Essay Sample on Impact of an Educational Program On Third-Grade Class' Academic Performance

Introduction

The rate of technological innovation remains high, thus calling for the need for institutions to move from the traditional to modernized means of learning. The performance among third-grade class can therefore be enhanced if appropriate technology is used, such as the current Zoom, even if online platforms pose security challenges. School administrators and educational policymakers must thus remain determined to focus on the best practices to initiate, but observe the applicable ethical and professional standards. Even so, security challenges remain high, making the use of modernized forms of learning ineffective as student’s information may be accessed by third parties (Cadwalladr 2020). The use of computers may pose some challenges, including the inability of some students to adapt to new ways of learning. However, due to the global changes and developments, it remains vital for them to adjust to such a transition for their individualized and group benefits. The academic performance among third-grade students is thus the independent variable, which depends on the chosen and applicable educational program. The actual study will cover third-grade students who will be taken through a non-traditional learning activity to determine their level of interaction, grasping the course content and their respective performance. The use of non-traditional teaching tools for engaging students can have a negative performance impact on third-grade students and thus should not be adopted and supported in the country’s education system.

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Justification

Learning institutions have to make changes to their educational systems as well as school culture for them to enact modernized forms of instruction. Notably, the use of online platforms such as Zoom has already posted security issues and challenges, which the company must resolve (Hern 2020). If some learners had already registered with this online platform, the possibility of exposing their identity to hackers would have been high. As such, implementation of such modernized means of learning will harm educational performance, as well as the students’ welfare and privacy.

Before the introduction of COVID19 guidelines to curve the spread of the virus, schools preferred traditional modes of learning which incorporated the modernized systems. However, they ensured that such blending mainly helped students access class materials and support services faster. Currently, there is a need to adopt the online forms of learning, but the current security systems from service providers are not effective and may not support such initiatives. Before the pandemic, Zoom was a little known platform, meaning that it could effectively manage its small number of users. However, its total rate of market penetration means that the administration had to face challenges about the security of content.

Among the key challenges is a situation where a stranger can effectively hack and penetrate a class session of even corporate meetings. Given that the company’s systems and arrangements have been considered not to be encrypted end to end, it remains unseen whether the non-traditional forms of learning can be implemented among third-grade students. Such learners need to closely interact for them to enhance the development of socialization skills and competencies. The realization that the company misled its subscribers that the systems are secure means that learning institutions should stop considering other online platforms, as they may expose learners to security risks and associated cybersecurity challenges. Therefore, moving from the traditional to modernized forms of learning remains unethical.

Sociotechnical System Perspective (STS)

The concept involves the application of technology and people as they interact to produce the desired results. Notably, third-grade students will have to interact with modernized means of teaching, such as Zoom given that most schools now prefer online learning until the COVID19 pandemic is declared over. However, technological security challenges remain a key hindrance factor. Physical surroundings can have a direct impact in the form of technology being used (Huff n.d.). During the one-day learning using non-traditional ways of teaching, it can be noted that third-grade students have to change their classroom norms and adopt a particular set of behavioral attributes. For instance, they have to glue their eyes on the screen. Such learners have a lower rate of concentration and require a one on one learning platform with their teachers, thus making the modernized form of teaching ineffective.

The people or groups surrounding or supporting third-grade students can also have a challenge in trying to implement technology such as Zoom. Notably, some parents may not be tech-averse, thus making it difficult for them to facilitate home-based learning. It, therefore, remains unnecessary to implement non-traditional forms of learning among third-grade students, given that they may not be able to get the necessary assistance, away from school.

The preferred software and hardware components for learning also remains a challenge for third-grade students. Notably, they will have to closely interact with equipment such as headphones and microphones to enhance their interaction with others and the teachers. Such cybertechnology ensures that communication and computing devices are intertwined to produce desirable results (Tavani, 2006). However, the presence of security risks, as well as students’ inability to use the installed systems, remains a key challenge to consider. Some of the technologies include laptops and handheld devices.

Application of the Code

Modernized forms of learning involve the use of computers, meaning that education stakeholders must partner with computing professionals. The strategy is intended to ensure that the educational environment fosters the applicable Association for Computing Machinery Codes (ACM). Another ethical principle to apply in the academic environment is the avoidance of harm (The ACM Council 2019). Given that the learners’ data may leek to third parties, it remains vital for the policymakers not to consider the modernized forms of learning. Otherwise, they will expose the grade three students to technological challenges which may result in them having a bad experience with computer usage. Based on these variables, the code of respecting the privacy of the system users will also not be attained. The learners will have to depend on their institutions for data privacy, and they will not be able to detect cases of information leakage or system hacks. The schools have to enact measures for curbing and avoiding such scenarios, an issue that can be costly.

References

The ACM Council. (2019, September 23). ACM Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct. ACM Ethics. Retrieved September 19, 2020, from https://ethics.acm.org/code-of-ethics/

Cadwalladr, C. (2020, February 3). Revealed: 50 million Facebook profiles harvested for Cambridge Analytica in major data breach. The Guardian. Retrieved September 19, 2020, from https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/mar/17/cambridge-analytica-facebook-influence-us-election

Hern, A. (2020, April 7). Zoom says engineers will focus on security and safety issues. The Guardian. Retrieved September 19, 2020, from https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/apr/02/zoom-says-engineers-will-focus-on-security-and-safety-issues

Huff, C. (n.d.). Socio-technical system main page. Welcome to ComputingCases.org. https://computingcases.org/general_tools/sia/socio_tech_system.html

Tavani, H. (2006). Cyberethics as an interdisciplinary field of applied ethics: Key concepts, perspectives, and methodological frameworks. Journal of Information Ethics, 15(2), 18-36. https://doi.org/10.3172/jie.15.2.18