Tech Task #2 - Students in the Digital World

For my second Tech Task of the term, we are discussing the digital world our students do, and will, live in. First, we examine diagrams provided of a "typical teacher" and compare it to a "networked" teacher. Then we are to think about what a typical student's diagram would look like, and what the digital world means for their learning, and for us as educators.

Let's get started!

Typical versus Networked

According to diagrams by Alex Couros, the typical teacher has few relationships that influence them. Curriculum documents, popular media, and print/digital resources are influences that act as a one way street. They inform the teacher, provide information, but the teacher does not interact with them anymore than that. The teacher does not influence the documents, media, and resources. They are also influenced by their colleagues, family, and local community, and the teacher has influence on them. The teacher is able to interact with these relationship and have discourse with them.

The networked teacher has many more relationships that they can interact with compared to the typical teacher. In addition to their colleagues, family and local community, digital connectivity including video conferencing, blogs, social networking, online communities, and digital photo sharing are some networking connections that educators have where they can collaborate together and have discourse. The networked teacher still has influence from popular media and curriculum documents, but now they have many more options for networking.

What would this look like for a student? I would expect the typical student to resemble the networked teacher. A large amount of teens are connected to social media platforms, and according to this infographic, 77% of 14 and 15 year olds have their own smartphones. I am surprised to also see in that same infographic, that just over 40% of children from birth to 9 years old have their own smartphones. They would also have the family and local community relationship, and I would imagine instead of colleagues, they would have peers. Majority of teens say that they feel better connected to friends using social media, and that they feel they would have more support in tough times because of social media (81%, Pew Research Center).

When starting this Tech Task, I was surprised to think that the "typical" teacher had no online presence, or online interactions/discourse. Then, I saw the infographic by Couros was from 2008. I believe the typical teacher is gradually becoming the networked teacher. Part of this is because of retirement, but also many experienced educators are becoming users of social media and online resources. As well, the newer teachers who have had experience with technology and likely already use social media for their personal lives as well. I think it's important to note, for this Tech Task, that the infographics can be considered dated and I don't think they necessarily reflect today's educators accurately.

Learning in a Digital World

I think the increasingly digital world is an important aspect for educators to acknowledge. As an educator, I am always looking for the best way to keep my students engaged, and typically that means I am exploring their interests and hobbies. Since so many students use smartphones and social media, I think to incorporate these ideas are a great way to keep students engaged. Jennifer Casa-Todd outlines many great ways to incorporate social media in the classroom, including Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat, in her book Social LEADia.

In general, technology can be very helpful for learning. It has allowed students and educators to find information almost immediately, thanks to a quick Google search. I believe that having technology accessible for learning is important. With the world that students will be entering, technology is so quick and easy to use. They don't even have to take their phone out of their pocket, but they can simply say "Hey Siri, what's the capital of Bangladesh?". I can imagine as technology continues to advance, it will become easier and easier to use technology.

According to the infographic shared by MediaSmarts.ca, 80% of parents are worried about misinformation. Thankfully, part of learning about the digital world in schools includes identifying reliable sources of information. Increasing digital literacy is not just the schools responsibility, but rather a team effort between schools and parents. It's becoming easier, as technology advances, to publish your own materials online (just like me!). Meaning that anyone can post something, or publish something online and say it's true. By learning how to function in a digital world, students, educators, and parents will be able to spot "fake news".

Conclusion

As mentioned previously, I think educators will be able to increase engagement by using technology in the classroom. They could likely increase engagement other ways as well, but I think technology would be a great option. Students should be encouraged to use the resources they have available, in a smart way, to answer quick questions and do research. Social media can also be incorporated into the classroom, when introduced by a teacher and used responsibly.

The typical teacher had much less interactive relationships than the networked teacher, but I believe the networked teacher better represent's today's typical teacher. Students, I think best relate to the networked teacher diagram. They are influenced and able to interact with peers, family, community, and social media.

I hope you've enjoyed reading my thoughts about students in this digital world!