Issues to consider
Collaborative apps offer great ways for students and educators to communicate and collaborate with each other, but it does not come without its challenges. Below are some of the issues faced when incorporating collaborative apps in the learning environment.
Digital DivideDigital divide refers to the gap between the privileged and underprivileged members of society in terms of their ability to access digital tools and the Internet (Chen, 2015).
One of the factors that appear to be important is the differential possession of digital skills. Changes in society demand new skills, especially those related to the Internet as one of the most important means of communication in contemporary society. Because of the growing amount of information on the Internet and society’s increasing dependence on information, Internet skills should now be considered as vital assets (Chen, 2015). When these skills are unequally divided among the population, students may be left behind. |
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Cost
The staggeringly high cost of bringing technology into the school similarly the use of collaborative apps is not a secret In the relatively short period of time that computers have emerged as an educational priority, the educational establishment, from the highest levels of government down to the schools themselves, have worked hard to place networked computers in schools (Hepburn, 2005). Schools, however, have limited financial resources, so bringing collaborative apps into schools has been a financial burden.
Resistance to Change.
There is no doubt that collaborative apps facilitate students in learning and also increases productivity for educators despite this, educators have become comfortable with the formal way of teaching and are reluctant to change (Chen, 2015) In most cases there is a lack of adequate professional development to support educators who are required to implement collaborative apps into their classrooms (Hepburn, 2005). Also, some educators find it difficult to assess the quality of collaborative apps, similarly assessing if the students are actually learning when utilizing these apps. Another obstacle some educators are facing is finding the time to teach students how to use collaborative apps.
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What do you think?
How do you think we, as educators, can assess the quality of collaborative apps? How can we assess if students are actually learning while using collaborative apps? Please share your thoughts below.
Sources:
- Chen, B. (2015). Exploring the Digital Divide: The Use of Digital Technologies in Ontario Public Schools, Canadian Journal of Learning and Technology, 41 (3), 1-23.
- CanvasLMS. (10, July 2015). Addressing Faculty Resistance to Change Head On [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMfcJjnp4p4.
- Hepburn, G. (2005). Open Source Software and Schools: New Opportunities and Directions, Canadian Journal of Learning and Technology, 31 (1), 1-11.
- Ligge1. (23, February 2012). The Digital Divide in Education [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1YLPL0KOWE.
Contributed by Alyssa Brissett.