Skepticism Around Technology and the Future of Education

Skepticism Around Technology and the Future of Education
4/23/2018

As I read through the Larry Cuban and Audrey Waters articles, I couldn't help but agree with the some of the skepticism they present around the continued integration of technology in education and online learning. From my experience thus far in Higher Education I have not had an online course (outside of this one) that attempted to integrate technology to "support learning." For the majority of my online courses, technology was used for technologies sake, and as a way of replacing paper handouts and turning in paper assignments. I think there are a variety of reasons for this: many teachers did not grow up in the digital age and navigating the digital landscape is not second nature to them, at first education seemed to fear technology and social media, and now they are catching up on figuring out ways to cope with the changing world, there aren't enough resources (or research) done on how to integrate technology into a curriculum. Also in higher education, for UVM as an example, you can't mandate or force faculty to be trained on a variety of technology or to even teach an online course due to the collective bargaining power of their union (I am pro-union). Without additional training and experience, I think that the creation of truly innovative online learning opportunities in Higher Education will come slowly. I do think in the future we will continue to see a surge in Universities offering online courses however because quite frankly, it would be a poor business choice not to diversify your offerings. Also, although Audrey Waters seems to take a negative view of the marketing points of online education (accessibility and choice), from a capitalistic business perspective (and Institutions of Higher Education ARE businesses, K-12 less so), your products better be accessible and offer a level of choice or you will lose your strength in the marketplace. 

IMMOOC Week 5 Blog Post

How might we measure the impact of innovative practices in education?

If you are in the innovators mindset then according to George Couros, "true innovation only happens when a new structure is created, one that nurtures critical thinkers, supports risk takers, encourages ongoing transformations and that places a high value on creative and insightful learning and disseminate ideas for innovation." To me, innovation seems like an incredibly difficult and ambiguous concept to evaluate and assess, and innovation may mean different things to different people. At the state level, innovative practices may be judged for their success or failure based on an overall increase in test scores. At the local level, perhaps you can assess innovation based on how the school postively affects in local community, perhaps through some sort of fundraiser or educational outcome that benefits the community beyond the school. For an individual teacher, they may measure the impact of innovative practices based on the number of successfully completed assignments coupled with the feeling of overall morale in the classroom. I think the key to measuring the impact of innovative practices will be to measure several aspects of a child's education, from several perspectives. I think that the children should assess themselves, and the level of transformation and growth they felt they've experienced. I think the teachers should also assess themselves and assess from their perspective, the success of innovative practices. I also think assessments should be made at the administrative level, and even at the community level, i.e. assessments and questionaire's are sent to parent's guardians, etc. I also think that these assessments should happen several time throughout the year. The data can then be amalgamated and compared to/evaluated against the school or organizations mission/vision.

IMMOOC Week Four Blog Prompt

What elements of the 8 Things to Look For in Today’s Classrooms” exist in your professional learning? What elements are lacking?
Within my organization in regards to professional learning opportunities, I would say that while we employ several of the above techniques to certain extents, there are a few that we do not employ at all. Professional learning opportunities are valued by my management team, and they allow us to voice our needs and wants, and provide us with a variety of professional learning opportunities to choose from, either internal (on campus through UVM) or externally to a conference. These opportunities often lead to connected learning and opportunities for innovation by exposing professionals to different ideas, best practices, and modes of thinking. The elements that are lacking would be self-assessment as well as time for reflection. I think if our organization provided more opportunities for us to gauge our own strengths (and possible have others give  input into our strengths, we would be able to better align to our training needs. I also think that after prior to and after a professional learning opportunity, one must be able to realistically reflect on their needs and how they align to their organization, and then reflect on the learning they have done after they experienced the learning opportunity. This way you recognize whether or not the experience was valuable (and then others can participate), and how the knowledge learned can benefit the individual and the organization.