Author: Sarah Letourneau

When it comes to teaching students about how to safely obtain information online, what makes a website secure, or the importance of managing privacy online I have not done an adequate job. Last year I did three inquiry research projects with my students. I gathered all of their research for the first two projects and then let them have more freedom with finding their own on the third. Thankfully I had a support teacher help me, or it would have been a nightmare! We did a quick lesson on what to use for keyword searches to find their information, allowing them to practise as we walked around the room. There is such an overwhelming amount of information to sift through and many students gave up, wanting us to provide the information for them. Some students discovered that not all information is given freely and were signing up for subscriptions so they could obtain it. Thankfully they didn’t go through with the whole subscription process, but that would have been a perfect learning opportunity for me to teach students how to protect their information!! As teachers we are so strapped for time to complete units with our class. I wish I had taken the time to address that situation properly. So this year I will do things differently. I will begin our research journey with some lessons on how we can be digitally literate. 

Before even talking about research I will do a lesson in regards to privacy and security. I’d follow BC’s Digital Literacy Framework (n.d) that states, “A digitally literate person knows how to protect his/her privacy, respects the privacy of others, and employs strategies to maintain information and data security online”. The lesson, ‘Data Defenders: Understanding data collection online’, from MediaSmarts (n.d.) is a perfect activity for my students to engage in. It has students play an online game that brings to light how easy it is for games to gather your personal information. There is a pen to paper activity to do after, but with my age group I would opt to do the activities together as a class so we could have a discussion about each of the privacy tools: mighty masks, alter ego, hide me, total control, private browsing. 

Learning Outcomes

Students will:

• Develop an understanding of:
  • the commercial objectives underlying the websites, services and applications they use
  • the importance of managing their privacy online
  • their rights as citizens and as children online in terms of privacy and data collection
• Identify the methods and purposes for data collection on most of the websites and applications they use
• Learn a variety of tools and techniques to help them manage their privacy online

MediaSmarts. (n.d.). Data Defenders: Understanding the data collection online Retrieved from https://mediasmarts.ca/teacher-resources/data-defenders-understanding-data-collection-online 

Province of British Columbia. (n.d.). BC’s digital literacy framework. Retrieved from https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/education/kindergarten-to-grade-12/teach/teaching-tools/digital-literacy-framework.pdf

One of my biggest strengths in educational technology is my willingness to try unfamiliar programs or technology tools with my students. I am always looking for ways to meaningfully engage my students with technology as a tool for communicating their learning (Class Dojo) and presenting their information (iMovie, Google Apps for Education). 

There are many challenges when introducing new technology. Something I want to be more aware of is not pushing technology after technology onto my students, but rather taking some time to introduce safety for each technology introduced. I want my students to gain the skills necessary to carry them forward as digitally literate students. Time is also a big challenge when introducing new technology as there is one of me and 23 students all needing help at the same time, which eats up my time actually teaching them. I’m very thankful my school has access to classroom iPads, but they become old and unable to update so quickly. That is one barrier with iPads. They have a sort of ‘life-expectancy’ and stop updating Apps, which makes it frustrating for my students to try and operate. 

MediaSmarts is a fantastic resource I plan to utilize more with my students this year as I’m noticing them being more literate with Google Apps for Education compared to my class last year. I’ll be able to focus on developing their ability to gather, evaluate, and use information critically and efficiently. It would be helpful for the technology in schools to not become obsolete so quickly.

References:

MediaSmarts. (n.d.). Digital & media literacy fundamentals. Retrieved from http://mediasmarts.ca/digital-media-literacy/general-information/digital-media-literacy-fundamentals

1. Describe and discuss one or two elements from the Bates or Watters chapters that allowed you to think deeper about your past or present teaching.

When our education system had to fully depend on technology to teach due to the pandemic it became quite apparent we were not ready for such a drastic change. Many teachers in the secondary and elementary setting had adopted a blended approach to teaching, but to shift entirely to online was something they never thought they’d do. Although teachers and students are absorbed in their social technologies in their daily life it’s a whole other concept to be teaching and learning through online education. The impact of the Internet in this digital age has caused a paradigm shift in the use of technology in education (Bates, 2015). As students are now growing up with technology at their fingertips it only makes sense their education would mirror that. You also need to know your students. In an elementary setting my students might go home every night and play Fortnite, but those skills don’t necessarily transfer over to the use of a computer to make a Google slide presentation. This has been something of interest to me. I use Google Apps for Education and I am always stunned when students have trouble simply logging on to their account. Their world is fully immersed in tech, they love it and can’t wait until we have the iPads or Chromebooks. I’d like to become more aware of how I can better help my students utilize what is around them. Gone are the days of the teacher being the expert, I want to bring my students into this digital age knowing how to get all the benefits out of using technology.

Another issue that got me thinking was Audrey Watters’ questions about if the goal is to have teachers become more automated and mechanical and the machines more human (Watters, 2014). If teachers are to become more standardized in their teaching then wouldn’t they become just like machines, pumping out grades. That doesn’t sound like a great atmosphere to teach or learn in. Whenever you use a piece of technology in the classroom there has to be a purpose and goal for the students in order for it to be effective. It’s interesting thinking about what we are using technology for and why is it being brought into the classroom. This has definitely got me thinking about my reason for using technology in my classroom. It should not be a stand along occurrence, but weaved into my teaching. 

As Bates suggests, fully online learning is best suited to more mature, self-motivated students who have families and are working. In the context of secondary and elementary education I believe the best is face-to-face instruction with technology integrated in.