An Unintended Consequence of Technology Enhanced Podcast

A Recipe for Success

How do you make digital learning a success?  Start with a strong foundation built on theories and educational  concepts.  A top of that pile a heaping scoop of instructional design...any flavor of your choice.  Mix it together with a dash of alternative spices, morals, ethics, and philosophical thought.  Allow it to bake completely before topping it with a layer of digital, global connectivity.

Digital learning can be successful with the right recipe.  Exact measurements and ingredients are not necessarily needed.  Digital learning is what we make of it.  There is a recipe that is perfect for each learner and is unique just as each individual learner is.

Technology has the opportunity to change the lives of many, positively or negatively, but only if the chasm of the digital divide can be crossed.  Affordable and accessible is the name of the game when it comes to making sure technology can be an asset.  Race, culture, socioeconomic status can change a lot for a student in this digital age.  Where classrooms are moving to become more digitally centered in preparation for life after graduation, those without access are in danger of being left behind.  To be part of the growing global village requires students to have access to the technology and know how to use it.  If and when access is granted, knowledge is a necessity.  Knowledge comes form the ability of teachers to teach it.  Here is where old school needs to meet new school.  Teachers need to become learners of the digital age and understand that technology requires a new train of thought and teaching.  Pedagogy and content are not longer enough, they must be adapted to technology.  Using technology for games and rewards will not make successful users.   The complex world of unintended consequences must be handled in order to show students how to be successful in a global village, for better or worse.

The exact recipe doesn't exist, but guidelines are a place to start.  The R2D2 model claims the best way to start is fuzzy and clarify as you go.  A pinch of this and dash of that is the way to start...but from there time, development, and customization is what it will take to create a successful digital learning environment.

From A Distance the World Looks Digital...

Distance education used to be correspondence based; register, pay, and they send you a packet of materials to complete for your course.  Technology and the rise of the digital age have changed the concept of distance education dramatically.  No longer are you confined to the pencil, paper, and information provided, but now the world of education is at your digital disposal.

This week after watching a video and discussion over the arrival of MOOCs (massively open online courses) I started to realize that maybe distance education is the education of the future.  While there may be something to be said for the traditional classroom and face-to-face discussion, distance education is evolving so fast that before long sitting at your computer will emulate the face-to-face classroom.  The what ifs of the future.  For now MOOCs are not the mainstream and for educators in the K-12 environment, I think we have some waiting to do before it comes to our towns.  However, distance education is changing how our students are educated.

My school provides an education to about 650 students in a rural community.  Distance education makes a world of difference to us.  By no means or at any point have I ever felt like we are short-changing our students with the education we can provide them, but I can definitely see the positives of distance education. Distance education has allowed students to use the ICN to take German from an instructor at a neighboring school, it has given students the opportunity to take college credit courses through a local community college  during the school day without going to campus, and it has allowed me the experience of creating a semi-flipped classroom.  Rural schools face unique challenges associated with funding and staffing.  Distance learning provides valuable opportunities not otherwise available.

With distance learning does come the challenge of making sure students taking the courses are supported and can be or at least feel successful.  This is where instructional design and course development become increasingly important.  Time and development, instructor support, communication, and an online community make distance education a success or failure.  Much of distance education requires the developer and instructor to take the theories of pragmatism and existentialism and create an environment that is open, innovative, hands-on, and personal.  Distance education uses the digital world to increase what education can do and be for anyone who wants it.

The World is Flat!?!

When I stop to consider the idea of the global village, it makes me consider a book I read this past spring called The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman.  In this book, Friedman spends hundreds of pages trying to convince the reader that due to globalization what used to be halfway around the world is now right outside our back door.  He explains that due to technology and the ever decreasing digital divide the world is now more interconnected than ever before and that we as a global community will be better for it.  Friedman at the same time offers a warning to the United States about being left behind as the rest of the world races to be the leader in digital technologies.

The global village also makes me think of Hillary Clinton's famous comment about the idea that it takes a village to raise a child.  This concept of community and everyone having a hand or taking part in the raising of a child sounds encouraging, but at the same time it is concerning.  I believe Clinton was trying to comment on the fact that with the changing world we need each other more than ever to prepare our youth with all the experiences and expertise available, but at the same time conflict can arise.

To have a global village we must all play active roles and feel the connection, but what happens when we can't ALL feel the connection in a positive way?  Technology is out there and while most of the world is feeling the effects, they are not all involved and some of those that are may be experiencing some of the unintended consequences that come with technology.  What makes a community is the expertise of everyone and the sense of feeling close, but not all of those members can be recreated through technology.  A community comes with a sense of tradition and culture, two things that are missing from the digital age.  Many cultures around the world are resistant to the incorporation of technology into their communities for this very reason.  Technology may bring in new business and financial opportunities, but are they welcome or even positive changes?  In his article "Do We Really Want a Global Village?", Stephen Talbott states that "Our quest for a global village begins with the implementation of physical networks and accompanying technology" (p. 5).  Companies see the world as their market place and venture throughout it trying to find the best way to maximize and make a buck.  The unfortunate side-effect is the true sense of community missing from a global village.   Talbott continues by saying "If we really wanted a global village, we would start with the local culture, learn to live in it, share in it, appreciate it, begin to recognize what is highest in it..." (p. 5).  Digital technology has changed the lives of business in the global village, but the change in the culture of the villagers can be an unintended consequence of that very same technology.

Digital Divide...What a Tangled Web We Weave!

A digital divide is the inequality associated with the have and have nots.  This have and have not situation arises when groups of people, for reasons associated with race, gender, culture, socioeconomic status, etc, do not have equal access to the hardware and software associated with technology.  Providing access and training to technology is a growing concern for schools today when preparing students for life after school, but it is a tricky and sticky situation with how to close the divide and heal the gap. 

The 21st century is that of the computer or technology age.  Students graduating from our institutions will be required in greater and greater amounts to become increasingly more familiar with a never-ending stream of technologies that exist or will exist.  As educators, this is something that we will face when preparing students for the "real world".  This technical education is faced with some serious issues.  In our current educational system, our student come from a variety of backgrounds with a variety of personal situations.  This directly affects their access to technology.  There are some students who have personal access to some form or another and yet others do not.  This access challenge is a very real concern in the discussion of how to best prepare our students.  Schools understand the importance of access to technology, but many will struggle to make it happen.  First of all, technology is expensive and many schools do not have the funding options.  Secondly, those that have made the investment will have infrastructure issues with servers and equipment.  Finally, teacher preparation. 

1. Technology is expensive.  Many times schools are reliant on tax base to run their schools, but the increasing costs associated with being technologically up-to-date leaves schools in a financial short-fall.  
2. For many schools that make the investment, infrastructure is a real concern.  The more computers the more associated costs with networking and servers.  Technology has many associated costs that people fail to consider.  Most old buildings are wired for the increased electrical usage, it requires more servers and server space, Internet service and speed must be maintained, and software must be constantly monitored and updated for maximum potential.
3. Teacher training is a large area of concern.  Having technology is one thing, but proper implementation will make or break a schools investment into the technology for their students.  Closing the digital divide is just as much about teaching students how to use technology as it is providing the access to it.  Teachers must be able to teach students how to use technology effectively as a research and analysis tool.  Technology is for much more than word processing and presentations these days.   

This tangled web of challenges is a very serious concern for schools.  It seems that with one issue come many other attached or entangled issues.  Many schools in Iowa, like my own, have decided to help students with their access issues by going 1:1 with computers for their students.  This is one way to address the hardware aspect of the divide, but it must go hand in hand with preparation.  Schools need to invest in training their teachers on effective implementation if the hardware is going to work.  Especially in lower socioeconomic areas where teacher experience and quality is lower, extra effort must be given to helping them use technology as an effective tool.  Our school has spent a lot of extra time in professional development with the technology prior to giving it to students as a way for the teachers to understand how the technology work and how to maximize its usage.  

The Great Debate

Paradigms are shifts in education.  Paradigms allow us as educators to sit around and debate the changes in education and analyze these shifts for the positives and negatives.  There is always a new way of doing something in education and each time a new idea arises, a debate over its validity and value can emerge amongst professionals.  While the recent paradigm shift toward TPACK may seem important at this time, that doesn't mean that educators will cease to debate its merits before deciding it needs improving or proves to be inadequate as technology and teaching change or evolve.  Before we know it a new paradigm shit will happen.  We know paradigm shifts will happen because critical theory constantly asks any professional to criticize and evaluate their actions. 

To use technology or not, how to use technology and where....more debates for technology and education.  How do we know that technology is effectively being used?  How do we know that students are learning properly using technology?  How do we know anything, unless we take a step back to criticize our methods through the application of critical theory.  We should be asking ourselves if the technology is being used properly, fairly, and in the end examine our ethics.  This great debate over the usage of technology brings us to the importance of developing morals and an ethical code.  Ethics are the code the teachers live by when teaching.  Just like doctors follow the ethical code "Do No Harm" when it comes to their patients, teachers have an ethical responsibility that we are not doing harm to our students education.  The TPACK paradigm show teachers the importance of not only understanding content and how to teach content effectively through our pedagogy, but it emphasizes the importance of understanding the value of technology and how to properly use and implement that technology.  Ethics force teachers and really look at what and how they are teaching students...technology is a tool not the answer.

Shouldn't We All Attend an Invisible College?

Critical theory asks us to criticize ourselves, education, technology, etc.  Critical theory helps with accountability and responsibility for actions.  Isn't this what teachers should be doing as educational professionals?  Critical theory provides the opportunity for awareness and self-direction which in the end makes us question if what we, as teachers, are doing is the best. 

The idea of a an invisible college is simply an informal group of intellectuals that get together to conference, collaborate, support, and question each other.  In many ways, an invisible college could be a lot like a professional network.  Peers get together to discuss changes in education, technology, pedagogy, and encourage discussion of any issues that arise.  I feel that in any school building, amongst co-workers, invisible colleges should and more than likely do exist.  If they don't, educators are missing out on a valuable resource. 

Critical theory does more than simply just create the potential for a professional network via an invisible college, but is also allows us to scrutinize the current educational system for any issues that may be lying around.  When it comes to technology, critical theory really get educators to look at the importance of ethics and the necessity of knowing the potential risks associated with technology.  While technology is supposed to make our lives easier and provide us with so many more opportunities, it is important to realize that technology comes with unintended consequences and limitations.  Unfortunately, because technology is available to classrooms, teachers feel that the technology must always be used in someway, shape or form.  The unfortunate side of this is that the technology is not always used correctly.  Andrew Yeaman, J. Randall Koetting, and Randall Nichols suggest examining our ethics as they relate to educational technology by asking ourselves a series of questions. 

1. What is the philosophy of educational technology?
2. Can the field adopt nonlinear or improvisational design strategies and processes?  
3. How can anyone be assured of a fair and equal education in the midst of educational technology systems that tend to favor dominant cultures? 
4. Is "educational technology" an oxymoron?

I think it is extremely important for teachers to ask themselves these questions when using technology in their classrooms.  It is important that teachers criticize themselves to see if they are ethically using education or using it just to use it.