This is the category to apply to your Weekly Reflection posts from the course.
My final sketch note presents three different aspects of the course that resonate with me; weekly topics, my inquiry project, and the group project (assignment 2). The weekly topics are connected by the dotted-line arrows that fill the page. At the top and to the right of the page, you can see two separate clouds. These have the inquiry and group project in them to separate my ideas and findings entirely. I am okay with my sketch note being shown to future ed. tech. classes.
Above is a photo of the activity I chose to follow on the Arduino Science Journal App.
While technology continues to advance, more electronic devices are being used frequently in schools. These are both educational tools and personal devices that students bring with them. There are pros and cons to having both of these technologies in schools that are continuously debated across school districts. At this point, most districts have their own regulations and rules surrounding the use of these devices which vary between elementary, middle, and high school.
Technological devices are beneficial to schools as they allow for quick and easy internet access, leading to a broad realm of research and various educational resources that can make learning more exciting and engaging. It also allows for varying project designs and platforms. Examples of this include Prezi, Canva, Google Slides, and more. Having various forms of projects and lessons can create a more engaging learning environment that incorporates multimedia aspects. Personal electronic devices allow classes to participate in hands-on group activities like Kahoot! and IClicker which allow students to participate in stress-free quizzes that help increase knowledge of a topic or prepare students for tests.
While considering the incorporation of technology into schools, it is also important to think about the negative aspects. Allowing students to carry personal electronic devices in class can create a great distraction. They also increase the chances of bullying and harrassment as they allow access to social media during school. Computers in schools can be hard to regulate and monitor as students have free access to anything on the internet. It is common to block access to certain pages on school district computers, but you can never be sure what students might find. Keeping up with computers and other electronic devices in schools can also be extremely costly. This is because of the fees applied to purchasing, installing, fixing, and replacing all devices and their accessories.
I think that technology is an important aspect of learning that should be incorporated into schools to better prepare students for future schooling and careers, which almost always involve technology and a basic understanding of how to navigate it. Rules surrounding phone usage should be considered to a certain extent, and teachers should have the most control over phone usage during their class time. I believe this because it can often be helpful for specific activities or lessons, but is not always necessary. Overall, technology is used for such varying aspects of education that there is no simple answer. There must be a clear and thought-out plan for how to incorporate it into class and when to draw the line.
Photo by RDNE Stock project on pexels.com
Managing a classroom can be done in an abundance of ways. How you manage your class can dictate the relationships you build with students, the quality of work students produce, and the atmosphere that develops. Every teacher manages their classroom differently, but many commonalities among them create the learning environment necessary for students and teachers to succeed.
Brittany Johnson’s presentation shows many great classroom management techniques that I see being used often. This includes the SEL check-in that I see in my own classes and at my Link2Practice school. I like this tool as it allows students to express something about themselves during the first few minutes of the school day. My mentor teacher always takes a few minutes to allow students to reflect on the image they picked and why they are feeling like that. This provides students with the opportunity to let others know something exciting that happened to them or a reason they may not perform well in school that day. There are several different templates and ideas for SEL check-ins online. For example, here is a blog I found myself with several different templates that you can edit and use.
The Four Pillars of Inquiry infographic above is easy to understand and a good tool for students to use while beginning an inquiry project. These open-ended assignments can often be hard to start or feel misleading as there is so much opportunity for choice, which students are often not familiar with. The four steps can be easily followed while trying to develop an idea and plan, however, students will need to delve deeper into the meanings of each step to properly gather their ideas and generate a clear goal. This can be done through a class discussion or a video like the one we watched. Both options are accessible, and while communicating an essential message, they are still visually pleasing and engaging to discuss.
Photo by The Curious Kindergarten
I sparked interest in the See, Think, Wonder template as it is useful for any skill level and it successfully gathers a student’s ideas without any force or confusion. I think this template would work well for me, as well as any other grade level. This is because of the diverse opportunities that the layout gives you. It allows drawings, bullet points, or typed paragraphs as guidance while you create your self-inspired inquiry question. I would use this often while attempting to encourage students to generate their own feelings, opinions, and questions surrounding a topic.
Photo by Lukas on Pexels.com
Computer coding is an interactive and applied skill that can engage students, improve their computational thinking and problem-solving skills, and assist them in mathematics. After viewing several different sites and formats for beginner coding, it is best to teach in upper-primary classes that already have a foundation in reading and math and are familiar with computers. Computer programming involves extremely specific instructions that a computer database can follow and generate a visual. The instructions you provide must be exact because computers do not have the ability to solve problems logically. Simple instructions can be followed by people but technology does not think like this. This makes students have to re-attempt their code multiple times until they succeed. This assists in the development of students’ problem-solving skills and can contribute to their computational thinking.
Scratch is an easy-to-use coding program that simplifies the process and makes it more accessible to children. It provides different forms of games and activities that engage students, which motivates them to find interest while they are doing it. Activities like this are fun for classes to do together and students often do not feel like they are actively learning when in reality it provides them with a great basis of technological knowledge and problem-solving skills.
I used a platform similar to Scratch and coded a variation of the Flappy Bird game. You can try it out here.
Above is a photo of a sketchnote I created in class. It provides an ocean themed french definition page that allows students to learn new words in french without simply reading them. This is a more fun, interactive, and engaging method of translating information that could be used as a substitute for spelling tests and as a guideance for themed journals and projects. Using sketchnotes can benefit elementary grades by creating content that students find interest in and when having them create their own to help make meaningful connections to subjects and increase comprehension and retention.
A second subject we covered in class was pedagogical evaluation tools. The TPACK model is a method of evaluating educational content through technological, content, and pedagogical knowledge. These three components combined allow educators to promote student motivation and the accessibility of the content they create. Although the model is a useful tool to ensure that your content is engaging and accessible, I think you would have to have a really good understanding of each component to use it properly. However, the SAMR model that we also looked at in class takes an easier approach that is more accessible to educators with less background knowledge of the model. It allows you to rank the strength of the content out of 4. These four levels consist of substitution, augemntation, modification, and redefinition and are well described in a model illustrated by Sylvia Duckworth. You can see this model here.
Photo by Mikhail Hilov on Unsplash.com
This week’s class on digital accessibility was surprising and informative. Throughout the class, I continued to realize the amount of online sites that are inaccessible to many individuals. When I think of accessibility, the first thing that comes to my mind is architecture and other structural components of communities, like brail signage, crosswalk signals, and elevators. However, these key components to daily life do not near the complex world of digital accessibility.
Aspects of digital accessibility are often forgotten or missed while developing databases, websites, and resources. I believe this is because of the lack of confrontation that is involved with the online world. While looking at physical accessibility, it is impossible to avoid the interactions with disabled individuals, making it a more urgent focus. However, there is no pressure on authors and publishers to ensure all sites or databases are accessible to everyone. There is also much more focus on the security and risks of online content being leaked, manipulated, or effected by online viruses, which can often interfere with making documents and domains accessible. I found this concept quite surprising. As creators focalize on these points, accessibility is often completely forgotten or extremely inconvenient to navigate.
I found the Wave Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool to be an incredibly useful site to ensure the accessibility of your website. I was very surprised by the results I received for my blog regarding the colour contrast. While viewing my blog, I would not assume that it would be considered inaccessible to many individuals. While designing it in the first few weeks of class, I only considered the easthetics of it. This included the colours, fonts, and layout. Since my chosen cover photo consists of blues and whites, I focused the appearance of my blog to the colour blue. The overlapping shades of blue and grey can be difficult to see when individuals are visually challenged. Even after modifying my blog, The Wave Web tool still found countless aspects that reduced the level of accessibility. I also noticed that the majority of these aspects are related to the WordPress format provided, in which I am unable to edit any further. To analyze your own website with the Wave Web Evaluation Tool, click here.
Below is a video i created from a previous blog that I have now added closed captioning to in hopes of making it more accessible:
Above is a photo of the keychain that I designed on Tinkercad.
This week, we had the opportunity to work with 3D printing technology in the library. This was a fun and interactive class that allowed for a lot of engagement. We started class by learning how to navigate the Tinkercad website, where we designed our own 3D projects. The website was easy to navigate as a beginner with only a few setbacks throughout my formatting.
3D design is a unique and innovative tool in terms of language revitalization. It allows us to create symbols and letters that are not accessible through keyboards. Although the letters and symbols could be presented by drawings and prints, 3D models allow for a hands-on experience while looking at these topics. This encourages more student engagement and understanding. An example of this is using 3D printers to create Indigenous dialects that can be brought to class and incorporated into lessons. The University of Alberta provides an example of this by creating and supplying 3D printed Cree syllables in kits that are accessible through their library. Learn more about their approach here
Using 3D design and print in elementary grades has many upsides and downsides. When working with these machines in an elementary setting, it is important to educate students of the safety precautions that must be taken. It is easy to be burnt or pinched while accessing projects and some machines can be hard to turn off or override when needed. While teaching in primary grades, platforms like Tinkercad could be useful as a teacher resource, but I do not think they would be fit for a student resource. This is because of the complexity of the programs and the process of getting the 3D object to the machine for printing. As a teacher, it could be beneficial for creating classroom tools and activities. It can create game pieces, die, fidget toys, decorations, and more that can add excitement to primary classrooms. In secondary grades, the programs could be quite useful in various classes. I see the purpose in including 3D printing lessons into elective classes like intro to engineering, art, media arts, and tech ed. Although it is not an essential skill, it is useful and entertaining to students interested in further pursuing digital arts or programming.
Below is a video discussing the safety measures that should be taken around 3D printers:
Photo by Igor Omilaev on Unsplash.com
Generative AI is a difficult tool for students and teachers to navigate in an educational setting. Although it can be useful, it is challenging to monitor how students utilize it. This is often why teachers and professors forbid the use of AI. However, suppose instructors take their time to explain, practice, and create content using AI. In that case, students can develop a more profound understanding of how to strengthen their work without committing academic dishonesty.
While reflecting on my use of AI, I remember times when it was helpful to me, but also times when I could have chosen a better option. ChatGPT specifically, has been helpful in generating prompt ideas and subheaders for my work. However, when asking AI tools for assistance in solving difficult questions, it has often provided me with incorrect information. In any of these situations, I still felt I was nearing academic dishonesty. Due to the lack of education I had received surrounding AI tools, I always felt nervous about using any AI-generated assistance with my schooling or work when not instructed to do so.
After learning more about how we can properly use AI in an educational setting, I can identify how it will be useful as a teacher and potentially to my students. I hope to properly incorporate lessons on the use of AI when I begin teaching so that my students can understand it, use it, and not be worried about committing academic dishonesty or collecting incorrect information.
Check out this short video by ILLC Science on a few rules to follow while using AI here:
During this week’s class, we created short tutorials using Screencastify and the H5P tool found on WordPress. Below is a link to mine:
Through this short tutorial, we learned to use the Google Chrome extension, “Screencastify,” as a tool for screencasting, as well as the H5P tool that is accessible through WordPress.ca. This tool allowed us to add notes, questions, or comments to the screencast videos we produce as classroom content.
I hope to teach a variety of age groups throughout my teaching career, and I think platforms like H5P could benefit them in different ways. In lower grades (k-4), I would use these platforms to my own advantage while creating lessons involving videos that will be shown in class. In older classes (5-7), there is more opportunity to create Screencastify tutorials for different websites or platforms we are using and even to have students create their own screencasts. Learning to navigate these tools can be beneficial to future teachers in many different scenarios. One that comes to mind would be while students/teachers are absent or during emergencies like a global pandemic, which we recently experienced. it allows teachers to provide more guidance and increase clarity while students are learning from home or in a self-paced environment. This could also make instructions much easier while in a large classroom or while assigning complex homework assignments.
Multimedia learning refers to the concept that employing multiple media types (verbal, text, images, icons, etc.) allows for a deeper understanding and more retention of information. The main idea is based on two theories, information processing and dual coding, which consists of several main learning principles. These principles outline how an instructor can employ multiple types of media in lessons without distracting from the main objectives or overloading the intake of information. Considering these principles while developing lessons and courses can create a more effective learning environment for students by making concepts engaging and clear, and later applying them to logical concepts that force information to resonate with children, therefore remaining in their long-term memory. Applying this theory to videos and tutorials will reduce distractions, information overload, and the overall lack of understanding. Distractions in videos and tutorials can occur when irrelevant information is added, faces are visible in the frame, and the same information is presented multiple times. Avoiding these key factors can majorly improve the quality of lessons and students’ retention of information. Learn more about the Multimedia Learning Theory from the video below:
Photo by Jeswin Thomas on Unsplash.com
Knowledge is an everchanging aspect of human nature. It continues to grow, change, and develop into complex ideas that form our identities. Education and pedagogy, being the transmitters of knowledge, should follow this trend of growth as well. However, we continue to practice a very traditional style of education. Greg Whitely’s documentary, “Most Likely to Succeed,” challenges this mainstream model of education in an informative and thought-provoking way.
I never considered whether re-imagining education was necessary, however, this film provides a compelling case. The educators of High-Tech High did face obstacles while attempting to remodel pedagogy. This included skeptical parents, not reaching all curriculum criteria, and adjusting students to the self-guided education they were immersed in. Initially, I had concerns about whether this method would properly prepare students for SAT exams and post-secondary education. After reflecting on my own adjustment to University, I realized that the grit, perseverance, and individual motivation they learned would benefit them more than the coursework involved in the generic curriculum.
The start of High-tech High was a well-thought-out program that ensured the proper education of students. They followed a more robust approach to education, consisting of soft skill development and application of concepts. Soft skills include critical thinking, confidence, the ability to collaborate, and more, which all contribute to an education that resonates with students. With this different learning environment, students can become self-motivated and independent before post-secondary education, setting them up for success. On the contrary, students who are not self-motivated may be less successful in this learning style and there is no guarantee that all curriculum content will be delivered.
The traditional education system would need to be permanently modified for a remodel like High-tech High to reach its full potential. Although the film successfully remodels education for high school students, there is still a lot of progress necessary to remodel elementary education. Solidifying new models would begin creating citizens with true innovative thinking, providing more to communities and increasing chances of career opportunities. The base-level education publicly offered does not suit current-day standards of knowledge, making the system problematic in itself. Our knowledge is ever-changing, therefore the curriculum and education system should also be.
Watch the film through the Uvic Library here.