In the realm of educational technology, there are many different categories, themes, or issues that can be discussed, debated, or explored. As a result, there are many educational technology topics that I am interested in. At this moment, the three primary educational technology topics that intrigue me are accessibility/inclusion, teacher-student relationships, and collaboration.
This article by Nicole Krueger and this article on Acer Education’s website identify multiple educational technology themes. The topic that caught my interest in both of these resources was equity and inclusion. She states that although there was a sudden shift to online learning where e-learning has become more accessible, the problems surrounding equity and inclusion are far from being solved. In Acer’s Educational article, they explore using educational technology to increase inclusivity and accessibility. The terms inclusivity, equity, and accessibility are intertwined and are essential for ensuring that all humans have the tools to learn, grow, and succeed. This is a topic that I am passionate about because I believe that education is a fundamental human right for everyone yet not everyone has access to quality and affordable education.
A second topic that I am interested in is using EdTech to promote collaboration between students. Technology has provided the tools necessary to increase the efficiency of collaborating on academic, social, or recreational tasks. This includes gameplay, problem-solving, writing, personalized blog posts, and more. I believe that most students learn more, learn deeper, and learn better through collaboration with others. Technology allows for this learning environment to be created in an in-person environment, a synchronous online classroom, or an asynchronous online learning platform. I am eager to learn more about using EdTech to increase student collaboration because I primarily build lessons and units that involve student collaboration, but I have minimally done this through the use of technology. This video by Katherine Hixon describes how they use technology to support collaborative learning.
The third topic about educational technology that I am interested in is teacher-student relationships. This topic is the one that I am currently most interested in because my teaching pedagogy relies heavily on positive teacher-student relationships. This is because I know that positive teacher-student relationships enhance engagement, student learning, and teacher effectiveness. I am also aware that these relationships open pathways for increased personalized learning, mental well-being, and a positive learning community. My interest in teacher-student relationships regarding educational technology is about how teachers can still have and maintain positive relationships with students while learning is not occurring in physical environments (distance, asynchronous, or blended learning environments).
In my initial thoughts and reflections on EdTech and student-teacher relationships, I have the current belief that EdTech has negative effects on teacher-student relationships. I am fully aware that this is because of my limited understanding of how teachers can facilitate meaningful relationship-building through online platforms. However, this would be a topic of research that I would like to investigate. In particular, how teachers can overcome the depersonalization, isolation, and interpersonal divide that can often be seen with the uneducated use of technology. Of course, these three negatives that can be seen in EdTech would be regarding learning environments of distance learning where in-person connection is not possible. In scenarios that are blended or in-person learning environments, it is evident that the use of educational technology can support furthering the bond between teacher and student.
I have not yet decided on one topic of educational technology that I would like to pursue in research. This is because I am passionate about creating a learning environment that is inclusive, accessible, collaborative, and interpersonal. I would love to combine these different topics of educational technology into a larger, broader topic of research. However, if I were to concentrate on one particular area of EdTech, it would be about how teachers can create digital learning environments that are built upon creating and maintaining positive teacher-student relationships.
As a concluding thought, attached is a podcast of a conversation with Kevin Santer. Kevin is a fully online instructor at Michigan Virtual (2019 Virtual Teacher of the year) and dives into his experiences with online teacher-student relationships at the secondary grade level. I am going to write about my thoughts in my next post, so take a look before then!