In my lifetime, I have written letters by hand, listened to the static crackle of a fax machine, tapped basic messages on a Nokia, and streamed Netflix on a smartphone. The changes in technology over such a short period have been extreme and have affected not only us as individuals but as societies as well. Although we are more interconnected, it has thrown up new opportunities as well as challenges for organisations. This post will touch upon the challenges brought about by the fast paced nature of technology, in addition to safety and privacy concerns.
Due to the 24/7 nature of technology that allows contact with employees around the clock, organisations have to think carefully about how to manage their expectations. Emails, posts, reels and tweets sent at all hours of the day can put pressure on employees to be constantly connected and respond in a very short time frame, or risk looking lazy or unavailable. At my school and school library organization, this has resulted in teachers feeling like they had to be available very late at night and early in the morning to respond to students and parents. We were experiencing the positives of having fast internet and digital platforms to use, yet at times our digital learning and teaching lives intruded very much into our personal lives (Bauwens et al., 2020 p. 1). This resulted in a discussion between the employer and employees. The school now strongly encourages the use of scheduled emails and other digital communications only within work hours (8am – 5pm).
Our “platform society” (Van Dijck et al., 2018, p. 1) has raised another challenging issue in regards to privacy and safety online. As teachers, we are particularly concerned with student privacy online. Organisations have had to respond with policies in regards to the use of social media between students and teachers, and what teachers can post on their personal and professional accounts in regards to their teaching environment and their students. In addition, we have had to think carefully about how to teach digital safety and citizenship to our students (Gleason and von Gillern, 2018, p. 200). To be effective, this must be done in a manner that is non-judgemental and undertaken by teachers who are up to date with current trends.
Other areas that organizations need to respond to as a result of technology include copyright and plagiarism issues and the spread of disinformation. The 2021 Educause Horizon Report has also identified mental health and the increasing digital divide as “macro trends” (Pelletier et al., 2021, p. 4 ) that in particular educational organisations need to address.
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References
Bauwens, R., Muylaert, J., Clarysse, E., Audenaert, M., & Decramer, A. (2020). Teachers’ acceptance and use of digital learning environments after hours: Implications for work-life balance and the role of integration preference. Computers in Human Behavior, 112, 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2020.106479
Gleason, B., & Gillern, S. von. (2018). Digital citizenship with social media: Participatory practices of teaching and learning in secondary education. Educational Technology & Society, 21(1), 200-212.
Harris, N. (2015, February 7). Technology [Photograph]. Flickr. https://tinyurl.com/mmrb5m89
Pelletier, K., Brown, M., Brooks, C., McCormack, M., Reeves, J., Arbino, N., Buzkurt, A., Crawford, S., Czerniewicz, L., Gibson, R., Linden, K., Mason, J., & Mondelli, V. (2021). 2021 Educause Horizon Report. Educause. https://library.educause.edu/resources/2021/4/2021-educause-horizon-report-teaching-and-learning-edition
Van dijck, J., Poell, T., & De waal, M. (with Dijck, J. Van.). (2018). The platform society. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190889760.001.0001