencies. Teachers provide more feedback to students so they can achieve the potential. With the specific feedback, students can develop individual learning plan. Technology will play an important role whether it is to facilitate assessment, develop a portfolio for learners to reflect on what they have learned or facilitate the individual learning plan.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/cbe2.1032

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I read through two articles regarding the future of education and technology.  The first was from TechTrends and many of the ideas presented resonated with me in regards to my experiences with technology at the elementary school level. The article provided me with a few ideas for going forward.
https://techtrends.tech/tech-trends/education-technology-future/
The second article focused on blended learning and the challenges of implementing it effectively.
https://www-sciencedirect-com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/science/article/pii/S1747938X17300258?via%3Dihub

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Traditional Forms of Education will be Transformed

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Traditional Forms of Education will be Transformed

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Without a doubt, AI-powered technologies will transform the traditional forms of education that were created during the Industrial Revolution, reform the schools and reconstruct the roles of teachers.

For schools, I tend to believe that the business model of AltSchool still has its potential and value to be further explored and developed. I like their idea about bundling their practices, tools and technologies up into an “operating system for a 21st-century education” and license them to the education system at large.

For teachers, the VR, AR or AI-based technologies will act as amplifiers during the transformation process, and the Matthew effect will lead to polarization between teachers. Good teachers can teach a large number of students, regardless of geographical restrictions, while teachers with a general qualification probably would only work as facilitators. In the end, their new role, however, will be replaced by artificial intelligence.

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What Will Schools Look Like in the Future?

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The disruption of the education industry is reminding me very much of what happened to the music industry in the early 2000s. All of a sudden - gasp! Horror! - recordings were being shared online and revenues from album sales were no longer the backbone of the music industry. Considering this now, people have shifted from what they're offering consumers to how they're offering it. When considering the future of education, I think of the rising popularity of house concerts. Rather than being a new and innovative idea, house concerts were popular in the days long before recorded music - and often only for the rich. So were private tutors, which I believe will experience a resurgence in popularity. Rather than pay a university or institution to cover overhead costs (buildings, admin, support staff), the same money could be given to one instructor who helps the student, or a few students, navigate resources available on the internet. I only hope this can help reduce the load on K-12 teachers who can have 30 kids and IPPs in their classrooms (honestly, for those of you out there, I tip my hat - you're tough!). As humans are more and more connected to the internet, there'll be a craving for deep human connection that a tutor can offer through greater attention to one student.

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MORE than a quarter of secondary school pupils have used private tutors, a new poll has found.

Some 27 per cent of 11- to 16-year-olds in England and Wales have been taught by one, rising to 41 per cent in London, according to the educational charity Sutton Trust.

It said the findings fuel concerns about educational inequalities and called on the government to support lower income families.

Chairman Sir Peter Lampl said tuition 'means those who can afford it are able to give their children a significant advantage over those that cannot.

'If we are serious about social mobility, we need to make sure that the academic playing field is levelled outside of the school gate by the state providing funding for private tuition on a means-tested basis.'

Almost half of the 2,381 children asked used tutors to help with work in general, while a third were studying for a particular test.

The trust is calling for a voucher system, funded by the pupil premium, for lower-income families. It would also help private tuition firms provide a proportion of their work for free to disadvantaged children.

Meanwhile, the National Education Union is calling for all private home tutors to face criminal record checks.

Get the full story or read the research.

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27% of pupils pay to have private tuition

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Alexander Britton cites Sutton Trust polling on private tuition in an article for the Metro. MORE than a quarter of secondary school pupils have used private tutors, a new poll has found.

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I know this is old news to many people but I'm really hopeful that the future at MY school includes some programmable robots. I think that my school is a little bit behind the times with coding and robotics. This year, following the work I completed for ETEC 533, I developed and delivered a pro d workshop to the my colleagues within my department. The premise of the sessions was to establish importance of the 21st century skills thinking skills developed through coding and robotics. As a staff we have all worked hard to develop a coding and robotics curriculum - all without any actual robots! We've used paper techniques, looked at algorithms and discussed controls. The next step is something more concrete to work with! I'm hoping that budget and grants can stretch to cover this as I can see such value for the future of the children in my school!

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As we've navigated across Twitter, Discussion Posts, Padlets, Videos, Assignments and Readings, I can't help but wish and hope that the future is (more!) connected. There's a lot of manual effort at the moment in pulling together a thread (or following the breadcrumbs) across all of the great thinking and sharing that's happened this semester (same could be said for past semesters). I'd love to see an idea navigator that exists within the course (or across my courses) that helps me to contextualize, connect and discuss with all of you. If I find an interesting idea in a padlet, I'd want to see how it connects to discussion posts, articles and some of our assignments. And in doing so, I want to be able to comment on that thread - with that comment visible to all providing them with the opportunity to comment on my comment, or connect it to another thread.

In addition, these threads need to cross not only topics and tools, but also time. If there's a connection between week 2 and week 7, it'd be great to have technology help me to find and discuss that connection. A siloed, isolated view of the discussion makes things choppy and more shallow than they should be.

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 (Part 1) The challenge of being connected and disconnected at the same time

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 (Part 1) The challenge of being connected and disconnected at the same time

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I found the article by Lufkin (2018) an interesting read and quite relevant to my week.  I had just finished up at a conference around education and preparing students for the future.  Both of the key note speakers talked about the future students face in the work force and the skills they will need. Eric Termuende talked about how we are living in a world that is more connected and disconnected at the same time than ever before.  He talked about the power of ideas and being able to share and discuss those with people and how some of that power can be lost when communication occurs online.  Below is a TEDx talk by Termuende very similar to the session I was at.  I could not help but see many of the similarities between Termuende’s talk and Lufkin’s (2018) article.  Lufkin (2018) quoted a leaked yahoo memo that stated  "Some of the best decisions and insights come from hallway and cafeteria discussion, meeting new people, and impromptu team meetings." This brings about to opposing ideas. The ability to connect from anywhere provides opportunities for both education and the workplace while at the same time discouraging in person contact and its inefficiencies.

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Bigger than Work | Eric Termuende | TEDxBCIT

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(Part 2) When looking to survive and thrive in a gig economy 

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(Part 2) When looking to survive and thrive in a gig economy 

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The second Key Note speaker I saw at my conference was Dr. Roberta Neault.  She spoke of how the world of work is changing and a great deal of it is moving towards a gig economy. Lufkin (2018) also speaks of this rise.    Some of the examples provided were the rise in services like Uber and Airbnb that provide people with the ability to work independently and take control.  Neault spoke about the rise of contract teachers at Universities and the huge cost savings this provides.  Consider Uber, its success was made possible due to advancements in technology.  The ability to manage contractors all over the world, to accept and make payments online, gps tracking software for both drivers and customers, and the list goes on.   These advancements in technology have led to a company that was launched in 2010 and by 2018 is valued at $68 Billion as described in an article by FastCompany.  The ability to harness technology and/or use it provides a world of opportunities for people now and in the future.  Whether you are an entrepreneur using it to leverage other people’s resources like Uber or Airbnb or are using technology to take advantage of these companies the opportunities are changing and growing as fast as the technology that supports them.  The risks of a gig economy are many.  When you are working contract to contract you lose the security and the many benefits that provides by working for an employer.  You also create a work environment for yourself where you also isolate yourself and limit your opportunities for in person contact and the benefits and opportunities that provides Termuende and Lufkin (2018).

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Gamer is a movie where the technology has progressed to the point that virtual reality is not in a virtual world but instead you are downloaded into a real person in a real world allowing you to be anyone and do almost anything.  It does not take long watching this movie to see the disconnect with reality this creates and the loss of ‘normal’ human interaction.  Advancements in technology will continue to provide new opportunities in education for connecting, learning, and collaborating.  The world Termuende described as being more connected than ever will become more so.  So how do we take advantage of those connections and opportunities while balancing the importance of in person contact Lufkin (2018).  This is the challenge that faces education.  How do we take full advantage of advancements, encourage their use by students, while also teaching balance and creating opportunities for in person engagement?  Forcing this balance in a class, program, or even institution means little if that balance is not maintained once they leave that environment.  The challenge is going to be as we move towards technology like we see in the movie Gamer maintaining the connections around us that our so important both personally and professionally.

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In the future of higher education, AI chatbots will act as tutors and help to deliver online instruction.

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Cospaces is an program that I found through another course's bank of resources. Cospaces allows a student to build in a 360 environment in 3D, similar to Tinkercad. That elevates Cospaces, is the ability to write code using right into the program using java or blockly. Even more, students can view their creations in VR, AR, or as a 360 environment on their mobile devices.

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I'm excited for when adaptive learning and AI can truly get to know a learner. We as content developers can then develop a wide variety of content, activities, games, resources, etc. around competencies, The AI can then develop adaptive learning plans for users based on their topics of interest and based on performance and identified needs.

- William Redmond

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In Bryan Alexanders’ vision of higher education in 2024 the one that spoke to me and I would like to see is Two Cultures where half of higher-ed institutions are online and the half are brick and mortar schools that offer blended learning. 2024 might be a bit soon, but I could see this as being the future of higher education. This makes a lot of sense as it is the application of the theory and practice, we explore in the MET program.  I entered the MET program somewhat skeptical about a fully online program. What I have found is a much richer and engaging education experience than my undergraduate degree where I attended didactic lectures, rarely engaged with fellow learners and completed most assignments individually. I think students are going to expect flexibility and more engagement and the ability to personalize their learning, which going fully online or a blended approach could better serve.

Charles

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Technology will make individualized learning a reality.

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Hello Future,                         Having attended tech conferences, I am constantly buying in to the "next big thing".  I like to think of myself as an 'early adopter' . I have now acquired the wisdom of age to take a step back and ask myself who is selling what?The NMC Horizon Report K-12 edition was a document I was really looking forward to getting my hands on this year. With the dissolution of the organization that publishes this document, I was left to wonder if would get to see this document ever again. It reminded me of how I would feel if they ever  (god forbid) stopped publishing the Canadian Tire Christmas Catalogue. This tells me something about the way these companies package the sales pitch for new technology in the classroom. I will still grab my pen and begin circling things, but it has begun to dawn on me that I am  a consumer and there is money involved in the purchase of expensive technology, especially at the board level. There is also millions of dollars spent on memberships, annual dues, and monthly payments. Are we being sold technology because it is going to make the classroom better or is it just Black Friday madness seeping into the world of learning?

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Hello Future,                         Having attended tech conferences, I am constantly buying in to the "next big thing".  I like to think of myself as an 'early adopter' . I have now acquired the wisdom of age to take a step back and ask myself who is selling what?The NMC Horizon Report K-12 edition was a document I was really looking forward to getting my hands on this year. With the dissolution of the organization that publishes this document, I was left to wonder if would get to see this document ever again. It reminded me of how I would feel if they ever  (god forbid) stopped publishing the Canadian Tire Christmas Catalogue. This tells me something about the way these companies package the sales pitch for new technology in the classroom. I will still grab my pen and begin circling things, but it has begun to dawn on me that I am  a consumer and there is money involved in the purchase of expensive technology, especially at the board level. There is also millions of dollars spent on memberships, annual dues, and monthly payments. Are we being sold technology because it is going to make the classroom better or is it just Black Friday madness seeping into the world of learning?

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@digitaldorey