Block Two.From industry to education
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Background.
Education today whether it be in schools, further education, higher education or workplace-based learning within industry, faces a growing set of challenges, with students and teachers across all sectors of education, being required to make the technology-based pedagogical change to online ‘remote’ learning. Often resulting in student and class projects, assessments and examinations having to undergo significant adaption to allow them to be completed in the online environment.
During this change in educational approach to remote learning, technology, has unsurprisingly, played a critical role in enabling students across all sectors to stay connected, motivated, and engaged with their learning wherever possible. Teachers have worked tirelessly to enable the continuation of learning for both students and classes by ‘integrating material such as video, game-based learning, and powerful synchronous and asynchronous collaboration tools into remote instruction through virtual lessons’ Fullan, et al. (2020, p2). Today’s students are, in effect, experiencing a new type of learning, one which is advantageous to students and teachers, both academically and in terms of accessibility (Willis, et al., 2013), with the potential to provide an important, and lasting impact on the digital future of education.
However, it must be acknowledged that the online environment can be considered particularly challenging for the teaching, learning and assessment of practical skills. Moreover, while the introduction of collaborative online teaching, has provided institutions with a solid foundation to work from for most of their theoretical courses and classes. When it comes to the more vocational, yet equally essential, elements of education based around practical classes, i.e. those which require students to exercise their psychomotor skills. The challenges faced by educators in supporting remote learners undertaking practical activities from home are significant.
During this change in educational approach to remote learning, technology, has unsurprisingly, played a critical role in enabling students across all sectors to stay connected, motivated, and engaged with their learning wherever possible. Teachers have worked tirelessly to enable the continuation of learning for both students and classes by ‘integrating material such as video, game-based learning, and powerful synchronous and asynchronous collaboration tools into remote instruction through virtual lessons’ Fullan, et al. (2020, p2). Today’s students are, in effect, experiencing a new type of learning, one which is advantageous to students and teachers, both academically and in terms of accessibility (Willis, et al., 2013), with the potential to provide an important, and lasting impact on the digital future of education.
However, it must be acknowledged that the online environment can be considered particularly challenging for the teaching, learning and assessment of practical skills. Moreover, while the introduction of collaborative online teaching, has provided institutions with a solid foundation to work from for most of their theoretical courses and classes. When it comes to the more vocational, yet equally essential, elements of education based around practical classes, i.e. those which require students to exercise their psychomotor skills. The challenges faced by educators in supporting remote learners undertaking practical activities from home are significant.
Societal impacts of technology in remote learning.
One aspect, which must not be overlooked during any technology-based pedagogical change, is the impact of the roll-out of additional educational technology-based tools, such as mixed reality remote assist, on disadvantaged groups. With technology’s potential to exacerbate existing divides, and tensions between agency, and structure of participation in education. Highlighting, in particular, that access to appropriate devices and connectivity is essential for technology-led approaches to remote learning to succeed.
However, securing access for all pupils will continue to pose a significant challenge in many contexts, particularly when many disadvantaged families do not have access to the equipment, or connectivity, to take full advantage of online and digital learning. And it is critical that educational organisations take responsibility to ensure that the outcomes of technology-based pedagogy, both positive and negative, is implemented in such a way that it benefits all students. |
MR remote assist's role in knowledge transfer and learning
"the effectiveness of remote teaching is determined by many of the same factors which determine the effectiveness of live classroom teaching" (Education Endowment Foundation, 2020)
Department of Education (2020) guidance proposes that live classrooms undoubtedly allow significant ‘interaction to occur between teachers and pupils’ through, for example, assisting students with practical tasks, questioning comprehension, and facilitating discussions amongst class members. However, the complex teacher skills prevalent in the 'traditional' live classroom are not particularly easy to recreate in a remote online learning environment. However, where remote education recreates at least some of the key aspects of this interactivity and support, teaching is likely to be more effective, encourage pupil motivation and lead to better progress.
Mixed reality, with its highly visual, interactive method of presenting relevant digital information in the context of the physical environment, is ideally suited to help address the challenges that arise within remote learning situations, and the use of mixed reality technologies in the classroom and remote learning environments has potential to instil a greater sense of autonomy, and encouraging interaction above and beyond that required to complete the pedagogical task (Loup-Escande et al., 2017, p 121) . The MR remote assist approach identified earlier has excellent potential for use within the broader educational sphere. Both in helping to address assisting, connecting, supporting and engaging students, while also providing opportunities for improved educational outcomes.
Many institutions have already implemented interactive platforms such as Microsoft Teams or Google Classroom to address their remote education delivery requirements. Allowing them to create virtual classes by drawing upon data from their learning management systems, enabling a single point of access for all lessons and resources, and allowing teachers to host both synchronous and asynchronous lessons online.
Mixed reality, with its highly visual, interactive method of presenting relevant digital information in the context of the physical environment, is ideally suited to help address the challenges that arise within remote learning situations, and the use of mixed reality technologies in the classroom and remote learning environments has potential to instil a greater sense of autonomy, and encouraging interaction above and beyond that required to complete the pedagogical task (Loup-Escande et al., 2017, p 121) . The MR remote assist approach identified earlier has excellent potential for use within the broader educational sphere. Both in helping to address assisting, connecting, supporting and engaging students, while also providing opportunities for improved educational outcomes.
Many institutions have already implemented interactive platforms such as Microsoft Teams or Google Classroom to address their remote education delivery requirements. Allowing them to create virtual classes by drawing upon data from their learning management systems, enabling a single point of access for all lessons and resources, and allowing teachers to host both synchronous and asynchronous lessons online.
Integrating applications with platforms
Given that, in general, the younger generations approach to learning is changing due to their greater exposure to digital education which incorporates video, audio, learning gamification and simple simulations. These learners unsurprisingly, show a high level of comfort interacting with technology as ‘digital natives’ (Prensky, 2001) in an increasingly digitised society, and are comfortable to study using the various technologies made available to them. Moreover, in some ways, they are, perhaps even more comfortable with the technologies that exist in the digital and physical worlds, than the teachers themselves. Although young people, while comfortable using technology, still may not know how to use it correctly. However, it must be noted that Prensky’s analysis, while there appears to be some truth in it, has been criticised by a number of writers over the years. With research by Hargittai (2008 & 2010, cited in De Bruyckere, 2019), for example indicating ‘that it is actually higher income and higher education that are related to being better at technology and using online information’.
Despite the research and development undertaken over the last 30 years or so, there has not yet been seen, successful large-scale implementation of immersive learning technologies in the classroom. Richards (2017, p 102) argues ‘that the move from learning to institutional acceptance requires infrastructure’, with the increased implementation of collaborative platforms such as Microsoft Teams, this increase in required infrastructure has now become in many ways a reality. Providing the platform in conjunction with tools such as Exchange 365 remote assist, to support teachers in allowing them to expand their remote learning curriculum while better supporting vocational and practical tasks, alongside the more ‘traditional’ online curriculum.
The utilisation of modern interactive and collaborative platforms such as Microsoft Teams can be enhanced by the integration of applications such as Microsoft Dynamics 365 Remote Assist. This, in turn, can provide teachers with an MR remote assistance facility suitable to meet the needs of their particular educational environments and situations. With the added advantage that many organisations have already implemented these collaborative platforms to enable the creation of simulated or virtual classrooms. Making it easier for educators to carry over what they know about effective teaching from the live to the virtual environment, supplementing their remote learning delivery with content designed to build upon previous learning, practical activities and scaffolded practice.
Despite the research and development undertaken over the last 30 years or so, there has not yet been seen, successful large-scale implementation of immersive learning technologies in the classroom. Richards (2017, p 102) argues ‘that the move from learning to institutional acceptance requires infrastructure’, with the increased implementation of collaborative platforms such as Microsoft Teams, this increase in required infrastructure has now become in many ways a reality. Providing the platform in conjunction with tools such as Exchange 365 remote assist, to support teachers in allowing them to expand their remote learning curriculum while better supporting vocational and practical tasks, alongside the more ‘traditional’ online curriculum.
The utilisation of modern interactive and collaborative platforms such as Microsoft Teams can be enhanced by the integration of applications such as Microsoft Dynamics 365 Remote Assist. This, in turn, can provide teachers with an MR remote assistance facility suitable to meet the needs of their particular educational environments and situations. With the added advantage that many organisations have already implemented these collaborative platforms to enable the creation of simulated or virtual classrooms. Making it easier for educators to carry over what they know about effective teaching from the live to the virtual environment, supplementing their remote learning delivery with content designed to build upon previous learning, practical activities and scaffolded practice.
Activity.
Take the (optional) opportunity to download and install a trial of the Dynamics 365 Remote Assist application. This will give you the chance to try out many of the feature available on either your tablet or mobile device, (Note: HoloLens specific MR features will be unavailable. Links to additional tools are available in the resources block):Upon download, users will have access to the 90-day license free trial, or you may be able to use the 30-day trial license provide by your organisation, if applicable. Check the details on the links above for further information.
After, trying out the application, note down your thoughts and observations on the user interface / user experience (UI/UX), and and other comments you feel relevant, before we move on to the next block. |
Entanglements, datafication and security.
There is some debate to be had around the introduction of remote learning, particularly within the context of children and young adults, and the bringing these types of advanced mixed reality remote assist technologies or ‘interfaces’ into the home, particularly from the standpoint of datafication and security. This prescribed use of technology which leads to the interaction of human (students and teachers), and non-human (technology), is described as ‘entanglement’ (de Laat & Dohn, 2019).
As described previously, mixed reality overlays digital content onto the student’s field of view of the physical world. A key factor here is that the student would be wearing a mixed reality head-mounted display (HMD), or a using a tablet or mobile device which will allow the student and the teacher, (or potentially other students in the class), to have a clear view of the physical world around the student while they are carrying out their studies. Note: This differs from virtual reality (VR), in which the digital content completely obscures the physical world.
By way of example, a teacher could be supporting a collaborative robotics project through MR remote assist where a Lego robot can be taken apart, with the different pieces moved around, rotated, or placed in another location within the field of view. The teacher, and other classmates can interact virtually through mixed reality to annotate the robot build, or software code development, in completion of the project. Perng (2019, p 419) considers this as a form of ‘shared technology making’ one that is ‘open to all, informed by diverse knowledges and perspectives, and led by citizens’ or in our case student 'citizens'.
This very ‘openness to all’ and ‘entanglement of technologies and individuals’ brings particular issues when the 'classroom' is no longer based in the traditional school setting, but may now be a kitchen table, living room couch or students bedroom, doubling as the new ‘home school’. In this context, it is no longer just the institutions that become ‘entanglement sites’, or places where entanglement occurs, but also the family home. One where the new reality of inadvertently seeing inside each other’s homes, complete with pets and other family members, whose ‘social entanglements might align and contest each other’ (Perng 2019, p422) while remote education takes place.
Therefore openness and entanglement are areas of particular importance, areas where educators, technologists and organisational leaders will need to carefully consider the potential impact on the increasing environmental, and technological entanglements in the 'digital-material environment in which we live' (Pink et al. 2017, p1), encountered by those involved in remote learning activities. The protection of the privacy and personal data of users must always be appropriately considered when using collaborative platforms and MR technologies in support of remote learning in the home, whether they be student or teacher. For example, Bye, et al. (2019) notes that a ‘wide range of biometrics can be collected from Head-Mounted Displays (HMDs), some of which are non-obvious to users’. Moreover, he further states that Occulus’ privacy policy explicitly states that the devices collect “information about your environment, physical movements, and dimensions when you use an XR device.” This collection of data could have significant ethical implications for not just the students, but also the educational institutions. It must be addressed adequately if ‘collaborative, participatory and inclusive digital futures are to be possible’ (Perng 2019, p431).
However, the use of Microsoft Teams by institutions to provide the collaborative base platform for MR remote assist solutions in education can help mitigate a number of these risks. One, which as Saparrato (2019) highlights, ensures that privacy and security for remote learning remains a crucial platform element. Designed to keep students, teachers, and organisations safe with its ‘built-in capabilities, cloud-powered intelligence and highest standards of security, privacy, and compliance’, protecting student and teacher data during use, allowing the creation of safe and engaging learning environments, while meeting privacy, and data compliance, requirements for educational institutions across differing sectors.
As described previously, mixed reality overlays digital content onto the student’s field of view of the physical world. A key factor here is that the student would be wearing a mixed reality head-mounted display (HMD), or a using a tablet or mobile device which will allow the student and the teacher, (or potentially other students in the class), to have a clear view of the physical world around the student while they are carrying out their studies. Note: This differs from virtual reality (VR), in which the digital content completely obscures the physical world.
By way of example, a teacher could be supporting a collaborative robotics project through MR remote assist where a Lego robot can be taken apart, with the different pieces moved around, rotated, or placed in another location within the field of view. The teacher, and other classmates can interact virtually through mixed reality to annotate the robot build, or software code development, in completion of the project. Perng (2019, p 419) considers this as a form of ‘shared technology making’ one that is ‘open to all, informed by diverse knowledges and perspectives, and led by citizens’ or in our case student 'citizens'.
This very ‘openness to all’ and ‘entanglement of technologies and individuals’ brings particular issues when the 'classroom' is no longer based in the traditional school setting, but may now be a kitchen table, living room couch or students bedroom, doubling as the new ‘home school’. In this context, it is no longer just the institutions that become ‘entanglement sites’, or places where entanglement occurs, but also the family home. One where the new reality of inadvertently seeing inside each other’s homes, complete with pets and other family members, whose ‘social entanglements might align and contest each other’ (Perng 2019, p422) while remote education takes place.
Therefore openness and entanglement are areas of particular importance, areas where educators, technologists and organisational leaders will need to carefully consider the potential impact on the increasing environmental, and technological entanglements in the 'digital-material environment in which we live' (Pink et al. 2017, p1), encountered by those involved in remote learning activities. The protection of the privacy and personal data of users must always be appropriately considered when using collaborative platforms and MR technologies in support of remote learning in the home, whether they be student or teacher. For example, Bye, et al. (2019) notes that a ‘wide range of biometrics can be collected from Head-Mounted Displays (HMDs), some of which are non-obvious to users’. Moreover, he further states that Occulus’ privacy policy explicitly states that the devices collect “information about your environment, physical movements, and dimensions when you use an XR device.” This collection of data could have significant ethical implications for not just the students, but also the educational institutions. It must be addressed adequately if ‘collaborative, participatory and inclusive digital futures are to be possible’ (Perng 2019, p431).
However, the use of Microsoft Teams by institutions to provide the collaborative base platform for MR remote assist solutions in education can help mitigate a number of these risks. One, which as Saparrato (2019) highlights, ensures that privacy and security for remote learning remains a crucial platform element. Designed to keep students, teachers, and organisations safe with its ‘built-in capabilities, cloud-powered intelligence and highest standards of security, privacy, and compliance’, protecting student and teacher data during use, allowing the creation of safe and engaging learning environments, while meeting privacy, and data compliance, requirements for educational institutions across differing sectors.
Questions to contemplate.
Spend a few moments considering what actions might we take, to minimise risk from the 'entanglement of technologies and the individual' within remote education, from the perspective of the:
- Institution
- Home, (i.e., student and/or parents)
Click the button below to move onto the next block of the OER, where we will consider 'best practice' in implementing mixed reality remote assist instances.
References.
Bye, K., Hosfelt, D., Chase, S., Miesnieks, M. & Beck, T., (2019). The ethical and privacy implications of mixed reality. In Proceedings of SIGGRAPH ’19 Panels (ACM, 2019). Available at: https://doi.org/10.1145/3306212.3328138
de Bruyckere, P. (2019) Myth-busting: children are digital natives. Available at: https://researched.org.uk/2019/06/24/myth-busting-children-are-digital-natives/ (Accessed: 20th December 2020)
de Laat, M. and Dohn, N. B. (2019). Is Networked Learning Postdigital Education?. Postdigital Science and Education, 1(1), pp. 17–20. Available at: DOI: 10.1007/s42438-019-00034-1.
Department for Education, (2020), Remote education good practice. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/remote-education-goodpractice/remote-education-good-practice
Education Endowment Foundation, (2020). Remote Learning, Rapid Evidence Assessment, London: Education Endowment Foundation. Available at: https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/public/files/Publications/Covid-19_Resources/Remote_learning_evidence_review/Remote_Learning_Rapid_Evidence_Assessment.pdf
Fullan, M., Quinn, J., Drummy, M., Gardner, M., (2020). “Education Reimagined; The Future of Learning”. A collaborative position paper between New Pedagogies for Deep Learning and Microsoft Education. Available at: http://aka.ms/HybridLearningPaper
Hargittai, E. and Hinnant, A. (2008) Digital inequality differences in young adults’ use of the internet, Communication Research 35 (5) pp. 602–621. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/0093650208321782
Hargittai, E. (2010) Digital na(t)ives? Variation in internet skills and uses among members of the “net generation”, Sociological Inquiry 80 (1) pp. 92–113. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-682X.2009.00317.x
Perng, S.-Y., (2019) ‘Anticipating digital futures: ruins, entanglements and the possibilities of shared technology making’, Mobilities. Routledge, 14(4), pp. 418-434. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/17450101.2019.1594867
Prensky, M., (2001). Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants, Part 1. On the horizon, 9(5), pp.1–6. Available at: marcprensky.com
Pink, S., et al., (2017). Mundane data: The routines, contingencies and accomplishments of digital living. Big data & society, 4(1), 1-12. Available at: DOI: 10.1177/2053951717700924
Richards, J., (2017). Infrastructures for Immersive Media in the Classroom. In Virtual, Augmented, and Mixed Realities in Education. Smart Computing and Intelligence. Singapore: Springer Singapore, pp. 89–104. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-5490-7_6
Loup-Escande, E et al., (2017). Effects of Stereoscopic Display on Learning and User Experience in an Educational Virtual Environment. International journal of human-computer interaction, 33(2), pp.115–122. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/10447318.2016.1220105
Willis, C et al., (2013). Encouraging the adoption of education technology for improved student outcomes. Australasian journal of engineering education., 19(2), p.109. Available at: DOI:http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.is.ed.ac.uk/10.7158/D12-012.2013.19.2