Category: my research Page 2 of 21

EdTech, magic mushrooms, and magic bullets

On January 16, 2023

In my research, online learning, scholarship, short reflections

In my inbox, an email says:

Alberta’s new regulations on psychedelics to treat mental health issues come into effect today, making it the first province to regulate the use of hallucinogens in therapy.

Today in The Conversation Canada, Erika Dyck of the University of Saskatchewan walks readers through the new regulations, as well as the history, potential and pitfalls of hallucinogens both inside and outside clinical settings.

Psychedelics — from magic mushrooms and ayahuasca to LSD — are having a moment in the spotlight, with celebrity endorsements and a new generation of research on potential clinical uses. There is certainly a need for therapeutics to treat mental health issues, the growing prevalence of which could place a strain on the health-care system.

“Psychedelics are being held up as a potential solution,” Dyck writes. “But, magic mushrooms are not magic bullets.”

That last line captures so much of what is happening in our field, and education more broadly, that it is worth repeating.

AI is being held up as a potential solution, but it is not a magic bullet.
A return to in-person learning is being held up as a potential solution, but it is not a magic bullet.
Online learning is being held up as a potential solution, but it is not a magic bullet.
Microcredentials are being held up as a potential solution, but they are not a magic bullet.
… and so on

These things – and others – can be solutions to some problems, but they consider them to be part of a Swiss army knife, part of a toolkit. And while sometimes your Swiss army knife will work, this isn’t always going to be the case, especially when we’re considering some of the most major challenges facing higher ed, the kinds of things that we’re not talking about (e.g., precarious employment and and external regulations that encourage and foster conservatism, etc).

And perhaps, that’s the crux of the issue: That these solutions are used to respond to the symptoms of larger problems, of the things we’re not talking about, rather than the root causes of them.

Image credit: Wall-e output in response to the prompt “a magic bullet in the style of salvador dali”

Critical Digital Pedagogy in Higher Education & collaborating with Suzan and Chris

By George Veletsianos

On November 29, 2022

In my research, online learning

Critical Digital Pedagogy in Higher Education will be published in January 2023. Suzan Köseoğlu, Chris Rowell, and I started working on this open access book <checks notes> around October 2019. It’s an edited volume that includes research and scholarship from many wonderful colleagues from around the world who have stuck with us and entrusted us with the process of trying to publish a book during a pandemic. I’ll be posting about each chapter in January, but here I wanted to share a note of appreciation for my co-editors.

It takes some perseverance to publish a book. But it takes a special of dedication and patience to edit and publish a book consisting of thirteen chapters written by more than 20 colleagues, while in a pandemic, while navigating life, while switching institutions, like both Suzan and Chris did.

Suzan is sharp, thoughtful, supportive, and approaches this work with the critical mindset it deserves. She read through every single manuscript (and countless submissions that did not end up being included in the final version of the book) with an eye to detail and in consideration of the broader work that is being done in the area.

Chris is equally sharp and reliable. He approaches this work with a keen understanding of practice, and that lens adds volumes to this work. He is equally dedicated to critical pedagogy, as well as to mobilizing knowledge in diverse ways (including through a podcast he’s been experimenting with for the book).

While working with them I appreciated their kindness and dedication. I knew I could rely on them, and I know that this work is better because of them.

Editing a book is a lot of hard work, and I don’t know of any academics who do it for the money, because frankly, there’s very little of it in scholarly publishing. Perhaps you might consider inviting Suzan or Chris to speak at your next event?

A Synthesis of Research on Mental Health and Remote Learning: How Pandemic Grief Haunts Claims of Causality

By George Veletsianos

On October 4, 2022

In learner experience, my research, online learning, papers

Stephanie Moore, Michael Barbour and I have published a paper synthesizing the results of all the research we could find relating to remote/online learning and mental health. Full paper and abstract below:

Moore, S., Veletsianos, G., & Barbour, M. (2022). A synthesis of research on mental health and remote learning: How pandemic grief haunts claims of causality. The Open/Technology in Education, Society, and Scholarship Association Journal, 2(1), 1-19. https://doi.org/10.18357/otessaj.2022.1.1.36

Abstract

While there has been a lot of debate over the impact of online and remote learning on mental health and well-being, there has been no systematic syntheses or reviews of the research on this particular issue. In this paper, we review the research on the relationship between mental health/well-being and online or remote learning. Our review shows that little scholarship existed prior to 2020 with most studies conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic. We report four findings: (1) pandemic effects are not well-controlled in most studies; (2) studies present a very mixed picture, with variability around how mental health and well- being are measured and how/whether any causal inferences are made in relation to online and remote learning, (3) there are some indications that certain populations of students may struggle more in an online context, and (4) research that does not assume a direct relationship between mental health and online provides the best insight into both confounding factors and possible strategies to address mental health concerns. Our review shows that 75.5% of published research on this topic either commits the correlation does not equal causation error or asserts a causal relationship even when it fails to establish correlations. Based on this study, we suggest that researchers, policymakers, practitioners, and administrators exercise extreme caution around making generalizable assertions with respect to the impacts of online/remote learning and mental health. We encourage further research to better understand effects on specific learner sub- populations and on course—and institution—level strategies to support mental health.

Keywords: mental health, online learning, remote education, anxiety, stress, well-being, wellness

The business case for edtech startups engaging education research

By George Veletsianos

On September 9, 2022

In my research, online learning, scholarship

If you’ve been following my work for a while, you may have noticed that I’ve been advocating for edtech companies to collaborate with education researchers for a long while now. At the 2014 SXSW EDU conference for example, my colleagues and I organized a panel titled Startups Should Talk with Researchers and Educators to highlight mutually beneficial relationships. Much has changed since then, but I often come across startups that can’t seem to grasp that the histories of online, distance, and digital learning can be informative and beneficial.

There are lots of reasons for this – and to be sure universities and researchers aren’t blameless, as a variety of factors limit the reach and impact of our scholarship.

Many have made the pedagogical case for education startups to use the research available. In this post I want to make the business case for edtech startups to engage education research. Because it’s a win-win. And it’s simple.

By consulting with academics and/or learning designers, reading the research literature, exploring various pedagogical and learning design models, and understanding the relationships between teaching/learning and technology, you (i.e. startups) can save money and time.

How can you save money and time?

By identifying potential pain points and what education research has to say about your value proposition early on, you’d be able to develop minimum viable products that are at the very least reflective of what we know about teaching and learning.

I’ve seen many startups fail because they took too long to understand the space. And too many startups accidentally stumbling upon what is common knowledge in education research after they’ve burned through initial investment rounds.

You (i.e. startups) do not need to start at 0 to get to 10. You can start at 3, 5, 7 even by engaging education research.

To make this example concrete, below is an excerpt of an email from an edtech startup that I received yesterday. This is a startup that’s been around for 2+ years and raised 2 rounds of funding.

Something unexpected keeps happening in our post-course surveys.

As you might guess, we regularly hear about the quality of [our company’s] instructors and the knowledge they pass on.

But we didn’t expect to hear so often of the value of the other course participants, of taking courses live, alongside other ambitious, generous professionals.

Turns out—it’s the other students in each cohort that make it special.

The power of peer learning and community isn’t a secret. Really, it’s common knowledge. All that post-course surveys do here is confirm what those of us who have been studying distance and online learning for decades already know. Only when startups fail to engage with the rich and long history of this field do they call the realization that motivated and knowledgeable peers working in community foster powerful learning experiences an unexpected discovery.

What if this realization came 18 months ago?

New paper: A synthesis of surveys examining the impacts of COVID-19 and emergency remote learning on students in Canada

By George Veletsianos

On June 7, 2022

In futures, learner experience, my research, online learning, papers, scholarship

Around the first year of the pandemic, we gathered all the student surveys we could find that examined emergency remote learning in Canada and its impacts on students. We made this work available immediately as a pre-print because we knew it would take a while to actually be published, and in many talks and conversations since then. The paper is now available in the Journal of Computing in Higher Education. The abstract and citation are below.

Abstract
During the COVID-19 pandemic numerous institutions around the world have surveyed students to gain an understanding of their experiences. While these surveys are valuable at a local institutional level, it is unclear as to which findings from individual
surveys reflect the broader higher education environment, and which patterns may be consistent across student surveys. It is worthwhile to synthesize survey findings in order to explore patterns and potentially new understandings that may arise
from such analysis. In this paper, we reviewed and synthesized 21 surveys examining the impacts of COVID-19 and emergency remote learning on approximately 155,000 student respondents in Canada. Findings reveal that the impacts of COVID-
19 and emergency remote learning on students centered around (1) educational experiences, (2) mental health and wellbeing, (3) financial concerns, (4) impact on future plans, and (5) recommendations for future practice.

Houlden, S., & Veletsianos, G. (in press). A synthesis of surveys examining the impacts of COVID-19 and emergency remote learning on students in Canada. Journal of Computing in Higher Education. Preprint (pdf) or https://doi.org/10.1007/s12528-022-09323-4

Online Violence, Abuse, and Education podcast

By George Veletsianos

On May 16, 2022

In my research, scholarship

I recently was a guest on a multidisciplinary podcast created by the Digital Public Interest Collective that focuses on technology-facilitated violence. The episode I joined (below) discussed online abuse and harassment in education. There are six episodes to the series, and they are well worth your time!

Online Abuse and Education podcast: Two conversations with Dr. Wanda Cassidy and Dr. George Veletsianos

Episode description:

This episode explores the impacts of online abuse on academic work. Professors Cassidy and Veletsianos each have explored online abuse in education. Cassidy explores how cyber bullying impacts students and faculty in both higher education and public education (K-12). Veletsianos has explored how online abuse impacts scholars in institutions of higher education. Cassidy commented on the overlap between gender, race, and incidents of online abuse or cyber bullying, and showed that online abuse or cyber bullying is not confined to youth or children, but impacts adults as well. And the stakes are high. As Veletsianos points out, online abuse has chilling effects which can leave the public less informed and have profound educational impacts even leading to misinformation. What we were really struck by in this episode was the similarities between the ways Cassidy and Veletsianos both advocate for more care and support to help address online abuse or cyber bullying. Cassidy uses the term “cyber kindness” as a way to mitigate online abuse. Both also emphasize the power of education as a way to address online abuse at every level.

Hosted by Dr. Chandell Gosse, Dr. Victoria O’Meara and Andrea Galizia

Music by hungry hearts: https://hungryheartsrock.bandcamp.com/

List of potential talks and workshops

By George Veletsianos

On May 2, 2022

In keynotes, my research, scholarship, talks

When I am invited to give a talk, keynote, workshop as part of an event, I like to work with organizers to explore topics of interest to make sure that what I can talk about contributes meaningfully to their work. Last month, a university was exploring different possibilities, and so I offered that I could provide a list of potential talks and workshops. I thought I’d share them here in case others find them of interest.

Better than normal: What could teaching and learning futures in higher ed look like?

In this interactive workshop, we will discuss, explore, and speculate what the post-pandemic future may look like for universities and colleages.

Writing and Publishing: On being a productive and impactful scholar in the field of Digital Learning

In this session, we will explore the notion of “impact” and I will share publishing, writing, and knowledge mobilization strategies. This session is intended for doctoral students and early career academics.

Uses, Benefits, and Challenges of using social media as an Academic

In this session, I will explore and summarize the uses, benefits, and challenges of social media for scholarly practice. This is a wide-ranging session that invites attendees to reflect broadly on the topic (e.g., networks of cooperation; who and why is most at risk of harassment on social media?) as well as offers practical tips (e.g., what may be some ways to minimize the amount of time I spent on social media while still being able to participate productively?)

Student experiences with Online and Teaching and Learning During the Pandemic

In this session, I will discuss the different strands of research that emerged during the pandemic. I will summarize “lessons learned” and implications for hybrid, blended, and online learning

(Some) Questions in need of Answers in Using Technology in Education

In this session, I will discuss what I believe are some of the important research directions that I see for the field. Some examples of issues to explore are:
- the opportunities and challenges of solving problems (e.g., lack of access to education) rather than studying tools (e.g., using social media to engage students).
- learning futures that are founded in hope rather than unbridled optimism
- equity, justice, and ethics as outcomes and beacons guiding the design of learning experiences, and not solely focusing on effectiveness, efficiency, and engagement