Scholarship

Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.

-Mahatma Gandhi

My research interest lies on researching how technology has changed the way we communicate. This alteration of communication changes the way we learn, the way we teach, and how our everyday lives are structured. We desperately need research in this area because communication is changing so quickly that it is important to understand how it affects the greater world around us.

Communication has changed throughout the past 150 years quickly, but never as quick as it is now. In our move from written letters that took days, weeks, or months to be delivered, to the telegram and wire connections available in the 19th century, to telephones, text messages, social media, and more we have adjusted how we live our everyday lives. However, in the past 20 years that has changed significantly and it is time to help put some context into how our mediums of communication are changing along with the devices used for that purpose.

My plan is to gather as much data as possible to find evidence of how the past 20 years of technological and societal advancement has changed the way we communicate and learn, and evaluate how we can help utilize this information to improve learning in our K12 classrooms. Many different technological tools are being used in these environments, but this research could show those teaching our children how different forms of communication in and out of the classroom can help progress their goals.

This research would have three underlying focus areas:

• How social media has changed our access to information, norms of interaction with others, and the ability to decipher between the truths and the non-truths we encounter
• How different mediums allow for more communication, and how those different mediums change the relationship that can be built with teachers/professors/colleagues/peers
• How distance learning using information and communications technology (ICT) has allowed for the expansion of learning in areas that were not always available in the past

Communication is a very broad subject and can culminate into almost everything that we do in our everyday lives. However, these three focus areas will intermingle together to help the world of education by teaching educators the best way to utilize what is at their disposal to help their students, helping prospective educators enter the field and grow their professional skills, and teach everyone the best ways to work together as a high functioning society in an advanced technological world.

1. How has the ability to build relationships in an educational setting changed due to the growth in communication mediums and modern technologies?
2. How has widespread access to social media by teachers, students, and parents changed the way we communicate in and out of the classroom?
3. How has the use of ICT changed an educational landscape that now can provide access to anyone interested in furthering their education?

How has the ability to build relationships between teachers and parents in an educational setting changed due to the growth in communication mediums and modern technologies?

Building relationships is a crucial part of the learning process in all aspects. Teachers work to build positive relationships with their students, but also maintain similar relationships with the parents of their students as well. The mediums of communication readily available to all parties in the world today has altered how this relationship can be fostered.

Teachers and parents often communicate via text message, email, social media platforms, communication specific apps such as Remind, ClassTag, and Class Dojo, as well as a good old fashioned phone call. Have these mediums helped foster and maintain relationships between teachers and parents that can positively affect student learning, or has the reliance on these tools taken away the face to face relationship building of the past and replaced it with quick surface level communications with little effect?

This study needs to be evaluating this subject to see how it changes amongst differing demographics such as age, socio-economic status, gender, and ethnicity as all of these factors will play a part in the analysis of the data.

How has widespread access to social media by teachers, students, and parents changed the way we communicate in and out of the classroom?

Social media has changed how everyone sees the world as we have instant information at our fingertips from unlimited sources. It has also introduced the world to an environment where every piece of information must be evaluated for accuracy, and you often do not know who or what information can be trusted. Akin to the yellow journalism era of over a century ago, social media users must decipher between the truth, the sensationalized, and downright false information.

Teachers, students, and parents all have access to social media and its positive and negative characteristics. Whether it involves controversial issues dealing directly with the classroom like those of critical race theory and what can and cannot be taught to students regarding history and other social discussions, or the efficacy of vaccinations or other health measures regarding the COVID-19 pandemic; issues that are learned or evaluated on social media will find their way into our classrooms eventually. If not handled properly, this can cause a chasm amongst teachers and their audience of parents and students.

A study would be valuable to see how communication between teachers, parents, and students can be positively or negatively affected by the use of social media. There is evidence to be found of how teachers are utilizing social media to enhance learning in classrooms and communicate the learning happening in their classrooms. It will be important to study how that has affected the rapport a teacher has with parents and students. It will also be important to study how teachers who have completely avoided all social media platforms communicate with their parents and students to evaluate how their lack of social media exposure can positively or negatively affect their work.

How has the use of ICT changed an educational landscape that now can provide access to anyone interested in furthering their education?

Obtaining higher learning opportunities in the past meant that students were required to participate in face to face environments on campus learning directly from their professors at set times and places. Information and communications technology such as Zoom, Skype, and Microsoft Teams as well as organized learning management systems like Canvas, Blackboard, and Schoology have provided flexibility in the delivery of instruction to students who previously may have struggled to fit the typical college and higher learning experiences into their everyday schedule.

This technology has not only provided more access to higher level degrees, but also to teacher certification as well. Alternative certification programs allow professionals with a college degree to become eligible to apply for professional teaching positions in a matter of months. In a time where teacher shortages have become an issue in public institutions this can be a benefit. However, this study would evaluate how the access to online programs has affected the educational environment by studying how school employees who come from different educational backgrounds perform in their duties.

This study will quantify how these online programs have helped and/or hindered the educational world by providing more access to programs that allow individuals to grow their career in education. Studying years of service for teachers who are traditionally certified through university education programs versus teachers who go through an alternative certification program to obtain their teaching certificate. It will also attempt to evaluate the effect that online advanced degrees can have on the profession as well. Teachers obtaining masters and doctoral degrees to further their career have become abundant in schools, and they are becoming administrators and leaders in their educational communities. This study should evaluate how the online program access has affected that growth, and how many active teachers are obtaining their advanced degrees for this reason.

As a teacher who went through an alternative certification program, obtained a Masters degree through an online program, and is currently working through an online doctoral program, I am very interested in these findings.

What Are the Next Steps in My Scholarship Progression?