Educational Technology Research
Studying human evolution is
so fascinating. Especially in today’s
world where technology is evolving so fast that a new tool or software that
comes out today becomes obsolete in a year or less. McCrindle is an Australian advisory
firm that focuses on researching generational trends. They have a very interesting infographic that offers a snapshot of key traits and stats specific to each
generation (builders, baby boomers, GenX, GenY, GenZ, GenAlpha). It is incredible to think that a tool such as
the iPad, which is so common and widely used, came out only 9 years ago.
Image source: McCrindle.com
Similar to McCrindle, but more associated to education, Project Tomorrow Speak
Up is an organization that researches the effects of technolody in education.
In 2019 and in collaboration with Blackboard, they came up with a report
on the role of mobile and social communications from the perspective of parents
and educators.
One of the key takeaways of
the report is that parent’s preferences for school-to-home communications
differs by generation, message type, and tool.
For example, “one-third of Millenial parents report using Instagram
regularly but only 12% of baby boomers say the same”. Also, “while 63% of parents say that facebook
is a good tool for the dissemination of generalized information, only
one-quarter of parents believe it is an effective tool for crisis
communications” (Millennial, Gen X and Boomer Parents August 2019). So the way parents use
technology will depend on things like which generation they belong to, their socio-economic status, religion and even geographical backgrounds. It is important to understand the communities
that we serve and find the most appropriate ways to connect with them.
It is for that exact reason
that education research is important for all educators to explore. Not one solution is a “fit-all” option so it
is imperative that we understand the population we are trying to reach and the
external factors that will affect that communication. Research on the always-changing
human behavior, and how we act in the different settings we find ourselves in,
can be helpful when determining what techniques to use to more effectively to
educate our young ones.
Additional Resources:
Hi, Lucia.
ReplyDeleteI think your comments about how we need to understand the communities we are working with and how each generation uses different technology and sees these technologies differently is really important for our school districts as we move forward.
I know my school keep sending out mass emails to notify parents about crisis announcements and developments at the school, but they may not be checking their email, especially non-English speaking parents. How do we know that this is the best way to communicate with them? When we want to send out information to the community, we use Google Hangouts to highlight things the district is doing well. But how do we communicate with our wider community quickly and efficiently? I think that Twitter would probably be more effective to get out to more people, but only if they are following the feed. I think people need to pay attention to the surveys and statistics being done on usage, like the one you noted, in order to start communicating more effectively with the different groups who we are responsible to.
McCrindle and Project Tomorrow's Speak Up survey are my two favorite sources! They both lend such important insight into different generational groups and what their needs are. This is something that as educators we should strive to review yearly.
ReplyDeleteHi Lucia! You highlight research that points out key differences how parents of different ages interact with technology/educational technology. This is something I thought a lot about at my last school, where we used a digital platform to communicate with parents. The idea was, because every adult had access to the internet, we should streamline communication to only exist there. Everyone who has tried to communicate with parents knows the frustration with having too many channels of communication (phone, email, texting, physical handouts, etc.). However, we definitely did encounter issues with parents and/or grandparents of different generations who were not as keen on using technology to communicate. So the question was, do we adapt to meet the needs of our families, or should out families adapt to our system, which we believed was the way of the future. I will admit that we never figured out a one-size-fits all solution, and there were some parents that struggled even after several years of being at the school. We tried offering workshops and 1:1 support but it still did not fix all our problems, mostly because parents did not attend these for various reasons. I honestly think that time is best solution, because eventually millennials will be parents and then grandparents, who have the wherewithal to navigate a technology-based world.
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