Jason Lin's EDCI 339 Portfolio

After participating in module 4’s Twitter chat activity, I was excited to participate in another Twitter chat for module 5!

A1: As a student who was born in the 2000s and has lived his entire life in the Canadian education system, the use of technology has evolved throughout the years. I remember back in elementary school, we had to write reports using references from textbooks and encyclopedias. Now in 2022, there are schools that provide an iPad or tablet for students to research their topics online.

A2: I think technology in education will continue to grow as a resource that teachers and professors will depend on. As the dependency on technology increases, there will be multiple benefits and drawbacks such as, accessibility and privacy.

A3: I think that education is mostly controlled by teachers and organizations, while learners have a small portion of that control. All final decisions are made by the teachers and organizations, while students occasionally have a small influence on the decisions.

A4: I think that teachers and students should have a 60/40 split on education. A 60% split for teachers will allow the teacher to retain a realistic education plan for the students, while the 40% split will allow students to form impactful decisions on their education.

A5: I think the biggest negative that arises from technology in education is the certainty for authenticity. I believe that as technology continues to grow in education, the chances for plagiarism increases.

A6: To avoid cheating and plagiarism, I think educators need to continue to adapt the growing trend with the use of the internet. This could be seen as changing assignment questions from specific X and Y answers to discussion-like questions.

For Module 4, I chose to participate in a Twitter chat with my peers. Here are my responses:

A1: In my opinion, open education is an approach to education that involves individuals connecting with one another, to share ideas and further their understandings of certain topics.

I think those resources would be considered “open education” because there are ideas in those resources that can inspire new ideas.

A2: Connected

A4: I believe that the roles of students and teachers are different from the traditional teacher and student role in a typical school setting. Most notably, it creates an environment that allows students to openly explore their topic of interest

A5: As a student in HINF, I believe we have a lot of openness in our courses. We often get to choose our topics and collaborate with fellow peers.

I chose this activity, because I felt that it was simpler than the other options and required less work. After participating in this chat, I saw others and their perspective on the questions asked and I feel like I have a better understanding of Edtech now.

As a student, I believe that my information in education should only be viewed by people that have received permission and those that need to see my academics to provide a service or recommendations. For example, I believe it is can be beneficial that the professor shares a student’s grades with academic advisors to help create a plan to improve a student’s learning. An example of a violation of privacy would involve a professor releasing the grades of a student to the entire class using their first and last name as the identifying factor. I believe that using student numbers retains privacy as many students cannot identify one another by just their student number.

After a quick Google search using “UVic privacy policy”, I was able to reach a page that contains multiple policies that help protect students and personal information handled by the university. Before doing this search, I was aware of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA) and the contents of its policy. Overall, UVic’s privacy & access pages are very simple to reach and the content is easily digestible.

I was surprised about the use of surveillance systems to assist with the application of university policies. While I believe surveillance systems should be used when improving personal safety and for criminal investigations, I am concerned on the use of these systems for engaging university policies. This statement in the Protection of Privacy Policy Section 35 (d) is very ambiguous and can have loopholes to promote the use of surveillance systems.

Self-Reflection

I chose this activity because I took a Health Informatics privacy course during the summer. While in that HINF course, we were expected to read through government documentation, including FIPPA which was mentioned in UVic’s privacy policies. While engaging with this activity, I was able to learn about UVic and its stance on the use of personal information. I am happy to learn that privacy policies for UVic are easily accessible and I hope that my fellow peers take a quick look at UVic’s policies in the case of any confusion.

Activity Reflection

While mapping out my learning network, I found that most courses seem to follow a similar structure. Typically the layout begins with attending a lecture, followed by communicating with my peers, finishing with working on assignments. I noticed that the only times I ever work on assignments outside of my home, are when I am attending in-person lectures. I believe this is due to the convenience of digital lectures allowing me to hop from lectures, straight into assignment work.

Self Reflection

I chose this activity because I have an interest in making graphics and diagrams. In previous courses, assignments that require making an infographic or diagrams always intrigued me more than writing paragraphs and papers. I believe this activity helped me identify what I do during a week of school and it helps me realize where I may be lacking in regards to my organizational abilities. After completing this activity, I think there are areas where I can improve on, which in turn will improve my productivity and my ability to learn.

Blockchain: The terminology “Blockchain” is a word often used in finance when discussing digital currencies. In essence, blockchains are defined as “an incorruptible digital ledger of economic transactions that can be programmed to record not just financial transactions but virtually everything of value.” (Tapscott & Tapscott, 2016) While blockchain is often mentioned in finance, it also has a place in education and learning. Due to the complex security behind blockchains, it can be utilized in multiple areas of the education domain.

A system for certification: Student records and achievements could be stored using blockchain.

Verification of validity: Certificates can be validated automatically by cross-referencing valid certificates issued by the issuing organization.

Ownership of data: Students could store and own their own data, instead of relying on their educational institution.

Cryptocurrency payments: Students and institutions can use cryptocurrency to pay for fees, thus increasing the accessibility scope to sending and receiving payments.

These applications of blockchain in education are primarily based on the fact that blockchains are extremely difficult to hack into, and provide a high-level of security. While blockchains can be useful in education, there are also logistical downsides to using this technology. Environmental costs and technological adoption are the two leading factors that prevent blockchain’s usage in education. The amount of energy used to conduct cryptocurrency transactions is incredibly high, leading to high energy costs and environmental damage over long periods of use. Another issue is the normalization and adoption of the technology. Education is a long-standing field, where techniques and methods can be in use from over a century ago in classrooms today. Using historic techniques often prevent educators and students from adopting an open-minded perspective when attempting to use new techniques, the fear of the unknown is a major inhibiting factor when adopting new technologies.

While there are many benefits to using blockchains, there are also inhibiting factors that prevent the adoption of blockchains in classrooms today. In the future I believe that there may be a use for blockchains specifically regarding the certification of students and the validity of their certificates. Many online courses provide a certificate to students that proves the student has completed the course and is eligible for any work that requires a background in the course material. Adopting blockchains would allow for an automatic validation check on the certificate, which increases the rate of hire and productivity of employers.

Reflection

I chose this learning activity and topic because in the past I have already read the Bate’s Learning Theories in a previous EDCI course, and I found the topic “Blockchains” in the “25 Years of Ed Tech” to be very interesting. It combines a rising technology in finance with education. As a Health Informatics student, I am studying to improve Healthcare by incorporating technology and IT and the use of blockchain in education is similar. Through this activity, I’ve deepened my understanding of blockchains and their uses, while also learning about it’s applications in education and other domains.

Hello, my name is Jason Lin and I am a 4th year student in Health Information Sciences (HINF) . I have completed both EDCI 335 and EDCI 337, after completing both of those courses I have really enjoyed the style of teaching that comes from EDCI courses. I am hoping to learn about the open styles of learning and multi-access learning!

As a HINF student, I have a basic interest in healthcare and how we can improve the delivery of care to citizens, but I am more invested in the IT side of healthcare.

Outside of studies, I mostly spend time with friends and play video games. My image is a cartoon penguin because it is my favourite animal and I like the non-realistic art style.

I believe that learning to participate in groupwork is essential for the future, since collaboration with another individual is strongly encouraged to improve a product or project. During groupwork, I am the type to follow along and provide my own insights, I typically do not lead the group, but I will make sure my ideas are voiced during meetings.

I believe that I am a very easy to reach person and if anyone has any questions or concerns they can reach out to my email: jayxd427@gmail.com

Thanks for reading my learner profile and I look forward to taking this course with you!