This “technologist module” presented to us I think is a good idea done wrong to be perfectly honest.
Let’s start off first with the good aspects of it. The core information trying to be presented is excellent and is something that I would think about daily in the classroom. The “design thinking” approach I think is an excellent way for teachers to quickly triage which platforms and tools can be the most effective, and which other ones are superfluous. I think when new digital tools for the classroom are created, they are too often made by a tech start-up who are too invested in the original idea they had instead of going back to the drawing board. This is a problem not just for tools created for the educational market, but also any app or platform which started off as a good idea theoretically.
Making sure these tools are human centred and useful comes first and foremost when introducing these tools in the classroom. I like to think of it as “digital ergonomics”. I have no idea if this is a widely-used term yet, but if it hasn’t been created, then I will gladly take credit ;). I feel like a broken record saying this but far too often, humans are forced to work around the technology, rather than the technology working around their needs. I don’t blame anyone in Silicon Valley for it, technology moves too fast to be optimized. We must though take this especially into account as educators. We have higher stakes than your average joe much of the time, what we do affects the upbringing of the next generation, and the tools we use must be as close to perfect as possible.
The module also talks a lot about digital literacies and teaching them in the classroom. I think there is a deep irony to talking about teaching digital literacies in the classroom while also trying to introduce certain tools like Powtoon, and Piktochart. They make it easy and accessible for anyone to make a video or infographic respectively. Unfortunately, I also think that they do not really teach us true digital literacy. Instead they act as drag and drop tools which don’t really teach the students anything about the intricacies of the computers. They teach aesthetics and how to make something look presentable and professional. Those are real skills which students need to be taught. In terms of teaching about technology though their value is nil. We used to learn in school how to use photoshop and flash to create the same things Piktochart and Powtoon do now. I think those older tools taught us a much deeper understanding of how video and chart making is done professionally. You would never use one of these tools if you wanted to do it even semi-professionally. While I understand that there is an argument for these tools act as a “gateway” into doing more advanced things, I just don’t buy it. Students will choose the path of least resistance and if they use these tools once, they will be more tempted to use them in the future. The one place I do see a use for these tools though is when students must make presentations themselves to their class. Then these tools could be useful, but I still hold to my point that making videos and graphics using more advanced, professional tools even for a history or English presentation, will further their learning better than these easy platforms online.
Finally, I have my critiques of the module itself in this short YouTube video I made. (And yes I also understand the irony in the video of me attacking buzzwords and overly academic language while using some of that in my blog post)
- Connor Pierotti