Technology as a Form of Both Student Empowerment and Community Building

          As much as I appreciate the various benefits technology has given us, whether that’s allowing people living on opposite sides of the country to communicate or provide greater accessibility for people with disabilities, I vastly prefer in-person interactions especially when it comes to learning. 

When distance learning and quarantining first started I wasn’t sure I’d end up with that opinion because I have a great deal of social anxiety. At first, I had thought that perhaps not physically being there would ease the anxiety, but alas I found that in some ways it made it worse.¹ Due to this, I was particularly intrigued by an article I found on EdSurge by columnist Kimberly Rues that dealt with social-emotional health of students during the pandemic.

The article, entitled “Students are Living History. Empower Their Voices by Creating Primary Sources,” initially caught my interest because the title references the concept that creation is empowering, which I believe is true. More than simply being an exercise in student empowerment, however, Rues details why the creation of content and/or art during an unprecedented moment in time can, and should, be considered a primary source. Rues convincingly argues that encouraging students to produce this content helps them on numerous levels. Students become more engaged in the learning process, bolster their sense of self-efficacy, and learn how to process and understand all the changes going on in their world. As Rues eloquently puts it:

“Students know that what is relevant and real is right outside the door. Helping them process those moments, capturing how they feel and what they think, is meaningful work at a time when finding meaning can be a challenge.”

Thinking about my own experiences in both the physical and virtual classroom, I agree that student creation is important but not simply for the reasons explicated above. Rues’ points and arguments are valid, but I think another way this could help is by fostering a greater sense of classroom community. Given that the point of the primary documents is to capture and share students’ personal experiences and insights, the documents provide a pre-made potential connection for students who struggle to create authentic friendships/relationships in distance learning.

 

¹ I didn’t want to take up too much room in the main body of the post explaining this but for those of you interested: online social interactions come with their own sets of rules and etiquette that I had to learn; plus online video platforms such as Zoom, often lends itself to awkward pauses and/or interruptions. All together this just meant my anxiety had new avenues through which to manifest, but unlike my in-person anxiety, I haven’t had years to build a repertoire of coping mechanisms. Although, classroom environments are generally a little easier to handle because I feel confident in what I can offer a learning environment.

 

References

Rues, Kimberly. 2020. “Students are Living History. Empower Their Voices by Creating Primary Sources,” EdSurge. Accessed on September 18, 2020. https://www.edsurge.com/news/2020-09-09-students-are-living-history-empower-their-voices-by-creating-primary-sources.