Empowering Educators: Leverging Technology as a Tool for Social Change
This evening I had an opportunity to attend the 2023 ManACE AGM which was held in Winnipeg. Our keynote was presented by Dr. Katia Hildebrandt who I had an opportunity to learn from during my EC&I833 course via University of Regina last fall.
“Many educators are passionate about technology, but the challenges and complexities surrounding the integration of tech in the classroom can be a major source of frustration and stress for teachers. Unfortunately, this means that we are missing out on the tremendous potential that digital tools offer for transforming not just education but also the world we live in. In this presentation, Dr. Katia Hildebrandt will discuss the importance of leveraging educational technology to create positive social change, while also sharing strategies for ensuring that educators’ mental health and well-being are prioritized along the way.“
The following is a summary of my learning:
- Where do you spend your time online and how do they affect your understanding of the world?
- Today’s society has growing inequities: 1/5 Canadians report racism happening to them regularly or from time-to-time
- Online spaces such as social media can deepen polarization
- There is increased race and gender bias in online spaces which needs to be looked at by education who had to move to online spaces during Covid
- Technology has increased the stress and burnout for educators
- “Technostress“
- Post-Covid challenges
- Expectation for continued accommodation of online students
- Lack of training in “online” vs. “remote” teaching
- Continued existence of pre- and during-Covid tech access issues
- Growing disparities in student achievement
- Growing social issues and inequities
- How do we balance the need to use technology, and its benefits, with teacher burnout?
- The solution to tech overload is… more technology?
- There are many articles sharing that technology can actually combat burnout in education
- A key part of these claims is the “effective” use of technology that is teacher-led (ie: not forced into technological-driven solutions during Covid)
- The need for teacher activism
- Yes, this adds one more thing for educators
- Teachers should be familiar with tools such as LwICT in Manitoba
- Not choosing a side is saying you are ok with the status quo
- In online spaces, silence speaks as loudly as words
- Teachers are the “everywhere role models” (which is the premise behind this blog’s title)
- Leverging technology and staying sane
- Make technology work for you (such as AI)
- Make sure you have a supportive PLN (I recommend starting with the great people/organizations in the Follow Friday posts)
- More is less; start small (do a few small things very well and understand their place rather than try to do it all)
- Find the platform(s)that work for you
- Choose your battles and watch for trolls
- You need to take care of yourself before you can care for others
- “When you decline to create or to curate a culture in your spaces, you’re responsibe for what spawns in the vacuum”
- Tech allows us to address inequity and injustice in the online space
- Teaching and living anti-oppressively isn’t as simple as making a few posts on the internet or altering the content of my Twitter, but it’s a place to start
Follow Dr. Hildebrandt online at: