Zoe Armstrong – MET

Educational technology – is it ready to be foundational to education?

You don’t have to search very hard to find that the pandemic affected people differently. Many would tell you that the rich got richer and the poor got poorer. In relation to education, the learning gaps amongst students also got wider. The Canadian Commission for UNESCO (2021) shares, “it’s apparent that the children already most at risk are the ones likely to fall further behind.” And further behind they did fall. Not only that, but upon “returning” to the classroom in the Fall of 2020, the resources required to support these individual students in “catching up” were not in place. It is apparent, then, that a new foundation in education, built on the connectivity that educational technology provides, needs to be prioritized. 

The education system was not prepared to transition from in-person to online learning overnight. Though educational technology had become a hot topic amongst educational stakeholders before the pandemic, as Boys (2021) discusses, it was still seen as an “add-on,” (p. 14). Face-to-face education was, and still often is, thought to be superior to whatever learning experience could be facilitated in an online environment. This rhetoric was only further justified by the pandemic with statements like “by September 2020, most US students would be “months behind” with some losing the equivalent of a full year’s worth of academic gains,” when referencing the learning loss that occurred in the online learning setting (Bennette, 2020). It was a difficult time for educators as their careers were being challenged and as they were told anyone could do their jobs. How interesting it would be, if parents and guardians took as much interest in their child’s in-person education as they were forced to take in their child’s online education during the pandemic. 

Our education system still has a long way to go in terms of how and why educational technology needs to be prioritized. To further this claim, let us refer to the five Key Goals created by the COVID Education Alliance to support the “urgent need to transform education systems worldwide” (2020, p. 2). 

1. “Build technical knowledge (e.g. new technologies, computational thinking, models, algorithms)” (COVID Education Alliance, 2020, p. 5) 

For educational technology to be truly considered a foundation to our education system, the understanding of technology like algorithms, artificial intelligence (AI) and computational thinking needs to be more widely understood. For many, it still seems like “magic.” The current generation of students in our education system will never know a world without AI systems, such as ChatGPT. It is therefore essential that they understand these types of technologies and that they are meaningfully integrated into their learning. By gaining a stronger knowledge base of these technologies, the system will not only be better set up to support able-bodied learners, but also those often overlooked who may require additional supports and adjustments for their learning needs. 

2. “Build character (e.g. define own goals and preferences for individual balance and well-being, build solid value system)” (COVID Education Alliance, p. 5)

Though we like to think that in times of darkness, we as a human race will come together for the betterment of our collective, the pandemic proved to divide us further apart. People’s opinions of how “things” should have been handled have been polarizing. Technologies in the classroom need to facilitate the idea of coming together while being apart. Bennette (2020) shared that only 12.6% of students felt connected to their friends and school through online learning during the pandemic. The connectivity that we so often praise technology for needs to be prioritized in our education system to better support students with the development of their character, something so desperately needed in times of global health emergencies.

3. “Build judgment (e.g. recognizing and countering deception, developing critical thinking for sound decision-making)” (COVID Education Alliance, p. 6)

With the emergence of new technologies comes an even more prominent need for critical thinking skills within the online realm. When we prioritize educational technology as a new foundation, educators and students need to be able to decipher between legitimate and illegitimate resources and tools. As mentioned, global health emergencies often result in the division of people. This can cause the spread of misinformation, especially in online settings. Our future generations need to develop the skills to use logical reasoning and objective thinking to help with the development of their personal opinions. 

4. “Build resilience (e.g. to global challenges and their impacts, natural and human-made disruptions and shocks)” (COVID Education Alliance, p. 6)

An astounding 91.3% of students worldwide were affected by the shutdown of schools during the COVID- 19 pandemic (The Canadian Commission for UNESCO, 2020). If the education system is to prepare its students for anything and everything, these students need to be prepared for another displacement of the in-person classroom. Being able to adapt to a quickly changing environment, for example, online learning, is a skill that will continue to be useful as our world becomes more and more technological. The disruption of students’ regular school routine led to extensive mental health challenges during the pandemic. Bennette (2020) shares that “children were also reported to have been suffering persistent sadness and experiencing feelings of hopelessness,” while online learning. These are valid feelings. Students were thrown into a new environment they had no experience navigating. As a foundation, educational technology needs to become familiar to the point that students know it is a tool that will support them no matter what the world throws their way. 

5. “Build social awareness and responsible citizenship (e.g. of contexts and environments, cultures, needs, and circumstances)” (COVID Education Alliance, p. 7)

Technology can allow us to see parts of the world we may never have been able to before. Building empathy for the way others experience the world is part of education. Educational technology as a foundation is already used to show students how others live. In 2020, Bennette shared that “the kids are not all right,” after having been online for months. Though educators did their best to try to replicate the camaraderie of the classroom in the online environment, students did not feel the same. The social aspect of the in-person classroom needs to be better reproduced online if educational technology is to truly become foundational to learning.

References

Bennette, P. W. (2020, July 20). The educational experience has been substandard for students during COVID-19. Policy Options.

Boys, J. (2021). Exploring inequalities in the social, spatial and material practices of teaching and learning in pandemic times. Postdigital Science and Education, 4(1), 13-32.

COVID Education Alliance (2020). COVID Education Alliance (COVIDEA): Adapting education systems to a fast changing and increasingly digital world through the use of appropriate technologies.

The Canadian Commission for UNESCO. (2020, April 20). COVID-19 Is creating a world crisis in education.