Seven week ago I stared at an empty document screen and tried to analyze my entire relationship with technology. Letting moving pictures augment my proverbial word count, I eloquently summed things up thusly:
Image Source: Tenor
Since then I've been challenged to look at what I recognize as technology, assessed growing classroom use, voiced my moral hang ups about letting technological progress control our economic future, and explored how I could find support for myself and my students in the digital world.
Less than two month is simply not enough time to have changed my technological perspective. I still resent my own overreliance on my devices. If anything, being exposed to so much new information in such a short time has magnified the feeling that technology is overwhelming. My hope it that I will be able to return to the materials I've been speed reading and time and experience will have let these seeds take root and start growing new appreciation. I've experienced this before professionally- the first time someone suggests switching to using positive language while your class of 3 year olds is constantly imploding it feels like an additional demand instead of a beneficial mentality and classroom. management shift.
Educator Bailey Cavender shares similar thoughts in this postfor The Educator's Room: "There was just so much being thrown at me, and not enough time to process it all. There was no shortage of strategies that I wanted to try in my own classroom, but halfway through that last day, nothing was sticking. My brain was struggling to keep up, and I felt overwhelmed." More educators share how PD can be successfully implemented to prevent feeling overwhelmed inthis discussion.
Advice against teacher burnout often include platitudes like "work smarter, not harder", which I know it theoretically something technology tools are designed to help with. As much as I balked at AI lesson planning (and AI use in general), I am not currently responsible for writing out my own lesson plans. One thing that also comes up frequently as a tool for educators to maintain their own mental health is getting support from your Professional Learning Network (PLN). I've written here about PLNs, but my explorations have been more detached. I have actually put a lot of effort into my in-person PLN in the past year and made it a professional goal to establish more networking contacts in my building, but I have not yet really dug into the online options. My transitional career state makes me feel more apprehensive about pursuing internet contacts where I cannot rely on my face to face conversation and performance skills.
So I'm getting there. As a bonus, my search algorithms are all to happy to suggest edtech content (along with wedding planning tips and stories about book banning). So I'll leave you with this clip from one my favorite cyberpunk fictions, Johnny Mnemonic:
No, AI (Artificial Intelligence) did not write this post. But perhaps it could have? My written work exists on this blog and could be pulled into the vast pool of data that a Large Language Model (LLM) AI program uses to generate content. When I was challenged to explore AI tools, my first petulant instinct was to ask a program to write this post for me. I even used belle of the ball ChatGPT for the first time (not my cup of tea). What could be a better "exploration" of AI tools? As this sophomoric protest desire might reveal, I am hardly a fan of the modern AI boom. Momentum has keep me a Chrome browser user for many years, but the inescapability of AI summaries in my Google searches might be what drives me away (I am hardly alone in my desire to live without this function).
Image Source: Blog Author
Logically and realistically I recognize that the latest AI trends are a natural evolution of the way that these technologies have already been integrated into my daily digital life. But the messaging that came with the public opening of ChatGPT and certain stable diffusion programs (as well as the push from companies that invested in this boom) has been fatiguing. Still, as public opinions ebbs and flows, data shows that these programs are making there way further into our lives. This piece from Wired looks at the friction between Americans being concerns about AI but also embraing the use of ChatGPT in their work life.
The Future has AI in it
Realistically, we don't know what forms AI programming will take in the future. But it's the safest bet that it is here to stay. Even experts are conflicted about what world this builds for us- check out the variation in this Pew Research Center survey.
As and educator and information sciences professional, it would be negligent to let my personal opinions keep my students from learning about AI tools. I currently work with first graders who get most of their tech education during their extensive Library/Information Sciences class, so current AI trends haven't directly made their way into my class. (I've felt my stomach drop as my students confidently report whatever their Alexa told them as the absolute truth, but I try to take this in stride and ask questions rather than shutting them down.) The higher grades seem to be feeling more of the pinch; maybe that is why high school teachers are more likely to see have a negative view of AI in education as reported in this survey.
Teaching With, Around, and Through AI
Despite educators' fears, teaching with AI is here. Our peers have much to say about the subject; thought pieces are popping up titled to alarm (Yes Teachers, You Should be Panicking About AI) or patronize (No Artificial Intelligence Won't Destroy High School English (or Any Other Subject)). These pieces tend to accept that students will use AI with or without our blessings, recognize that there are specific issues present in the current education system that AI use can smooth or magnify, and focus on students' innate interest in learning.
This last point is what I personally need to hold on to. I believe in instilling growth mindset in students and challenging them to do hard things because I trust that the human mind is inquisitive. I am happy to get to currently work at a school that holds off on assigning traditional grades to elementary students so they can focus on learning as the goal instead of "performing".
Still keeping my acceptance slightly salty, I look for more concrete advice about ways to to use AI and chatbots specifically to promote active learning. Ditch That Textbook has a gentle guide for educators that includes the note that it's okay to use traditional paper and pencil assignments during an adjustment period as well as providing suggestions about how to assess memory and understanding while taking advantage of collaboration opportunities. Marc Hayes has a this set of suggestions specifically for primary grades teachers- with acknowledgements of limitations.
One struggle I actively face with my first graders is that this is the year they really starting writing as an expression of thoughts and means to communicate, not just a physical action. Even in the very well staffed classroom I get to work in, it is difficult to spread around individual attention. This led me to actually be interested in Class Companion, a feedback generation program. I'm not sure I'd use it with my particular age group (they are way too likely to take every suggestion at exact face value and love to have something to copy), I would try it with slightly more established writers who could benefit from the coaching.
So it seems I'm not immune to the charms of AI programs. But any instruction about or using modern generative AI would not be complete without looking at the ethical pain points. Articles like this one or plans like this one that look at how teaching the ethics of AI needs to be part of any growing AI users education were therefore on my radar.
Harm Reduction- AI and the Environment
Image Source: Blog Author, screen shot from BlueSky
One of my frustrations with automatically generated AI summaries or features that cannot be disabled is that they force my complicity into the enormous ecological impact of LLM AI programs. An individual's personal use of resources is rarely the most important drain when large systems exist (reports about carbon footprints have already illuminated this), but when it happens automatically for every Google Search? Any classroom using AI should be discussing this; luckily there are resources to help.
Last year my school ran a program about using AI art to illustrate a book. I understand why they did this program. I know suddenly generating an image is enticing, especially to impatient youth who haven't had the time and practice to develop artistic skills and personal styles. But it also distressed me.
Science News Explores, writing here about the ethical debate around if AI Art is theft, concluded "It depends on who you ask". Other reporting looks at the tricky legal landscape that is currently being disputed. But something can be legal without being ethical, so I asked. I asked the many friends and associates I have who work in the physical arts. The overwhelming majority did not want their art to be used to train AI's stable diffusion technology but were at a loss of how to share their work. They agreed with artist Julie Curtis as quoted by curator Bianca Bosker in this podcast (ironically titled "Democratizing Art", a phrase AI art advocated use to describe a benefit of the technology) "An idea is not a painting. Painting is constant decision making."
My students love their art class. They experience the deep joy of creation. When arguing against fearing AI, John Spencer (post linked again) talks about how the joy of creation will drive people to keep making content even if AI is available. What he doesn't acknowledge is that this may be true, but the economic impact of AI art is way more of a present concern than the existential questions of why make art. As someone on record as being concerned about the way technology will be wielded to disenfranchise people, this is my main concern about the full throated embrace of AI generated art, even if we can clear up the theft concerns.
It's useful to get uncomfortable sometimes and working with explicit AI tools certainly makes me uncomfortable. I will have to learn to work with this; data shows students certainly are. But my hope would be that there can be serious and hard discussions and improvements made to how AI is used, discussed, and regulated so I can do so with only my personal discomfort holding me back.
"Teacher, is your first name A____? How Do you spell that?"
That was the recess conversation opener right before one of my first graders started expounding on his mother's process of Google searching me. I had always known this would happen/was happening, but this particular search was directed at my college creative endeavors. I had set the requisite privacy settings and done the cursory search for my own name when starting that job (as I usually do), but it was time to flash through all of the possibilities in a terrible mental montage.
Image Source: Tenor
Internet Information
If we look at the state of technology and education currently, it's not just about using cool new devices and programs to meet learning goals. There is also a significant focus on how to teach students Digital Citizenship or the responsible and safe use of technology. As you can read about in this educational primer, part of this is teaching students about user data and digital security.
While today's digital citizenship lessons are multi-faceted, much of the focus during my own digital citizenship crash course that was growing up alongside the internet was about how much personal information was available online. The advent of digital social media brought about all manner of fears that what teens and young adults casually shared with their peers was now out there in the digital ether and couldn't be taken back. After all, the internet is forever, right?
Well... as this data from Pew Research show, not exactly.
Regardless, the average user can't guarantee what will be around and with so much information still available, folks leave an impression. This impression has been called a "digital footprint", but some folks have been advocating for a lingustic shift to the terminology "digital tattoo". You can see Juan Enrique's TedTalk explaining his rationale for this phrasing below.
The term "digital tattoo" is still fairly fresh (as of this early October 2024 post, searching for "digital tattoo" is likely to return results about skin tattoos), but the advice echoes the concerns about previous terms for digital identity. This article from 20/20 Magazine warns professionals and students to take care with what they put online.
Privacy and "Public" Records
Significant attention is often paid to what folks might actively post online (provocative pictures, controversial opinions, out of context jokes) or what they might let slip (posting a photo from a hospital room that accidentally reveals medical information for instance), but simply existing in the world anywhere on record can leave behind digital tattoo marks.
"Public Records" are information not considered confidential; they can be collected an published by various entities. Many of documents pertain to governmental functions and the ability to access them is an important part of governmental oversight. But the increased digitization of public records makes them more accessible than ever. Check out the facts and concerns that have arisen here in this overview from non profit Privacy Rights Clearinghouse. Before falling prey to the “If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear” and “All our data is already out there.” fallacies or giving in to malaise-based acceptance consider the very existent legal concerns and legislation that is still being developed and debates. This series from the National Association of Attorneys General looks at the stickiness of internet privacy concerns.
A Personalized Deep Dive
I've done it again. I've Googled myself, wondering what it out there. I don't have a robust online presence, but what I do have is a fairly common name.
Google
Actual Google will be a dozen pages into a "FirstName LastName" search with many other people with my name showing up, but no trace of me. The image search here is also different dimension versions of me: a pageant contestant, a top real estate agent, an actor's in a 1989 tv thriller. "FirstName MiddleName LastName" actually yields no results at all. I was pleased to see that adding the term "Chicago" to my search didn't alter the results; this is usually one of my shortcuts for finding quick information about students' parents. It is only with "FirstName MiddleInitial LastName" that the arrow starts finding viable targets, but this is primarily because it starts bringing up dedicated sites for searching people.
DuckDuckGo
Seeking out a different search engine didn't pull up anything specific about me, but did get to the dedicated background search sites sooner. I split the rest of my searchers between Google Chrome and DuckDuckGo browsers to keep the results varied.
The Business of Finding Folks
You can't go too far into looking someone up before you start being offered all sort of pay-to-learn sites. TruthFinder.com and InstantCheckmate.com were two of these that I looked at. They make you pass through several shock tactic designed agreements, warning about the "graphic images" and "disturbing truths" you might uncover. This runs counterpoint to their simultaneous messaging that their service can be used for fun and to catch up with old friends! Several visible loading bars also play in between these warnings, making it appear that their system is working hard potentially finding all kinds of records. They are simultaneously trying to find extra information from you, the searcher about the person you are searching for.
Image Source: Author, screenshot from truthfinder.com
After all this pageantry and having you give them a name and email address and promising you won't misuse the information they give you, these sites will finally bring up the billing aspect.
Image Source: Author, screenshot from truthfinder.com
I did not pay $29.95 to learn about myself, so I don't know the extent of the information these sites actually have. I do know they can connect my name with my general location and age. They connect me to my parents, siblings, my sibling's partners, and my partner's parents (although not my partner themselves).
Social Media
I have Instgram and Facebook accounts linked to my name, but neither profile pops up in a public search. I don't have a X, BlueSky, LinkedIn, Pinterest, or TikTok account. That doesn't mean options don't show up, just that none of them are mine.
Image Source: Author, Screenshot from TikTok I don't have a dog, but this name doppelganger does.
Spokeo
The first step with Spokeo was finding my actual self. There were 51 possibilities and to find the one who I think is me, I had to put myself in the state where I grew up.
Image Source: Author, screenshot from Spokeo
This profile matched my age, but was listed under one childhood address and my parent's current address. It had a very incorrect email address listed as well as two phone numbers, one of which was correct. They made some correct family associations, but also listed my sister as the entirely wrong age. I did not pay to unblur the profile picture, so I don't know if it was just a stock photo, but it certainly wasn't a shot of me.
White Pages
Playing off of the nostalgic concept of a phonebook is WhitePages.com. Without paying them I was able to confirm that they have my current phone number as well as my childhood landline number. They also have my exact address and some of my previous addresses. The email they list is not mine looking at the domain alone. There are a few correct family connections, but also some unrelated "associates"
Image Source: Author, screenshot from whitepages.com
Radaris
Radaris knew my general location as well as age and birth month. They had a correct phone number and listed my parent's current address as one of mine. There were several correct family connections, including links to my sister-in-law's family. There were "associates" who I did not recognize as well as a realtor I worked with tangentially over a decade ago.
MyLife came with the ominous "Reputation Score"; without paying them I can only know I fall somewhere in between 2.31 and 4.32 on a scale of 5.00. This was also the site that had my full birthdate. It acknowledged my current location as a past address and believed I still lived states away... or at my parent's current address. This was also the site that boldly proclaimed I was single, Caucasian, and Christian (Two misses there).
Ending Notes
I was interested in the fact that the internet routinely believed I live at my parent's address. I have had things shipped "to myself" there for holidays and gifts, which is my biggest theory as to what is going on there.
I was also consistently linked to my sister-in-law's family, including people I am only assuming are her family based on name and/or geographic location.
Many, many sites I checked had incorrect information listed. While this was never specifically damning, it is worth noting that these sites have no federal legal obligation to correct false information (see here)...
Personal Branding: Opportunity or Obligation?
My personal satisfaction about how little readily accessible information there is about me online is tempered by the modern expectation that there should be information available. Professionals in many fields are seen as suspicious and amateurish if they don't have an official presence.
Like so many things that started as a "value add", having a carefully curated "personal brand" reflected in your digital presence has instead become an obligation. Dozens of articles are ready to tell you how important this is to finding jobs and building your career. I find this troubling for many reasons, but this blog explores many of my thoughts eloquently. Additionally, I'm currently in a professional situation where I don't even feel secure blogging under my real name, and that is about questions of workplace fallout rather than actual material safety, a more pertinent concern for so many others. I'm not going to try to throw away this entire exercise based on my personal gripes, no matter how well founded I think they are, but I do hope that the next time you search someone online, you think about the wild nature of that process for a second.
Professional Development or PD is part of an educator's job description. This is not a fanciful phrasing, it's often literally written into job descriptions or contracts. Educators are expected to have a passion for learning and to devote a discrete amount of time annually to learning new techniques or skills that can be applied to their classrooms or educational environments. Traditional PD tends to be scheduled from the top-down, with institutions devoting student days off to tell staff about new policies or providing reading materials summarizing new studies. One-size-fits-all lecture methods don't sound very much like it fits with the active learning strategies I recently wrote about on this blog; if we know that students aren't empty vessels into which teachers pour knowledge, why would we expect professional to be any different? Looking for innovative solutions to PD limitations and challenges, some studies (like this one) look at the power of the Professional Learning Network or PLN to give educators the way to maintain their identities as lifelong learners and continue to grow and refine their professional techniques.
Image Source: Tenor
What is a PLN?
PLN stands for Professional Learning Network or Personal Learning Network. The two are often used interchangeably, but the technical difference is right there in the name: "Professional" is for an individual's professional growth while "Personal" might be, but can also expand to extracurricular interests. We will largely be talking about Professional Learning Networks, but you will see how they cross over. Put simply, a Professional Learning Network is a set of relationships and connections where professionals can learn from each other, exchanging contacts, information, feedback, and insights. The network relationships are based on reciprocity and mutual respect that all members have ways to grow and valuable perspectives to share. PLNs are not new, but the increased level of global connectivity due to modern technology has led to new ways to connect outside of one's immediate community. PLNs are not exclusive to the education field, but the fields commitment to PD has made them a robust part of modern educators' career planning.
While building a PLN can seem like just another thing educators have to add to their overstuffed plates, data supports that a good PLN provides holistic support to educators. In this 2016 survey of teachers responses showed that PLNs helped multifaceted personal growth, helped teachers try new teaching techniques, productively changed teachers thought patterns, and increased student performance. The benefits spread out to the larger community; sharing within a PLN is sometimes called "knowledge mobilization" and this article looks at how it is key to a useful PLN.
P for Professional, P for Personal
One of the best part of PLNs is the ways they address the broad, complex needs of educators. Learning "how to build a PLN" initially felt to me like an impersonal, grind-heavy to-do checklist. Sure, it was beneficial, but could it work for everyone? My turning point came when looking at this study which had different teachers explore their own PLNs and learning goals. The participants were asked to respond to prompts in a semi-structured interview and also to sketch a mental map representation of their PLN. Below are some of their visualizations (with some details blurred to protect confidentiality).
Image Source: Science Direct
Image Source: Science Direct
Image Source: Science Direct
Image Source: Science Direct
Image Source: Science Direct
Clearly we are not looking at one homogenous system, but instead a groundwork upon which different professionals can address their own needs and create their own network style. Participants defined themselves as the Constant Explorer, the People Person, the Pioneering Change Agent, the Global Connetictivist, and the Rural Networker. They all experienced professional learning opportunities across public, personal, and pedagogical arenas but with a focus on their specific goals and using different tools or the same tools in different ways. Their Professional Experience was Personalized.
Growing Your Own Network
One of my favorite metaphors for a PLN comes from this Oklahoma State University article where author Cathy Green describes a PLN as a garden that needs tending. With that in mind, I created this visual aid for growing your own network.
Image Source: Blog Author via Canva
As I mentioned above, there are many great lists of steps or tips for growing your PLN, but a key part of using them yourself is to guide yourself by defining your own goals. This list from Digital Promise suggests creating an "elevator sentence" for yourself to refine who you are and what you are interested in. Knowing this can help you see which PLN connections are right for you.
The most immediate PLN connections are sometimes available in person. If you are part of a school community, there may be opportunities right there to share experiences and divvy up keeping up with new research and technology, sharing the most pertinent information with your group instead of reading and learning every thing yourself. But the best PLNs are diversified and digital connectivity helps with this process. This set of tips from EdSurge reminds us that your PLN doesn't have to be only other educators; students, parents, and community activists have valuable information to share. EdSurge's list also reminds educators buildign a PLN to look out for whose voices they aren't hearing and who isn't being represented in the conversation.
PLN growth online has a few avenues: informal education based, formal education based, and social networking. Informal education options could include blogs, education site community forums, YouTube videos, or listservs. Formal Education options might be digital conferences, online courses, or moderated discussions with industry experts. Social options might include Facebook groups, X conversations, LinkedIn, or Instagram profiles. All of these online options are subject to change over time: Twitter has historically been an excellent place to engage in live conversations, but the platform has been undergoing significant cultural changes in its shift to X.com. One of my favorite ways to explore new potential network contacts is through the research strategy "pearl growing", which you can read more about through this link. Looking at the sources your sources follow or the tags they use frequently is a great way to target your search for your next network link.
If all of this reading is starting to overwhelm you, consider this video a great review that will take less than 5 minutes of your time.
Some of the best suggestion sources, like this link from Edutopia acknowledge that it can be intimidating to start developing a PLN! Growing one takes work, self-reflection, and must be done wit intention. However the benefits are undeniable not just for professional growth, but for personal support. These networks are about more than a web of connections, but instead are a community ready to help support each other and recognize and value each other's expertise. Value and invest in yourself with your own, personalized Professional Learning Network and feed your inner student.
There is an amazing back and forth pull between technological advancements and technology aids for accessibility. The same technology advancements that help connect many people (a telephone, and email, a text, a video call) can leave a noticeable lack of access for others (being unable to hear audio communication clearly, easily, or at all; being unable to read visual messaging; losing body language or verbal tone signals). Luckily technology is also constantly developed to overcome access challenges like new mobility aids, screen readers, communication pads.
Rather than having these two circumstances constantly playing catch-up with one another, many tech companies might try to word with an anticipate the needs of marginalized communities; working with disability advocates and disabled designers to build features in natively to technology that adapts it to meet the needs of broader populations.
This is especially important in the classroom where students are owed fair access to a quality education. Within a technology-integrated classroom, if some students are not able to take advantage of that digital access because of the shortcomings of the technology, their rights as learners are compromised.
Accessibility tools being available is step one, but the next step is making sure educators, students, and general users know about these tools. Below is an example of some accessibility settings and tools available on a major piece of technology my students use in the classroom, the iPad.
*Disclaimer* I am not deaf/ hard of hearing or a member of the Deaf community. The best information about a community comes from members of that community and there are links to additional content creators and resources below.
Audio Accessibility on the iPad
Image Source: Blog Author via Canva
Why Audio Accessibility?
Tools and settings for the deaf and hard of hearing (HoH) have many potential users. This quick statistics check-in from the Nation Institute of Health points out that 2 to 3 of every 1,00 children born in the US have hearing loss in one of both ears and 1 in 8 people in the US age 12 and older has some measurable amount of hearing loss. This issue is often simplified to the dichotomy of deaf versus hearing, but the HoH community is vast and varied in age and other demographics as well as the levels and type of hearing loss.
On a personal note, like so many folks, I only started paying attention to the complexities of hearing loss when it struck close to home. Thanks to a tumor, my sister started experiencing profound hear loss in middle school and had the inner bones of her left ear removed during high school, completely removing her ability to hear on that side. Because of this, I've learned a lot from her about the difficulties of living in a world that expects full auditory ability. One of the specific challenges is the loss of her audio "depth perception" as she calls it, or the problems distinguishing between foreground and background noise. This is a common issue for folks with hearing loss (and auditory processing difficulty!) and you can read more about it here. If you've ever existed in a group schooling environment before, it's not a big leap to see why this comes up for students trying to focus or listen to instruction.
A Deeper Dive into the Tools
The first two highlighted features are ones I look for on every device I own, due in large part to the personal experiences described above. Mono audio and balance are both about adjusting how much audio comes out of which channel; which can either be totally inconsequential or extremely important depending on the content of the audio. Even as a person with no substantial hearing loss, I have used these setting to accommodate for broken headphones or confusing track mixing. The fact that this setting's existence helps both hearing and deaf/HoH populations indicates it is a success as far as Universal Design is concerned. Learn more about universal design by clicking on this link!
Captioning and Subtitling are perhaps the most commonly thought of accommodations for deaf/HoH tech users. It is important to note they are not actually the same thing (learn more here) and captioning is the preferred accommodation as it includes sound descriptions, providing more information. Many video streaming sources have some forms of native captioning, so the iPads captioning function is designed to work with compatible applications rather than any video that plays. The live captions are the really lovely feature here, using sound recognition to generate spontaneous captions for video calls or recordings. A student could record a lecture to re-play later and have captions added to increase comprehension and access. Obviously these captions are not created professionally and are prone to error; they are also only available for my students' iPads in English. Another helpful part of these settings is the ability to customize caption style (font, size, color, etc.), making the captioning work better for the individual using it.
Sound recognition is a great feature for allowing the iPad to take some of the concentration burden off of a HoH student or making a learning spaces safer and more inclusive for a deaf student. Turning on this feature has the iPad "listening" for specific sounds like alarms and notifying users when that sound occurs. This could be additional notification for something like a fire alarm. It could also be notification that a teacher's timer is going off, something my class uses to know it is time to start clean up procedures.
Device integration is one of the most exciting features, but not one I personally experienced because I do not use hearing aids. Instead I'll link you to this piece about actual user Klaus Wirtz's experience with this feature and his iPhone. This feature is a case where there are multiple devices being rapidly developed and redesigned, so there is a lot of area for growth and interfacing in this arena.
The final feature is one that might be useful for deaf/HoH users to engage, but is also important for other users to employ when communicating digitally with their deaf/HoH peers. Adding voice isolation cuts back on distracting background noise, allowing the people you are video or audio calling with to focus only on your words and not providing audio interference for live captioning systems.
