Hybrid learning is defined as applying more than one learning model to optimize the learning outcome. To achieve the mixed learning method and achieve the intended learning outcome, the hybrid method utilizes technology. In general, hybrid learning may be characterized as incorporating technology as one of its aspects into multiple learning models [1]. The employment of technology-based solutions in education has become a contentious issue in the age of the digital revolution. E-learning, in particular, is regarded as one of the most effective technological-based options for assisting the learning process. The use of technology has accelerated the adoption of hybrid learning methods, especially during the current covid-19 pandemic.
European education currently confronts significant problems due to the adjustments necessary to join the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). The EHEA is a 46-country region created by the Bologna Declaration of 1999, which attempts to bring together higher education institutions from various nations [2]. The Internet and various ICT technologies in education create a new field where university lecturers may function in today's paradigm. This space is more extensive in both spatial and temporal dimensions, demanding the employment of unique instructional methodologies.
When discussing hybrid learning, the research is limited to hybrid methods and how technology has significantly affected the learning outcome. Technology has influenced every sphere of human life, including education. Universities and schools have continually used technology in various spheres of their operation around the world. One such technology is the use of video cameras, whose initial justification was directed towards the need to protect students, staff, and property from external threats such as vandalism and intruders. However, video cameras have shifted and been adopted as one of the technological aspects of hybrid learning. Today, some universities are adopting these cameras to enhance teaching where lecturers are required to record their teaching for quality control and ensure remote learning students can have access to the learning materials.
II. NEGATIVE IMPACT OF VIDEO CAMERAS IN HYBRID LEARNING, AN EDUCATOR’S PERSPECTIVE
Cameras in classrooms have raised several issues among teachers, parents, students, and other governing bodies. Classroom video technology adoption has introduced several issues from teachers, most concerned with their privacy concerns. Currently, the legal framework for using video cameras in classrooms is not well defined hence the perceived negative impacts on its adoption in hybrid learning. This section will discuss how the teachers view the use of classroom technology negatively.
A. Rights Violation
Surveillance cameras in classrooms are becoming more common, with students and professors voicing privacy concerns and attorneys claiming that they may infringe on university teachers' constitutional rights [5]. The legality of video cameras in classrooms can arise from several issues, how they are installed and how they are used.
B. How They are Installed
When it comes to the legality of privacy rights, laws govern how these cameras are installed in classrooms. Court rulings have acted as a guideline when it comes to the installation of cameras in educational establishments. When it comes to digital surveillance, such as monitoring internet activities, the schools and universities should have a clear policy outlining what is and is not permitted.
C. How They are Used
The government, especially during the covid-19 pandemic, has fast-tracked the legislation to allow online learning. The placement of cameras in classrooms under the guise of enabling students to follow lessons remotely is viewed as an educationally and pedagogically undesirable course of action. The scientific education community has raised questions on how the data obtained is being utilized when data privacy issues continue to be continued.
The scientific community has been outspoken in its opposition to this decision, stating that it has nothing to do with remote education (whether in real-time or not) and sets a dangerous precedent for educational procedures that are not grounded on pedagogical principles.
This measure seeks, among other things, to acquaint today's students, tomorrow's employees, with the fact that they will be monitored by their 'employer' so that they will not react to violations of their rights, breaches of their data, and the surrender of their data to, and processing of their data by, corporate interests [6]. As a result, it's not surprising that the surge in teleworking during the pandemic has resulted in heightened employee surveillance, with some companies even demanding that cameras be put in employees' homes. The EU and bourgeois governments have made it a policy to deploy extreme measures against people's liberties and workers' rights to crush all workplace opposition. Thus, educational institutions need to establish privacy policies and guidelines to ensure the students' and teachers' privacy is protected by protecting class video data.
III. LIMITING AN EDUCATOR’S ACADEMIC FREEDOM
Academic freedom and autonomy have long been hallmarks of education. Academic freedom refers to teachers' ability to teach, study, and publish in their fields of expertise without fear of institutional or political reprisal [7]. Academic freedom is desirable because educators' work is to search for truth, transmit knowledge, and often speak truth to power. Constraints of this freedom threaten the very essence of education.
Classroom surveillance, in this case, threatens that freedom as teachers become more aware of how the video technology can be used as evidence in cases where the administration feels the teacher contradicts the school and society's virtues. A third party can misinterpret a video capture of a classroom, posing a teacher career risk. Teachers often implement teaching strategies that they feel fit based on their students learning abilities. Thus, for example, a teacher can give greater attention to a single student who has learning disabilities, a view which parents or even the school or university board can misinterpret as favoritism towards certain students. The move to virtual classes has raised several concerns about potential risks such as censorship. These monitoring threats are not new since suppression has constantly beset academics, but the change to online learning has intensified concerns. The degree to which the situation has exacerbated is hard to determine, in part because witnessing and measuring self-censorship is difficult. Private firms run the current virtual platforms, giving them the power to serve as censors and shut down online schools at the request of totalitarian governments. Second, with online learning, the heightened danger of monitoring, intimidation, and other types of political involvement can be damaging to both faculty and students. The academic freedom of teaching personnel may be limited as a result of such censorship. The transition to online learning prompted by the covid-19 pandemic was rapid, forcing educators to learn new technologies for teaching. Teachers' mental health has inevitably suffered due to the shift to online education, as they have been forced to learn new technologies for remote working and teaching quickly. Teachers have had an increased workload working with students to ensure they do not face adverse mental issues due to the pandemic and the resulting isolation. However, teachers' mental matters have not been addressed by society as they should have. Parents, for example, who are significant players in their children's education, have added to teachers' mental stress due to constant monitoring of classes raising issues that would not have come up in traditional classrooms [10]. As such, teachers have been forced to accommodate the views of parents to their teaching, further exacerbating an already stressful situation.
The teaching community has had significant difficulty teaching and learning during the early days of the epidemic. Compared to the resources and time made accessible to students and other professionals, most educators have not had enough time to invest in technology. Teachers are also under pressure to study and develop the necessary abilities to prepare for online teaching [11]. As some of them require planning and generating resources, this change has caused anxiety and insecurity. Besides the lack of enough time to learn new technologies in learning, teachers have to work hard to balance the demands of online teaching with their obligations. Such a plethora of requirements has increased their mental stress. The hybrid model of learning has raised the issue of work-life balance among teachers. Now teachers are on call 24/7 to support students taking small classes. Lack of downtime has increased mental stress among teachers.
Throughout this essay, it has been observed that cameras have a positive and negative impact on teachers. Teachers view video cameras in classrooms in a pessimistic and optimistic view. Monitoring student behavior, safety, and improving teaching methods have been identified as positively impacting teaching. Although there are advantages to the hybrid model, teachers also experience challenges in implementing hybrid learning. The use of video cameras in classrooms has raised rights violations, reduced student engagement, increased workload adding more pressure to teachers. The constant interaction with parents and the school board has created mental stress among teachers. Thus, as institutions implement a hybrid model, it is vital to consider teachers' views regarding the best way to utilize video cameras in classes.
References
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