Category Archives: technology

Googlification of Education

Posted on by

Fifteen years ago, when I first began teaching, the division I work for gave all of their teachers Apple laptops. Schools were piloting Apple computer carts for a short term lease. As an Apple product user in my private life, this felt like a dream. For those first few years, I was very creative with my students using the apps that Apple provided on those laptops. But alas, the lease ended, the pilot project was over. Our Apple laptops were suddenly gone and replaced. And replaced again and again. 

Soon we entered the Chromebook generation. For better or worse. As the Chromebooks were first introduced, teachers were not instantly in love as they were with Apple. The first round of Chromebooks were glitchy and were easily broken. Students had difficulty staying connected to the internet. These were not a suitable replacement! However, as the Chromebooks were rolling out, so was G Suite for Education. I have to admit, that while I might have complained about the Chromebooks initially, I was hooked on G Suite!

I instantly loved that students could collaborate on documents and access them from home. This immediately changed how I assigned work and communicated with families about school. As I gained more experience and familiarity with the rest of G Suite, such as slides, sheets, and calendar, rumblings of a new app were being talked about at my school. Google Classroom was so exciting for our students and teachers. A group of us began using Google Classroom and supporting each other as we figured out how to best use this new app. 

As G Suite continues to grow, I continue to integrate the new apps into my daily routine and planning. All of my students, even those that move from other schools, school divisions and other countries, are familiar with G Suite Education. They know how to navigate Google Classroom, have a GMail address (they are assigned one at school), can easily complete tasks on Google Forms, Google Slides, Google Docs, Jamboard, and check the Google calendar. Google is a part of their everyday lives! So much so that several students have bought their own Chromebooks. They are familiar with Chromebooks and teachers can help troubleshoot if there is a problem. 

When our division initially moved to G Suite for Education, we sent home letters to families explaining how the platform worked, where information was stored and also asked for permission for students to use this platform. In reality, parents did not have much choice, our division did not offer an alternative. The biggest hiccup at the moment was that all information collected by G Suite for Education was stored in the United States and they have different privacy laws than Canada. This hiccup is just overlooked now as school divisions K-12 have become so reliant on G Suite for Education. 

As an educator, I appreciate the way I am able to reach more students, how flexible G Suite is, and how easily I can differentiate programs for students that need it. As our classrooms grow in size and complexity, G Suite has made it possible to offer entirely different math programs to students by simply creating a Google Classroom with their material in it while maintaining their privacy. Or let students use Google Read & Write to adjust the reading level of a piece of text.

Productivity Suites – Get them when they’re young and sell their data.

Posted on by

Productivity Suites are programs to help people create, organize, and present items. In education teachers use these to create documents, activities, presentation, and worksheets. Students in high school anyway, use these programs for very similar purposes programs like presentations, and differently by writing papers, answering questions, making visuals and more.  

I only thought of these tools as supports for my students and I; tools for success! I am finding more and more students are struggling to write with paper and pencil. Hence, some students do the work digitally by typing or using speech to text on google docs. When they are creating, I love how they can use google slides or docs and all have access to the same document. Makes for more efficient collaboration and group work. Google forms have been a wonderful program I use for exit slips or reflections. They don’t lose their reflection book! It is all saves automatically on their drive. I can upload their reflections onto a google sheets and see them all in one area. It makes it so much easier to mark; I am not hauling around 30 journals. Google classroom has also been wonderful how students can access the material at home when they miss school. The responsibility can be put on them to watch the lesson video,or read the material and try the worksheet at home. It helps me organize my semester as well! One issue is those kids that are already missing school because they don’t have a lot of support at home, or they have a lower economic status don’t have these privileges. They don’t have devices at home or wifi. So, these expectations are too much.

Wow that was a lot of mentioning of google programs. It has engulfed my classroom. Is this a bad thing? Are there issues?

Most definitely, is what I learned after our class this week. I have always wanted to work for people, serve the public and try to make a difference. I chose to be a teacher. I do not have a business-oriented mind, so I never thought about how even companies focused on making products to help people are still just trying to make money. They may disguise this but it is their number one priority. Hence, we need to be weary of Google and Microsoft companies’ intentions, as well as the fine print. A very smart ploy for companies is getting young customers for products. I recently have realised that the reason Scotiabank has great deals for university students, is to get them signed up right out of high school.  I remember liking that I could get points for free movies just for spending money. Twelve years later I am still with Scotiabank; they got me.

Google & Microsoft have been the front runners in technology suites for a very long time. In high school I still was writing mostly on paper, but into university all I had known was Microsoft, so I bought a Microsoft suite for my laptop. I created things on Microsoft publisher and wrote papers on Microsoft word. When I became a teacher, I still use these products for creation. My students as you read above are google users. Google was very smart to get themselves into schools. Kids will only know google moving into the workforce, therefore this is most likely what they will use into adulthood and pay for their products. A technology analyst, Mike Fisher stated for the New York Times “If you get someone on your operating system early, then you get that loyalty early, and potentially for life”.

How google feels about getting their young customers.

As of now, I don’t believe Microsoft or Google has ill intent creating products to help students learn and grow, but at the end of the day they are a corporate company. Therefore another concern was around student data. New York Times said that Google says they don’t sell the data. The gmail and information is only collected to use the services . But, Google declined to provide a breakdown of the exact details the company collects from students use of its services. So many parents are concerned and think google should be more transparent about the information collection of their users.

Is it more helpful than harmful? I think time will tell.

Cailen Tribier

ECI833 – Are Productivity Suites Taking Over Education?

Posted on by

Now, if you are asking yourself what a “productivity suite” is, look no further, follow the link here to find out more, and for further understanding watch this video of an exemplar of a company productivity suite.

Even in the root word of this concept, it focuses on productivity and efficiency. It appears the major two companies that education relies on for productivity suites are Microsoft 365, and Google Suites. Both of these programs create a collaborative method for connecting and communicating with a team in an efficient way. Personally, Google Suite has become a critical aspect of organizing my classroom material, content, and lessons in a straightforward yet methodical manner to maximize efficiency. I really love it when I can easily access previous years’ content and see my own professional growth and development. However, as much as I thoroughly enjoy my experience with Google programs, it is the students who should be the focus of this discussion. , I have noticed that there is a disparity among students and their access to Google programs and technology at home. Some of the reoccurring thoughts and questions this semester are triggered about productivity suites in education and those revolve around:

  • Who benefits because of these products?
  • Do these programs offer deeper learning opportunities for all students?
  • What type of knowledge are we valuing utilizing these programs?
  • What are the implicit messages that we are conveying to students by using these programs?

I certainly do not have an answer or solution to these questions, but I do think there is value in being cognizant of their impact in the classroom, and awareness that we as educators need to have as we often make decisions for the sake of “advancement” in educational technology. I am reminded of a quote by John F. Kennedy that eloquently states the importance of education and how that may contrast key notions of productivity suites in the classroom.

“The goal of education is the advancement of knowledge and the dissemination of truth”

— John F. Kennedy

In reflecting on that quote, and examining the use of various productivity programs in the classroom, it is challenging to have a concrete answer there. It is convicting to think about how the answer to some of those questions above only really benefits the students who do not need it, thus broadening the inequity gap. However, some key takeaways from the quote reveal what type of knowledge are we aiming for students to aspire towards, and what our own understanding of truth and its validity will inherently be transcended to students through osmosis.

I do think that the varying productivity suites that are utilized in the classroom are designed with the focus and efficiency of the teacher (Teacher Centric), yet these tools are to aid in learning, and not become the main vehicle of learning. Therefore, I think it is critical to examine how we use these programs, their positive and negative impact, and reflect on whether the ends justify the means.

Why you hating on Sesame Street?

Posted on by

Neil Postman wrote “We now know that “Sesame Street” encourages children to love school only if school is like “Sesame Street.” Which is to say, we now know that “Sesame Street” undermines what the traditional idea of schooling represents.”

Upon some research around the quote, I believe Neil Postman is saying that Sesame Street is not education it is television. School involves learning content, which television can do but there is some key aspects missing for learning to occur. He believes interaction is important. He says with television this isn’t possible. There is only a direct way of learning from the television to the students. Students can’t ask questions with television, hence there is no room for curiosity or discussion and therefore insufficient learning.

He also discusses how it pushes the importance of entertainment, and amusement rather than learning. Television is educational in the way that it teaches about the ideology of television. This ideology is misinformation, and exaggerated information.

I agree with some aspects of his argument and disagree with others. Firstly, television itself which has dramatized and unrealistic content is harmful as people believe it is true or how things work. We become so invested in it we forget it is not real. This can be damaging to children especially teenagers who are starting to watch shows with more adult and complex content. I agree that it can cause people to believe untrue information and cause ignorance. Producers goals are to make money, not educate people most of the time. They will be creating content that most viewers will enjoy and not worry about the ramifications.

I also understand how since television can be so entertaining so students will need this in the classroom. I think students should be able to enjoy themselves in school to a certain extent. Learning should be fun and television or audiovisual technology can do this! However if they are expecting to be just entertained and amused this will not be the case. Another quote from this chapter is “they will expect it and thus will be well prepared to receive their politics, their religion, their news and their commerce in the same delightful way” . Students do become bored very easily, they do want to be entertained in many ways and give up when they don’t like something or things get too difficult. Some of our audiovisual technology especially videos have made it so students have shorter attention spans. If it is not amusing, they move on. Certain aspects of life just are not entertaining and are difficult, so this is definitely a problem. Teaching resilience needs to be a continued priority in education.

I disagree that television is not education or interactive. I show my students a Netflix show called explained. We watch the episode designer DNA. This gives them some background into what is possible in the science world around altering DNA in humans. From this I get them to form their own opinion around whether we should edit germline DNA or not. There is important points on both sides and it is an excellent discussion. Television initiated that conversation. It may have not been interactive in the moment but after students can ask questions!

Lastly, it can be interactive in the moment as well. There is this tool I use called edpuzzle. It takes any video from youtube and makes it so it has discussion questions throughout the video. It makes you think about what you are hearing. My students also go straight to youtube videos in my lessons to learn how to do a new math or science concept, especially when they have missed a lesson. Audiovisual technology is a wonderful starting tool to foster learning. By itself it isn’t perfect. But nothing is. A variety of ways of instructing is how students will learn. I agree teachers should not be replaced by audiovisual technology, movies, youtube videos, projectors, virtual reality and so forth. However, they are a wonderful starting point. It is a great instructional strategy.

How is this little blip of an episode of sesame street not a great way to learn counting! Music is an excellent way to retain information as well! So, I do not hate sesame street as much as Neil Postman I think. Are there negatives, yes, I spoke about a few but this is the technology age we are living in. I am not about to fight it. Do you think the negatives out way the positives?

Cailen Tribier

EC&I 833 – Ms. Cailen Tribier 2024-01-22 02:04:00

Posted on by

Educational Technology – Critical Analysis to Continue being a Reflective Educator

Hello, and welcome to my blog for my ECI 833 course where I will explore the foundations of educational technology. Educational technology is a tool, invention computer hardware or software, manipulative or theory that helps facilitate learning. Personally, I view it as any tool that helps me teach in an innovative way to increase engagement and learning or a tool to help support my students more efficiently in their journey of education. What I realized was in my first few years of teaching the tools or assessments I chose were solely to engage and benefit my students learning, which is great but I did not focus at all on how to save time for myself. Most days began working at 8 am and finishing work at 10 pm. I had no work life balance.

In my tenth year of teaching, I am slowly trying to balance making my classroom a fun place to learn but as well finding educational technology that can adapt my content more efficiently for differentiation and assessing more quickly to have a personal life. I have become very interested in instant feedback assessment. Jiajun Zou from Emory University explains self marking programs have helped teachers gain their lives back with the growing responsibilities they have these days, as well as aiding students in the learning process. With out timely feedback “students can easily forget what they just wrote, and their brain instantly switches to other important tasks or seeks a drink as a reward for their hard work. Without instant feedback, ideas fade”.  I have experienced students telling me that they don’t remember this assessment. So it feels pointless to review it; it feels like reteaching without a purpose. Instant feedback is especially important in formative assessment so students can improve before summative assessment time. Automated mediums Audience Response Systems such as mentimeter and blooket are a great way to help students know how they are doing and facilitate fun and enjoyment in the classroom.

https://education.clickdo.co.uk/what-is-blooket-and-how-to-use-blooket-play/

There are some issues with some of the instant marking or feedback programs I have been using for summative assessment. I first started using google forms with multiple choice questions and zip grade. I am becoming aware that these tools benefit me but not my students when it comes to higher level or deeper learning. My questioning in the assessments became more knowledge and recall based rather than analyzation of the content.  I can’t seem to find assessment technology that benefits both the teacher and the students quite yet. Neil Postman explains how only certain groups will benefit from new technological tools or advances in certain industries. It even goes onto say about how some groups could be harmed. My students are being “harmed” in sense of not being assessed in a way that helps them be critical thinkers and on the flip side it takes me hours to assess high level of analyzation questions which in turn keeps me working many long hours.

Hack education explained in regards to automated essay grading, they disagreed with the idea that instant feedback benefits learning.  Even though I disagree in some aspects, I see the importance of the critiquing these automated feedback tools.

Neil Postman confirmed for me that it is very important to be critical of new technology. There will be some people that will benefit and some that won’t. There will be advantages but also detriments to people. When new technology becomes the norm and is no longer looked at with a critical lens, this is dangerous. I will keep researching and reflecting on technology I choose and hopefully someday I will discover educational tools that develop student learning and help me do my job efficiently and yet thoroughly.

EC&I 833 – Introduction and History of Ed Tech

Posted on by

Hello and welcome to my first blog post of ECI 833 where myself and classmates will be exploring the history of educational technology. As a fair starting point in this course, we have begun to unpack the historical significant and definition of the technology. Often we associate the word technology with computers and some variation of digital connection, but the root of this word is far more simple, yet complex. Mid century definition of this term states, “the means or activity by which man seeks to change or manipulate his environment.” This definition provides a more broad understanding of what technology could mean, but also allows for a healthy dose of ambiguity to enter this term.

Through this lens, oral language is considered a form of technology. Therefore, it is important to examine the historical definition of the terms used in this course as a reference to expand our understand of this concept while valuing and connecting its cultural relevance and context. From this perspective moving forward, it is instrumental to view and understand technology as a method for change and expansion to our environment. This potentially new way of seeing this word will aid as we begin to uncover and unpack more about the history of educational technology specifically.

I really enjoyed the quote that aids in unpacking this definition of technology as an ecological change. That is, technology and technological change are not simply an additive process to an ever changing world, but these changes impact everything as Postman States, “A new medium does not add something; it changes everything” (Postman, 1998). Viewing technology as technology change as a living organism that evolves and is redefined each time something new is added to the process. However, it is fundamental to examine that as technology has evolved in various methods such as oral tradition, to writing, to computers, to cell phones, there is a deep privilege and bias that comes with these new advancements. Technology changes often reveal the deeper philosophical values that society or culture may share that are implicitly perceived by many. Postman (1998) describes this as, “… there
is embedded in every great technology an epistemological, political or social prejudice. Sometimes that bias is greatly to our advantage. Sometimes it is not. The printing press annihilated the oral tradition; telegraphy annihilated space; television has humiliated the word; the computer, perhaps, will degrade community life. And so on”. Therefore, as we look deeper into technology and its connection to education, it is imperative to examine the history, contextual framework, and philosophical theories that drive the advancement of technology instead of a state of oblivion and complacency that the world will become a “better place” without your own thoughts and actions.

I will close with one final quote from Neil Postman in reference to technology changes and I would love if you could respond or provide your own thoughts/interpretations on the quote.

“… there are always winners and
losers, and that the winners always try to persuade the losers that they are really winners”

Thanks for reading!