Category: EdTech

Due to COVID-19 we are no longer able to have face-to-face classes; therefore, today we did our class via Zoom. I really enjoyed using this method to have class from home because it was simple/easy to use, worked well for everyone, and made it feel like we were all together. Although we faced some challenges throughout our class, we overcame them together and overall it was a successful experience. 

The pros of Zoom that I discovered from today’s experience

• 33 of us were in the same meeting and it worked very well. 

• You can share your screen so everyone can see. For example, this was very useful while we were doing our presentations.
• The big picture moves automatically to whoever is speaking. 
• Other students are able to mute themselves if they are not speaking. This prevents a lot of background noise and distractions. 
• There are tools like chatting with people individually or with the whole class, raising your hand, and going to a side meeting with some people so the entire class does not hear their conversation. Although we did not use all of these tools today, they can be very useful. 

We did not experience that many cons throughout today’s experience but here is one: 

• For Zoom to work and to be able to join it needs good internet connection. We had one classmate that was unable to join. 

Overall, I really enjoyed using Zoom and I think it is a very good feature to use in cases like these.

Today we had a guest speaker who came to speak about her experiences of how she incorporates Minecraft into her classroom. She brought several of her own students to help us figure out the game and share their own stories and experiences. I found it interesting to hear how a video game can be incorporated into different subjects.

I do agree that Minecraft can be brought into lessons to teach students in many subjects but I do not think it emphasizes on them enough. An example in math would be working on the x and y axis. Yes, Minecraft does have these axis but as a student you do not need to pay attention to them at all if you chose not to. I think students can easily be carried away and focus only on the “playing” portion of the lessons and forget what the main focus is supposed to be. Furthermore, I am not a strong believer and lover of video games; therefore, I will most likely not incorporate Minecraft into my future classrooms.

Below is a link to a Minecraft lesson in Mathematics for grade 3:

https://education.minecraft.net/wp-content/uploads/Math-CC-Alignment-Guide-Grade-3.pdf

In today’s class we covered a lot of content. We started the day with a discussion about our field trip to Rebecca’s class last week. Overall, it seemed like people learned a lot and enjoyed the experience. We then discussed different educational videos that we could use in our classrooms. The videos that were discussed are Teachertube, Khan Academy, and Youtube. Although videos can be very helpful for teaching and learning, there can also be some cons. Firstly, videos are only usefully if students actually watch them. Using videos can also be distracting, students may find something in the suggested column next to the video and watch that one instead. Finally, these videos may not be completely on topic or the pace may be too slow or fast for the learner.

As a class we discussed when to make new resources. Before beginning to look into using new resources, you should make sure you have enough time for a new commitment. As an educator we should test out the resource before using it to become familiar. To ensure it is a reliable resource you can look at the privacy policy or can look at who created it and trust your knowledge in this area.

We then worked on Screencastify, creating a wonder video. Below is my video and wonders.

I wonder…

• how you train a dog to do this.
• what kind of dog this is.
• how the dog knows not to knock down the tower.
• who is going to win.
• how the dog knows when it is his turn to play.
• if the dog gets treats because he is drooling a lot.

We then worked on podcasting. We created recordings of audio in Audacity and then edited the audio. I did not upload the podcast I created on to this weeks blog.

On February 26th we had the privilege of going to Rebecca Bathurst-Hunt’s kindergarten classroom at George Jay Elementary. Rebecca spoke to us about how she teaches inquiry based learning. Prior to her presentation, I was unsure how inquiry based learning would work in a kindergarten classroom. After the presentation I surprised myself by actually liking this method of teaching. I thought it would only work for older students but Rebecca’s approach made sense for younger ones. I believe it is important for students to have a say in their learning and for educators to base their lessons off of the students interests. I believe this is important because students need to enjoy learning at this age as it can have a large impact on how they feel about school for their remaining years.

Although I enjoyed her presentation on how and why she implements inquiry based learning, I highly enjoyed walking around and looking at her classroom. Her classroom was very natural and was minimalistic compared to others I have been in. In many courses we have discussed the importance of having different types of seats for students that do not work well in a chair or on the carpet all but I have never actually seen a classroom that implemented this before today. Her classroom was also very minimalistic which I think is better so it is less overwhelming for the students. The last thing that stood out to me was the Indigenous learning materials on the walls. This is another topic that has been brought up in many courses but I have never seen in classrooms. Personally, I believe Rebecca’s classroom is a perfect example of how I want my future classroom.

Today’s class was a big eye opener for myself on social media. I have always been conscious of what I put online because I know what I post will stay out there forever even if I delete it. I like the way Jesse Miller, our guest speaker, explained having a private account as putting up a glass wall. I always thought that if I post something on social media, only the people following me can see it but this is not always the case. This stresses me out because I am very aware of who is following me as I do not accept any requests to people that I do not know. 

I found it interesting how SnapChat keeps all the photos you take even if you do not send the photo. Also, I did not realize that they could use what we were wearing or the logos in the pictures for other companies’ benefits. 

The final topic that stood out to me during the presentation was how people’s screen time should be based on individuals needs, rather than children based on their ages. There are many articles that state how technology is ruining our children and how they should only be allowed a certain amount of time everyday. I strongly agree with Miller today when he said that some children use technology for many different reasons like doing school work or keeping in touch with someone that they do not see very often. These children should not have the same limit as children that use technology only for video games, youtube, TV, etc.

Today we also learned how to create and edit a video on IMovies. Alison and  I created a video together because we both have troubles with technology. Together we figured it out. The video we created was of me swimming at Junior Nationals a few years ago and I was not comfortable with posting this video online.

Our group chose to research Khan Academy as our tech topic today.  Khan Academy is an online learning resource that creates lessons and videos on a wide range of subjects and topics. It was created in 2008 by Salman Khan, and aims to provide free education for students everywhere. The website states, “Our mission at Khan Academy is to provide a free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere.” The lessons are done in the form of videos, with an instructor drawing about and explaining the topic. There are also opportunities to be tested. The main courses offered are Math, Science and Engineering, Arts and Humanities, College, careers and more, and economics and finance. Within each of these topics there are more specific subjects.  

Educational technology such as Khan Academy helps make education and support accessible to all learners. When using this kind of tool, it is important to consider the pros and cons, as well as privacy issues that you may need to be aware of.

Pros:

– help teach students on their own

– easy to access

– wide range of topics/subjects

– you can learn at your own pace

– there are ways to test your learning

– many different questions to ensure you understand

– free, nonprofit

– when students need further explanation about a topic, if the teacher is not easily available for one on one help, Khan Academy can be a resource for that extra guidance.

– can be a good studying tool

-encourages UDL and individual pace of learning

Cons:

–  no real classrooms

– teachers are not present

– still very conventional (SAT MCAT prep)

– students must have access to an electronic device and internet connection

– innate differentiation between students

– sometimes you have to sort through many different examples to find one that suits your specific needs/learning style

– when learning from video examples, it can be difficult to replay the same video to go over a specific aspect of the video, as the system tries to move forward onto the next video, however if you access it from another source, the video will play.

– loss of collaboration

– only one teaching style

– the videos could be to fast for some students to follow

– cannot ask specific questions about a subject. The videos are good but if you are not sure about something explained there is no way to clarify

– Students can work ahead of where their class is if they have a strong interest in a subject and then when they are in class they are bored and can start causing disruptions 

Privacy Policies:

https://www.khanacademy.org/about/privacy-policy

By: Lauren T, Alison, Meghan, Kiya

Today we had the privilege of going on a field trip to Pacific School of Innovation and Inquiry. It was very interesting to see the differences in their school which is based around Inquiry and comparing it to the experiences I have had in a public school. I found it interesting that they have had 2800 visitors from all around the world to observe how their school functions. I really liked the idea of expanding their learning into the community by using the ice rink, YMCA, etc instead of keeping the learning within the school walls.

During my visit, I observed many differences from what I am used to, for example, the different classrooms and how/what the students were working on. I believe this school can help many students to have a better and more successful school experience by giving them a lot of freedom in their learning. Students will always be interested in what they are learning because they chose the topic. Students also set their own goals and time frames so they are able to work at their own pace, which I can also see as being a negative aspect.

Although I believe this school has many benefits, I also have some concerns. If a student always chooses to work in a quiet room, are they learning how to interact and communicate with others? If a student chooses not to work one day and on their daily plan they have nothing, is anyone making sure they do work? Another concern I have is how does this school environment prepare the students for university? I understand that these students will have the studying skill to do the homework that comes after class but these students will not be prepared to have a routine of going to lectures or labs every day.

I believe this school can work for some students but not all. Personally, I would not function in a school like this one. I need structure and routine… the two main things this school does not have. I like to be told what to learn, when to learn it by, and the assignments I am to do. I also do not believe I would be as motivated to work as I have the capability of setting my own daily goals.

In class today we watched the movie “Rip! A Remix Manifesto” by Brett Gaylor. This movie surprised me the entire time. I knew copyright was strictly based on the intolerance of plagiarism in school but I did not realize the complexity of copyright. This movie has made me wonder… am I allowed to sing songs with my friends?… When you are using an artist’s work but changing it, why does it depend on the situation if this is considered plagiarism?… If 52 million people were copyright criminals, shouldn’t the laws be changed?… What makes specific people a target to the RIAA because I think there are way more people that have copyrighted than they can target… Why can you not just cite and reference a song at the end of your video like you do for other people’s writing/words… Everything comes from something, artists are inspired by nature so are they copyrighting nature?… If an artist creates a song with two notes the same in the same order, is that considered copyright? I found it very interesting that you are allowed to use 10% of a song for commercial uses without paying for it but this movie has made me think back and reconsider all the music, short films, and videos I have created for past school projects and if I was copyrighting. I also did not realize that I could have been fined for singing “Happy Birthday” in public before last year. I still do not fully understand copyright and all the rules that come with it but I strongly believe copyright has created a world full of criminals.

https://www.nfb.ca/film/rip_a_remix_manifesto/

I believe the resources that were shown in class today in regards to Open Educational Resources will be helpful in the future. I will use some of them to ensure I am not copyrighting in my future classrooms. The con that comes with these resources is that there may not be as many options, some of them may not work, and they are not as fast and convenient. 

Today in class we set up Trello. I have to admit, it was one of the simpler software to set up that I have experienced. The instructions provided were easy to follow and the site seems easy to function (of what I did today). Trello is a computer software that allows you to make lists, share the lists, and add attachments such as pictures, videos, links, etc. I see this website as an online calendar.

Depending on the person there are pros and cons to this computer software. In my opinion, this computer software is good to keep everything organized and together. It is beneficial to be able to add links, pictures, videos, etc into your calendar. It is also nice that it is online; therefore, you can reach it on any device. On the other hand, relying on the use of technology can bring some cons. If you do not have internet at home (I grew up without internet or a computer) it can become challenging to find your schedule. Also I and some others struggle with technology because I find it to cause a lot of unnecessary stress while I am trying to figure out my way around the site. I think I will enjoy this site whence I know how to work it.

Creating this website was not a smooth process for me. I often struggle with technology when I am unfamiliar with the software. I did not make this process any easier as I stopped a couple of times throughout the creating process, which then led to confusion because I forgot where I stopped last. I could have made this task less stressful by completing it all in one sitting. During activities such as creating a website, I frequently feel like I am not doing it correctly; therefore, clarification was very helpful.

In my opinion, I could potentially use this type of software in my future classroom but I would need to become more familiar with it beforehand. I would use this software in older classrooms such as grade 6 and above.

There are many positive aspects technology brings to the classroom. Having class activities and lessons online prevent students from falling behind when they absent. This will be very helpful for me when I am absent for swim meets. Technology enhances student’s participation because they are not speaking or presenting in front of the class.  Softwares like this one will aid to get information from peers and save the information for future reference.

Although there are many pros to having technology in classrooms, it also comes with some cons. I believe the main con is the risk of plagiarism. If all students are writing on the same topic, this software would make it very easy for other students to copy and reword their peer’s work. Another con is assigning homework because not all students have access to the internet or a computer at home. The final con that I believe a teacher has to be aware of is cyber bullying which is more common in younger students.