We are using the Teacher Digital Learning Guide as a reference point in this unit’s analysis of digital learning to learn more about it and how leaders in the public and private sectors of education see it being implemented or developed in the current educational system. You got the chance to evaluate this guide and point out any aspects that stand out and prove to be useful, as well as any that might be troublesome. You also had the chance to talk with your peers about this guide and identify any flaws that would prevent equity and inclusion from occurring.
- In your comment, highlight the advantages of embracing digital learning that you have learned about.
- Compose a similar answer, but this time pay particular attention to the flaws you have seen and provide suggestions for how to fix them.
Based on what we’ve discussed about digital learning and what I’ve read in the Teacher Digital Learning Guide, it is my belief that there are many advantages to embracing digital learning when applied correctly and when all stake holders are involved in the planning. When I think of the advantages to embracing digital learning, I’m reminded of the goals that have been set forth in the Teacher Digital Learning Guide. I refer to these goals because they identify who the stake holders are as well as provide guidance on how to involve all stakeholders in how digital learning can empower students with developing the necessary mindsets and skills needed to use devices meaningfully, safely, and securely engage in digital learning with the hopes of meeting individual students’ needs through personalized learning, while collaborating with parents as full partners in their child’s success and lastly building pathways for educators to continually learn and refine strategies for using technology to its fullest potential in their pedagogical development.
While the Teacher Digital Learning Guide provides a guideline for how digital learning can be made accessible to all stakeholders, when I think of schools who did not have access to digital hardware and/or lack of access to digital technology during one of the world’s most devastating crisis, I’m led to wonder how to troubleshoot this challenge moving forward. I believe this time identified a great deal of flaws in digital learning starting from access to professional development. I think one of the greatest challenges is school leaders identifying how to best support their entire school staff by providing quality training for every stakeholder to ensure that they are prepared to engage in digital learning with students and/or families.
The advantages of embracing digital learning can be effective in the classroom as it allows for flexibility. The lessons can be differentiated to allow for accessibility and personalization. Many students’ needs and abilities must be considered so that they can all engage with the content.
Many schools may not have the physical texts; therefore, technology can allow the sharing of one device for all students to follow along. Digital learning also tailors to the different learning styles as educators can use interactive content, such as: Multimedia, simulations, and games to make learning enjoyable. Students can also progress at their own pace and interact with peers during discussion tasks as they acquire new information and skills to understand the material.
When it comes to the advantages there are disadvantages as well associated with digital learning. Students may become distracted, there are less face-to-face interactions during discussions. There may also be technical issues resulting in wifi connectivity issues that disrupts the learning process. For the older students, there is the possibility of plagiarism. To address these issues, educators can allow students to participate in live video sessions, provide clear guidelines and suggest time management of lessons and personal time. Educators can offer technical support or provide resources to assist students with internet connection or help access a reliable device.
Based on what I’ve learned about digital learning is that it is awesome and has many advantages. Digital learning is flexible, fosters students engagement, collaborations, empowering students to learn and accessibility. In digital learning students have access to all the resources and information that they need. Students are motivated to learn because of the engaging content that the teacher provides. The flexibility of learning at our own time. Teachers are able to access students work through educational apps such as blackboard. It’s also convenient.
Along with advantages of digital learning, there are also flaws in it. Flaws including students having limited access to resources. Some student don’t have access to digital tools such as computers or WiFi. Technical difficulties can occur. For example, internet connectivity issues or issues with the computer, making it hard to access classes or resources.
Digital learning is a way of life in our educational journey, that is here to stay. There used to be a time when one would take out a pen a pad to jot down an idea or go to a hard copy book for information. Now less and less people do those things. Information is now literally at your fingers tips. One can use their cell phone, a digital technology tool that is smart, and can do everything that a larger computer can do, sometimes even faster.
In the classroom where a Smart Board is utilized students are able to engage in multiple ways of learning. Teachers can assess students and students get instant feedback through online Digital learning tools like Kahoot and Edpuzle. This is a benefit that saves time and gives students flexibility and accountability. Digital learning offers a range of options for educators in teaching all subjects, tutoring, research, reading, writing, and assessment.
The advantages of implementing Digital learning in Education are great with great Educators. Educators that are equipped to manage the type of digital content necessary to be engaging, while ensuring that the information is safe, accurate and that students privacy is not compromised.
Digital learning has changed how we learn and how we teach. A major advantage of Digital leaning is the students become active learners engaged in their own multiple learning paths, that fit their learning style. While collaboration is an important aspect in our diverse Education system, the flexibility of Digital learning is a major factor when determining when, where and how you learn best.
On the other hand Digital learning has some drawbacks as well. Although, Digital learning offers flexibility, students will need to be disciplined enough to follow through. I f we as Educators are taught how to guide students step by step through to process of Digital learning from topics like, What is a Computer, How to be a good Digital Citizen and Ways to determine truth and accuracy. Being able to decipher what is good and what is not good content is a daunting task. However students must be taught how to use tools to determine truth, accuracy appropriateness, and how your privacy is handled. Ensuring that all students have access to Digital Technology is a must in order to ensure that all Students have access to equal Education.
Advantages of digital learning are personalized learning, assessments and on demand feedback within assignments using various tools. tools that provide on demand feedback are google classroom, Edpuzzles, neapods and amplify. As a 6th grade science teacher I utilize amplify to not only grade all assignments but provide on demand feedback for my students to see on each assignment. This allows for revision and communication outside of school hours. Digital learning allows flexibility for students to complete assignments and revise assignments within a teachers time frame. Digital learning teaches students how to pace themselves, set goals for assignments, try new things and attend to their learning needs.
Flaws that come with digital learning are computer access at home. Students who do not know how to troubleshoot, turn in assignments and feel connected to the lesson. This results for in person learning, hands on learning and whole group instruction.What I mean by feeling connected to the lesson is the engagement. We have to make sure that the tools we use draw to all learners because many students will check out without a teachers model. It is important that we differentiate accordingly.
In order to get past these barriers educators must strategically group, scaffold, provide visual aids like audio, pictures, videos , set office hours and provide a tool that can be accessible for all learners. This is help students stay connected inside and outside of the classroom.
Some advantages of embracing Digital Learning are accessibility,flexibility,personalization,engagement, and diverse learning resources. For example, digital learning provides access to education anytime, anywhere as long as learners have and internet connection. This eliminates geographical barriers and allows individuals to pursue their learning further. Flexibility refers to pace and schedule. Learners can pace themselves. Most importantly the digital learning platforms often incorporate adaptive learning. Epic Reading is a library through which students can search for books by age, genre, or reading level. The app ensures students remain engaged by provided interactive videos and quizzes on the topics of their interest. Learners are also able to earn badges which serves as an incentive when working toward milestones.
Some flaws of digital learning include, the lack of face to face interaction, technical issues and limitations, self discipline and motivation, and limited hands on experiences. To combat these flaws some solutions would be live virtual classes, and video conferencing. Technical issues often lead to frustration, however some ways to mitigate these challenges, institutions can invest in reliable technology as well as offer offline/downloadable resources for areas with limited internet access. In order to supprt lack of self discipline and motivation, provide clear guidelines, goals, and offer feedback to ensure you are fostering a supportive online learning community.
You did a great job of giving a comprehensive summary of both the advantages and disadvantages. When you discuss the disadvantages, it reminds me of the deficits we saw when the students first came after COVID.
I love how we have a new timeline to refer to (post pandemic). We can all agree that times are changing and that we need to create new boundaries for how much is too much and many of those guidelines will depend on age of the user.
Digital learning has many advantages. One major advantage is the flexibility it provides to learners. Students can access educational material anytime, anywhere. Students can also access content and resources using a wide variety of tools. This allows for self-paced learning. This eliminates the constraints of fixed schedules, making education accessible to a wider range of learners. Another advantage to DL is access to more personalized and adaptive technologies. My school has been using i-Ready for a number of years. This program really dives deep into a child’s strength’s and weaknesses using the standards on each grade level. You can also assign Spanish Math diagnostics to students who speak Spanish and are new to the school. After a student takes the diagnostic, a teacher can analyze the data to form groups, based on the students needs. Then the students can continue using individualized instruction when completing lessons.
One disadvantage to DL is the cost of devices and access to internet. Not all students have equal access to technology and the internet. This can create inequalities and disparities in learning outcomes. One way to overcome internet access is for companies to work with Government agencies to design affordable plans for low-income families and hard to reach rural areas. Reaching out to our local community centers in different areas, see if the community center and libraries has a computer lab and internet access for families who need assistance. We need a community based solution to engage with local community organizations and local government to advocate for internet and device access initiatives. We can raise awareness of the issue to encourage more affordable options in the future.
I really resonated with the disadvantages that you mentioned. So many of our students especially during remote learning. I saw so many students struggling sharing devices or unable to access given devices due to knowledge or glitches. It put our students in a greater disadvantage with technology. We absolutely do need to bridge the gap and offer better solutions!
I also do agree that technology has many amazing advantages and can give our students who come from a low income household exposure to a wealth of knowledge. It has a way of making tasks to be completed with ease at times and in less time. I like the that you pointed out how it can facilitate learning in different languages for students that are learning English and help them feel more connected to the class content.
Digital learning comes with advantages. Two advantages are creating personalized learning for students and collaborating with parents and families to support students in their learning. Personalizing learning for students provides an individual approach to education. It is tailored to support each student and their strengths, interests and learning styles. Therefore the student becomes the driver of their own learning. Collaboration with parents and families will support students’ learning. When parents and families are involved in education, students are more engaged. A stronger partnership will develop and grow between student and parent.
Digital learning comes with disadvantages. To participate in digital learning students need digital tools. Digital tools are not free. Once a student has a digital tool it must be kept well maintained in order for it to work. A Wifi connection must be available for students to work on their digital tool. Also the connection between student and parent for the collaboration of digital learning may not be available due to work schedules or just availability of the parent. Once a student is using a digital tool for learning the amount of screen time must be taken into consideration. Too much is just not good. There has to be a happy balance of screen time and no screen time.
Balance of screen time is key, even for adults. Most of the new apps and programs are designed to be addictive. Honestly we need to take this approach with the way look at most things. Sometimes too much of a good thing makes it not so good anymore.
Two of the biggest advantages of embracing digital learning are personalized learning and formative assessments that can provide immediate feedback. Today’s EdTech allows students to learn at their own level while receiving targeted support and feedback. For example, ELA programs such as i-Ready and Quill begin by giving students a diagnostic to assess their levels of proficiency across multiple language arts skills. Students then receive targeted lessons based on their specific needs. Additionally, when a student enters an incorrect answer during a lesson, they are given immediate feedback and the opportunity to correct their errors. Overtime, students begin to learn from their mistakes and/or receive additional lessons, as needed. Such EdTech platforms also provide real-time formative assessment data to teachers that can then be used to create groupings, identify student misconceptions, and adapt tasks accordingly.
Potential flaws of digital learning include, but are not limited to, access and screen time. Many school districts have made significant improvements in providing access to a device and the internet for students in the past few years. However, from what I have witnessed, school districts have few answers for students who inadvertently damage and/or lose their technology during the school year. While students should be taught how to care for their technology as a part of digital citizenship, accidents do happen–especially for elementary and middle school age students. When schools do not have the means to repair and/or replace these devices in a timely fashion, disparities are created. Having additional devices on hand that can be loaned out to students would be helpful. Another potential flaw of digital learning is excessive screen time, which can have negative health effects. As a part of digital citizenship, students’ managing their time in front of a screen is addressed. However, what if they aren’t given a choice? During the school day, content teachers are not collaborating with each other to ensure that students do not spend their entire day in front of a device. As we shift further into digital learning, schools need to have specific guidelines for screen time by age group in order to ensure there is a balance of digital and offline activities.
i-Ready is a great tool for personalized learning. When I used i-Ready with my 4th grade students I did like the feature of the program providing personalized lessons for students based on their needs. Students are learning on their level therefore they are taking ownership.
Digital learning has advantages and disadvantages. One advantage is that it offers personalized education and choices for students, meeting their individual needs. It also promotes self-assessment and empowers students to guide their own learning. Communication between families and teachers is enhanced, increasing student engagement and collaboration. Additionally, digital tools can help overcome communication barriers through translation assistance.
However, there are some flaws. Not all students have access to WiFi, preventing their participation in online lessons. Support should be provided to help families afford internet access, similar to providing free lunch for students. Some parents may also struggle with technology, hindering their ability to assist their children. Parent workshops can address this issue by educating parents on using digital tools and supporting their children’s learning at home.
I completely agree with you regarding support being provided to help families with internet access. Also, one of my goals next year is to provide more parent workshops dealing with helping parents with technology so they can assist their students, especially in the lower grades. K-2 parents need help when coming in and starting different programs and apps we use.
I feel that we are all on the same page when it comes to digital learning being personalized for students needs. With digital learning we can meet the needs of various learning through teacher models, visuals, scaffold, multiple means of representations, strategic groupings and more.
Agree that internet can be a barrier because not many families have computers or internet at home. I feel they should bring that the free internet for families who didn’t have during covid. It helped so much with digital learning then that it will really be essential now.
Advantages:
Flaws:
Technology will always be a distraction because when the mind is bored , the mind wonders. I feel as adults we do this as well. Students need to learn when they need a brain break and take that break. It helps with me when i see myself escaping my work. It helps refocus. It is good to help teach pacing with assignments so it is not overwhelming that a student detaches longer than they should.
The Teacher Digital Guide begins the conversation by emphasizing the need for digital learning to mitigate gaps in learning, increase collaboration, and support students social and emotional needs. The pandemic forced the educational spaces to think outside the box and consider a different forms of learning through the use of technology. It was challenging to learn different platforms and engage students in these spaces in such precedent times. However, this experience allowed us to re-approach how one learns.
Some advantages highlighted in the Digital Guide is the ability to tailor support based on student strengths and weakness. Many digital tools have different resources and supports to address misconceptions, disabilities, and language difficulties. Also, many tools provide frequent formative assessments to track student data and support teachers in making more purposeful decisions in a lesson and/or unit. Additionally, it addresses the importance of teaching students and families about the importance of privacy when engaging with technology to protect themselves from cyberbullying and potential predators, etc.
Some challenges that may arise is determining whether or not a digital tool is culturally responsive because it is important for students to see themselves in whichever tool they use. Also, taking into considerations the different types of cultures because it may impact whether or not a student engages in a platform. Addressing this issue is important for teachers to use a checklist to ensure a tool is cultural responsive and send a notice out to parents about their comfortability with a tool or help them build familiarity. A challenge can also be teaching students how to trouble shoot because although they may teach a student how to use a certain tool in school, when they get home they may encounter internet and/or other difficulties. They need to build confidence in tinkering and debunking.
The Teacher Digital Guide starts by saying, “Digital learning and its supportive technology can help you as a teacher advance learning, mitigate learning loss, and create opportunities for social and emotional engagement. These benefits are possible when you and your students are in the classroom and when you are teaching students who are learning at home. To achieve these goals, access to devices and the internet must be available for you and all your students, and digital learning should be as nimble and accountable as possible.”
Digital learning is the future of education. At all levels all students will be engaged in some form of digital learning. Technology can offer many positive aspects to education. It offers connectivity between students/teachers and families/teachers. It makes it possible to answer or support a student in real time or beyond the school day. It allows me to communicate frequently and easily with families about their student. I can send updates, compliments, concerns, schedule meetings and more. During COVID it allowed students to continue learning and fostered connection when we all felt so cut off. For students with learning challenges it can offer more independence such as having text read aloud to them or leveled text or choice. Digital learning also can also allow students agency and choice in deciding how they will prove mastery of their learning. Will they create a video, podcast, picture, etc. Embracing digital learning is a necessity, a life skill, are our world is increasingly dependent on digital interactions.
Conversely, I think digital learning has a place in education. It is a life skill, however I would suggest limits. Even if we could effectively overcome the hurdle of a device and connectivity for all, I do not think most students, especially at the lower levels benefit from learning exclusively across a digital device. During COVID when students were exclusively online they lost many social interaction skills. They still struggle working cooperatively and playing together. Their conflict resolution skills are weakened from this time period. I think we must put limits on screentime and integrate the benefits and what digital learning does best with the real world experiences that only low tech/no tech learning can do. I can’t imagine not offering kids the experience of holding a book, engineering a real object, or being present in the classroom and debating face to face.
I agree, in the lower grades it can be a useful tool with apps such as RAZ kids but they also need the hands on experiences to learn. They need to have books in their hands play games with other classmates, and participate in guided lessons with teachers.
In the Teacher Digital Guide we read that “In a digital learning environment, students need access to devices, internet connectivity, and skills to support optimal learning. Before implementing digital learning, you should consider how to close digital divides, teach digital citizenship, and maintain privacy and security for the student data created by digital learning tools.” I believe in my school we have finally achieved the goal of one to one digital device for every student in both middle and high school.
Before the pandemic laptop carts were few and in between, and if teachers wanted students to use the computers in their classes, they had to compete with other teachers to schedule time in the school computer lab. I had the privilege to have my own MacBook Pro cart with 30 laptops, courtesy of having spent a whole Summer learning how to teach Computer Science as part of CS4ALL Cohort 2.
The pandemic also allowed students in my school to take home a school issued digital device, and those that missed the window were able to partake in remote learning through the thousands of tablets with built in wifi that were distributed across the New York public school system.
My little prediction I had told my students for many years became true: the day were all classroom instruction would be digital and become web based came to a reality. Even prior to the pandemic I was teaching all my class blended learning style, and unlike many teachers that never used an LMS like Google classroom, my students were already used to come into my classroom and do their work on the cloud in class. They were ready when pandemic hit and remote learning was the norm.
One roadblock that persist today in my school community is students complaining that they did not do the assignments posted on Google Classroom “because they were absent”. I tell them that their excuse has no merit, because been absent is not an impediment for them to login and at least attempt to do their classwork assignment. The work is designed that they can watch a multimedia video on any device, take Cornell Notes on their notebooks and to write an Academic Report, summarizing what they learned. My students are trained since September, year 1 or year 2 ELLs as well as newcomer recent international arrivals, they are all trained to take notes using Cornell Note taking strategy graphic organizers.
The first thing I do when I have a newcomer recently arrived from overseas student is to create his/her school email and to teach them how to login to Google classroom, how to join all his courses, including mine, and how to navigate and utilize the digital tools of Google docs for his digital independent learning.
One thing that continues to impede effective digital learning in my school community of immigrants is the fact that parents take their children on vacation of for family affairs for extended periods of time, even weeks before any major holiday break, and return to schools many days after because it is cheaper to fly on those dates. Not only this causes significant learning delays on the students due to his absence from classroom instruction, but because while they are away parents don’t make sure to pack a digital device, nor they make their child attempt to connect to do any classwork assignments or HW projects posted on GC, despite them having access to smartphones and other digital devices and to have wifi pretty much everywhere they go. Until education becomes a priority, digital learning will fall short of its goal in my school population.
According to the Teacher Digital Guide, one of the many advantages of digital learning is that it will help lessen learning loss. Digital learning will also help teachers achieve countless ways of teaching, educating, and asses their students regardless of where they are located. The advantage of digital learning will also allow students access to the information needed to achieve their academic goals.
Digital Learning also has disadvantages because every student needs access to a digital tool, the internet. However, in some cases, they don’t have access to the internet or a Digital Tool, and some students cannot log in independently, depending on their age. For instance, during the pandemic, children who started Kindergarten some or most didn’t know how to log in to their classes, and some parents weren’t tech-savvy to help them log in or to help them with their classwork. These problems can be fixed by providing internet access for families. In addition, digital tools such as Ipad and computers can also be more accessible to families who can’t afford them. Also, workshops should be provided for students and parents to help them navigate the tool.
There are many advantages to digital learning. For instance, with digital learning education is differentiated. According to the guide, digital learning provides the opportunity to meet the needs of students and it provides choices for the kids. This reminded me of Universal Design of Learning and the multiple means of action and expression. Digital learning also provides rubrics so students can self assess and guide their own learning. Furthermore, students can take control of their learning by generating questions and taking polls. They can then form groups based on the results of those polls. Another advantage to digital learning is that it provides open and accessible communication between families and teachers. This communication can increase student engagement and promotes collaboration to better help the students. With digital learning, there are tools that can help translate so the barriers of communication are eliminated.
There are a few flaws to digital learning. For instance, not every student has access to wifi. Some families may not be able to afford the added expense of wifi. As a result, students are unable to partake in lessons. Families should receive help to pay for the cost of wifi, just as free lunch is provided for many students. In addition, not every parent is comfortable with technology. Therefore, some students may not be able to complete work. For instance, there were many times that students couldn’t log into Google Classroom or they couldn’t access the slides because they weren’t using their child’s login information. These problems could be fixed with parent workshops. We could educate the parents with how to use these new digital tools so that they can help their children at home.
I agree with most of what you are saying. However I disagree on the Wi-Fi. The DOE provided devices that had their own Wi-Fi and you can get Wi-Fi just about everywhere. On your phone, at cafes and diners. I feel like Wi-Fi is not necessarily a disadvantage. It becomes a problem if they don’t work out the different ways they can get Wi-Fi but Wi-Fi is provided everywhere.
Advantages: Discussion, debate, and other interactive activities are frequently included in digital learning platforms. Collaboration between students and between students and teachers is encouraged by these activities. Shy students can interact with others more comfortably and occasionally in less conventional methods, such instant messaging, thanks to digital learning. Students can interact with other digital learners locally or internationally through digital learning.
I agree with everything you’re saying. I believe that with all these discussions and interactions online, it’s very important that we encourage those digital literacy lessons for what they should and should not say while they’re online.
Addressing the Flaws: Two flaws I think need to be addressed in digital learning environments include lack of face to face interaction and limited hands-on learning opportunities.
The lack of face-to-face interaction with teachers and peers can lead to feelings of isolation and a lack of social interaction, which can impact student motivation and engagement. To address this, digital learning platforms can incorporate video conferencing tools, discussion forums, and other interactive activities to increase engagement and foster social interaction between students and teachers.
Additionally, digital learning is often focused on delivering information and content through videos, presentations, and readings which can limit hands-on learning opportunities and practical application of concepts and skills. To address this, digital learning platforms can incorporate virtual labs, simulations, and other interactive activities that provide opportunities for students to apply concepts and practice skills.
I agree with the aspect of shy students interacting more digitally. I see this more and more everyday.
The advantages of embracing digital learning can include but are not limited to giving learners the opportunity to access information from a variety of sources. Digital learning makes learning more accessible.
Some of the potential flaws I have seen with digital learning is that there can be a significant learning curve when initially navigating the technology or apps. This can be alleviated with more practice and exposure. Another potential flaw is that there can be a risk of privacy. This can be fixed by going through the proper protocols to ensure the information put on online is secure.
I agree with your learning curve for digital learning. The student is not the only one who has trouble with that learning curve. Many teachers have a bigger struggle than the students trying to keep up with all of the aspects of an app or website.
The advantages of embracing digital learning are many. One advantage is that it allows students to have access to more information. Another advantage is that it allows students to more differentiated lessons or information. This is great for students with different learning styles to get more from the class.
There are also flaws with digital learning. When using digital tools, problems can occur that make them not work as intended. Also, some students are not familiar with or able to use the tool in the way that it is meant to be used. These are some ways that digital learning can be flawed.
I totally agree that it provides more opportunities for differentiation especially in the upper grades. Students can take ownership of their work and their tasks.
I agree that one disadvantage is that the students may not be familiar with the tools and this will hinder their work. A variety of platforms and mini lessons need to be front loaded so that everyone can be successful.