Week 4: Sustainability Issues

 

This week I was asked to think about the topic of global digital citizenship. This idea allows us to think beyond regular digital citizenship and our respectful use of services online. The idea of global digital citizenship inspires us to think about global environmental impacts of technology use, sustainability issues, and responsible sourcing of tech and the minerals used in its creation. 

 A couple of the questions presented this week were as follows: 

• How do we convince designers to make devices less disposable and more upgradable? 

• How do we ensure that our devices get recycled properly when the time comes? 

When I read these questions, I cannot help but think of the human fallacy of greed as the contributor to most of these issues. It is unfortunate, especially for young ears, to learn that money is what makes our world go round, and that desire for profit and greed towards earning more income is where all of the flaws lie in sustainable and responsible technology creation. 

 

How do we convince designers to make devices less disposable? That is a good question. First, we would have to convince them that the less disposable option is more profitable, or create some other incentive for them to seek change. Designers create devices that have an expiry date, because their whole business rests on consumers purchasing more of the product. If a product was created that could last a lifetime, then there would be no such thing as repeat customers. People would purchase the product once, pay the set price to the tech company, but then never contribute to any future sales. Do you ever wonder why your devices appear to all malfunction after a certain amount of use or time? It is because they were produced with an intended limited lifespan. Products could be created to last longer, but the math does not make sense from the perspective of corporations. Three products sold at regular price over a period of time is still more profitable than one high quality product that has a retail value of double that of the low quality item. 

 

When we think of sustainability, we think about the environment. When a company thinks about sustainability, they think about sustaining their income source. Do you ever wonder why household lightbulbs burn out each year, but the headlights on your car will last forever? The difference is that the lights on a car are a safety issue. If they burn out, then people could get hurt, so manufacturers are required to make them last. Whereas, if a light burns out in your house, you can afford to go out and purchase a new one, risk free. 

 

The same argument applies to the question of proper recycling. Again, recycling is expensive. It is often labour intensive, and cheaper to simply source new materials. Some components make sense to recycle from a profitability viewpoint, like easily accessible precious metals, but the remaining components that are harder to separate become a burden. Digital waste is sometimes sent to countries with a cheaper labour force, earning just a few dollars a day. There, it may be worthwhile for an individual to spend their day taking apart scrap digital components, but again, what does it all come down to?... money, profit, greed. Wherever there is a profit to be made, people will be motivated to take action automatically. Where there is no profit is where the challenge lies. Often countries will dip into government pockets to subsidize non-profitable, environmental or sustainability issues. Some individuals will contribute to the cause as well. Realistically, most will not.

E

The Internet of Things in Agriculture

I grew up on a cattle farm, in a time when the internet was not yet affecting farms in a major way. Much of the work was performed through physical labour, and efficiencies were created by either working smarter, or after having a good breakfast to give you some energy. Nowadays, farming is much different than I can remember growing up. Farming is much bigger, and technology is at the core of many of the efficiencies that led to large-scale farming. 

 

When people think of farming, many people still picture a rough-looking individual in coveralls and boots, tossing grain to the chickens or pitching straw with a fork. However, the truth is that farms now incorporate as much technology as any other major businesses. I will introduce you to some of these technologies that you may not be aware of. What you will see, is that the internet plays a larger role in modern farming than you may have imagined. 

 

Remote control: 

 

Farmers have cameras set up in barns to monitor livestock from any place at any time. This allows farmers to be in multiple places at once, saving time and energy. The farmer can view the input from a camera on their phone, and can also remotely control many of the cameras, to get a 360 view, or zoom-in to a particular focus. Farmers can also remotely check monitors on fuel pumps to determine inventory or levels on equipment. There is the ability to remotely turn on equipment at any time, such as milking robots in dairy barns. Other uses include controlling water pumps, turning on electric fences, or automatic gate control. 

 

GPS:

 

It seems futuristic to think of vehicles driving themselves, but did you know that this currently is taking place on farms? There exists GPS guided tractors that can drive themselves, either supervised or unsupervised. This type of technology has been on the market in the agriculture industry for several years now. Farmers also make use of GPS for precision tilling, planting, spraying and harvesting. This technology use saves on many of the input costs, and can save a farmer a significant amount of money when used over a large area. 

 

Bio-monitoring:

 

There are devices that can be used to track temperature, heart rate, breathing and movement on livestock. These can be used to monitor health, and to provide early warning of any decline in the animal’s condition. This can also be linked to appropriate climate and feed adjustments for animals, that can be turned on automatically or remotely. Many dairy barns currently have feed systems that are individualized for each cow, whereby a sensor worn by the animal is used to control rations when the animal accesses the feeding area. Each cow will have a pre-determined amount of nutritional needs, and a senor will release a portion of food as necessary. 

 

Inventory Orders: 

 

With such a large amount of inputs and inventory needed on a large-scale farm, technology has allowed for farmers to manage this more efficiently. There are connected sensors on inputs such as fuel, feed, or other products that can constantly keep up-to-date data, which can be accessed from a smartphone. Additionally, farmers can set up systems whereby when inventory drops below a prescribed level, an automatic order can be placed. 

 

For me, I find the use of technology very interesting. As I learn more, I keep looking for efficiencies that I can introduce to my own farm. However, many of these technologies can be quite pricey to set up initially, and require a large enough farm to justify their use. With time, much of these technologies are getting refined, becoming more user-friendly, as well as becoming more affordable. It is fascinating to see how the internet of things has revolutionized farming over the past two decades of which I can remember. 

 

For more information on this topic, and implications of the internet for agriculture, check out the following websites: 

 

https://www.fcc-fac.ca/en/knowledge/the-internet-of-things-implications-for-agriculture.html

 

https://www.luda.farm/support/the-internet-of-farms/

 

https://www.networkworld.com/article/3071340/john-deere-is-plowing-iot-into-its-farm-equipment.html

Tech Task #2: Your Students and the Digital Age

In this post I will discuss the difference between a typical teacher and a connected teacher. I will also write about the implications of the digital world for myself, as a teacher, and for the learning of my students. The digital shift has been developing for several years now, but has the impact of COVID 19 accelerated the digital world of education? 

When looking at a typical traditional teacher, resources and teachable information was sourced from a limited number of connections. Teachers would look to curriculum documents, colleagues, popular media sources (television or radio), print resources, or knowledge from family members or the community. In comparison, a modern, connected teacher will have access to all of the above, plus many other digital avenues for resource gathering. Some connections may include: blogs, wikis, video conferences, computer chats, social networking services, online communities, or digital photo sharing, among others. With the availability of so much more extra information and methods to stay connected, does this create an environment to have better teachers than in the past? Undoubtedly, there is more information available, and quicker access to it, but how does this translate to the teaching quality in schools? Along with teachers, students also have access to this multitude of connections. How has this impacted the lives of students? 

 

As I write this, I am thinking about my connected self as a preservice teacher. I find myself to be connected to all of the items I listed for the traditional teacher, as well as a few items of the connected teacher. I have taken part in some video conferences, social networking, or digital photos sharing. It is obvious that I am also connected through means of blogging as well. A significant cause for me to branch out and access online connections, was due to the COVID 19 pandemic. I was no longer able to access information in person or traditionally, so I became forced to explore other means. Each time I do this, I learn something new. I may discover that modern methods are working better for me in certain areas, and I may choose to adopt them in part for my classroom teaching. I may also become overwhelmed or frustrated by some of my modern connections, and abandon them altogether. Regardless of whether I like everything I see and use online, it is now part of my life, and consequently, some of it will rub off on me and be used in my teaching methods. It is important to understand that things we are exposed to frequently, soon become familiar to us, and we then become more comfortable with their use. This is the part that teachers should understand about their students. Whatever the students are using and accessing daily, will inevitably be brought into the classroom with them. This is the main reason why teachers need to remain up to speed with digital advancements; because the students are using them. 

 

The connections used by a typical student of today, may include the following: Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, television shows, Netflix, Reddit, YouTube videos, TikTok, Tumblr, video calls, discussions with friends and family, photo/video sharing, among others. It is evident that young people of today source a lot of their information digitally, and spend a significant amount of time behind a screen. If used with discipline, this can become a huge advantage for students of today, and provide access to rich and diverse knowledge. But on the other hand, there are also negative consequences from spending too much time online. 

 

The following website contains quite interesting reader-friendly information, derived from a 2018 surveyed analyzing the digital well-being of Canadian families. Check it out: 

 

https://mediasmarts.ca/sites/mediasmarts/files/publication-report/summary/infographic-digital-canadian-families.pdf

 

There are a few points from this survey that I would like to draw your interest to. 

 

The top rule that parents set for their children is how much time their child spends on digital devices. This would indicate that parents feel the need to limit or reduce the amount of time their children are accessing a device. Despite the benefits of having access to rich digital knowledge, perhaps parents feel that too much access is harmful to their child. Or perhaps what the children tend to access is not rich at all, but all of the “noise” that takes place online. 

 

Another statistic that I found to be unsettling, is that 43% of parents reported that their children never use a digital device during family meals. This number should really be presented on the flip side, saying that over half of parents report that their children DO use a digital device during family meals. That is a large number, and if children cannot even put down their devices for meals, I would agree that this is concerning. 

 

Continuing with the statistics, the top parental concern across all age categories is misinformation online, followed by sexual content, violent content, and cyberbullying. Just as there is good information online, there is a flood of bad information to be avoided. Furthermore, access to the online world can lead to conflict within the family. Parents reported that the biggest source of conflict across all age categories was excessive use of digital devices, and almost half of all parents said that it was difficult to get their child to stop using digital technology when they asked them to. 

 

So if there are problems at home with digital well-being, and parents are experiencing difficulty controlling their children, how will students learn digital responsibilities? Who is responsible for teaching the younger generation to regulate themselves, and to guide them towards meaningful online experiences? Well…according to the survey, 31% of parents are turning to their child’s school and teachers for digital parenting advice. Additionally, 81% of parents agree that it is important for their child’s future that they think critically about how they use digital technology. Guess what fellow teachers, this burden will fall on us. We are the ones responsible for teaching a significant portion of the digital literacy skills to students. Everyone, get out of the stone ages if you are in them, and brush up on your own digital literacy skills. Now is the time to enter the online world and build your own connections, educating yourself along the way. On that note, I wish you all good luck! 

Week 3: Online Education Career

In response to the COVID 19 pandemic, Manitoba Education had to be creative. Having large amounts of students together in a classroom was just not safe anymore. Many parents were worried about sending their children to school, out of fear that their child’s exposure risk would be too high. Many individuals remained at home for an isolation period if experiencing some common cold symptoms. All of these students that were at home missing class needed a way to keep up with their education. Teachers attempted to post as much material as they could online to support the learners at home, but that became quite overwhelming. Teaching students both online and in-person unfairly burdens teachers, and it is also unfair to each student, as the quality of education diminishes when teachers are overwhelmed. A need for online educators grew as more and more students were asked to stay home for the safety of all Manitobans. To meet the needs of students, Manitoba’s Remote Learning Centre was established. This would serve as a virtual school for those students who were unable to attend a physical school. Specific teachers were hired for online teaching responsibilities, and virtual classes and cohorts were put together. This program is ongoing and expanding each day. 

 As a young educator, I wonder how the Remote Learning Centre will influence my future employment. This program appears to have created many job opportunities that did not exist prior to COVID. The Remote Learning Centre is hiring new teachers, just as if a new division was created that needed immediate staffing. There is a large need for tech savvy teachers, which is quite exciting for students in the Internet for Educators course. We are perfect candidates to fill this role, so perhaps this year will be a little less stressful for new graduates finding jobs, provided that they are equipped with adequate tech skills. Additionally, the number of teachers employed in the physical schools appears to be similar to in the past. If anything, more job openings are occurring in the physical schools, as educators become overwhelmed and decide to take time off. Or some long-time educators that were pondering the idea of retirement have decided that a pandemic would be a good time to pull the plug and retire. This seems to be an ideal year to be a new graduate teacher. 

 

The questions running through my mind, however, are: Is this new opportunity something that I would be looking forward to? And would I want to educate students through an online platform? Personally, I do not believe that online education is as rich as an in-person experience. I took university classes through Zoom over the past year, and to be completely honest, they were much less engaging than being in a classroom. I enjoyed the benefits of being able to complete the courses from home, being able to isolate while still in school, and other COVID specific benefits, but overall, I did not learn as much. The novelty of learning through my laptop has already worn off, and I am ready to see actual faces again. So if this year I am faced with the choice of two job offers; one through a remote learning platform and one in person, what would I do? Even with considerable tech skills, and the ability to teach well online, without a doubt I would still choose the in-person teaching. It is what I set out to do when I applied for the education program, it is how I envision my career, and my goals have not changed throughout this pandemic. Additionally, it would be difficult for me to promote learning through a platform that has been less successful in teaching me. Perhaps some of my peers are interested in online teaching, which is great, and I would encourage it. Take whatever job interests you the most. It is important to not only do what you are skilled at, but also what makes you happy. 

Humans vs Computers

This week I had the pleasure of listening to a presentation given by Kirsten Thompson, the tech coordinator at Mountain View School Division. It is clear that Kirsten knows her stuff when talking about technology use within the schools. I was fascinated to listen to her experiences, and her advice for my fellow classmates as future educators. 

Early on in the presentation, Kirsten asked everyone to think about the question: What is your niche? What can you do that a computer cannot? For me, the first thought that came to mind was personality. Computers do not have personality, whereas teachers do. This is needed to connect with the diverse student body within the classroom, who also have distinct personalities. Teachers form connections with students, and give meaning to their learning. When I teach something, I always have to have a purpose. I often like to bring in real-life experiences of my own, or examples of logical application of the material I present. I have often heard students ask the following: Why do we have to learn this? Is this even important? For myself, I never want to be in a situation where I cannot provide an answer to those questions. The students should always be able to know why they are learning something, whether they will use it in the future, personally, or not. 

 

It is easy for students to stop caring about their school work if they do not see meaning through it. This not only applies to the students who struggle with completing school work, but also with students who excel. I have often seen cases where the brilliant student in the classroom works hard initially, but slowly loses motivation if they are not stimulated. This is why computers can never replace teachers. Teachers are trained to recognize the needs of each individual student, and help lead them to success. In my experience in the classroom, my niche has often been connecting with those students that do not seem to want to learn. To this day, I do not know exactly what it is that I do, and of course it is different for each student, but I know that I have significantly changed the lives for some. It is likely the personal connections and meaning that I provide to students, or sometimes, it may have been as simple as putting in that extra effort to show that I care about them as an individual. This is something a computer cannot do. 

 

In the presentation, we were also asked to think of what areas computers can replace humans for. I was mildly disturbed to see that several of my peers wrote “math” as their response. As a mathematics major, this thinking is unfathomable to me. The argument is that people nowadays always have access to a phone or calculator, which can perform basic arithmetic functions, so this can replace the need for mathematical thinking in humans. Firstly, I would like to point out that all of these devices were created by humans, and require people with strong math skills to program them, so surely some people would need to actually know their math. Perhaps then it would be fair to say that only a select few people need to be really good at math, and the rest of society can walk around empty minded punching numbers into their phone? But that argument assumes that the people using their phones have some base level of mathematical knowledge to be able to make sense of the numbers displayed on their screens. What good is knowing that 4 squared is 16, if I do not understand the concept of area to be able to apply it? Or taking that point even further, if one does not understand unit conversions, then they could easily confuse 16 square metres with 16 square centimeters. Sure they might have the right answer numerically, but what purpose would this serve? Similar to many other skills in school, mathematics skills are honed when concepts are explained by a teacher, and students are able to make sense of the numbers before them. Learning this online is not the same. I took several higher-level math classes online, and it was so much more difficult. I saw many different equations and formulas, but I did not know what they meant. It would have been so much easier if I had someone to explain to me what I was learning. On that note, I will attempt to create a quote on my own to sum-up this post, as I do not feel like using my computer to provide me with an answer at this time. 

 

“It is the job of the calculator to know that 4 x 3 = 12. It is the job of the student to know that 3 x 4 will also equal 12” - Daniel

Tech Task #1: Digital Identity

When I think about my digital footprint or identity, I do not think of myself to have as big of feet as others. I live quite off-the-grid for the most part in my life. I have not regularly used social media in the past. I do not have Instagram or Snapchat or Reddit. I only recently signed up for Twitter because I was compelled to. If you were to Google me, you would think I am a very boring person. From a Google search, about all you would see at first instance is perhaps where I went to school, and some of the sports I was involved in. You might be able to find me on Facebook, but even that has seen limited action in the recent years. 

 

Although I think of my digital footprint as being small, I am aware that it is much larger than I could imagine. My digital footprint is a trail of all of the data created while I have used the internet. Most of it is minor information, but yet it is still there. Everything I have done over the internet, whether or not it can easily be found, exists in some form. Any advertisements that I have posted exist. For example, I have used Kijiji and Facebook Marketplace in the past to buy and sell items, and that trail would still exist. I have sent many emails over the years from multiple email accounts. Some have been for work, some for school, and some personal. Some of the emails were not even sent by me, but were born from the result of email hacks. All of this information makes up my digital footprint. 

 

Even though I do not post personal information online, I have a significant passive digital footprint, consisting of all of the unintentional data I have left online. I have been on a multitude of different websites through different search engines. When I conduct research, the web server identifies me, and a trail is left of whichever information I navigate through. Many web servers can identify my location, or my internet service provider, and that leaves a digital mark as well. I recently became aware of how many cookies and such are collected through the course of regular navigation of the internet. My computer was starting to lag, caused by an overload of information stored in the “other” category of my device. I Googled (again leaving a digital footprint), how to reduce the clutter on my computer, and one of the suggestions was to delete all of the cookies and cache files on my device. I followed the suggestion, and was amazed just how much storage was freed up by removing this extra information. Around one fourth of my computer’s storage was made up of these files, marking out only a fraction of my digital trail. 

 

I have included a link to a website on removing cache files from the “other” category in storage on a Mac, for those of you who are interested. 

 

https://www.imore.com/how-find-and-remove-files-other-category-mac

 

I think that it is important for people to understand how much larger their digital footprint is than they may realize. I would teach this idea, as well as protecting one’s digital identity, to any of my students in school. The basis of my lesson would be to assume that everything you do online can leave a trail. People often have a tendency of hiding behind their screens on the assumption that nobody can see their actions, but the truth is that they can. Once something is up on the internet, you should assume that it is now available to the whole world. I would ask students to ponder this question regularly, before posting any material or navigating any website: Would I be comfortable with anyone in the world knowing what I am about to do? Or routinely do a quick scan and see what information you can find about yourself or your past internet use. Check your website history. Check through cookies and cache folders and any other information stored on your device. See what exists, and know that whatever you find in terms of your digital footprint, there is much much more out there. 

 

Here is a list of 12 tips for students to manage their digital footprints: 

https://www.teachthought.com/the-future-of-learning/11-tips-for-students-tomanage-their-digital-footprints/

Image source: https://pixabay.com/images/search/digital%20footprint/

A World of Internet

This week’s topic is all about the internet. Some questions to think about are as follows: 

 How will access to the internet affect your future? What is the internet of things, and how might it influence your career as an educator? What can the internet be used for? What privacy concerns do you have when using the internet?  

 

Do you ever wonder what the future of education will look like with the continuous advancement of technology? I recall being asked to prepare an answer to this question to present to a group of teachers in my high school about a decade ago. I recall having positive thoughts about the increased access to technology within the classroom, and use of 1:1 devices for research. Bringing the internet into the classroom can be a strong learning tool, and can also be used for differentiated instruction techniques. On the other hand, I recall heavily criticizing the overuse of technology in certain subjects, and the possible dependency problem that could be created. In particular, I warned that basic mathematics skills may suffer, as students no longer need to perform calculations in their head, if provided with continual access to calculators, phones, or computers. The ease of being able to type in the question and receive an immediate answer, eliminates the need for any serious thought. Why know multiplication facts when our phones already know all of the answers? We will always have our phones on us, won’t we? In my experience teaching within various schools, I have noticed this tendency in mathematics classes, and I have watched basic mental math skills decline over the years. Alternatively, many would argue that technology has opened up many new possibilities in the field of mathematics, where computers can work through significantly complex problems at near-instantaneous speeds. There are many mathematics programs and simulators to assist with engineering problems, involving mathematical designs and high-level physics. There is also the world of coding and other computer programming that many people heavily associate with mathematics. So has the advancement of technology hindered math skills, or honed them? What are your thoughts on this issue, or what impacts have you noticed in the classroom? 

 

Thinking about these issues reminds me of a quote I came across through my Internet for Educators course: “All technological change is a trade-off…a Faustian bargain”- Neil Postman

 

You can view an article containing this quote at the following web address: 

 https://student.cs.uwaterloo.ca/~cs492/papers/neil-postman--five-things.html

 

The advancements of new technology offer many clear advantages, but there are also corresponding disadvantages. Technology is often created to solve some sort of problem, but in turn, it may create other problems in the process. For example, apps are developed for a specific function, or to perform a desired task, and they may be quite useful in that regard. But, with that, is the creation of problems, such as logging in to the app after forgetting your password, or troubleshooting within the app. These are problems that were born out of the creation of new technology. The problems did not exist before the app, but are a direct result of it. Other examples are social security and privacy issues that occur through the internet. Before computers existed, online fraud was not a concern for anyone. Nowadays, online fraud occurs everywhere. Just this week, I was online and came across a scam, asking for an upfront security deposit to secure a rental property. It becomes so easy to get sucked in and e-transfer money away. 

 

There is such an ease of access to detailed information online, which creates a perfect environment for scammers and hackers to thrive. Many people use their phones for all functions of daily life. They contain access to banking information, our current location, notes and passwords, contact information, friends and relationships, private photos, among other content stored on the phones of the incautious user. Personally, these privacy concerns scare me. I often find myself running through the “what if” scenarios in my mind. What if someone hacked my phone; what would I not want them to access? What information has been stored on my phone that should be kept secure? 

Introductory Post

Hello all, and welcome to my blog! This is a great place for young educators who are interested in learning about the incorporation of the internet into teaching practices. Throughout January and February, I will regularly be posting comments on weekly topics from the Internet for Educators course that I am taking. I will also be sharing my thoughts on useful resources that I come across, which relate to my focus of teaching. I have a major in mathematics, and a strong interest in connecting mathematics topics to real-world problems, often involving carpentry or construction. Stay tuned for lots of interesting content, and feel free to comment on any of my posts.