In my workplace, I encounter students with learning difficulties, mental issues, and even a few cases in brain disorders. Hence, I’ve dedicated my assignment #3 in examining the potential of what could mobile neuroimaging technologies bring to learners with special needs. My choice of this topic is generated from educational neuroscience. Today, neuroimaging technologies like MRI, PET, CT, EEG, and fNIRs are widely used in healthcare, however recently they have been introduced to education. I find it’s a important area of development which could enormously benefit learners with special needs. Please visit my site here, https://sites.google.com/view/mobile-neuroimaging-technologi/home.
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Hi Vera, what an interesting proposition. I think there’s a lot of potential in technologies like the one you’ve suggested. Neuroscience is not something I am well-versed in, but you explained the concepts well and made everything easier to follow and also to picture with regards to this future project.
Thanks for maintaining a consistent format which made it easy to use the voice-over function, and thereby felt like an invitation for me to attend to your thoughts. There is a definite need for more work on learning difficulties, mental issues, and brain disorders, so I congratulate you for delving into further advances. While the non-invasive design is currently not attractive, this is a relatively minor issue that would need some designers to resolve.
However, while you mentioned challenges, one significant one comes to mind. Education is often financially stretched. Will the educator have enough skill set to fully take advantage of the data that your system will provide?
Hi Vera, fantastic OER design and layout! I appreciate how forward thinking your ideas are and the contributions they bring to promote greater accessibility in learning. While I do agree with the others that the wearable aesthetic aspect might need to be more “discreet”, from another perspective I think the focus should be on the possibilities and potential this type of technology could bring. For example, it could help researchers gain more insight into how people use their cognitive abilities to think, how it functions during learning and other medical applications which could have an impact in the future. I agree with the challenges you’ve listed out, at this stage it might be more feasible if the technology was used in medical clinics/hospitals instead of classrooms as medical professionals/neuroscientists will probably be able to interpret and understand more clearly as to what the results indicate. There doesn’t seem to be enough support for classroom use, though I think the data obtained from the neuroimaging equipment could be useful in helping educators make informed choices about how to improve the classroom environment and assist learners who might need special attention at school. Very informative and meaningful OER, well done!
Hi John, thanks so much for your words of encouragement and for sharing your thoughts on my project. Your feedback helps me think deeper about the purpose of mobile neuroimaging technology. I think your suggestion on applying neuroimaging technology in medical and clinical contexts totally makes sense. As a matter of fact, that’s already happening right now in clinical practices. If we were to anticipate the future development of educational neuroscience, I have hope for deepened neurotechnologies for education purposes. That being said, perhaps it’s still a little too early to say neuroimaging technologies will be massively applied in special education. But neuroimaging technologies start with pilot programs in partnership with educational institutions. Educators and neuroscientists can collaborate to enhance the program for the benefit of learners with special needs. I see a strong win-win in their collaborations because each party brings in rich experience in serving students and patients.
Vera – I appreciated how this OER built upon your presentation in ETEC 512! Similar to Tamaka’s sentiment, I would say that the wearable technology may need to be further developed (i.e. more discreet while still non-invasive) for practical use. However, I teach at a special education school (where everyone is neurodivergent in some way), and I don’t believe using a device like this would be a social issue.
wow thank you Aaron, that’s encouraging to hear! I had the same feeling that within special education, people may be more neurodivergent and more open to technology intervention. Would you find equip educators with basic neuroscience knowledge is beneficial for teaching and learning? I’m thinking yes to training educators with essential neurotechnology skills in ethical application, classroom facilitation, data protection, etc. And I am very curious to know what kind of technologies are applied in your class, keen to hear your response thank you!
Hi Vera, I enjoyed your resource about neuroimaging. It would be immensely helpful to medical professionals if we could gather a large-scale database of these types of scans without the need for specialized equipment that is only attainable in an expensive localized area, such as a hospital. You reflect on some of the challenges of data collection and the ability to distinguish meaningful results from the scan data, which I appreciated. Another consideration that I was thinking of was the file size and the need to store these files somewhere. Such high-detail scans would surely use a significant amount of memory and would need to be stored off of the mobile device to be practical. Maybe such an application would need to incorporate cloud storage or another compression feature. Thanks for sharing!
Hi Braden, good thoughts on data storage. You are right about the limited storage capacity on mobile devices. My initial thought is to use cloud service, rather than using limited mobile device capacity. This would requires secure and stable internet connections, which I anticipate an extensive internet coverage in the near future. I mean we do have pretty stable WIFI connections today, and I can only envision further internet coverage moving further, or at least within educational institutions. Does that sound promising to you?
Zheng, neurofeedback, when implemented privately with a professional is an excellent idea. As someone who supports neurodiverse students, what first came to mind when reading your project was the fact that students would be identified as having a disability by wearing a monitoring system, which would result in loss of privacy and confidentiality surrounding their diagnosis. Although there is more understanding around conditions affecting cognition, there is still stigma and potential discrimination associated with disclosure. If an instructor noticed an issue with brainwaves in class, intervention with the student would also signal to classmates that the student was also being neurodivergent at a specific time. How would you protect student confidentiality?
Hi Tamaka, I do appreciate you highlighting that neurotechnologies should be used within professional contexts. That actually enlightened me that educators need to equip with basic neuroscience technologies, perhaps that is a reality future educators will be facing. I’m thinking neuroscience technologies to be applied more in the educational context of special education where there is a common understanding and acceptance of learning disabilities. That being said, where educational neuroscience fits most suitable depends on certain circumstances, perhaps ADHD shouldn’t be categorized in special education, but autism might be considered in special education. My presentation is more leaning toward applying neurotechnologies in special education, and obviously, there are more learning disabilities than what I have identified.
Hi Vera,
Thanks for your response. ADHD is considered a condition that affects learning. In my own practice I see many students with the condition. An example of some accommodations depending on the student self-report have been, audio recording or note-sharing so the student can better focus on the instruction, and preferential seating up at the front, closer to the instructor and whiteboard. Before audio/transcription apps and smart pens, students had to purchase a recording device and search in playback, the bits to make notes from. Digital resources are so much better!
Hello Zheng,
As Jennifer mentioned, this is something I had not considered as well either. I have heard of some of these types of technologies used to monitor and look at cognitive functioning, specifically in adults. I like that your presentation included a lot of details because as this is such a new and innovative idea and use of mobile technology it is awesome to have that information available. I think the ethical concerns are definitely the biggest issue when it comes to technology like this because even though the technology is there and can be used, to what extent would parents and guardians consent to it. We often find that with new age tech, there is a slow progress for people to become interested in giving it a go, especially if young children would be using it.
Hi Sonia, thank you for viewing my presentation and reading the discussions. I had a hard time thinking, “where else we have missed so far as in educational technologies?” After a while, I figure neuroscience might be an area yet to be fully explored for the benefit of educational purposes. Then mobile neuroimaging technologies dawned on me and I instantly feel connected with this topic. I wouldn’t suggest applying neuroimaging technologies to any random learners but would be very helpful for learners with special needs. So, that’s a brief recap of why I landed on this topic of mobile neuroimaging technology. You also raised ethical concerns which I find understandably common when we were introduced to new technology, we tend to weigh the pros and cons right? I’d argue this emerging technology has more pros than cons for learners with disabilities. Why? In the medical world, neuroimaging has been widely applied for examination and treatment. And ethical protocols have been enforced throughout the process, therefore, I think it is highly possible that teachers may follow these protocols responsibly. As such, I also expect corresponding legislation to be created to ensure the ethical usage of mobile neuroimaging technologies.
Zheng, what an exciting presentation and one I had not thought of before. A few things that concerned me you addressed that should be mentioned in future studies before the full development of this app included privacy. One other thought I had was the social stigma of wearing a device in school. Much studDiabetesh Diabetes have a pump and a device on their arms. I could see the benefit of epilepsy being treated like diabetes, where staff can be notified when a student is going into distress to support them with their plan. The portion on ADHD caused me some concern because of the varying degree to which students and parents deal with that diagnosis. Some students are not medicated, others are, but many don’t want others to know that they suffer from it. Many UDL practices are designed to support all students, so not a single one is isolated. It is interesting how neuroimaging technology could be used to support education, but I worry that it causes one more layer for professors and educators to feel responsible for. I also fear that without the proper support in institutions, this technology would not be seen as supportive but rather a hindrance. But what a world we would live in if all of the supports were in place, the technology worked, and students felt empowered! That’s the world I’d like to teach in still.
Thank you Jennifer for responding to my presentation. I really appreciate you giving much thought to mobile neuroimaging technologies in terms of capacities and limitations. I share your concerns about privacy and social stigma, that’s why I also identify them as challenges. The interpretation of neuroimaging data requires area expertise and specific technologies, meaning it cannot be easily accessible and understood by random individuals. However, that also suggests data protection protocols should be enforced, ideally protected by privacy legislation. I think privacy legislation should be considered when applying neuroimaging technologies. Besides that, comfort issues also involve social impression, as for protecting users’ social image, vice versa, improper wearable devices may damage their social image. The last thing I want to see is learners being laughed at or bullied because they wear mobile neuroimaging devices to assist their learning Hence, I envision the future for neuroimaging technologies to be highly mobile, comfortable, and user-friendly.