Brett Lantz Teaching

Today we used Mural as a tool to deploy the class into work groups where each group discussed a particular topic. The tool was pretty cool to use, however the mobile version was a little lack-luster.

Within my group we discussed work flows. It was interesting to hear my peers walk me trhhough their work flows as both a student and a future teacher. Many were using Google Docs however some were using OneNote and similar applications. I am a little old school and prefer the pen and paper method, however it was interesting to see how capable and transferable (on different devices) some of these new applications were. The Google Docs one really resonated with me for I want to use Google Classroom as a teacher which in turn perfectly translates over to Google Docs.

Mural was a great tool for “up voting” student topics which then creates more “buy in” from the students on the content.

https://www.mural.co/

Today we spoke with Tracy Humphreys from BCed Access. She spoke about technology in the classroom that assists with students who have IEP’s or difficulties learning.

I liked how she spoke to using technology as a gateway for a lot of students. Technology has the ability to allow students to learn in different and sometime better methods than traditional pen and paper. She also spoke to the idea that students are already living in a digital world and that we should try to integrate that comfort into the classroom.

Tracy touched on a lot of subject surrounding IEP’s and although I disagree with a few of her points I thought her overall message about caring for your students independent needs was a great take away.

Today we discussed synchronous and asynchronous teaching methods in the light of COVID. Talking about the perceived opportunities that Second Life offered as a teaching tool when Google created a University within Second Life appeared as commical initially. After thinking about what Second Life was trying to accomplish and its user buy in, it makes perfect sense that a company like Google would like to invest in a learning opportunity within Second Life. Harkening back to Ready Player One which is a book I read this past summer. The protagonist goes to school in a VR world. This allowed students to attend high level school from all over the world.

https://secondlife.com/destinations/learning/universities

This notion of digital school and words doesn’t seem super far fetched. It also appears to be the best form of accessibility in terms of International accessibility. Perhaps it appears as strange science fiction now, however if one looks down the rabbit hole of technology it appears as a pretty interesting and great technology that could be instrumental in societies education platform.

Speaking today with the founder of VISII we delved deep into how the school works here in Victoria. There was a lot of information to unpack and consider as we listened to the grass roots beginnings to VISII.

Hearing about the “gradeless” system I was pretty perplexed. “Gradeless” in the sense that there are no grade 9 students nor grade 12 students. Everyone is equal and learns from one another. That seemed like a pretty cool idea to me, where younger students may be teaching older students and vice versa. I would love to go to the school and watch how the breakout sessions organically occur and if they foster cliques or an openness amongst all the students.

https://visii.ca/vision-and-mission/