Overview
The Education Technology market is closing in on $1.9B and most public-school systems are utilizing 1:1 initiatives to bring more tech to the classroom (Molnar, 2017). The whole school process is being digitized from registration to homework and it is time to stop and consider the vulnerabilities that are being created through technology. First, consider the technology used in administration; registration software, Learning Management System, Student Information System, Website, local servers, and office software. In administration alone, schools are subject to over five vulnerabilities to cyber-attacks and all these technologies are generally integrated with each other. Now add the classroom to the mix. Until recently, I've used roughly five to seven 3rd party integrations with office software during a school year. Now we have over ten vulnerabilities on any given school year that is subject to exposing student and teacher information across the internet. That information could be addresses, social security numbers, grades, assignments, health records, contact information, and online communication. It doesn't stop there, how many folks have taken the time to research each EdTech company to verify their stance on privacy or security? How many of us actually read the Terms and Agreements? According to Jonathan Obar, 98% of us don’t read those terms and agreements before signing up. In his study, people actually agreed to sharing their private information with the NSA and surrendering their first-born child as payment to have access to technology, the conditions were found in the Terms and Agreements (Vedantam, 2016). Now you might be a little relieved to find out that both Microsoft and Google have pledged to protect student privacy; however, Google is currently being sued by the state of Mississippi for their current and past notorious bouts with utilizing student data to drive their ad service - this is how they combat their free service with some revenue. This will be a later conversation, but when companies market their free service, it generally isn't free. Tips before Signing Up Anytime you or administration intends on using and/or integrating Educational Technology into the classroom, visit the website or complete a search on the privacy policy of the company. Check with your organization on how they vet new technologies. Consider creating a board with the organization to help protect student and teacher privacy. Be sure to review the Terms and Agreements before you or your students sign up for new technology. Relate back to Mr. Vedantam’s article on how many people actually read the Terms and Agreements and then visit: http://ptac.ed.gov/document/protecting-student-privacy-while-using-online-educational-services. Is it a paid service or free? If it is free, there is a reason and generally that involves data in some fashion. Unfortunately, the sale of student data is a lucrative business – ask Google. Check with the company to see if they encrypt student data. Reach out to your Internet Service Provider to see how they use your data and be sure to watch out for HTTP vs HTTPS. The S is for security. Know FERPA! Tools for Protecting Student Privacy Consider allowing students to turn on in private browsing through the internet browser and ask that they clear the history before logging off of the computer and at home. Be sure to discuss their digital footprint and how it is utilized in data collection. BrowserSpy is a nice tool to check what your internet browser leaves behind. Look for tools such as Privacy badger to block Ads and prevent advertisers from secretly tracking you (Barack, 2017). Use https://privacy.commonsense.org/ to check out Commen Sense Tech evaluations. Lastly, take the pledge: https://studentprivacypledge.org/. Conclusion: Our data is continuously being tracked, sold and purchased and it is important for students and schools to know and understand the importance of privacy. Carelessness could result in significant problems for students in the future. References Barack, L. (2017). The Problem with Student Privacy, and How to Protect It. Retrieved from: http://www.slj.com/2017/01/technology/the-problem-with-student-privacy-and-how-to-protect-it/ Molnar, M. (2017). K-12 Ed-Tech Platform and Tools Market Value to Increase to $1.83 Billion by 2020, Report Says. Retrieved from: https://marketbrief.edweek.org/marketplace-k-12/k-12-ed-tech-platform-tools-market-value-increase-1-83-billion-2020-report-says/ Vedantam, S. (2016). Do You Read Terms Of Service Contracts? Not Many Do, Research Shows. Retrieved from: http://www.npr.org/2016/08/23/491024846/do-you-read-terms-of-service-contracts-not-many-do-research-shows
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Originally posted: https://elearningindustry.com/educational-technology-and-authentic-learning
Educational technology plays a significant role in designing and developing authentic learning. Its role is not only to provide instruction effectively and efficiently but more importantly, to provide students with an experience they otherwise wouldn't have. Educational Technology And Authentic Learning: The Significant Role Of EdTech In Authentic Learning Development Hopefully you have read Designing Instruction For Authentic Learning and Developing Content For Authentic Learning as I will refer to these articles below. This article is meant to open conversations regarding models for effective technology integration. We have discussed Authentic Learning which is a strategy found under Deeper Learning, its goal is to provide students with critical thinking, problem solving, creativity, and collaboration skills. Research shows that through Deeper Learning Approaches students raise test scores, have higher graduation rates, and are more likely to enroll in post-secondary schooling - including trade schools (American Institute of Research, 2016). The data proves that Authentic Learning works and through my previous two articles you should have gained an excellent foundation for designing and developing your course using Authentic Learning – plus check out New Media Horizon Reports for K12 and Higher Ed; you’ll notice Deeper Learning is listed in both. Now it is time to focus on the role of Educational Technology. The Role Of Educational Technology Educational Technology should be used to provide students with an experience they otherwise wouldn’t have. Chris Dede, a Harvard University Learning Technologies Professor, argues that “technology as a catalyst is effective only when used to enable learning with richer content, more powerful pedagogy, more valid assessments, and links between in- and out-of-classroom learning” (2014, p. 6). Additionally, we must acknowledge that there is an achievement gap which looks something like a bell curve and that the digital divide is a real thing – consider the digital divide when providing experiences. We also should acknowledge that educational technology complements our design and development and technology alone cannot create learning experiences. Teaching as a human craft is what makes learning effective, not the technology. We certainly do not want something called digital drill and kill by digitizing teacher-centered instruction (Murray, 2017). On the contrary, we want students to apply the knowledge gained by using technology to do better things rather than do things better (Dede, 2017). Tips For Integrating Technology And Personalizing Learning We first need to correlate the technology with our unit and course objectives. If we have our students analyzing literature, then the objective should read the same; analyze literature. We could look at the SAMR Model of technology integration, but I think the model alone limits our objective in providing students with Authentic Learning experiences; however, it is a step in the right direction. Remember, we don’t simply want to digitize business! Again, it is providing students with an experience they otherwise wouldn’t have. Second, look at Gartner’s Hype Cycle and New Media Horizon Reports to determine what technologies are becoming of age, reaching their plateau, or are on the rise because these technologies are going to be embedded in the real world (note there are a few different industries for the Horizon Report and an education version of the Hype Cycle). Third, remember that instruction is guided and we control rigor based on guidance of each student, therefore, instruction is personalized as each student needs different guidance. Look at the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) designed by Lev Vygotsky for more information on guidance and personalized learning. Lastly, use technology in every facet of instruction, it can certainly make the delivery of instruction and feedback more efficient with Learning Management Systems and video production. Take this example in public education, I hate taking attendance and writing it down on paper, it wastes time. Instead, use Kipin Attendance through Canvas (LMS) where students have five minutes into the class to record their attendance, this way I didn’t have to call out names or mark each student’s attendance digitally. It knocked off three minutes of wasted time per class – 180 days X 3 equates to 540 minutes or roughly 2.5 weeks of instruction devoted to attendance! Nonetheless, we say we want students to do better things through their summative assessment. That doesn’t mean we can’t make other facets of instruction more efficient. Remember the questionable rule that if you feel you need to directly instruct, then create a video. It is still direct instruction but hopefully students complete it at home. There Really Isn’t An Effective Model – That’s The Problem The SAMR Model certainly gets educators going in the right direction and creates good conversations. It is even better when utilized with the Bloom’s Taxonomy as we attempt to match assessments with objectives. TPACK makes great arguments that this article coincides. Integrating these 3 models is another great start towards an effective model. What we do know is every facet of teaching should integrate technology, but the assessments should require collaboration, critical thinking, problem solving, and collaboration through Authentic Learning. Do you know a model for effective technology integration? If so, share with us your model or how you integrate technology. References:
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Dr. Jeremy O'TooleInstructional Technologist Archives
December 2022
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