Category: Weekly Reflections Page 1 of 2

Welcome to the weekly blog of this week! Before we begin, please assess yourself on this mood scale…how do you feel today?

This week, I had the pleasure of listening in on a guest lecture from Joanna Lake, an educator in Victoria, BC. Her presentation focused on creating meaningful connections with students and incorporating their ideas into lesson planning/assessment. Students like to have responsibility, especially within a classroom. So, teachers can utilize this in the classroom by collaborating with the students. Joanna explained that she creates rubrics with her students to use for assessment which motivates the students to be actively engaged and work hard. She discussed some important factors to consider when co-creating rubrics which are:

• Set the learning intention
• Brainstorm criteria as a whole class, then small groups, lots of voting, expressing opinions, etc.
• Model what YOU believe to be an emerging/developing exemplar and proficient exemplar
• With the class, create your final rubric
• Students use for self-assessment, peer review, and teacher assessment

This presentation was really valuable as it really emphasized building community and collaboration within the classroom. I was provided with helpful insight on suggestions to accomplish this feeling of community in the class.

Another important takeaway from this week was the usage of FreshGrade app and Arduino Science Journal. FreshGrade is a super beneficial tool to use in the classroom as it is a digital portfolio. It is easy to use to provide updates of students progress to parents/guardians, course materials to students, and helpful tools for teachers. It allows parents/guardians to observe what the students are completing in class and areas that could use improvement. This app is very user friendly, but accessibility/equity must always be considered prior to implementing technology in the classroom. The teacher must obtain consent from parents/guardians, understand the security/privacy/terms and conditions of the app, and ensure that all students will have access to the technology. These are important considerations for the Arduino Science Journal as well. This app requires a smartphone and allows “a pocket-sized science lab that encourages students to explore how the world works, record data, document observations, and experiment like a real scientist” (Arduino Science Journal). This app is really interesting as it is hands-on and user friendly for young learners. The benefits are countless as students can use this technology to enhance their learning of specific science concepts, but of course accessibility and privacy must be considered. Please watch this video of the Arduino Science Journal:

As a future educator, I will definitely incorporate the helpful suggestions from Joanna Lake’s presentation and use FreshGrade and Arduino Science Journal in the classroom. I found this week to be super beneficial for my future teaching practice!

Until next time.

Multi-Access Learning / Flipped Learning / Blended are all different ways for students to learn. There are differences between the three, which I will explain below…

Multi-Access Learning

Multi-access learning allows students to synchronously participate in class either in person or online. This explains the term “multi-access” as students have multiple ways to access the course. With this type of learning, students are all able to participate no matter where they are. I find that multi-access learning provides students with flexibility and freedom. Many students want to enroll in courses, however they do not due to the requirement to be face-to-face. Many face-to-face courses have a strict attendance policy which is difficult for many students due to external factors in their personal life. Therefore, multi-access learning creates the opportunity for students to attend class in which ever method they prefer.

The University of Victoria offers multi-access teaching and learning. This can be read more about here, Multi-Access Teaching and Learning | Teach Anywhere (uvic.ca).

Flipped Learning

Flipped learning is a new concept to me, which I find very interesting. With flipped learning, students will teach themselves the course content through videos and resources prior to coming to class. Then, when students are in class, they will practice and implement what they learned. After class, they ensure that they understood what they learned both in and out of the classroom with more independent practice. I find that this is a major shift from traditional education, where the teacher provides direct instructions to the students. Flipped learning gives students more independence in their learning as they are responsible to learn the content prior to coming to class.

The following website explains flipped learning along with the advantages and key components to consider prior to implementing it in your classroom, Flipped Learning | Learning and Teaching Services (LTS) (algonquincollege.com).

Blended Learning

Blended learning is the only one of these three learning concepts that I have experience with as a student. Blended learning combines face-to-face and online learning. This means that students will receive instruction in the classroom and then have the opportunity to complete work and learn online. This combination allows students to learn in a way that is unique to them as they have the course material accessible to them online. In addition to this, students will be able to seek individualized help from the teacher while face-to-face or online. I find that blended learning is beneficial for students who are self-motivated as lots of the coursework is to be completed individually online (depending on the instructor). With this being said, many students are successful with blended learning as students can learn in a variety of ways.

Now that we understand the differences between these different types of learning, I will share a project that I created in my HyFlex course. This HyFlex learning allows me to complete the coursework in a way that is most beneficial to me as a learner, which I really enjoy. Please see below the 3D Design project that I created (a key chain of my name).

I hope you enjoyed learning about the different types of learning as much as I did!

Kyra

Welcome to…assistive technology and equity!

How much did you know about digital accessibility prior to this week? Was this ever a topic you considered previously?

Prior to this week, I did not know much about digital accessibility. The extent of my knowledge about digital accessibility was the usage of subtitles and screen reading devices. This is a highly important topic in education as digital resources need to be accessible to all. As our course readings this week explained, the importance of digital accessibility comes down to the facts that it’s “the law, it’s the right thing to do, and it’s a better experience for all” (McCue). I find this statement to be correct as everyone has a right to access any resource that they desire. As a future educator, I will educate myself on how to ensure that the resources that I provide to be digitally accessible for everyone to use. This blog post is already helping me learn more about the implementation of digital accessibility!

One resource that I found helpful to ensure digital accessibility with this blog post was this website, How to write better alt-text descriptions for accessibility – The Big Hack. This website provided insight on how to create beneficial alt-text descriptions. In sum, a good alt-text description is specific, brief, and less than 125 characters. I followed this guidance in the alt-text description that I created for the image earlier in this blog post.

Are there any digital accessibility practices that surprised you? Why?

Yes, I was surprised that colour is a digital accessibility practice. I did not expect this as I thought that the only digital accessibility practices were text, images, video, and audio. However, upon reflection, it does make sense that colour is a digital accessibility practice as everyone sees colour differently (which is so interesting!) I now know that digital accessibility practices include…

• Text: allows screen-reader, but requires proper headings
• Images: must be high-quality and have alt-text for screen-readers
• Video and audio: must have captions and/or transcript
• Colour: must pass colour contrast checker

The website, WebAIM: Contrast Checker, provides a contrast checker. A contrast check is a way that you can check to ensure that your chosen colours are digitally accessible. If the color does not pass the contrast checker, then I would suggest using a different colour to ensure digital accessibility.

Why do you think many digital accessibility practices aren’t more well-known or commonly used?

I think that many digital accessibility practices aren’t more well-known or commonly used because people are unknowledgeable about how to implement them. I find that if people were more educated on how to use digital accessibility practice that they would be more commonly used. This was my situation, I was just unaware of the practices and how to properly use them. In reality, it is simple to use digital accessibility practices (once you know what they are and how to use them). In my opinion, workshops for digital accessibility practices should be mandatory for university students and at workplaces that use technology. Having digital accessibility practice workshops would provide people with hands-on experience creating resources and websites that follow digital accessibility practices.

H5P video of a virtual science demonstration

This virtual science demonstration video was an opportunity for me to utilize digital accessibility practices by creating captions for a video.

Until next time!

Kyra

Professional development is super important in the teaching profession. It allows opportunities to educators to learn from and with others. This week, we focused on an EdCamp which can be described as “a user-generated conference”. Prior to this course, I have never heard of an EdCamp before! If you are in the same boat as me, please follow this link to learn more about what an EdCamp is What Is Edcamp? An Overview For Teachers (teachthought.com). After I read the information on this helpful website, I learned that an EdCamp is a collaborative and hands-on opportunity for teachers to learn from eachother. In addition to this, there is a distinct contrast between an EdCamp which is more participant focused/active and traditional professional development which is more information focused/passive. Even though an EdCamp is a form of professional development, it is a different learning experience due to the requirement for participants to be actively engaged in choosing the topics of discussion.

Screen time in the classroom was the topic of discussion for the EdCamp. This is a highly important topic as technology is becoming ever present in the classroom and at home. Students are exposed to large amounts of screen time. Many classrooms have iPads, Chromebooks, SmartBoards, and other technological resources that students have access to. In addition to this, when students return home, they most likely have access to television, iPad, computer, cellphone, or a gaming system. This demonstrates that students have access to technology in all aspects of their lives. Therefore, I find that it is important to minimize screen time in the classroom. High quality teacher can be accomplished without the usage of students using technology.

With this being said, students must understand how to use technology and the internet responsibly. As a teacher, I play an important role in helping students understand their digital footprint. As I previously discussed in another blog post, what you post on the internet will stay there forever. Therefore, teachers must limit screen time in the classroom while also teaching appropriate digital citizenship information. This website provides great tips for teachers and parents on how to help students understand the importance of creating a positive digital footprint and the importance of reducing screen time, Screen time and children: How to guide your child – Mayo Clinic.

I found this TED talk that discusses the positive and negative effects of screen time. This video highlights how screen time impacts brain development in fascinating ways. In addition to this, it explains that screen time is not a “one size fits all” topic as the appropriate amount of screen time is dependent on the student.

My goal for this post is for you to understand that screen time is currently high for lots of students, so teachers should be aware of the amount of screen time that they are implementing in the classroom. There are many activities and lessons that can be accomplished without the usage of screens.

Goodbye!

Kyra

This week is all about tools and technologies in education! Woohoo! This information is highly beneficial as a future educator as one must be knowledgeable about the technologies that they implement in the classroom. The tools and technologies that I will discuss are the SAMR theory of technology adoption, the SECTIONS model, sketchnotes, and infographics.

How can the SAMR theory of technology adoption help you evaluate technologies that you might consider using in your classroom?

The SAMR theory of technology adoption is important to know, especially in virtual learning environments. This theory signifies Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, Redefinition (SAMR). These different steps in the theory will either enhance or transform student understanding when implemented. The substitution step is simple as it is only the switch from in-person resources and instruction to virtual. The second step is augmentation, this involves utilizing extra digital resources (such as a blog, videos, images, etc…) to promote student understanding. Then modification allows a rethinking of virtual classroom structure as the teacher will incorporate different technologies to assist students. Lastly is redefinition which allows a complete redesign of a classroom as technology allows new lessons and activities possible. This website provides a helpful description of the SAMR theory of technology, SAMR: A Powerful Model for Understanding Good Tech Integration | Edutopia.

The SAMR theory of technology adoption will help me evaluate technologies that I will use in the classroom as the different steps increase student understanding. It is important to utilize numerous different resources as not all students will have access to the same technologies. Therefore, there is an importance on equity in the virtual classroom. I find that the SAMR theory of technology adoption must consider equity in the virtual classroom. Prior to utilizing strictly technological resources, I must understand the needs of my students and the positives/negatives of different technologies and websites. As a future educator, I will ensure that all students have the correct resources available to them to promote their learning.

How could the SECTIONS model help you select the most appropriate tool or technology to help meet your learning objectives for your class?

The SECTIONS model signifies: Students, Ease of use, Costs, Teaching functions, Interaction, Organizational issues, Networking, Security and privacy. This model will help me select the most appropriate tool or technology to meet my learning objectives for my class as these sections must all be evaluated prior to implementing technologies into the classroom. As a teacher, you must understand the learning needs and objectives of your students. From here, you must evaluate the rest of the SECTIONS model to ensure that a certain technology will enhance their learning and not diminish it. The chosen tool or technology must be easy to use, accessible, and follow proper privacy and security. Technology is an extremely useful tool to use in the classroom to help students meet their learning goals, but the teacher must evaluate this model prior to implementation.

This website provides additional information about the SECTIONS model and assessing technologies in the classroom, SECTIONS Model – Assessing Technologies in the Classroom | Scarfe Digital Sandbox (ubc.ca).

Could sketchnoting benefit learners in the grade level you hope to teach at? If so how?

Sketchnoting is a highly beneficial learning tool that can be used for learners of any age. This is due to the usage of both images and words, which allows the brain to process the information in multiple ways. Young primary students can utilize sketchnoting through drawing without words. These drawings will be meaningful to the students as they are the ones creating the images to enhance their learning. Older students will be able to incorporate words with their drawings to create sketchnotes as well. Through sketchnoting students at any age can enhance their learning of new knowledge as this is a learning tool unique to the learner. 

Infographics are similar to sketchnoting as they both incorporate words and images to process information. Infographics relay information in a visual manner that is easy to comprehend by simply looking at the images. This is an example of an infographic with all the important information that you need to understand their usage.

Below are some tips that older students can use for sketchnoting. It is a process that is unique to the creator as the words and images will be meaningful to them. As for younger students, teachers can give students a prompt on something to draw (without words) to reinforce their learning.

Now…here is a sample sketchnote that I created! My chosen topic was my morning routine. I followed the outlined steps above which gave me this wonderful result.

Since you are now knowledgeable about different tools and technologies that can be used in the classroom, which will you incorporate into your teaching practice?

Bye for now!

Kyra

Another week…another blog! The focus this week is about digital citizenship. Digital citizenship is very important for everyone that uses the internet. Many people forget that the things that they post on the internet will stay there forever. So, my goal for this blog post is to bring awareness to your online identity and presence.

What was the most interesting thing you found when you googled yourself?

I’m sure that when you first meet someone, you google them. You’re curious about who they are, their accomplishments, what they look like, the possibilities are endless. So, why would someone not google you? It is an interesting experience googling yourself, you can learn so much.

I do not have a large digital footprint. When I simply google “Kyra Tyson” only one result of myself appears. I have made a TikTok video about a month spent in Thailand. This video encapsulates my wonderful experience in this beautiful country. I am happy to share it with others…please see below!

@kyrtyson

Thailand in a month #fyp #fy #thailand #summer #foryou #summervibes #asia #travel #backpacking

♬ Swing Lynn – Harmless

As an effort to try to find more results, I searched “Kyra Tyson Victoria BC” which brought up my private Facebook profile and academic and athletic scholarships from my secondary school education. Throughout my education, I have put in tremendous effort. So, I am proud to have these results appear in a google search of myself.

Being a future educator, I find that it is very beneficial to my career that I have been mindful about my digital footprint and the possibility of others googling me

Will you change your use of social media after the talk and Q&A with Jesse Miller?

Social media has become a huge aspect of people’s lives. It has both a positive and negative power in society with lots of impacts. I believe that it is important for everyone to know safe and mindful internet usage, especially as an educator.

As Jesse Miller discussed, the upper elementary students will search you up on the internet to find your social media. Therefore, it is very important to be aware of your internet presence. As a future educator, I will ensure that my social media platforms are private so that my students will not be able to access these profiles. Students should not be connected with their teacher on social media platforms. I find that this in inappropriate and unnecessary as it is private information that students do not need access to.

I currently have a positive digital identity. The talk and Q&A with Jesse Miller were helpful reminders on being mindful on the internet. My digital identity will not be available to my students as this is not information that they are granted. I am aware of my digital identity and my profiles uphold my values, which is essential as a future educator.

How can we help our learners manage their digital footprints?

As Jesse Miller suggested, we need to prepare kids for a connected world. The government of British Columbia is taking digital footprints seriously as they provide helpful resources to teachers, parents/guardians, and youth. This website discusses numerous components of online safety, Online safety – Province of British Columbia (gov.bc.ca). I find this website to be highly beneficial in helping teach learners how to manage their digital footprints.

In Jesse Miller’s talk and Q&A on Zoom, I found this quote to be very powerful…

“Part of the guidance role in the 21^st Century isn’t preparing kids for a reality of the past. It is to help children make sense of their on-demand media and online experiences. Teaching and guiding how to uphold enduring values and empowering their communications expectations in the reality they live in, not the one we grew up in…”

We can help our learners manage their digital footprints by demonstrating a positive digital citizenship and the values that relate to this. Maintaining a positive digital citizenship involves “thinking before posting” as once it is posted, it stays on the internet forever. Many learners do not comprehend this and that the things they post may have negative consequences in the future. Therefore, an educator must teach students all these important aspects to properly manage their digital footprints. This website provides information on how to help students manage their presence on the internet, 12 Tips For Students To Manage Their Digital Footprints (teachthought.com). The video below is a very helpful resource to help learners manage their digital footprint as it incorporates various community members.

My goal with this blog post is to inform educators on the importance of being mindful on the internet. What you post will stay on the internet forever…including this blog!

Take care,

Kyra