Using Rolfe's Model of Reflection I have looked at the ethical nature of the digital divide as I implement ePortfolio's as a means to engage writers and improve home/school relationships.
Step 1 (What): In week 25 and 26, I touched upon the aspect of socio-economic status being a reason for family's non-engagment with their child e-Portfolio. While I cannot confirm this is the reasoning behind, nor would I like to pry and ask, it is something I am led to consider and therefore what I can do to negate this issue.
Step 2 (So What): Anderson (2017) discussed that many low income households in America only have access through smart phones due to the cost of broadband internet access, and that we also need to consider those who do not use computers for work-related tasks. When I consider that I myself do not have email set up on my iphone due to the large amount of data required, it occurs to me that quite possibly some of those who have signed up for Class Dojo may not necessarily access it at all. This means that while it may appear that I have most families engaged
So what becomes the most important part of my project, is it the digital, or is it the home/school relationship? Kraft (2017) discusses the importance of engaging parents as partners in their child's learning journey and how it has positive educational outcomes. I consider myself reasonably technologically savvy, and so this year signed up for an online teaching planning project I battled away with this project for the first five weeks of term. The idea was that it was supposed to save me time and streamline the process of planning. However, I found myself very stressed out and within a few hours of returning to my regular planning methods, I was more organised than I had been in five weeks. My light-bulb moment there is that digital is not always necessarily the best option.
We always talk to the students about writing with your audience in mind, however the implementation of digital publishing may well exclude the audience that these particular children would dearly love to share with. Consider the whakatauki "He aha te mea nui o te ao? He tangata, he tangata, he tangata." "What is the most important thing in the world? It is people, it is people, it is people," The digital publishing is a means to an end, but not the most important part.
Step 3 (Now what): The slideshow titled "Legal, Ethical and Social Issues in Educational Computing discussed ways to balance the digital divide, whether is was for gender, race or socio-economic reasons. The phrase equitable access was mentioned, and while it was in relation to computer availability, it led me to consider that there should be equitable access for all families to their child's work, whether or not they visit the classroom, or have home internet skills and/or access. My next thought was also that the students themselves would quite possibly like independent access to their published works, so why not offer for them to print off their work in an old style portfolio also? Children would still digitally publish their work on Book Creator, or whatever means, but have a paper copy to take home and share with their families. Perhaps this may actually be more personal than looking at it on a computer screen.
A very interesting topic, which has got my mind opened up to ways to make learning more accessible to all families.
Kraft, P. (2017). Engaging Parents Through Better Communication Systems. Educational Leadership, 58-64.
Legal, Ethical, and Social Issues in Educational Computing. (2013). Technology in Education, The Legal, Social, and Ethical Issues [video]. Retrieved from https://www.slideshare.net/sappingtonkr/02-legal-ethical-and-social-issues-in-educational-computing.
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