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Curation of Online Resources during Covid-19

July 25, 2020 / / 0 Comments

During our school’s Covid-19 experience and return to a blend of both in class and online learning we engaged in lots of opportunities to share resources. We would often share out at staff meetings, which we conducted over zoom. With lots of resources coming in at every angle, one staff member suggested that we collate our resources in a google doc. that everyone could add their contributions to. A great idea, which has allowed the sharing of materials in a much easier and more accessible way. The home learning online resources are organized in sections:

  • General
  • Literacy
  • Math
  • Science
  • STEM
  • Fine Arts
  • PE/ Health Education
  • S’malgyax
  • French

The google forms can be located here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NkYl8y4LFUy_sVnf4VHmMuLRmY_kOOXigXhB14nh8e4/edit?usp=sharing

Please feel free to take a browse, perhaps your schools have done this as well. If not it was a great way to collect resources and share everyone’s contributions.

Metaphors of Curriculum- Assignment #1 EDCI532

July 13, 2020 / / 0 Comments

Metaphor of Curriculum:

To me curriculum is like a meandering river. A meander is a loop in a river channel. The meandering river winds back and forth. It does not follow a straight course. Curriculum is very much like that. It winds, it bends, it loops and turns in a variety of directions. When you explore its complexities and use it creatively to spark students love of learning and engage students its directions are endless.

While in the past, curriculum to me has felt rigid and inflexible. The “new curriculum” allows students to explore learning processes and curiosity, make connections and take ownership for their learning. Like curriculum, a meander is produced by a stream or river swinging from side to side, eroding the sediments from the outer banks. The old curriculum is washed away with checklists of PLOs, making room for Big Ideas, learning outcomes and opportunities to engage in cross curricular learning.

The meander allows the stream to shift its channel, similar to curriculum where the journey and process of learning is more important than the final destination. This is the “how” rather than the “what” of curriculum.  This is something I have personally struggled with, as so much focus on learning has been on creating the finished product, rather than the process or learning journey itself.

Curriculum is like a meandering river in that it guides the directionality of student exploration. It motivates the students to take ownership in their learning journey, by selecting the path or stream they will take. Teachers provide students with encouragement to choose their learning path and act more as facilitators to support them through their steams of knowledge.

The concept of the medicine wheel illustrates the knowledge needed to create a space that is culturally relevant, the pedagogy and environment for embedding indigenous education and the four directions which represent the importance and appreciation for the interconnectedness and interrelatedness of all things. The medicine wheel can be a helpful tool, similar to a compass, to support students as they navigate through the meander, this curriculum which guides the pedagogy for teaching, learning and exploring the world around us.

https://www.edcan.ca/articles/teaching-by-the-medicine-wheel/

My Teaching Context:

I work at Pineridge Elementary School in the small community of Prince Rupert, where I currently work as a Learning Service Teacher with a small administrative piece. This upcoming school year I will be returning to teach grade 4/5. Previously most of my teaching experience has been spent in the Special Education. I have enjoyed engaging with what we consider the “new curriculum”, although I don’t really see it as being anything new. Much of what has been considered “new” isn’t really… it’s what many of us have been doing for a quite some time.

While I do appreciate the sentiments discussed in class, academically, I think I am always exploring things with a critical lens, in particularly looking for the practicality of what I am learning. I design my lessons around how I can make things engaging, meaningful and applicable in the world in which we live.

Exploring Egan & Blade:

Looking at Egan’s article What is Curriculum, he argues the importance of creating parameters that will in turn prepare our students for the future. Egan argues that it is up educator(s) to determine the “what” of curriculum, as well as the “how”. (Egan, 1978). While I can appreciate this focus, I do question how much student involvement or choice Egan would say should guide the “how”? What kind of autonomy would Egan suggest is given to the student to guide the curriculum?

Egan is concerned that by including the what and how, curriculum becomes too broad and suggests the focus should be primarily on the “what”. I say this because his ideas and references are rooted in Western education and theory. Historically, we have seen curriculum become very compartmentalized, lacking personalization. This fits with our understanding of colonization, wanting students to learn in the same way, the same information so that they may be productive members of society.

While I can agree that focusing on the “what” within curriculum is vastly important, coming from a Special Education background makes me shift my focus more to what students need to learn, how they learn and how to keep lessons engaging and accessible for all types of learning. Curriculum is something that needs careful examination not just with regards to content, but also with regards to delivery and accessibility.

David Blades’ (2016) Recovering Beauty Through STEM Science Education: A Letter to a Junior Colleague speaks to the importance of teacher voice with regards to curriculum design and delivery.

” Teachers’ view and approaches to teaching matter in curriculum change. Any attempt to circumvent teaching in the change process will invariably find that teachers modify, adapt and sometimes completely deviate from what the curriculum designers expected.” (p. 26)

While I see that provincially the curriculum is developed and designed with consultation from numerous stake holders, the “how” of curriculum delivery and exploration should be left to the discretion of teachers and students who choose to be active participants in their learning journey.

I believe that as educators, we should have the professional autonomy to choose how we navigate through the meandering river we call the curriculum.

References:

Blades, D. W. (2016). Recovering Beauty Through STEM Science Education: A Letter to a Junior Colleague. Journal for Activist Science and Technology Education, 7 (1).

Egan, K. (1978). What Is Curriculum? In Curriculum Inquiry (1st ed., Vol. 8, pp.66-72). Blackwell.

Topic 4: Digital Citizenship

April 13, 2020 / / 0 Comments

While we recognize that safe spaces provide a significant role in student development, safe spaces can imply the physical space but also a feeling that students have. Safe learning environments are those in which students can learn in a comfortable environment and thrive. Creating a safe space that you can enjoy as well and have your students see that you enjoy will go a long way.  We have students from all life experiences so it is critical that students feel comfortable and are surrounded by those students and adults who are allies.

There are other considerations to think about when building a safe environment:

  • How is my pacing? Am I moving to quickly from one lesson to another? Or too slowly?
  • Are my students fully engaged?
  • Are there topics which I know could be upsetting or emotionally challenging for some students?
  • Are most of my students comfortable working on their own or are they more comfortable working in small groups?

It wasn’t until I heard author Monique Gray-Smith talk about trauma informed practice and students who had experienced trauma that I thought about these additional considerations. I had not honestly thought about the impact of moving desks around over the weekend and reminding students on Fridays that come Monday they would have a new seating arrangement. To my understanding many of my students were quite excited to see who they might sit with come Monday, but I had not considered the discomfort that could create for some.

I think part of creating a safe environment means that you are creating an example and modelling what the expected behavior should look like about how you treat others, and how your respect both yourself and those around you. If you show your students the importance of kindness by taking opportunities to model the way, they will follow.  In saying this I also think that being human is making mistakes and it is also healthy to show your students that you make mistakes as well and learn from them. Risk taking is something that can take along time to build up, so providing opportunities again to model the way and provide honest insight when you are unclear or are willing to take a risk to try something new, only makes you more human to your students, regardless of their misconceptions. (I remember vividly running into students at both the swimming pool and grocery store and the look and shock on their face that I could be anywhere other than at school was somewhat entertaining).

The proof is in your students…

One of the great benefits of creating a safe learning environment is when you know students take pride in their surroundings and the work around them. Providing students with the space to feel proud of their work and their accomplishments further helps to cultivate a safe learning environment. In addition, safe spaces for students create opportunities for them to share their ideas, thoughts, opinions and beliefs without judgement.

The website Wabisabi Learning notes that there are several things to consider when building a safe environment and has created a checklist.

  1. Keep a clean and orderly classroom
  2. Allow students to be expressive and encouraging to others
  3. Celebrate students work in different ways
  4. Create a list of guidelines (laws or rules such as no name calling etc.)
  5. Stay calm and in control always
  6. Practice useful failure and turn mistakes into learning opportunities
  7. Model kindness every chance you get
  8. Move around and interact with students and create a connection
  9. Be patient and smile
  10. Feel free to laugh with your students and be vulnerable
  11. Give kids choice around how they do assignments

https://wabisabilearning.com/blogs/inquiry/create-safe-learning-environments

In thinking more on ways to create safe spaces for students, our district has used the White Hatter as a way to teach students and parents about online safety and cyber bullying. This is definitely a great resource to check out if you haven’t already.

https://www.thewhitehatter.ca/

https://www.thewhitehatter.ca?wix-vod-video-id=2660f32e7b884f87a27c2bdfa74704ab&wix-vod-comp-id=comp-k0304hzi

These additional sites are great resources when exploring options around teaching and learning about online safety, cyberbullying and authenticating digital literacy.

https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/erase

https://mediasmarts.ca/digital-media-literacy/digital-issues/authenticating-information

Discussions around privacy and personal security as well as the ethics and morals connected to using technology both inside and outside of the classroom is something that often gets missed. We spend a lot of time scaffolding and pre-teaching the use of technology but often miss opportunities to explore and learn about the safety concerns that exist around using the internet and technology appropriately. This is a very important aspect of ensuring that we are creating safe learning environments for our students both in our classroom and on the world wide web.

Regan, P., & Jesse, J. (2019). Ethical challenges of edtech, big data and personalized learning: Twenty-first century student sorting and tracking. Ethics and Information Technology, 21 (3), 167-179. DOI:10.1007/s10676-018-9492-2

 

 

 

 

 

 

Critical Thinking/ Design Thinking- March 29th, 2020

April 13, 2020 / / 0 Comments

Education is not the learning of facts, but the training of the mind to think.”

(Albert Einstein 1879-1955)

The TEDTalk by Hans Rosling, entitled The Best Stats You Have Ever Seen provided some good points on how we promote and encourage critical thinking. When considering design thinking it is critical that we consider new and evolving approaches and are open to novel ideas, innovations and continuously changing ideas. Design thinking is not static, it is constantly evolving and changes with the use of varied technology.

When considering how we use technology to support design thinking and critical thinking in the classroom it is important that we consider the following:

  • It allows students to take learning into their own hands and promotes student ownership
  • Students are able to analyze information and create a product
  • Investigate and gather their own information
  • Students are able to use the information they have learned to think critically about it
  • Process information and evaluate the critical pieces, determine what is important
  • Students can then use the information they have learned and use technology to consider how they will present or explain their understanding

Using technology to support critical thinking in a multitude of ways. I particularly liked the way Hans Rosling discussed using technology for educational research such as getting students to research a community and then compare them to places we live. Students are able to connect with distant communities and countries and think about commonalities and differences. Critical thinking skills are applied in having students engage with materials and discover and direct their own learning. They are then able to sift through information, determining what is important, valid and pertinent information to share with an audience. Design/ Critical thinking allows students to both have exposure to new learning, while reinforcing their understanding (sifting through the important information and retelling or teaching others what they have learned).

I thought I would try making a short video using ShowMe Whiteboard Interactive. You can follow the link for the short video here. While I have played around with a few applications, this was the first time I have created a video of this kind. I can see how this could be really appealing for students and a great way to get them to sift through information taught and determine what the key ideas or talking points entail.

You can check out my attempt here.

http://www.showme.com/sh?h=twXC1qq

I really enjoyed the Joe Ruhl TEDxLafayette video, which focusses on the shift that needs to take place to achieve a classroom that is supportive of collaboration, communication, critical thinking and creativity. It requires the teaching model and methodology to shift from a teacher centered classroom to a student-centered classroom.

He premises the success of a classroom that supports critical thinking by:

  • Providing students with choice
  • Opportunities to collaborate and communicate their learning
  • Allows students to retell the stories of their learning journey
  • Provides students with opportunities to teach, mentor and inspire other students

While this shift away from teacher centered to student centered teaching can be daunting, it supports and cultivates greater independence and ownership in student learning, inspires a new way to bring learning outcomes of the new curriculum and with the use of technology critical thinking and design thinking can be brought full circle.

 

 

 

 

Reflection of Online Learning

February 15, 2020 / / 0 Comments

We have discussed and considered online learning options during this course and have had some really insightful conversations. I have generally been really pleased with my online learning experiences. Courses are engaging, lively and these experiences are helpful when living in an isolated community.

In general, online learning provides students with more options for their education, and creates new learning environments connecting people all over the world.

It is difficult to know where education will take us in the future, because new technologies are evolving so quickly, we often loose track. Online educational platforms are being constructed to maximize students learning potential at an unprecedented rate. Even still there are lots of things to consider when exploring online learning options. I have gone through my notes on online learning throughout the course and have compiled some points on both the benefits and disadvantages when considering online learning options.

The benefits of online learning:

Flexibility- online learning supports students who don’t often fit the norms of standardized education. It can also allow students to catch up on coursework or take courses that may otherwise not be offered. In addition, online learning provides students with a safe place to explore social interactions.

Accessibility- while online learning is not yet providing accessibility for all, it is moving education in a positive direction, especially for those who are not physically able to attend schools in person.  Online courses also allow students to access course material any time. Students are able to refer to material as they need it and refer back to course information and concepts.

Experience- Students can gain valuable insights and online learning offers students opportunities to learn with other learners as well as instructors and guests from different disciplines.

Opportunity- online learning can provide students with the means to personalize their learning, creating unlimited options for learning and should be used as a supplementary or add on, not replacing something that already exists. Online learning options also provide students with more ownership in their learning. It can also provide students with valuable skills to take ed-tech and their valuable skills into the real world.

More opportunity-online learning can also mean more options for coursework in a variety of disciplines. Online courses can provide students with options for equivalently weighted courses offered at educational institutions that are face-to-face classes. In addition, students are provided with opportunities to learn course content from instructors who are highly experienced in their discipline.

The potential disadvantages of online learning:

Student motivation- the level of motivation may be affected by students participating in online course work. Many students choose online learning as an alternative option to high school if conventional schooling has not been a fit. In addition, online learning requires a great deal of self-discipline, as students need to work out time management and organization skills in order to stay on top of their work and ensure they have enough time to complete assignments.

Self regulation- often these skills are lacking, students leave work until the last minute. Students often feel disconnected as they are not interacting with their professors and colleagues face-to-face. Often this idea of not meeting face-to-face can be underestimated and the impact can mean that building relationships with your instructor and classmates require more effort in this online learning environment.

Standards- its hard to say whether the standards are similar from one online institution to another. In addition, when considering options for online learning, it is important to consider whether a program is accredited and recognized by credible universities or colleges.

Accessibility- When thinking about online learning access plays a huge part. While online learning is flexible and provides access to learning, it does not alleviate the issue of access for all. It presumes that everyone has a computer and access to the internet. It also does not guarantee that everyone is familiar with the platform chosen for the course. To further think about access, most schools are not equipped to support students who are participating in distance ed. Furthermore, schools that promote many online platforms for learning do not have alternate options for students who do not have access to technology or whose parents choose for their children not to participate.

Risk- What are the risks of online learning for students? Online courses lack opportunities for hands on learning, which can make reinforcing concepts for students who require practical applications. Online learning also makes us think about the basic needs that are lacking for many students. It does not address basic needs such as nutrition or even additional services that students often can access on campus such as mental health services.

Regardless of whether you are a proponent of online learning options or not, online learning provides students with the autonomy to choose what their learning experience will involve, promotes many transferable skills and narrows the gap of accessibility. While there is still more work to be done in terms of fully addressing accessibility, online learning is a stepping stone in the right direction to see education made more accessible for all.

Making Connections

October 15, 2019 / / 0 Comments

Making Connections and Further Considerations with Research in Educational Technology
Mackenzie Hubbell
October 15th, 2019

It was both enjoyable and encouraging to watch my colleagues’ videos and read the handouts while trying to relax this past weekend. Some of the videos were encouraging about the use of educational technology and others made me think about the basic needs of implementing its use as well as the “real” value of educational technology. In looking at the groups, there are a few questions that come to mind.

  • What kind of training is required by educators to successfully use the technology?
  • How do we evaluate the use of technology?
  • What are the overall implications of implementing the technology: ethical, moral, issues of equity etc.?
  • How will the technology affect my learners?
  • How does the technology support the goals of the learner and enhance the overall learning objectives?

In exploring options for my Med project, I am particularly interested in looking at educational technologies that may support the use of fully incorporating Indigenous Education into every day teaching practice. I see the abundance of resources within Aboriginal Education, and question where the limitations lie in the implementation of its use. Providing educators with options to incorporate more digital technologies will support the effective and consistent teaching of Indigenous curricula, but I haven’t entirely hammered out all of the details. What I recognize in my current district, is that we are incredibly “resource rich”, yet there are obvious hesitations with incorporating Indigenous Education into everyday teaching practices.

One particular group that I enjoyed, was Emily and Trevor who looked at the role of leadership for information technology. This topic resonated with me, as we look at how to successfully implement the use of technology in our everyday teaching practice. It boils down to training and having access to people who are confident in using these technologies to assist and support school staff. We have literacy support teachers, math helping teachers, language helping teachers but often don’t have technology specialists, or at least not in my small community. Staff definitely need to feel supported and need to have the opportunity to learn themselves to become proficient with their use of technology.

In looking at the different presentation formats from our groups, its difficult to look at this from an evaluative approach. Using the basic video technology and looking at how each group choose to summarize and make their presentations engaging, entertaining but also knowledge rich, begs the questions when looking at implementing technology into the classroom.

What are the parameters for evaluation?

How do we deconstruct the content and information in a given presentation versus measuring the quality and engagement factor of the presentations?

I think about this as a real challenge in the classroom setting, especially when you give students the autonomy and freedom to explore educational technology, which is both exciting and frightening to me from an evaluative standpoint. If we continue to narrow the parameters and freedoms of expression when looking at student presentation styles, are we limiting our student’s ability to fully demonstrate their level of understanding

I can appreciate many of the new novel ways we look to engage our students and get them excited about learning. We often do this by introducing new technology into our classrooms. We are encouraged to explore new ways of learning and teaching, which in many ways enhance learning opportunities in the classroom. One thing that really resonates with me, having worked in Special Education for quite some time is looking at how of these technologies can be used in an equitable manner. Often the technology is used to present new material, just in a different way. My hope is that some of these new technologies allow all students to be active and engaged in their learning experience and creates more meaningful learning opportunities, rather than simply being a catchy new way to present the same information. Technology should support educators to make learning more meaningful and increase engagement and allow teachers to teach smarter not harder.

For this project, the learning for me was two-fold, understand the content, while also learning to navigate and use the technology required to present it.

What are the future implications?

The educator needs to have a solid foundation and understanding of how the technology is to be used and how to trouble shoot potential pitfalls. I think many teachers stray away from using tech because they don’t give themselves enough time to get comfortable with using the technology themselves, or perhaps aren’t provided with enough training opportunities to get fully acquainted.

In addition, I think its really important to think about how the technology will enhance the overall learning experience. Technology for the sake of using technology is not sufficient if the learning objectives are not clear and it is not made obvious how the educational technology will support the learning experience. Providing students with technology without an understanding and knowledge base of the technology itself, its capabilities and how it intends to enhance the overall learning experience is a common mistake.

More opportunities to explore, play and learn new educational technologies before we teach with them will see them used more effectively in the classroom.

Reference:

Voogt, G. Knezak, R. Christensen, & K-W, Lai (Eds.) Second Handbook of Information Technology in Primary and Secondary Education, pp. 3-12. Springer International Handbooks of Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71954-9

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