Task 12

Task 12 - Speculative Futures

Please join DigiKate for a brief description of her virtual reality based future classroom in the video below, then read a comment from WhimsicalWarthog.

Direct link to video in case of tech issues:

• https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BD6PKp_KRSg3jBcHZNoSzH8f1qRP6N3R/view?usp=sharing

I envisioned the reduced need for physical school buildings with set classrooms. I think there will be higher demand for distance education, supported by immersive technology. I see students being able to either log in from home, or head to a school, which may resemble more of a community center, where they log in to a virtual classroom, have more choice in the courses they take, offerings from teachers around the province. Teachers like small class sizes for class management (behaviour), not the planning. It takes just as much effort to plan for 12 kids as 100 kids. With behaviour management greatly reduced in a virtual environment, I see class sizes increasing and teachers taking on a larger group of students. Of course, marking is an issue with larger class sizes, but I see more computer graded assessments coming, in which case a teacher could again handle a much larger class size. I see the ability for more flexibility and student direction in choosing their school path and tailoring their experience.

I created the video using a memoji recording, however, I see this as a stand in for a more digital representation of a teacher - still a real person, but maybe one that presents digitally. Had I been able to work in green screen effects and overlay my actual house with a digital setting I would have, as I think a virtual environment is more likely for privacy. I also see students logging in with digital avatars, perhaps not even human ones. When my students Kahoot now, they enjoy the random name generator that creates nicknames like SwiftPanda or GentleTortoise or HumourousHyena. They like the anonymity so that they don't feel self-conscious with everyone knowing who is scoring what. So I envisioned the future students logging in with similar identifiable nicknames and animojis similar to Kahoot. Gender or race or age bias would also be greatly reduced if the teacher only sees the name like WhimsicalWarthog and an animoji character.

Virtual immersive and remote environments would come with some downsides, such as lost relationship building between student and teacher, but I think that is being worn away now anyway. One of my high school religion sections has 43 students. I can't carry on a discussion effectively in that group, we can't do group work effectively, and with a total of 140 students, my ability now to form relationships is pretty strained. We have a growing number of students now, who for mental health reasons, behaviour reasons, family situations can't function successfully in a regular, over-filled yet unsupported classroom. They are often placed in self-paced module classes, however the materials are out-dated paper booklets that lack media sources or modern topics. The students get the plus of being able to work at their own pace with flexibility, but the actual material and experience is pretty low-quality. An immersive, virtual remote classroom might offer a better academic experience, while shifting things like socializing and athletics and hands-on STEAM activities to a more community center type venue.