Is the way we are using technology switching our students off to learning, to people, and to the world around them? #BOLT677
This past year one of the many highly debated topics was the question of whether to mandate students turn their cameras on during synchronous video sessions, or to allow them to keep their cameras off.
One argument, and the process I followed, was that given that we are all living through a pandemic, the last thing we needed to do was worry about showing up in person with a camera on and exposing our home/private life to our entire class on camera. For a student, they
could choose whether they wished to turn their camera on or not, & I would not take attendance/deduct marks as a result of that. However, as an educator, I always had my camera on - absent group presentations to save internet bandwidth - but otherwise, I showed up "in person".
@edutopia posted an excellent article offering suggestions on how to encourage students to turn on their cameras to participate in synchronous videoconferencing classes: edutopia.org/article/camera…
In the above-noted article, they state that "Instructors benefit from receiving nonverbal cues from their students such as smiles, frowns, head nods, looks of confusion, & looks of boredom, so that they can evaluate their teaching in real-time and adjust accordingly"
Furthermore, students insisted “that being able to hear and see each other in real-time helped construct a ‘more complete picture' of their peers.”
So on one hand, while allowing students autonomy to turn their cameras off during synchronous videoconferencing classes offers its benefits, so too does it offer benefits to students and educators alike to mandate cameras on. While there is no "concrete" answer to this question
as it relies heavily on both pedagogy and the course learning outcomes/objectives, but that article does shed some light on the hotly debated discussion. With cameras off, are students simply passive learners, or can they be active learners as well?
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What are the questions we should be asking about how to use technology in schooling? #Bolt677
I actually spent an entire course analyzing one of the classes I created for MacEwan University last year utilizing Tony Bates' SECTIONS analysis. Information regarding SECTIONS is available here: wiki.ubc.ca/images/1/19/SE…
"SECTIONS" provides a framework for educators who wish to integrate technology into their classes. It is broken down as follows: 1. Students 2. Ease of Use 3. Costs 4. Teaching and learning 5. Interactivity 6. Organizational issues 7. Novelty 8. Speed
What type of supporter of #edtech are you? Someone who values the social, the vocational, the pedagogic or the catalytic rationale? #bolt677
Technology forms a large basis of both my instructional practice and to an extent, my pedagogy. I instruct post-secondary and rely heavily on authentic assessment principles. That is clearly evident and supported through answers to the Essential Q's in previous tweets.
I instruct technology courses related to legal assistant and paralegal diploma or certificate programs. It is imperative that I not only use the technology available but that I stay up to date with what technology is used in the workforce and is applicable to legal assistants.
What are the implications of current educational technologies with respect to formative and summative evaluation and reporting? #bolt677
The biggest concern brought to my attention while teaching online (at least in post-secondary) this past year, has been the concern around plagiarism. It is thought that with a purely online presence, that plagiarism would increase.
Here is a fun online gaming resource to teach academic integrity at a secondary level (or even post-secondary) before I go forward: de.ryerson.ca/games/aio/#/
What does it mean that #edTech have been based on design principles with roots in cognitive psychology and instructional science? #bolt677
Similar to my last tweet referencing Bates and his constructivist pedagogical view towards the use of technology in the classroom, Schurman (1994) notes that some technology actually makes students MORE willing to participate in learning.
Reference: BOLT 677 Unit 1 Study Guide - “The Media and Learning Debate”
What are my thoughts on the innovation that is the calculator? #bolt677
Well. Firstly, as this video describes AI and its use in the classroom … the calculator certainly doesn’t seem like a huge innovation anymore!
In the above video, Martin McKay discusses machine learning and its use in the classroom. This is a hotly debated topic among educators as there has been ample chatter about the concept of AI replacing the role of teachers (see my previous tweets about this!)
Veritasium noted in their YouTube video, when the learning outcomes are the same… the technology used is irrelevant. In fact, “no technology is superior to another”