EDCI 339 Blog Post #1

How can teachers effectively build relationships by encouraging safe communication and interactions in K-12 online & open learning spaces? 

Garrett Dikkers’ (2018) piece outlines different tactics and strategies that educators can utilize to build relationships and encourage safe, social communication in K-12 open learning spaces. She first reveals that the “foundational concept to interactions in online learning” is a community/“social presence” (p.512). Through having connections with others and working towards a common goal together, a learner’s motivation and satisfaction increases (Garrett Dikkers, 2018, p.512). Student motivation has been found to relate to the following: “communication, interaction, and social presence; Intrinsic and extrinsic motivators; and Learner-centered design” (Garrett Dikkers, 2018, p.514). Techniques for fostering communication and social presence such as “using humor, providing opportunities for students to hear the teacher’s voice and share content in their own voices, providing prompt and careful feedback that puts comments into perspective, interacting daily, using real-time communication as much as possible, and structuring assignments that discuss controversial issues and/or require students to communicate or collaborate with their peers” are suggested (Garrett Dikkers, p.514). Other key strategies that teachers can use to engage with their students include:

• designing and organizing learning activities 
• facilitating discourse with students, parents, and other teachers
• providing students with one-on-one instruction
• nurturing a safe and caring learning environment
• motivating students to engage in learning activities
• closely monitoring student behavior and learning 

(Garrett Dikkers, 2018, p. 514) 

These strategies can also be enhanced through community-building efforts such as “real-time web-conferencing tools” that use “chat, voice, webcam, and whiteboard technologies” (Garrett Dikkers, 2018, p. 515). 

All in all, I believe that if teachers can cultivate a learning community and environment that is based on friendship, communication, and respect, the social interactions in those spaces will be positive and will help to curate strong relationships.

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What did you already know based on the course readings and activities?

After taking some classes that discuss child psychology and prosocial behaviour, I already knew the importance of building relationships in the classroom and how crucial it is to foster a safe and comfortable environment for all learners. I have learned that classrooms must be “learner-centered,” “goal-oriented,” have realistic and universally understood rules and assessment, and activities should typically be seen as “a team effort”; although I learned about these ideas, I never knew they were a part of “human-centered instruction” (Lead SV, 2018). I have also studied some of Vygotsky’s theories and have learned that the “construction of knowledge is social” (Garrett Dikkers, 2018, p.509). Another topic that my courses have touched on is how students learn best when they work in their “zone of proximal development” (Garret Dikkers, 2018, p.509).

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What do you know now based on the course readings and activities?

After engaging with the readings, the importance of fostering a peaceful classroom community is cemented in my mind. I have learned that all caring classroom environments (whether they be online or in-classroom) must use precautions and security measures when integrating digital tools and EdTech. Through the UVic Acceptable Use Policy, FIPPA, and Regan & Jesse’s 2019 piece on the ethics of EdTech, my understanding of online “safety” and “privacy” has grown. I have discovered that what leads to the demise of many educational technologies is concerns surrounding “privacy, parental consent and access to the aggregated data” that sometimes includes “sensitive information such as disability status, social security numbers, family relationships, reasons for enrollment changes, and disciplinary actions” (Regan & Jesse, 2019, p. 169). Despite how there are many aspects of EdTech that are possibly problematic from a policy standpoint, they often get grouped into collective “privacy” concerns which can lead to the media and the public not understanding the complexities of EdTech ethics (Regan & Jesse, 2019, p.168-170).  The policy documents have taught me that I need to understand and be able to teach my students the following: what constitutes personal information, why privacy and personal information must be consented by every individual (also by their guardians when applicable), where information is stored (USA vs Canada) and what that means, and finally, that these rules are the law that we must follow.

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What do you hope to learn?

I hope to learn ways to cultivate social learning and collaboration for all unique learners. I look forward to exploring digital tools and EdTech that are accessible and meet the needs of all different students. 

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References

Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. Government of BC. Retrieved from https://www.bclaws.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/155_2012#section2 

Garrett Dikkers, A. (2018) Social Interaction in K-12 Online Learning. In R. Ferdig & K. Kennedy (Eds.), Handbook of research on K-12 online and blended learning (pp. 509-522 ). Pittsburgh, PA: Carnegie Mellon University ETC Press. 

Lead SV. 2018. What is Human Centred Instruction? Retrieved from https://www.leadsv.com/hcn

Regan, P., & Jesse, J. (2019). Ethical challenges of edtech, big data and personalized learning: Twenty-first century student sorting and tracking. Ethics and Information Technology, 21(3), 167-179. DOI: 10.1007/s10676-018-9492-2

University of Victoria. Acceptable Use of Electronic Information Resources Policy. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.uvic.ca/universitysecretary/assets/docs/policies/IM7200_6030_.pdf