Week 1
Technology! Technology! Technology! What a wonderful yet potentially devastating and utterly frustrating innovation. I have now been familiarized with the privacy & safety concern surrounding permission and media use in and out of the classroom. In EDCI 336 we attempted to set up our own WordPress blog using the website http://opened.ca. Simple. How hard could that possibly be? Apparently, it was more of challenge than expected. As each student began their sign up process a continuous stream of “Errors” also started trickling in. Unsuccessful WordPress creation across the board in Friday’s EDCI 336 section! Frustrating and confusing for most. However, it was an important lesson learned that day in the way that we must understand that technology can be unpredictable and inconsistent on the best of days. Although we use many technological platforms in our everyday life and there is a strong push and transition happening in the classroom, we must also understand that technology can fail. The importance of having backup plans A, B, and even C is often necessary to ensure smooth sailing. Instead of our lesson coming to a halt with the WordPress glitch, Rich McCue ran us through the other platforms (Trello, Twitter) instead. With a little bit of patience and improvising, by the end of the session we were able to succeed in making our WordPress blogs and our online professional sharing space. On to the next EDCI 336!
Week 2
Demonstrations for how to use organizational tools such as Tweetdeck (https://tweetdeck.twitter.com/) were helpful while understanding how to better use Twitter.We started to build our knowledge and comfort with social media in a professional context. Then after playing around and setting up our WordPress layout, we got into groups of 3-4 to research some technological platforms used in the classroom or educational setting. Our group looked at the details of Khan Academy in education. We found that they offer extra material in all subjects from levels K-12. They highlight personalized learning where students can go at their own speed and accessibility from teachers to be able to see student development and assist where needed. Lots of awesome presentations on some cool tools that can be used in the classroom. We even got try out a Kahoot game for ourselves…what a thrill! Oh, and did I mention there was banana bread to go around?! Someone picked the best possible free inquiry!!!
Week 3
Today in EDCI 336 Rich McCue introduced the concept of video editing with the program of iMovie which was a timely lesson given that I was in the midst of making an introductory type video of myself for another EDCI class. We played around with the green screen option as well as intergrading audio clips into the movie. I spent most of the class playing around with trying to add music to the background of my video with the proper timing and section of the song matching up with the right video clip. A proven struggle! With this tool kit however, and a few more hours of frustration I was able to combine audio and clips successfully to finish my introductory video- my very first individually made video! Crossing another competency of Audio Editing off the EDCI 336 technology competency checklist and adding another resource to my pedagogy. The next part of the class was used to set up and explore the organizing platform called Trello. I have had previous knowledge with Trello as my work place use this program to delegate tasks within the team. I have grown to like the simplicity and organization of this platform as well as the aspect of team collaboration and I look forward to applying it to my free and tech inquiry research.
Week 4
Today in EDCI 336 we covered the Privacy & Safety competency with presenter Jesse Miller. Miller presented on online privacy, safety, and consent- an important topic to consider and be informed about in the classroom. He brought up some shocking realities that as future educators soon to be held at a high professional standard must be aware about. We learned about how it can be important to keep online personal life and professional life profiles separate or find a happy and appropriate medium between the two. And that this depends on your own personal comfort level of what you are willing to share about yourself in the public. We also discussed the trouble of when these lines are crossed and when cyber evidence of your own personal decisions can get you in to trouble in the as an education professional. Lots of important things to consider moving forward in my educational training and career…
Week 5
This week’s EDCI 336 class was spent at the Pacific School of Innovation and Inquiry (PSII), learning about Open Pedagogy and Learning Design in the non-traditional school environment. At PSII, students are not bound by the traditional BC curriculum and are encouraged to pursue an inquiry-based learning design. It was great to see and hear about the amazing creations and achievements students had attained given the freedom of their own learning. Jeff Hopkins, the principle at PSII, shared with us some insight into what drove him towards the creation of this type of school and the reasons behind some of the principles of PSII learners. Trello was also promoted as an extremely successful technological tool to help guide and organize this inquiry-based learning. All information shared during this outing was very interesting as we are starting this journey to become successful educators.
Week 6
Today in EDCI 336, we spent some time debriefing our Jesse Miller privacy and safety presentation and our visit to PSII. We talked about something that surprised us from this discussing and our group voiced the concerns and conflict of using and having Google accounts as teachers and using Google platforms in the classroom. Our Wednesday school visits require us to have a google account and to communicate and submit assignments via Google classroom, however, Jesse Miller talked about some privacy and safety concerns of this platform. We thought this was interesting as future educators to hear this side of it but then also have it in our program as a requirement. A PSII report card was shared with us and we got to see how they go about their assessment of inquiry-based learning. It was interesting to see how a grade 9 student can be working on grade 12 biology work depending on what they choose to cover for their inquiry topics. Next, we spent some in-class time working on our tech inquiry. Our group is focusing on videography in PHE and how this might be useful and some possible limitations of this technique as well. We found 4 programs: Ubersense/HUDL, Dartfish, Sportlyzer, and Coach’s Eye to investigate. We also are looking forward to talking with Rich Mccue to hear some input and app suggestions and help direct our inquiry on this topic!
Week 7
In EDCI 336 we took part in a mini Edcamp opportunity. We started off the session writing down our ideas and interest in topics on sticky notes. We then took turns voting of what discussions we wanted to know more about or share our expertise. The topics with the most votes were the discussions for the afternoon, and we were free to choose which one we wanted to participate in. The three themes for our Edcamp were inclusion in the classroom, qualities of a favorite teacher and mindfulness in the classroom. I took part in the discussion around inclusion in the classroom. This bottom up approach allowed everyone to say their piece and contribute their experiences. One of our classmates has EA experience and was able to speak to that as well as another who has lots of experience with vulnerable youth. Overall, today was valuable experience in incorporating Learning Design into our class.
Week 8
Today in EDCI 336 we learned how to play Minecraft! Covering the integration of the Gaming, Virtual Reality, and Augmented Reality competencies in the classroom. Five grade 8’s from Colquitz Middle School came in to help us learn about Minecraft. They were so helpful and were like natural teachers! I learned about so many cool ways that Minecraft has already been integrated in the classroom as well as an extra-curricular. Aspects of teamwork, collaboration, problem-solving were evident in their explanation. Their teacher shared with us how she uses this in the classroom and how the communication grown between group members within the simulation and outside of it. The use of different biomes is a way to explore these digitally as well as it was mentioned that Minecraft has been used to explore the digestive system. All super interesting uses already in place with a super broad direction in which it can move forward into. We played Minecraft using this link MinecraftEDU: https://education.minecraft.net/education.minecraft.net. Here is a resource to already created lessons: https://education.minecraft.net/class-resources/search-lessons/ but there is an option to go without a plan which is also beneficial.
Photo by Nina PhotoLab on Unsplash
Week 9
This week in EDCI 336 we explored Google Classroom and checked Tech Tools and Multimedia Learning Theory off the competency list. We were exposed to TPACK (Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge) which is used by educators as a technique to teach effectively in technology-rich learning environments to enhance the educational experiences of students. We also improved our understanding of Google in the classroom by testing our knowledge and exploring the platform. Collaboration using Google is often very useful for students as well as educators as it provides and instantaneous communication platform and feedback. However, the use of this technology tool is often uneducated because school districts push for these accounts but often the privacy and security aspects are not discussed or known. While exploring Google Classroom I was able to see the benefits of this program but also some limitations. As we move forward into the world of education as high school teachers, it will be interesting as to what extent Google Classrooms is required/ used in the modern day classrooms.
Week 10
This week in EDCI 336, we explored Video Conferencing as a competency. We got the chance to use the Blue Jeans conferencing platform in our lecture, and I was amazed by the clarity and user friendliness of this piece of technology. We discussed key ideas associated with these types of video conferencing platforms and implications of these in the present classroom. One classmate shared her experience of using this platform in her high school education to connect and be able to take academic classes that otherwise would not be an option in her very small town. Overall, my group suggested a huge benefit of this platform as an option for remote learners to participate in education programs as well as an alternative to students that have high anxiety in the classroom setting. However, we discussed how there are limitations of video conferencing such as technology and budget limitations and using this as a supplementary tool without taking over face to face forms of pedagogy. Everything is helpful in moderations and this is a great tool in creating inclusion moving forward in my education career.
Photo by Benjamin Faust on Unsplash
Week 11
In EDCI 336 today, with Rich McCue, we participated in Coding programs like Scratch, Grasshopper, Hour of Code, Code BC. I can see this being used in many classrooms cross-curricular and some of my classmates shared how they have already seen Scratch in a middle school coding class and how like most platforms, come with glitches. But also, that overall, they saw amazing work from these students using Scratch. The ability of being able to code and have coding skills are very important moving forward in many careers and academia so these are key skills and platforms useful to student education in this topic. This could also be used a tool to create educative simulations and videos that could be beneficial to student learning, an important tool for teachers in all subject areas.
Photo by Nick Morrison on Unsplash