Fourteen critical issues in technology are identified for a workshop at the BCTF Summer Conference in August 2013
The new
technologies raise many educational and social issues as they have become
infused in our classrooms and culture. Ursula Franklin says that “every tool
shapes the task”—no technology is “just a tool.”
Which are the
big technology issues that we should focus on? What should we do on these?1. Student information system (beyond BCeSIS)
The ministry has
selected a corporation, Fujitsu, to run a new software program to replace
BCeSIS. This is the same company that has had the contract to run BCeSIS, but
with a new software program.
The ministry-developed
system is not the only alternative. The Saanich school district is developing OpenStudent,
a open access system for student information.
What are the
issues that we should be concerned about?
An analysis of
the Ministry’s approach to replacing BCeSIS can be found at http://www.bctf.ca/uploadedFiles/Public/Publications/ResearchReports/RR2013-03.pdf
2. “Bring your own device”
The BC Education
Plan assumes that technology will be infused throughout the school—but largely
depends on students bringing their own device.
Should students
be able to bring their own device (smart phone, tablet, laptop) into the
classroom and use it there?What are the equity implications of this policy?
What policies
should apply to students’ use of devices in classrooms? Type of use? Limits on
sending photos and videos?
3. Cyberbullying
This is a big
public issue—for good reason. Ethical and safe communication can be taught in
the school. But where?
What
responsibility does the school have for actions by students outside of the
venue of the school building and grounds?Lots of material on cyberbullying exists on the web—just Google it.
4. Boundaries
Social media
have porous boundaries. A professional relationship with students requires
boundaries.
Many of the
cases of discipline of teachers dealt with by teacher unions relate to claims
of inappropriate professional behaviour related to online communications. Often
the digital footprint ends up as evidence in a hearing.
What should the Federation
be doing to help members find a balance between effective use of technology
with our students and necessary professional boundaries?
5. The “cloud” and privacy
BC has a privacy
law that requires that personal data must be stored on servers in Canada. This
is a positive response to the Patriot Act and the pervasive surveillance that
we now know is undertaken by the US National Security Agency.
Cloud services
of major corporations like Google and Facebook and many others store
information in massive server farms in the US and elsewhere.
This places
significant restrictions on the ability for teachers and the school system to
legally use these services. Waivers signed by parents may permit some use of
these cloud services—but with significant cautions. Some teachers believe that
the BC government should change the law to eliminate privacy restrictions for
educational purposes. What should the BCTF position be on this?
An excellent
publication by Julia Hengstler provides lots of resources on these issues,
including sample waiver forms to be signed by parents. It is called A K-12 Primer for British Columbia Teachers
Posting Students’ Work Online.
6. Intellectual property and copyright
Do you own what
you create—as a teacher, as a student?
When you create
a resource for your students, from an individual item up to a full course, do
you own it? Or does your employer own it? Who has the right to decide if it can
be used, or sold, to another teacher or another district?
What about
student-produced material? What permission should a teacher have from a student
if the student’s work is to be shared online?
The student
developed issues are also covered in Julia Hengstler’s publication.7. Distributed Learning
Under what
conditions and with which students is Distributed Learning a good option?
The practice of
Distributed Learning in BC is largely determined by funding. Districts create
programs to ensure they are getting the revenue that follows the student. Compliance
audits drive many of the practices, rather than sound pedagogy being the focus.
What should be
the future direction of Distributed Learning in BC? How can we define that and
influence decisions on appropriate use of DL?
The working
conditions of DL teachers have deteriorated as funding pressures and funding
decisions have played out in recent years. DL is expressly excluded from class-size
limits incorporated in Bill 22, and collective-agreement clauses don’t deal
with some issues specific to the DL environment.
The BCTF policy
on Distributed Learning can be found on the BCTF website or on the Digicritic blog
at http://digicritic.blogspot.ca/2013/08/union-supports-online-learning-with.html
The BCTF has
published several research reports on Distributed Learning that can be found under
“Technology” in the Research Reports section of the BCTF website: http://www.bctf.ca/publications.aspx?id=5630#Technology
8. “Blended” or “hybrid” learning
This is the new
thing in the edtech world. It’s not really new, of course, but addresses concerns
that many have about online learning for K to 12 that is only done online.
The concept is
simple. Students are engaged in work online sometimes and in a class setting
sometimes. A number of research studies say that this combination is the most
effective approach. Although there is little research that tells us much about
effectiveness in a field that changes quickly, it seems like common sense.
This does,
however, call into question encouraging students to sign up for courses offered
in districts other than the one in which they live. Blended learning is
place-based, not just cloud-based.
9. Technology in a capitalist system
The capitalist
system is based on ownership and the aggregation of “surplus value” through
that ownership. As participants in interactive programs we create that value. Our
attention and our participation are what major corporations like Google and
Facebook, as well as less pervasive businesses, have to sell.
Are open systems
based on sharing viable alternatives? Can we really produce an alternative at
least on the margins of a capitalist system?
10. A surveillance society
We are all being
watched, particularly online. Many people guessed that was the case, but we now
have confirmation through Edward Snowden’s May 2013 “leak” of information
relating to secret government mass surveillance programs, and their acknowledgment
by the US.
Easy ways of
linking information promotes surveillance. The BC government is planning that
all of us have a single card that relates to all services—driver’s license,
medical care, social services...everything that relates to government.
One of the areas
the ministry included in seeking a replacement for BCeSIS is parent and student
access to the database from home to look at what the students and teacher are
doing, reflected in the eSIS data. Authentication is to be...by the BC ID card.
The government
has announced that there will be consultation with the public this fall about
this card—and presumably its use.
This is what the
Privacy Commissioner Elizabeth Denham has had to say about the card:
Based on Phase 1 documentation,
Information and Privacy Commissioner Elizabeth Denham found privacy and
security of the card was designed according to legal requirements. Phase 2 will
include potential for data linkages across multiple platforms and the rollout
could be jeopardized without building public trust, she wrote.
“The BC Services Card program raises
significant concerns regarding misuse of personal data, such as unauthorized
access, profiling, and function creep,” Denham wrote in a February 5, 2013
letter to Citizens’ Services deputy minister Kim Henderson. “Solutions that
government proposes to address these risks should be subject to scrutiny by
both the public at large and by those with technical knowledge in the field.”
11. Big data and data analytics
“Big data” is
the basis of much of the direction of technology. It consists of the mass of
digital data that is being produced from data points in many of our personal
and business activities. We daily produce more data than was produced over
thousands of years of human activity. Making any sense of it requires tools to
analyze patterns and display the patterns in a way that can be understood—usually
called a dashboard.
One of the visions
of education technology is “adaptive” learning based on data analytics. It is the
learning machine—constantly providing feedback and new content to lead a
student to understanding what has been predetermined to be learned.
How big is big
data?
A great critical analysis of the application of data analytics was written by Phil McRae of the staff of the Alberta Teachers’ Association: http://www.teachers.ab.ca/Publications/ATA%20Magazine/Volume-93/Number-4/Pages/Rebirth-of-the-teaching-machine.aspx
12. MOOCs
MOOCs are
Massive Open Online Courses, the new “best thing” in online education. They are
free to take, but without providing formal university (or K-12) credits,
although that is changing.
A person can
take the course just out of interest and not produce anything to share. Beyond
that, an individual may join a peer group that reads and responds to work done.
Another option is an “autograder” that checks answers submitted against the
already-determined “right” answer.
MOOCs started at
some of the high prestige universities like Harvard and MIT. Tens of thousands
of people sign up as students—or a smaller number. Materials are provided
online—that may be lectures, streamed and/or archived, and readings, many
available on the web.
Lots of
post-secondary faculty have serious concerns about this creating two-tier
education, the quality of some of the courses, and the threat to face-to-face
learning by an automated form of education. Some developments are spilling over
to the K-12 systems.13. Open source, including open resources
Open source
software has long (in technology time) been an alternative to closed,
proprietary software. A movement by techies who have been willing to contribute
to building software that is open in the sense that techies get access to the
code and can make modifications, but with the requirement that the developments
also remain open.
Lots of the
software that underlies the operation of the Internet is open source. The
software for smart phones and tablets is built on open source, in contrast to
the operating systems of the iPhone, Microsoft phone, and Blackberry. These are
proprietary, and putting up walls is a key to their model for producing
revenue.
Open resources
are starting to gain traction at the post-secondary-education level. The Public
Knowledge Project and others are pressing a model of academic publishing that
is open and free to use, in contrast to the expensive and profitable journals for
which university libraries pay and researchers provide content.
Open textbooks
are also a growing phenomenon. Free, open textbooks have been developed for
some post-secondary courses in BC, helping to reduce the cost of an expensive
part of education. This approach to textbooks and other e-books will make a significant
difference to access to reading resources in less-developed countries that have
few publishing options and currently little access to books except by elites.
What are the
implications for K-12 education?
The Public Knowledge Project can be found at http://pkp.sfu.ca/
The BC Open
Textbook project can be found at http://open.bccampus.ca/
14. Not enough stuff
Transformation
of education using technology?
Not if teachers
don’t have the goods to do it. What is needed?
2013-08-16
LK:cep/af:tfeu
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