Maslow's Hierarchy and Digital Transliteracy in Emergency Remote Learning

Digital Transliteracy Needs

A tiny minority of high school students take optional digital transliteracy focused courses. The vast majority do not and there are no

digital transliteracy requirements for staff at all

advanced digital media skills sufficient to allow the authoring of a wide variety of media in a rapidly evolving digital medium

digital skills in elementary school are taught incidentally and inconsistently depending on if a school happens to have digitally transliterate teachers

digital media skills sufficient to be able to effectively draw information out of emerging digital mediums

{

we don't consistently cover

digital skills, technically or media transliteracy wise in our curriculum - we expect students to be fluent in them from inconsistent, habitual use at home

F-

digital transliteracy

technical skills sufficient to

ensure your digital tools work

we drop digital technology into students hands but have no coherent skills based curriculum and no mandatory high school courses that ensure digital skills in our students

connectivity at school can be hit and miss, but we have no idea what's happening at home

connectivity that can consistently

deliver high bandwidth media

we sometimes provide limited use usually

corporation specific digital tools in school

but have no idea what students have at home

technology capable

of receiving and

creating digital media

Ontario's Remote Learning Report Card

Full potential? Not in this emergency

Self-Actualization: F- for us all

Esteem: F- for us all

this is all shut down

Could we be better prepared next time for a social distancing or remote learning emergency? You bet, here's the checklist:

• ensure all students have a minimal standard of living that supports their and their family's basic needs (a student tax credit?) All schools should know this information and take responsibility for this with their students.
• ensure all students have access to digital technology and connectivity at home (1:1, familiar technology that they know how to operate and self-support
• create and implement a coherent, skills based, platform agnostic digital transliteracy curriculum to develop the skills and etiquette required to effectively leverage digital tools IN ALL STAFF & STUDENTS

Belongingness: F- for us all

we're all hurting on this one

With these things in place Ontario's remote learning strategy could have approached an 80% success rate. As things are 40% is too much to expect.

Safety needs: haven't addressed them

for staff & students? We don't know

Physical needs: haven't addressed them

we took this away by

laying off many parents

Maslow's Hierarchy including Remote Learning Needs:

Not only are we unable to consistently address basic needs, we're also unprepared to make effective use of digital tools since we don't focus on the transliteracy required to operate them

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

reminds us of all the things that

need to fall into place for us to

be able to focus on learning,

without ensuring these basic

needs learning is made difficult...

or impossible.