Online education may look like a planet friendlier solution to reduce carbon emission resulting from less travels of students and educators as well as lower power usages from large school properties (Selwyn, 2021). Lower environmental impact studies such as Lane et al., (2014) on Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) and the use of environmentally safe technologies to support education such as augmented reality (Selwyn, 2021) may back up this assumption. I could see in years to come, educational institutions promising green solutions as their mission of lowering their carbon footprint (Horizon Report, 2020) most likely prompted by regular pressure from young environmental activists (Straume, 2019) and the ongoing climate change disasters forcing remote learning.
However, the reliance on digital technologies for remote education may have a greater impact on the environment degradation than understood. It is with a cautious optimism that I will explore sustainability solutions fostering eco-technologies for a future of green education. Understanding the tension between sustainability and the use of educational technologies (Selwyn, 2021) will hopefully provide me with the promise of a greener future for education.
References:
Educause (March 2, 2020). Educause Horizon report. Educause Publications, 32-36. https://library.educause.edu/resources/2020/3/2020-educause-horizon-report-teaching-and-learning-edition
Lane, A., Caird, S. & Weller, M. (2014). The potential social, economic and environmental benefits of MOOCs: operational and historical comparisons with a massive ‘closed online’ course. Open Praxis, 6(2), 115-123. International Council for Open and Distance Education. Retrieved October 14, 2021 from https://www.learntechlib.org/p/148134/.
Selwyn, N. (2021). Ed-Tech Within Limits: Anticipating educational technology in times of environmental crisis. E-Learning and Digital Media, 18(5), 496-510. https://doi-org.ezproxy.royalroads.ca/10.1177/20427530211022951
Straume, I. S. (2020). What may we hope for? Education in times of climate change. Constellations. https://philarchive.org/archive/STRWMW
October 17, 2021 at 3:21 pm
This is an extremely significant and prescient topic, Stephanie – I am so glad you’re focusing on the tension you’re identifying. I have a couple of resources to offer for your exploration.
1. Bryan Alexander is currently writing a book on climate change and higher education, and he’s blogging some of his thoughts. You may find those relevant. Here’s the climatechange category on his blog: https://bryanalexander.org/category/climatechange/
2. Laura Czerniewicz was asking on Twitter for any work related to the tension you’re identifying. Some of the responses to this thread may be helpful: https://twitter.com/Czernie/status/1445765274402050058
October 17, 2021 at 9:52 pm
Thank you George for these resources. I’m keenly interested on this topic and would love to discuss it with you further at our at meeting. Best, Stephanie
October 19, 2021 at 8:52 pm
I am excited to see your final paper, Stephanie! I am sure it’s already on your radar, but I am intrigued by the tension between technology use to develop social presence and environmental impact even at the micro-level of streaming video during synchronous meetings. It’s interesting that the “costs” of our methods sometimes do not come into focus until we are well down the road of certain practices. Social / mental wellbeing comes to mind in addition to environmental.