For me, the two most influential arguments on this topic were presented in Sherry Turkle’s Ted Talk and Nathan Jurgenson’s Digital Dualism article. Unfortunately they did not make it any easier for me to determine which side of the debate I fell on considering that they presented opposite views on whether we need to unplug! … Continue reading
Take a journey with me …
The EC&I 830 course has been quite a journey for me. In addition to being my first technology course, it was also my first synchronous online course. In this course, I found that the debates, the readings, and the blogs helped me to explore in detail the educational technology issues that we were presented with. … Continue reading
Don’t lose sight of your foundational educational values
The debate this week reinforced again for me how different Nunavut’s education system is from Saskatchewan’s, and arguably from the rest of Canada. Not only are we vastly different in the technology that is available and used within our schools, but also in the relationships we have with private corporations. In Nunavut there is a … Continue reading
Is technology a force for equity in society? Not if we leave some behind.
The key word in this debate is equity. The Elementary Teacher’s Federation of Ontario defines equity as “fairness achieved through proactive measures that result in equality for all.” Therefore, the question for this debate is not whether technology is beneficial to some, or even to most; the question is whether it is beneficial to all. … Continue reading
Whose childhood is it?
Photo Credit: KPhotography-video via Compfight cc In order to arrive at a conclusion to the question of whether social media is ruining childhood, it is important to consider two elements – is social media impacting children’s health and how do we define childhood. The first question can be answered by revisiting the 3rd debate about … Continue reading
Taima. Stop. No pictures please. Qujannamiik.
I found the topic of this debate to really strike home as it made me think of my experiences in Nunavut. Photo Credit: Martin Dixon via Compfight cc Every summer in Nunavut tourists pile off the cruise ships – we’ll okay we’re not talking hundreds of tourists, but enough to be noticed in communities with … Continue reading
Tek-naw-luh-gee? I heard that was unhealthy.
Photo Credit: The Vegan Taff Photography via Compfight cc Again I find myself on the fence for the debate of whether technology is making our kids unhealthy. While I want to pick a side and take a strong stance, I find that the arguments are strong on both sides of this debate. The agree team … Continue reading
Should we teach how to think or what to think? Let’s google it!
The statement that schools should not teach anything that can be googled lead to a very interesting debate; one in which both sides of the argument supported the idea that google should not be relied on heavily as a teaching tool in the classroom. Photo Credit: salauddinhossain via Compfight cc The agree side cautioned the … Continue reading
Technology enhances learning…for some
Reading through the blogs of my classmates, such as those of Ashley and Elizabeth, it appears as though I am not the only one who finds that they are somewhere in between the Agree and Disagree sides. I find myself wanting to agree that technology enhances learning. However, my experiences working in the field of education in Nunavut, in … Continue reading
Hello from the land of the midnight sun!
Hello ECI830 classmates! My name is Ainsley. In 2007, my husband and I moved from the suburbs of Toronto to the high arctic – to a small and predominantly Inuit community on the northern tip of Baffin Island, in Nunavut, Canada. My background is in education. I taught at a high school in the “south” and since moving … Continue reading
arcticjourney 