Monthly Archives: April 2020

Technology Operations and Concepts

  • Introduction:
    • Name and a little about me
    • Course: EDCI 572 with Dr. Verena Roberts D
      • Development and Implementation of the Curriculum in Digital Learning Contexts
    • Overview: Technology Operations and Concepts
    • Outline:
      • Reaction to Course Readings
      • Is coding a fad or is it something that needs to be integrated into every curriculum? Why or Why not?
      • What is the role of computer science in digital literacies?
      • Does your project consider data, analytics or Artificial Intelligence?
      • How are emerging educational technology trends impacting your learning context?
      • Tech of the week
  • Reaction to Course Readings
    • I found Sterling’s arguments to be fairly persuasive. I think we agree on many principles of coding in education, although I do not agree that every student should need to learn coding.
    • I believe that the argument that Sterling disagrees with that there should be a push for more professional coders is not a good one and shouldn’t be mandated (2016). We do not do that with any other subject, so why coding? We don’t teach English courses so all students can be writers. We do it so that students are literate and can communicate effectively.
  • Is coding a fad or is it something that needs to be integrated into every curriculum? Why or Why not?
    • As Sterling asserts, coding could very easily be integrated into applied math and science courses and find a home there (2016).
    • I teach electronics and robotics. In both courses I teach my students coding. I don’t see the coding aspect of these courses going anywhere in the near future as they are at the heart of robotics and where electronics is going.
      • Arduino – uses a C based language that activates “pins” on a microcontroller that controls various electronic peripherals and components.
      • RobotC – Uses a C based language that controls motors, servos, and other components in the goal of creating robots to address various real-world challenges.
    • I do not see coding being implemented in most other courses and it should not be shoe-horned in for the sake of it being there.

  • What is the role of computer science in digital literacies?
    • The BC Digital Literacy Framework states that grades 10-12 should be able to program from using block coding to a high-level programming language and be able to create complex model and simulations with real world applications (2016).
    • These literacies are very specific and likely would only be implemented in a STEM or STEM related course.

  • Does your project consider data, analytics or Artificial Intelligence?
    • At the grade 3-5 level, I am not sure that would be appropriate for the age or the project itself.
  • How are emerging educational technology trends impacting your learning context?
    • Emerging technologies are changing my classroom all the time. More recently the metal shop teacher and I utilized a virtual welding simulator as a means of trying to attract students to take a newly formed welding program. It was fun and exciting and got students very interested. I have considered other uses for virtual reality headsets but at this point I am concerned about their practical application. I have not found a legitimate use that would be more than a temporary novelty.
    • The pandemic has forced me and a lot of other teachers to leave their comfort zones and try new edtech that they may not have otherwise experienced. Ultimately, I think it will be a good experience but it has not been an easy transition.
  • Tech of the Week:
    • cc
      • Open source
      • C-based coding language
      • Controls Arduino microcontroller that can be used for nearly infinite real-life applications. For example: light control, motor control, controlling various sensors, etc.
    • Outro
      • Music by Canada by Picture of the Floating World

References & Readings:

British Columbia. Ministry of Education. (2016). BC’s digital literacy framework. Victoria, B.C.: Ministry of Education.

Sterling, L., “Session L : Coding in the curriculum : Fad or foundational?” (2016). 2009 – 2019 ACER Research Conferences. 4. https://research.acer.edu.au/research_conference/RC2016/9august/4 Retrieved from: https://research.acer.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1297&context=research_conference

Audio:

Musical Intro/outro is Canada by Picture of the Floating World found at freemusicarchive.org

Communication and Collaboration

  • Introduction:
    • Name and a little about me
    • Course: EDCI 572 with Dr. Verena Roberts D
      • Development and Implementation of the Curriculum in Digital Learning Contexts
    • Overview: Communication and Collaboration
    • Outline:
      • What are some examples of digital tools that support communication and collaboration?
      • How can digital tools expand learning beyond classroom walls?
      • How does your project promote communication and collaboration between students in your class and with others outside your learning context?
      • Tech of the week
  • What are some examples of digital tools that support communication and collaboration?
    • Online digital tools can support quick access to knowledge, support collaboration, help people connect and communicate effectively.
    • Blogs – WordPress.com, Edublogs.org, Blogger.com, etc.
      • Customizable and relatively easy to use
      • Share work with others for them to comment on
    • Social Media – Facebook, Twitter, etc.
      • Share content with global audience and comment on others work
      • Network and build relationships
    • Wikis – Wikipedia
      • Online community made resources similar to an encyclopedia
    • Online office suite tools – Google docs, Google Slides, prezi, etc.
      • Shareable tools that can be edited by multiple users simultaneously for group work.
    • Online Synchronous Video Conferencing Tools – Zoom, Bluejeans, Skype, etc.
      • Allow groups to get together online
      • Conversations can often be recorded, and some programs offer extra tools like polling tools and group break outs.
    • How can digital tools expand learning beyond classroom walls?
      • Allow students to connect with each other, the teacher, and possibly even experts
      • Students can collaborate from home
      • Students can work on things at home that they could not have done in the past
      • Offers students the chance to share their work and get feedback from others
      • Allows students to connect with people and communities around the world to get a more personalized and real experience. 
    • How does your project promote communication and collaboration between students in your class and with others outside your learning context?
      • Kids can communicate online to share their thoughts and feelings with others’ groups about each other projects.
      • For braver teachers, it could offer students feedback from online friends, families, and strangers.
      • As students will be working in groups to make videos, it will force them to take on roles and carry them out to fruition. The will need to collaborate as a team to meet their final goal.
    • Tech of the Week:
      • ColdTurkey
        • Used to block yourself from popular sites, games, and more.
        • Helps keep a person on task and limit distraction for a time
      • Outro
        • Music: Canada by Picture of the Floating World

References & Readings:

Rothwell, D. (2017). Social Media in K-12 Schools. BOLT Multi-authored Blog. [Weblog]. Retrieved from http://bolt.athabascau.ca/index.php/2017/09/01/social-media-in-k-12-schools/

Couros, A., & Hildebrandt, K. (2016). Designing for open and social learning. In G. Veletsianos (Ed.), Emergence and innovation in digital learning: Foundations and applications. Edmonton, Canada: AU Press. Retrieved from: http://www.aupress.ca/index.php/books/120258

Audio:

Musical Intro/outro is Canada by Picture of the Floating World found at freemusicarchive.org

Digital Citizenship: Developing & Designing for Safe Learning Spaces (#Reflection)

  • Introduction:
    • Name and a little about me
    • Course: EDCI 572 with Dr. Verena Roberts D
      • Development and Implementation of the Curriculum in Digital Learning Contexts
    • Overview: Digital Citizenship: Developing & Designing for Safe Learning Spaces
  • Outline:
    • How does a safe learning space influence student learning?
    • How can educators ensure student privacy and safety is considered in digital environments?
    • How does your project consider individual student digital identity, safety and choice while encouraging individual cultures and perspectives?
    • Tech of the week
  • How does a safe learning space influence student learning?
    • Kral and Schwab note in Design Principles in Indigenous Learning Spaces that a library, or similar community center, offer indigenous folks a safe place to go for all ages. It offers a place for kids to go and play games and on computers, a place for students and adults to read and research, and place for child minders and mothers to bring kids to learn and play. Libraries also offer a weather-controlled atmosphere where there are set rules that everyone follows to keep the place clean and safe (2012). Furthermore, libraries and community centers offer technology that some indigenous communities may not have access to at home.
    • Online tech has made access to some technologies more readily available to indigenous communities where there use to be gatekeepers in the past, creating a level of empowerment. For example, movie editing equipment being used by indigenous youth to tell stories and music recording and editing tech to create music and express themselves through it
    • These resources offer indigenous people an opportunity to try things out that they could not in the past and “muck around” as Kral and Schwab refer to it (2012), effectively working through the design process to create something through trial and error and learning from their mistakes as they go.
    • Some indigenous community centers, as outlined by Kral and Schwab, have taken to allowing the users to make the rules. This has given them a greater ownership of the building and its contents and made it their space rather than a space they can be in (2012).
    • Having personalized digital methods of communications allows students a safe way to communicate with friends and peers in a new way using text, image, and video (Kral and Schwab, 2012). This allows for a quick way to share information with others in a personalized manner that is fun and engaging. Furthermore, the combination of text, image, and video offers a way for indigenous youth to share their culture and fight prejudices by making their own or riffing on materials/messages.
    • Indigenous youth are offered a place to work between old cultural knowledge and marrying it with current technologies to expand culture and address it in a new contemporary lens (Kral and Schwab, 2012). This affords them the opportunity to tell their story rather than have it told by others.
  • How can educators ensure student privacy and safety is considered in digital environments?
    • Privacy and limiting the acquirement of student data and information is extremely important in public education. It can potentially lead to many concerning ends, such as opening a student to racism, bigotry, and other forms of discrimination. Furthermore, it can potentially rob a student of their autonomy if the gathered information is used to guide an individual’s education as asserted by Regan and Jesse in Ethical challenges of edtech, big data and personalized learning: Twenty-first century student sorting and tracking (2019).
    • Use district approved edtech
    • Parents and students need to know what information is being taken by websites and programs.
    • Follow Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FOIPPA) Guidelines. FOIPPA governs how public bodies, such as schools, collect and use personal information and holds them accountable. This means that as educators we need to know where our students’ information is being stored and make sure it is not in danger of being collected by other, potentially harmful, entities (FOIPPA, 2020).
    • Projects can be shared in class, instead of online, in order to allow all students to participate with the community of the project, giving feedback and receiving critiques. Also, a teacher could provide students with multiple options for both public (Twitter) and private (closed Facebook group or FreshGrade) online interactions which will afford students the opportunity to become more comfortable with online interactions and allow them to practice online networking/interactions before sharing with a wider open audience (Couros and Hildebrandt, 2016).
  • How does your project consider individual student digital identity, safety and choice while encouraging individual cultures and perspectives?
    • Students are given the chance to record themselves as they see fit to document their progress in their project. This offers them an autonomy to talk about whatever they would like to and present it in a way that is relevant and personal to them.
    • Students will be provided with websites, apps / software, and other digital tools that have been cleared that meet FOIPPA standards and have been “okayed” with by parents and administration. Alternative methods would be provided for students who wish for them.
    • Lessons will be given discussing students’ online footprint and how a young student should share and behave online. Personal information should be shared with heavy limits and any online interactions with strangers should be kept to a minimum.
  • Tech of the Week:
    • Eraser
      • Security & Privacy Software
      • Completely removes sensitive data from your computer
      • Mainly Windows applicable
    • Outro
      • Music: Canada by Picture of the Floating World

References & Readings:

Couros, A., & Hildebrandt, K. (2016). Designing for open and social learning. In G. Veletsianos (Ed.), Emergence and innovation in digital learning: Foundations and applications. Edmonton, Canada: AU Press. Retrieved from: http://www.aupress.ca/index.php/books/120258

Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. (1996). Retrieved March 21, 2020, from http://www.bclaws.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/96165_00

Kral, I. & Schwab, R.G. (2012). Chapter 4: Design Principles for Indigenous Learning Spaces. Safe Learning Spaces. Youth, Literacy and New Media in Remote Indigenous Australia. ANU Press.http://doi.org/10.22459/LS.08.2012  Retrieved from: https://press.anu.edu.au/publications/learning-spaces%EF%BB%BF

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 Retrieved from: https://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/10094/8152

Audio:

Musical Intro/outro is Canada by Picture of the Floating World found at freemusicarchive.org

Creativity and Innovation

  • Introduction:
    • Name and a little about me
    • Course: EDCI 572 with Dr. Verena Roberts D
      • Development and Implementation of the Curriculum in Digital Learning Contexts
    • Overview: Creativity and Innovation
  • Outline:
    • What kinds of digital tools encourage creativity and innovation?
    • How could makerspaces support creativity and innovation in your learning context and/or project?
    • Tech of the week
  • What kinds of digital tools encourage creativity and innovation?
    • Scratch and other programming tools – Allow students to create/design anything from their own video games to bringing robots to life, to almost anything else they can imagine.
    • Arduino – Can be used to make a near infinite variety of electronic devices, only limited by a person’s imagination (and sometimes pocketbook).
    • Video and audio recording tools can be used to record work and be utilized for digital journaling / documenting / reflection to encourage improvements and new iterations to a project.
    • Autodesk modelling tools can be used to create objects and even connect multiple objects and see if they will work together before you use materials to build them. Can be a great tool for creating project plans and testing out ideas.
  • How could makerspaces support creativity and innovation in your learning context and/or project?
    • The beauty of a well-stocked and supported makerspace is that once students understand what they are for and what they can do they have free reign to build, create, iterate, start over, & share projects they make.
    • I have seen some Makerspaces that rely on gimmicky software that should be avoided.
    • A Makerspace should be, much like Resnick describes, as a kindergarten class for older students (2007). It should be a place to explore and make mistakes and create.
    • As a shop teacher, which is kind of where makerspaces go in the high school setting, I try to have my students be creative as much as possible but find I get a lot of push back from students who just want to be given a project or feel they aren’t creative.
  • Tech of the Week:
    • AutoDesk
      • Offer tons of programs free for educational use
      • Modelling, CAD, & 3D Design software for many levels
    • Outro
      • Music by Canada by Picture of the Floating World

References & Readings:

Resnick, M. (2007). All I really need to know (about creative thinking) I learned (by studying how children learn) in kindergarten. In Proceedings of the 6th ACM SIGCHI conference on Creativity & Cognition (pp. 1–6). New York, NY, USA: ACM. http://dor.org/10.1145/1254960.1254961

Audio:

Musical Intro/outro is Canada by Picture of the Floating World found at freemusicarchive.org