THE FUTURE TIMES
This is a fictitious article prepared for ETEC 523: Mobile and Open Learning as a part of the Master of Educational Technology program at the University of British Columbia.
Has School Taken
Too Much Control
By Adrian Granchelli
July 21, 2036
More and more schools are adopting this new phone app that promises to give teachers control of their students outside of the classroom. Students still attend school at the same hours, but log in through their phones instead of physically going to school.
Each student utilizes their own devices or one provided by the school installed with the Geo-Untethered phone app. This app notifies the student when class in session and provides access to lectures, video chats, and various learning activities. Students must stay on task as teachers are able to see exactly what the student is doing and can impose restrictions to students' devices if necessary. Personalized lessons can be delivered to each student with the use of deep learning, student data and teacher input. Teachers can maintain class control from from anywhere, thanks to this mobile technology.
Watch the app's introduction video below
if you experience trouble loading, click here.
This app has reported great results but parents have mixed reviews and some have taken to the streets in protest.
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Their demands are for:
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schools to stop tracking students’ location, app or device usage,
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a private evaluation of the compliance to privacy laws,
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removing control of students’ personal possessions.
The streets of Main Street during demonstrations last Monday.
In addition to the protests, schools have seen a drastic decrease in enrollment as many parents have removed their children and boycotted these educational institutes. Is this a good choice? We just hope that this does not exacerbate the digital divide or access to education.
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What do you think? Is this a technological step forward worth taking or should we re-explore the best move forward? Drop us a line here:
https://blogs.ubc.ca/etec523/2020/07/31/a3-has-school-taken-too-much-control/
About the Author
Adrian is an Online Learning Designer for both the Land and Foods Systems department of UBC and Wachiay Studio - a screen printing education hub.
His background includes mechanical engineering, teaching at BCIT and coordinating all the education at Vancouver’s largest makerspace, MakerLabs. Currently he is working towards a Master of Educational Technology program at the University of British Columbia and prepare this fake article of ETEC 523: Mobile and Open Learning.