Category: Uncategorised (Page 2 of 2)

Our Education Technology class featuring Valerie Irvine, and ed tech professor at University of Victoria, was different from our previous guest lectures. At the beginning of the presentation via BlueJeans, Valerie posed four different questions and gave us two options to answer- either via twitter or an anonmous google document. I decided to get out of my comfort zone and respond to the questions via twitter, which was a great experience! Everyday, I’m learning that these small opportunities I take are what make me grow.

The questions posed to us were to do with classrooms via virtual means (i.e. Blue Jeans, Facetime, etc.). Valerie opened my eyes to the possibility of synchronous (running at the same time) and asynchronous (running at a different time) lessons for students. I’ve always seen this as a possiblity for adult learners, but I’ve never really considered it for younger learners. I love the idea, but I’m still trying to outweight the positives and negatives of this type of learning. Some of the positives I noted were:

-More opportunity for inclusion: learners dealing with excpetionalities such as anxiety disorders have the opportunity to join the lesson without worrying about their anxiety

-Flexibilty (location/time): a learner who may have missed a series of classes for some reason can check-in via asynchronous lessons at a different time

On the other side of the coin, some downfalls I noted were:

-Tehcnical difficulties: technical difficulties are a possibility when dealing with any type of technology. Sometimes virtual learning is interrupted by this.

-Possible absenteeism/lack of productivity: In a class based on primarily virtual meetings, how can we ensure students are attending or are actively listening via virtual means?

Relationsip building: A lot of relationships are much easier to build and foster in person. A component of relationships is lost when meeting through virtual means, especially for younger learners.

Teacher modelling: Although teachers can still model through tech-based meeting, a component of modelling is lost. For example, the teacher would not be able to walk up to each individual student to check in and model for them.

All-in-all, the most important thing I realized is that we have to check our biases. Unfortunately, biases do exist when it comes to modality. I mentioned to Valerie, that as educators, we need to remember to keep the learners’ best interests in mind. As long as we are doing this, we should be able to check biases while also providing learners with the best option for learning, even if that includes learning via virtual means rather than in person.

Personally, I have always been the type of person who prefers in-person meetings rather than tech-based meetings, however, this is not to say that I’m not open to tech-based meetings. I feel as though a lot of these tech-based meeting opportunities are catered towards older students/adults, so my next step is to explore more tech-based meeting options for younger students.

I’ve never really been introduced to coding, so I was very excited when I found out we were going to Nusdeh Yoh Elementary to do coding with Noelle Pepin, the district aboriginal resource teacher for SD57. What I imagined doing for coding was typing long, complex algorithims into a computer, but Noelle introduced us to exciting, hands on ways to code using Ozobots. Ozobots are essentially little robots that read codes written on paper. The Ozobot moves along a black “track” that is drawn on paper with the black Ozobot marker. Along the track, you can use different colour combinations using blue, red, green, and black markers to code for your Ozobot. Different colour combinations give the Ozobot different directions, such as “turn around” or “turn right.” I’ve attached a video of the Ozobot myself and two classmates used on our custom-built track.

Noelle did a great job of scaffolding for this activity. We started with a paper of a pre-printed track and set of 3 blank slots. We were given a key with the different coding options for the Ozobots (i.e. blue black blue = go fast). After we got to try this out, we got the opportunity to free-hand tracks and codes on a large piece of paper provided to us. This proved to be a great test of patience- the ozobots didn’t seem to like the tracks that were drawn freehand as much as the pre-made tracks! If your lines were to thick or too thin, the ozobot would not read the code. If I was feeling impatient as an adult, I wonder how students would feel about this. Nevertheless, I did learn to take my time when coding which definitely helped. If I were doing this in my classroom, I would be interested to provide learners with both scaffolded options (pre-made track and freestyle track) to see how they would react to each.

This lesson was important because it allowed me to see the stigma around certain topics like coding as “too difficult.” We should not be placing these labels on topics before doing our due dilligence to research the learning opportunities. Had I researched coding for kids, I probably would have come across unique learning opportunities such as the ozobots.

This lesson leaves me wondering how an ozobot lesson would play out in the classroom. My goal is to sign a set of ozobots out from our district resource centre during one of my practicums. I would love to create a coding activity such as a “race to the finish line.” I would have a pre-made track, and students would have to see who could get their ozobot to the finish line first. I’m grateful that we had this opportunity to work with the ozobots, and I’m looking forward to exploring more learning opportunities around coding!

I’ve always found myself to be rather savvy with technology. I was never a “tech guru” but I have always been able to get by with most types of technology like laptops and phones. I’ve never really given much thought towards creative ways to use technology in the classroom, but who would’ve thought that you’d be able to use technology for assessment in the classroom in a FUN way? This week in class, we had an amazing opportunity to listen to a presentation on assessment from a fabolous, passionate educator from the Bulkey Valley, Sandra McAulay. Sandra opened my eyes to the possibility of technology in the classroom as a fun, engaging assessment tool. Essentially, assessment can be done directly on the technology itself, or technology can be used to document physical creations of learners that you wouldn’t normally get to assess (i.e. an pictoral example of a learner making 340 with base ten blocks). I loved this concept of documentation for assessment because it provides you with a physical photo as proof of learning that comes in handy for portfolios and meetings with parents.  Some of the apps we were introduced to for assessment were Knowability, Pic Collage, Skitch, Chatter Kid, Book Creator, and Epic!

Sandra gave us an opportunity to use her ipads to see how she uses them in her own classroom. We went around the university looking for rectangular prisms to take photos of. We then used Pic Collage to label the length, width, and height of our respective objects to calculate both the area and volume. Doing math in this way was a unique, engaging experience that I would love to incorporate into my own classroom!

After this presentation, I’m interested in exploring new apps and differentiation techniques within technology. I love that technology can be adapted to so many different learning needs and seeing as differentiation is something I always struggle with, I will be looking to technology more often to help me. As educators, we need to evaluate our expectations of learners. Is our goal to just have things look good on paper, or are there other possibilities that we can look at with technology?

This week, our cohort had the pleasure of listening to a presentation on portfolios by Ian Landy, who is the principal of Edgehill Elementary in Powell River. Ian Landy’s presentation was a great reminder that we are not only teachers, but learners as well. I find it’s easy to identify with my role as a teacher while letting my role as learner slip. Realistically, both roles should be equally as important. It wasn’t until Christine made an enlightening remark asking, “what is important to you as an adult learner?” that I became invested in the presentation as a teacher AND a learner. This was my big “aha” moment from the presentation.

I loved how Ian Landy discussed the use of student portfolios as an assessment tool. It really spoke to me when he said, “you can fake a letter grade, but you can’t fake a portfolio,” suggesting the impersonalized, bitter reality of letter grades. On the other hand, portfolios give learners a variety of different ways to represent their learning in unique, creative ways. As a learner, I also like the idea of having my portfolio as an archive of my accomplishments. I find it’s easy to forget about certain accomplishments after the immediate glorification is over. With my portfolio, I can keep an ongoing record of the accomplishments I’m proud of without forgetting them.

One of the greatest connections I had to Ian’s talk was the importance of documentation of your journey, rather than your outcome with portfolios. During my first BCED chat, I responded to a question asking what one word we would use to describe the upcoming school year. I replied with, “journey” because I am choosing to focus on the journey rather than the outcome for this upcoming school year. Ian’s discussion on journey-focused portfolios was a great validation for what a great opportunity I have with to focus on my journey my e-portfolio. Overall, my takeaways from this presentation allowed me to stay grounded in my role as both a teacher and learner while reinforcing my value for embracing my journey.

This talk has inspired me to document my journey more often. I plan to recognize and take advantage of opportunities that will allow me to document and share my journey with others. This leads me to my inquiry, how can I remain mindful in order to take advantage of such opportunities?