These first few weeks have felt a bit like information overload for me and have made me more aware of the challenges many adult immigrant English language learners experience when they are faced with learning a new language, new culture AND a highly digitalized educational experience.
Weller (2020) describes the connectivist approach to learning as “a chaotic process” that emphasizes creation and connection (p. 127). While I see the value and benefits to this approach, this definition resonated with me as I am currently experiencing the challenges and chaos of navigating unfamiliar online platforms and building my own online artifacts to share with others.
When teaching and learning shifted online due to the pandemic, many low-level adult learners were left behind due to either a lack of resources or their lack of digital skills. Now that classes returned to campus, most instructors have continued to use online platforms like D2L to assign and receive homework and assess students. With this transitions brings a greater need for digital literacy skills, and I am seeing more students who are seeking extra support as they struggle to navigate these platforms and keep up with their classroom learning. This can create that isolating feeling that Weller (2020) describes as an outsider looking in at the party that’s going on without you. So how do we move these students from being observers to being able to participate and make connections with others in online spaces? Furthermore, how can we effectively use these digital tools to develop language skills and prepare learners for life in a highly digital world? In my research this week, I came across the article from Davy Tsz Kit et al. (2022), which discusses the importance of developing learners’ “AI literacy” in order to utilize it “effectively and ethically in everyday life” (p.1). I believe this is a key consideration when teachers are trying to determine what tools to use within their classrooms.
My hope is to continue to learn and expand my own digital skills and knowledge of AI literacy throughout this course. Furthermore, my goal as a language tutor is to support and empower students on their language learning journey, and incorporating digital literacy into these supports is more important than ever!
References
Davy Tsz Kit, N.G., Luo, W., Man Yi Chan, H., & Kai Wah Chu, S. (2022). Using digital story writing as a pedagogy to develop AI literacy among primary students. Computers and Education. Artificial Intelligence, 3, 100054–.
Weller. (2020). 25 Years of Ed Tech. Athabasca University Press. https://doi.org/10.15215/aupress/9781771993050.01
Comments
8 responses to “Reflections on Ed Tech”
Shanna, I loved your personal touch to your blog. There were specific experiences that really changed your practice as an educator in a good way. These experienced have helped you change yourself as an instructor and identified in yourself where you needed to improve. I am grateful that you were comfortable to share that vulnerability.
I can very much agree with the big “information overload” and I loved your empathy for your current context of students. ELL students being taught in a language that they don’t understand is difficult and I can empathize with your experience. This all leading to your questions and goals for this course is phenomenal, and you wrapped it all up together as a journey quite well.
WHERE TO GO FROM HERE
I think that for your first post it was straight forward and basic. Written text and a reflection of the research is good, now make more eye catching. Take the suggestion from Dr O’Byrne and start with an Eye catching image or a title that stands out and not too vague. Great start, but try to incorporate one or two of the points on his site to perk up your blog.
Hi Vaughn,
Thanks for your comments! I think being an educator really is a journey, and we learn so much from our students along the way as well. I definitely agree that this first blog was me playing on “the safe side”. Hopefully I can wow you a little bit more in the next one :-).
Hi Shanna,
I enjoyed reading your blog post about the challenge that adult learners face when they not only have to navigate a new language, but also new technology. As Weller (2020) discusses and you noted, the connectivist “chaotic” process creates connection, however based on your own observations, simply attempting to navigate the new technology, without the added barrier of language, can be overwhelming. Does adding learning a new language on top of that create too much chaos which would then overwhelm and deter the learner? My sense is that it would be immensely frustrating and inhibit the learner, whereas our goal as educators is to help the student find joy in learning and assist them in navigating the chaos. OECD (2018) “A brave new world” paper discusses income and technological access and knowledge as barriers to motivation in learning the technology. While it would be remiss of me to suggest that economic barriers to technology exist for all immigrant learners, certainly for many that could be the case.
To this end, I wonder how, in adult immigrant or English as a second language learners how we could better support them. You have identified a potential area for improvement, for example D2L knowledge, so how can we move to remove this barrier to language learning? How would you integrate this technology learning to remove barriers and frustrations so that the learner could not only focus on the language learning but also receive beneficial technology learning? OECD (2018) Multiliteracies chapter discusses ways we could integrate language learners with technology, including the use of discussion-based teaching versus a traditional classroom. Most notably, this paper suggests that transcribing the technology learning into a learner’s first language might facilitate the rapid understanding of the technology, freeing the way for the language learning. While this seems like a great idea on paper, the sheer variety of language amongst the learners might prove another barrier to translation of materials.
I wonder then if, for example, teaching the students D2L and then English as a second language, you could have senior learners act as resources for translating the technology learning plan into other languages as part of an advanced assignment, for the benefit of future learners. Ethics aside, this is one idea where you could generate a sense of community amongst learners and flip the classroom.
These ideas may not be feasible; however, it is how I begin generating ideas on how to solve the issue at hand, in this case, removing technological barriers to instruction. Another idea would be to consult or “join forces” with interdisciplinary peers, who may have experience in early onboarding of technology in the ESL learner.
I am curious about your thoughts.
References
OECD (2018), “Multiliteracies and discussion-based teaching”, in Teachers as Designers of Learning Environments: The Importance of Innovative Pedagogies, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi-org.ezproxy.lib.ucalgary.ca/10.1787/9789264085374-12-en.
OECD (2018), “A brave new world: Technology and education”, Trends Shaping Education Spotlights, No. 15, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/9b181d3c-en.
Weller. (2020). 25 Years of Ed Tech. Athabasca University Press. https://doi.org/10.15215/aupress/9781771993050.01
Hi Megan,
Thanks so much for your comments! You’re ideas and thoughts on breaking down barriers in digital literacy skills for ELLs are excellent! I believe many instructors are finding ways to integrate these skills into the learning outcomes of their classes, but it’s still a challenging piece when you are trying to teach and assess so many benchmarks within a 14 week term with varying levels of tech literacy. As you said, access to technology outside of the classroom is also a challenge for many immigrant families, but our college does have laptops that students can loan out for semesters, and there are many computer labs that students can access outside of class time. I love your idea for an assignment in upper levels to translate learning plans for other students – brilliant! I agree that building a sense of community within the classroom and having students help one another can also help in addressing digital literacy skills. Thanks again, Megan :-).
Shanna,
I completely resonate with that feeling of being overwhelmed with information! Despite going into our fourth week of this course, I also feel the same way, and it is so unsettling!
I’ve always thought that I had a good grip on using D2L, now that I am in my second year of the program, but there is a lot of content to manoeuver- I cannot even imagine the struggle of navigating through technology whilst also being an English Language Learner!
It is clear that the use of technology and different digital platforms is here to stay, particularly in the education world. If that is to be, it is so crucial that we first help our students to develop a healthy relationship between the platform and our expectations. For instance, at our school, we switched our SIS platform from PowerTeacher to Schoology. This is our first year using this new system, but it is critical for teachers, parents and students to understand how to navigate it since it is our primary platform of communication. Yet, our school did not really take the time to train our students and parents on how to use it properly; we make the assumption that given this day and age, they will be able to “figure it out” if they play around with it enough.
In order to utilize AI “effectively and ethically in everyday life,” it is so important that we take the time to deliberately and intentionally learn how technology can be used as tools to help us, rather than having the expectation to conform to it as time passes.
Thanks for sharing!
Hi Stacy,
Thanks for your post! Yes, it’s that underlying assumption that everyone will just “figure it out” that can cause so much chaos and frustration for everyone involved! I do agree that the chaos is not always a bad thing and that we also have to challenge ourselves and move out of our comfort zone and be challenged in order for learning to happen. However, I empathize with immigrant learners who are often coming from challenging situations in their home countries and may be dealing with many different layers of stress and anxiety and are trying to juggle so many things. This is one reason why I believe my role as a language support is so important, as we are often much more than just language tutors.
Shanna, you had me at “information overload” and I related to what you had to say through “connected chaos” and the struggles of learning a second language and new technological skills. I too have been feeling overwhelmed and overloaded these first few weeks. It feels like my brain is full and with every article that I read and take in new information, something else falls out the other side of my brain. Navigating all these new platforms and ways of learning and connecting is both exciting and tiring.
In my undergraduate degree I studied at the University of Ottawa, I did several of my courses in my second language (French). Adding an additional language certainly adds a level of complication and exhaustion to everything. When I studied at UOttawa it was prior to 2000 and so we didn’t even have the added layer of technology to contend with. Your students are extremely lucky to have you as support because you care about them and are trying to give them as much assistance as possible.
In all my readings so far, the thing that resonates with me is that nothing is all good or all bad. There are always advantages and disadvantages with technology. On the one hand D2L has the advantage of email receipts for submissions so there is no argument as to whether an assignment was submitted, and a paper copy won’t be lost. On the other hand, I see your point of the difficulty of having to learn to use D2L, especially if you come from a background where technology was not easily accessible and are facing a learning curve to develop your digital literacy.
“Furthermore, how can we effectively use these digital tools to develop language skills and prepare learners for life in a highly digital world?” This is a really interesting question. A few years ago, I was part of a group of French as a second language learners at Werklund. We met at lunch every couple of weeks to practice speaking French. I found it incredibly helpful. DuoLingo and other technology-based applications are certainly helpful but interactions with peers, to me, and others, are valuable for solidifying my language skills. (Smith et al, 2021) It’s a balance that each individual needs to find and it varies with each person. Again, I would think your students are incredibly lucky to have your support as some learners need more personal support than digital.
In Weller’s article (2018), he discusses the use of sorting students as a tool in edtech. He states that one possible disadvantage is that it makes the “second door” of schools less transparent and visible. I would be interested in your perspective as to whether you feel your students are being guided to a “second door”? I know they have you to hopefully prevent this, but is this something that you are aware of and are dealing with as well? If you were not there to support them, it seems to me that many more of them would drop out or not complete their programs successfully, would that be an accurate assessment?
Thank you for sharing your experiences, they have made me feel better about my own journey in this course. You also made me aware of new things to take into consideration when I am dealing with students who come from diverse backgrounds.
References:
Smith, C., Dressler, R., Holden, M., Berzins, J., Fiddler, J. (2021). « Au-delà de Duolingo » : La formation d’une communauté de pratique d’adultes qui apprennent le français. Canadian Journal for the Study of Adult Education, 33(1), 85-91.
Weller, M. (2018, August). Twenty Years of Edtech. EDUCAUSE Review, 53(4). Retrieved from https://er.educause.edu/articles/2018/7/twenty-years-of-edtech
Hi Jude,
Thanks for your post and for sharing your challenges as well! I love your example from your personal experiences learning French and the importance of peer connections! It IS so important and often students just want someone to talk to when they come into the Help Centre. We run an informal conversation club for students, where they can come and practice casual conversation outside of classes and many students love this, as it is sometimes the only place they feel comfortable practicing their English and receiving some feedback from peers and tutors. It’s also true that many students struggle with trying to balance their own educational needs along with their everyday responsibilities as parents or providers for their families in a new country. It’s a hard situation, and I’ve seen many students drop the program because they can’t keep up with the commitment and need to provide for their families.