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.
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.
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.
In todays class we were able to create our own meeting topic. Each person was to write their topic on a piece of paper and post it on the white board at the front of the room. Everyone was then given three stickers (circular dots) and were told to place their dots on whatever topics you wanted to discuss. Our professor then counted up which topics had the most dots and allowed us to have 30 minute self-directed meetings with other classmates who wanted to discuss said topic. I thought it was a pretty cool idea and loved the idea of analog “upvoting” ideas. Would be able to use this in the class by posting all the subject topics we have covered and getting students to place their dots on topics they want reviewed.
In todays class we talked about different ways to use photo editors in order to create images/ logos. These teaching tools seem great ways for more visual based learners to access information.
I decided to use photoshop to make myself a logo for my Free Inquiry Project. Since I am using an Arduino, I made my own Arduino logo!
Students can also use PowerPoint to make a lot of great collages or visual representations of their projects.
Using different video applications within the classroom not only seem to hold students’ attention but also allow the students to learn at their own pace. This pace is either video to video, or slowing down/ rewinding a single video. Creating podcasts/ screen captures/ video lessons are also a great way to help students who may have accessibility or learning disabilities. For instance, being able to generate a text output for the video would help students who have audio issues.
An issue that arrises when dealing with video is assessment and understanding. Being able to guide the student towards big picture questions or making sure that they are in fact watching the video are issues when the educator is not present. A great tool that I have used is Edpuzzle (https://edpuzzle.com/). Edpuzzle allows the creator to add (non-skipable) questions throughout a video. Now a teacher may record themselves or others and as the student watches is prompted at certain points to respond to cues. Here is a great video that demonstrates how to create said question:
Allowing students to also use technology would tease out skills that they already have based off of social media. Students are surround by video applications such as TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook. Thus students already posses a degree of video skills. Allowing students to then film themselves or their computer screen as a form of presentation would bring lifestyle skills into the classroom.
In class we discussed using a green screen is also a great idea that I can see myself using. Having students be able to change their “environment” could reflect their material/ content. For instance being able to change the background to that of Henry David Thoreau’s cabin and give his point of view on an economic climate problem and then change the background to Apple’s Head office and give the point of view from that of Tim Cook. Thus using a green screen to change the background can “physically” place students in different situations and thus visually change their character/ point of view.
Also here is a really good website I found that generates a QR code for a website. I made this one that directs scanners to my blog!
Todays class we discussed the usage of technology within the classroom with Jesse Miller. Perhaps it’s my own cynicism, however when I sit listening to an individual preach about what a classroom should be, or a teacher should do without being a teacher themselves, a certain shadow of doubt enters my brain.
As Jesse meandered his way through a broad spectrum of technology and its different applications within the classroom I thought he really hit the mark when he mentioned that technology is required/ imminent in students lives. Thus as a teacher it is important to utilize it as a tool in order to teach students proper ways to use technology and not turn away or condone technology.
When I attempted to pin Jesse down over the subject of social media and its impacts on the adolescent brain it felt as though a representative from Marlboro was presenting to me. Jesse argued that no empirical data has been published that would indicate that social media has any relation to increased cases of depression, anxiety, and mental illness within youth. Jesse brought forward the rational for these cases was simply due to an increase in awareness and openness to discuss said issues not that technology has any implications. I think that this is the same sort of blank argument that has been tried over and over in the court system, when people attempt to point to cigarettes consumption leading to cancer. Any rational human can point to the correlation between cigarette consumption and cancer, yet proving it in court has proven arduous. I believe that Jesse and his standpoint on social media bolster the same sort of arduous battle. Looking a few years into the future I think that people will look at these unregulated times with social media with distain. The correlation between mental illness and social media in youths will be scientifically known and restrictions/ education will be in place in order to mitigate this. I then fear that Jesse’s opinion on the matter is detrimental in the fact that it encourages the unregulated use of social media in our youth thus causing damage to their mental health.
After setting up this ecosystem it was interesting to see and give value to the privacy factor. I’m not sure how prevalent it is in terms of server/ information location based on a lot of these larger companies not being fully transparent on where their information is being stored.
The blog idea is an interesting one in terms of gathering artifacts of learning, as well as being a platform to connect with peers. I think it may be a great outlet for students to express their identity and (not to age myself but) have a MySpace identity.
I do worry about using mainstream applications though. Using Mattermost does not really make sense to me when an Application like Discord is much more widely used and would be an application students use in future endeavours. Also not using Google Classroom seems a miss, I know that District 61 exclusively using Classroom in order to organize, grade, and give content to their students. Would have been great to use that as our classwork vector.
As I pursued Education I always felt that technology was a great asset. However with COVID it appears as more of a zoom oriented nightmare that is looming over society. Technology now is a corner store of education and is quite intimidating to grasp. Thus I made a fun meme to portray this dismay:
