My experiences as a learner on EDUC5264M SHANI BROWN
Am I a digital native ?
In what ways does the digital divide impact me or my community?
In what ways am I a digital native?
Second teaching experience in an inner city public school with limited access to ICTs. This particular group of students was comprised of recently immigrated students under DACA or the Dreamer Act which allow temporary or permanent residence to illigal immigrants who were under the age of 18. These student were refugees and often came from areas with limited to no technology. One piece of technology that students did have was a smart phone. They were very intone with Facebook, instagram and snapchat. The program was also poorly funded, most teachers just had a white board and a few outdated Apple desktops in the class. Accessibility: The funding was inadequate and teachers had limited resources.
Am I adequately preparing my learners for a digital future?
In what way am I NOT a digital native? Or even a digital immigrant?
Third teaching opportunity was in Beijing, China at a private boarding high school for more wealthy students who had parents to supply them with what ever they wanted and a school with virtually endless funding. Students had grown up using technology most of their lives "gen" z students. Yet technology was still not being utilized in the classroom. Teacher unfamiliarity: uncomfortableness or unwilling to utilize classroom technology.
My first teaching opportunity was at a non-profit organization in Alexandria, Virginia. It was a literacy organization designed to help the local adult immigrant population gain the literacy and digital skills necessary to empower them to find jobs and integrate more smoothly into American Society. My first class was a group of Pakistani women, who had no educational experience in the US nor in their own home countries. They could not write in ANY language. As a non profit, our organization had an extensive amount of funding from the government and private donations. Students were given tablets and the classrooms had the most recent and innovative equipment, however, the student had no experience with using such technology. Most of the teachers were quite familiar with the technology and could even order special technology for their class. Student ability: students unfamiliar or uncomfortable with technology usage.
How Could PLE's better help this community? To what extent could students have autonomy over their PLE? Top -down or Bottom-up approach ?
How Could PLE's better help this community? How could we have empowered these learners to even establish PLEs? Is it possible?
How has the benefits of technology been over-exaggerated? In what ways have I or my community assumed technology to be an overall good? According to Bayne How does our concept of technology "fail[s] to do justice equally to the disruptive, disturbing and generative dimensions of the academy's enmeshment with the digital"? (Bayne, 2015, p 7) How has the lack of Technological Pessimism poorly effected learning here?
What specific aspects of Digital Divide at play here? How could the COVID -19 epidemic hav exacerbated the divide? Consider Jamie Gould https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-us-canada-54148804
What aspects of the Digital Divide at play here?
Good article's to reference for this portion my reflection would be Social Media and Youth Wellbeing and Status of Mind
To what extent, if any, could teacher digital immigrant be at play?
How can we get teachers more familiar with digital technology? What are some approaches can we use in professional development? Notion Article
Are they digitally literate? Do they have "resilience, information and power" (Growing Up Digital by the Children's Commissioner). My current students my be what some might call "digital natives", students who were born during and grew up around ICTs. The concepts and common use of ICTs are not familiar to them and they cannot remember or conceive of a world where they did not exist for common popular use. However, it is important to remember that students at my school are only around 15 years old. That is not much time for our educational system , which is already decades behind, to adjust and incorporate digital literacy standards and explore the rights of digital citizens.
Do they consider themselves digital citizens? What is a digital citizen? Have the characteristics, responsibilities and necessary competencies of the digital citizen changed over time?
Do I meet the criteria of a Digital native?
When planning a digital curriculum, what are some key elements, concept and competencies to cover or include?
Draw from the Growing Up Digital by the Children's Commissioner report.
Rights of Digital Citizens
Are there theories shaping Digital Citizens?
In what ways is TPCK implemented in order to better prepare students?
In what ways is TPCK being achieved? In what ways can we further help teachers incorporate and integrate technological knowledge with their content and pedagogical knowledge? https://sway.office.com/kUxy3im9Umrs0myk
Although I might possibly meet the definition of a digital native, in what ways are my implementation, trust or reliance on technology contradictory of common expectations of a digital native?
What qualities do I have that more so label me as a digital immigrant?
Skepticism of technology. Is that a negative? Is it a positive? In what ways is it beneficial to be skeptical of technology? Draws back to the Selwyn article on Technological Pessimism.
How comfortable and reliant am I when int comes to use of technology in my daily life?
What possibilities are there for the future of digital education? (Particularly in the realm of my own professional experience working in a private boarding school in Beijing, China)
What are the current teaching machines? How have they evolved so far from Skinner's "teaching Machines"? What is the future of teaching machines? What possible capabilities are there?
To what extent has technological development shaped current education? In what was has innovation in education been shaped by societal needs? Which is the more dominant? Consider the Seymour Papert video.
Adaptive technology. Current examples: IXL, Duolingo, etc. How are these systems beneficial and personalized to the learner? Do they shape the learner in any way or are they purely shaped by the learner? technological determinism v.
social shaping of technology https://sway.office.com/1TzbZ0Cwo6YvXvCq
How do current teaching machines allow for or support constructivism? If they do not, how can they possibly? Seymour Papert Video + Learning to code or coding to learn? A systematic review by Starkey and Poppet
Decoding Learning: The proof, promise and potential of digital education. P 24 - 27