Part 1: Evidence and Reflection

This portfolio will be structured by activity.

Topic 1 post: https://joseph.opened.ca/topic-1-discussion-post-edtech-challenges/

During the course, I completed the Topic 1 blog post where I explored privacy and human-centered learning. The focus of my blog post was the paper by Regan and Jesse which looked into some of the ethical challenges of Ed tech. I briefly summarized the article by describing the proposition made by the authors in the paper and briefly going over some of the points they made to substantiate their assertion. I then reflected on the paper and began to question the proposition made by the authors and the assumptions they made based on my own personal experiences with apps and privacy. I then proposed a potential solution that could remedy the concerns I raised, which involved having a committee of stakeholders to assess the platform instead of relying on third-party software alone. From this activity, I gained an appreciation for how nuanced and complex of a topic Ed tech really is, and that simply looking through a privacy lens when evaluating platforms is a gross oversimplification. This learning contributed to my development of learning outcomes #2 and #3, because I engaged with current literature on distributed education and reflected on and articulated concepts around modality, access, privacy laws etc. This learning matters to me because even though I’m not going into teaching, it gave me a great appreciation for how complicated it can be to evaluate apps and platforms, and how easy it is to overlook some of their potentially insidious effects.

Topic 2 post : https://joseph.opened.ca/edci-339-topic-2-discussion-post-edtech-history/

I completed the Topic 2 blog post where I had to chance to learn about the history of distributed and open learning through Martin Weller’s book on the history of Ed tech. In this reading, the author challenges the widespread notion that education is outdated and incapable of adopting new technologies, and supports this assertion through the rest of the book by listing examples and discussing them in great depth. This was a very enlightening read that challenged some of my own assumptions about Ed tech. One counterpoint that I raised was that even though technology has been adopted in education, at least more so than it’s been credited for, outcomes in education have not had the kind of transformational effect that technology has had in many other fields. Through this reading activity, I learned about the rich history of Ed tech and how education has embraced technology a lot more than I realized. By having to reflect on online and open learning history and reflect upon emerging and future educational technologies, this learning contributed to my development of learning outcomes #3 and #5. This learning matters to me because understanding the history of Ed tech has given me an appreciation for the field and the tools to be able to potentially contribute to the field one day, given that I’m a Computer Science major.

Topic 3 post: https://joseph.opened.ca/edci-339-topic-2-discussion-post-equity-and-access/

I completed the Topic 3 blog post where I had a chance to learn about some of the challenges to access and equity in education as a result of Ed tech. The reading on digital redlining by Gilliard and Culik was very eye-opening for me. It illustrated how something seemingly harmless and behind the scenes such as internet filters on college campuses can be so insidious. But the reading was very US-centric. I’ve had the chance to attend both university and colleges here in Canada before transferring to UVic. So my reflection consisted of a comparison between my own anecdotal experience of digital access in colleges and universities here to whether digital redlining is prevalent in Canada as much as it is in the US. Based on my personal experiences, I came to the conclusion that it wasn’t but proposed that this is definitely a topic worthy of serious investigation. From this activity, I learned and truly gained an appreciation for digital access and equity, and just how much of a big impact it can have on society, and when gone wrong, how dangerous it is in its potential to exacerbate social inequalities. This learning contributed to my development of learning outcomes #2 and #4 because I explored and engaged with current literature on distributed and open education, and examined and reflected upon the potential for equitable access for all learners in online and open learning contexts. This learning matters to me because, in my future career as a software developer, I might be in a position to create the tools and influence how the rules are written when it comes to digital access, and I will now be much more cognizant of the far-reaching impact that my decisions can have.

Topic 4 post: https://joseph.opened.ca/edci-339-topic-4-discussion-post-sharing-resources-and-practicing-open/

I completed the Topic 4 blog post where I read the paper on Open Educational Resources (OER)-enabled pedagogy as a set of teaching and learning practices that are only possible or practical in the context of the 5R permissions that are characteristic of OER. The authors propose criteria to evaluate whether a form of teaching qualifies as OER-enabled pedagogy. The 5R activities are retain, reuse, revise, remix and redistribute. Having a clear and consistent definition and an associated set of guidelines like this to act as a qualifier will bring a lot of clarity and consistency to the subject of OER. In the post, I discussed some examples from my own educational experiences that pass the test for OER-pedagogy. I also discussed one of the research questions at the end of the paper that caught my attention. From doing all of this I learned what OER is and what OER-enabled pedagogy entails. This learning contributed to my development of learning outcomes #2, and #3 because I engaged with current literature on distributed and open education and reflected on and articulated concepts around pedagogy and others. This learning matters because it gave me a clear framework to evaluate what open learning is and isn’t, and that will help me make any educational resources that I make in the future much more accessible.

I also did the Pod project, where I did the pitch for my group:

This activity contributed to my development of learning outcome #4 because I was able to examine and reflect upon the potential for equitable access for the learner that was our persona, in online and open learning contexts. This learning matters to me because it allowed me to apply some of the principles I was exposed to through previous activities.

Part 2: “Showcase” blog post

Updated blog post: https://joseph.opened.ca/updated-edci-339-topic-2-discussion-post-edtech-history/

Original blog post: https://joseph.opened.ca/edci-339-topic-2-discussion-post-edtech-history/

After reflecting on this blog post, I felt that I spent too much time summarizing the work of the author. I still feel the same way with regards to my reflection and the points I raised, so I have not made any changes there. So to not over-emphasize the summary too much and to make it more balanced, I decided to cut out some of that excessive summary in the earlier half.