Critical Reflection 2: Driving Question 3

“What are the risks and benefits to self and others in the digital environment and what are schools doing about it?”

Description;

The digital environment refers to the ‘technology enabled’ space where people utilise the internet, digital devices, and software, for tasks like communication, sharing and collecting information and learning and development support etc. It has become increasingly relevant within schooling systems and personal recreation. Schools are utilising digital environments for research, communication, and accessing learning material; however, the risks reach outside the learning spaces and into improper personal use, like negative social media use, privacy breaches, and unsafe online interactions. Schools have the responsibility to disclose the safe ways of utilising digital environments and spread awareness on how to avoid the negative outcomes.

Feelings;

Throughout the development of technology, the benefits and opportunities grew side-by-side with immediate negative outcomes that impacted the safety, security and mental well-being of myself and those around me. Cyber-bullying is unfortunately an inevitable aspect of digital environments, and it’s extremely common within schools. I realised, early intervention was a vital role of schools so students understood how their own online behaviours can affect themselves and others. Although these digital environments can create safe ways to connect with peers, collaborate on tasks and meet new people, it leaves a very open space for harassment, safety threats and privacy breaches.

Evaluation;

Digital environments provide significant educational benefits, including wider access to information, easier methods of communication and encouraged collaborative learning opportunities. It’s important students are taught what is appropriate in digital environments and what is not. Effective strategies implemented by schools are crucial to ensure digital environments are used positively and purposefully. McNaughton et al., (2018) discusses how the effectiveness of digital environments relies heavily on the time teachers and schools dedicate to establishing appropriate systems. However, incorporating these systems hasn’t been so straight-forward. Palm et al., (2024) identifies barriers to effective integration, they include time restraints, convenience, and heavy teacher workloads. These barriers limit schools’ ability to effectively incorporate technology into schools and consequently students don’t receive adequate education opportunities and are using these platforms improperly.

Analysis;

The effectiveness of digital environments depends heavily on how they are implemented within schools. While introducing technology can offer valuable learning opportunities, by providing students with these platforms does not automatically provide them with the ability to utilise them appropriately and to their fullest potential.

The barriers placed on teachers inhibites their ability to teach students the effective ways of utilising these platforms, this reduces the opportunities for students to establish appropriate digital practices. The outcome of not efficiently teaching students these practices is assuming they’ll develop the skills independently. Although the benefits can still be recognised, they may be outweighed by the risks to students and others. Heiser et al., (2025) Discusses how effective integration of digital environments allows the learning opportunities to provide positive benefits to students. These include effective communication by themselves and with others and effective groupwork and collaboration. Other benefits they mentioned include “multimodal communication and structured peer interactions in virtual spaces reduce feelings of isolation and build strong digital resilience”.

Conclusion;

I have learnt through my research that digital environments provide valuable educational opportunities, but their effectiveness relies on appropriate implementation and guidance by teachers and schools. It is crucial students understand how to use digital environments safely, responsibly and effectively to ensure they seek the full benefits of these learning opportunities.

Action Plan;

In my future of teaching, I will ensure to take the time to appropriately implement digital environments into my classroom to guarantee my students receive the benefits of these platforms and avoid the negative outcomes. I will explicitly teach students how to communicate respectfully, protect their privacy and consider how their online actions may affect themselves and others.

References;

Forrest, K. B., & Wexler, J. (2023). Digital environment - an overview | ScienceDirect topics. Www.Sciencedirect.Com. https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/computer-science/digital-environment

Heiser, R. E., Palalas, A., & Gollert, A. (2025). Digital well-being begins with inclusion: A systematic review of videoconferencing guidelines for equitable learning. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology. https://doi.org/10.14742/ajet.9552

McNaughton, S., Rosedale, N., Jesson, R. N., Hoda, R., & Teng, L. S. (2018). How digital environments in schools might be used to boost social skills: Developing a conditional augmentation hypothesis. Computers & Education, 126, 311–323. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2018.07.018

Palm, K., Asp, A., & Håkansta, C. (2024). Implementing digital technologies in the school setting – how does it relate to work environment? Educational Review, 77(6), 1848–1866. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131911.2024.2368183