D J Cole UWI WEBSITE

 

EDTK 2030 Information and Communication Technology in Education

Due Date: Sept 22 2019

Deanna James Cole

Student ID 313100255

Assignment 1 Essay

 

Introduction

Over half the people in the world used email to communicate in 2018 according to the Radicati reports. In effect this ICT communication medium was used by close to 4 billion people according to Heinz Tschabitscher. In a world that has so many means to communicate the reliance on email by so many people for so many reasons must make us wonder why? In considering the success of email it is important to review the affordances of email and its constraints to understand the growth of email. Affordances are the various possibilities and positive benefits that can be derived from an object or service according to Michael Hammond. In reviewing email it will be prudent to review both the positive affordances as well the constraints that can exist with this ICT marvel. This is especially true as we endeavor to integrate email into our journey of educating.

Affordances

Email is uses by virtually everyone according to a recent US Census report. J Clement advises that the 2017 Census report states that the average percentage of people that use email from age 15 to over 65 was approximately 88 %. As a user of email myself it is easy to see many of the affordances of email. Key affordance include the following beneficial points;

Benefits

• Ease of use

• Fast speed of delivery from the originator to the recipient

• Able to be done in written text with visual pictures our audio visual clips.

• Able to be time stamped and show other information as to who sent the email for identification purposes

• Worldwide reach where ever internet services are available

• Can be used on stationary computers or wireless mobile devices

• Relatively inexpensive to use

Reflection

Email is a very positive communications medium based on the ability of people to communicate business, social and most importantly educational information from one person to another. In education we as teachers can efficiently disseminate information to students, parents, staff members and other stakeholders. This ICT technology is a key enabler to education for communicating various insights to our overall community.

In the Caribbean where we have limited budgets and increasing needs to improve the quality of our educational process email can be used to communicate information in a cost effective expedient manner. The ability to create and receive emails on computers and mobile devices make email a medium that is accessible to almost every one. This universal ability allow us as educators the ability to quickly connect with our stake holders in an accountable manner. Indeed email is one of the most important ICT tools available to teahers.

Constraints

To assure we as educators provide the most positive and consistent learning environment we must be aware of the affordances of email as well as constraint that can impact our use of the internet. By doing this we will be able to have contingency plans to use if email is not available.

Constraints of email include the following:

• Email requires internet availability, electricity or battery power

• Email requires computers, tablets or mobile devices

• Email indirectly has costs associated with the requirements above

• Internet coverage may not be available to all students, teachers and stakeholders

• Emails can include incorrect information and or be tampered with

• Email communications may be misinterpreted

• Email leads to social disconnection and can lead to cyberbullying

• Email may be deemed questionable as a communications medium that is acceptable to use for young children

Reflections

In no uncertain terms the constraints noted are important to understand so that we as educators can assure the related negative impacts of the constrains do not undermine the learning and development of our students. In addition in regards to the limitations such as the need for internet, electricity and cost concerns we must be aware of our student’s individual situations and assure that we leave no students behind due to these constraints.

In terms of misunderstands and social disconnection we must assure we use email wisely and always double check that our recipients understand our true intentions and remain socially connected to us. We need to have communications that promote decent interactivity between the sender and the receiver. In addition especially with children we need to engage them in ways other than email alone to assure correct learning and development is taking place. For example if we send an email it would be important to ask for a response and invite questions. The following day it would be good to review the communications quickly to assure everyone is on the same page.

 

 

 

Conclusion

Email is used by the majority of individuals across the world for a variety of business, social and educational purposes. It is an easy to use, reliable for of communications that can instantaneously share information between the sender and the recipient. In the educational arena it can be used by teachers and students. While there will be some concern as to how young a person should be using email the reality is more and more children are using electronic devices and email will not be far behind voice and texting communications. Adam Fort notes some teachers are against the use of email by school aged children due to the potential that children will become more withdrawn and socially awkward in face to face communications due to the reliance on email for communications. While this is a reasonable concern the use of email is in fact an increasing part of modern adult life. As such I believe proper guidance and education on the use of email is a better option than to shun the use of email. In business today email is day to day part of many operations. Children need to understand it in order to ready them for adulthood.

With the mind the focus on email needs to assure email is used for positive communications. Children are already using computers and mobile devices in schools, hence the use of emails as an off shot of those technologies is inevitable. The benefits of email are significant. Ease of use, speed of communications, to ability to send and receive email messages from stationary devices or from mobile devices and inexpensive costs are all reasons that the positives of email out weight the noted concerns above. As such I believe email is justified in today’s modern society and in our educational environment.

 

 

References

Hammond Michael 2010; Education and Information Technologies. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.library.open.uwi.edu/docview/577605677?accountid=42537

Heinz Tschabitscher 2019; How Many People Use Email Worldwide? Retrieved from https://www.lifewire.com/how-many-email-users-are-there-1171213#targetText=Email%20%26%20Messaging&targetText=But%2C%20how%20many%20email%20users,by%20the%20end%20of%202022.

J Clement; 2017; Percentage of internet users in the United States who use e-mail as of November 2017, by age group. Stastica Retrieved from https://www.statista.com/statistics/271501/us-email-usage-reach-by-age/

Adam Fort 2013; Why Teachers are Against E-mails in the Classroom. Retrieved from https://elearningindustry.com/why-teachers-are-against-e-mails-in-the-classroom