This section should take you approximately 20 minutes to complete.
Climate change is one of the most severe threats to future societies (Boulianne et al., 2020: p. 208).
Watch this video and find out why:
It is an environmental degradation problem (Vlassopoulos, 2012: p. 104). Therefore, United Kingdom’s government wants to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 60% by 2050 (Clift, 2007: p. 262).
Digital education and, in particular, educational technology (EdTech) is becoming more and more popular among university students as a potent tool (Bisen et al., 2019: p. 2) that can make education more efficient (Selwyn, 2021: p. 504). As a result, it is expected that the industry of EdTech will grow. By 2025, it is expected that the EdTech sector will be worth 350 billion dollars. Three main reasons let people believe in the high growth of EdTech: the market is still not saturated, EdTech is attractive to investors, and EdTech helps companies and universities to get profits (Benzinga, 2021).
Watch this video and see what EdTech might offer for learning:
Because of the high future potential that EdTech holds for learning in universities, it is necessary to explore its effect on climate change. Although high usage of EdTech will decrease carbon dioxide emissions by reducing the need for transportation and university campuses and by helping to increase awareness about climate change problems, this will not be sustainable in the long term. EdTech will need to be rethought because of the high need for data centres, excessive usage of technology, and the principle that humans are coevolutionary partners with nature.
Access this website and answer the question here.
Now go to the ‘Next section’ and check if your ideas are also included in the OER!
References
Baraishuk, D. (2021). The Biggest Reason to Launch an EdTech Startup Today: You Risk Becoming a Billionaire. In Newstex Finance & Accounting Blogs. Newstex.
Bisen, S. S. et al. (2019), Does personality traits predict excessive use of internet technology among engineering students? Simple mediation analysis. International journal of electrical engineering & education. [Online] 2072091989419–.
Boulianne, S. et al. (2020). ‘School Strike 4 Climate’: Social Media and the International Youth Protest on Climate Change. Media and communication (Lisboa). [Online] 8 (2), 208–218.
Cattaneo, C. & Gavaldà, M. (2010). The experience of rurban squats in Collserola, Barcelona: what kind of degrowth? Journal of cleaner production. [Online] 18 (6), 581–589.
Clift, R. (2007). Climate change and energy policy: The importance of sustainability arguments. Energy (Oxford). [Online] 32 (4), 262–268.
Selwyn, N. et al. (2020). What’s next for Ed-Tech? Critical hopes and concerns for the 2020s. Learning, media and technology. [Online] 45 (1), 1–6.
Vlassopoulos, C. A. (2012). Competing definition of climate change and the post-Kyoto negotiations. International journal of climate change strategies and management. [Online] 4 (1), 104–118.
