Weekly Reflection #8 – Wrapping Things Up
Wow! I can’t believe we are here already. Almost 8 reflections done, with only 3 quick weeks left of school. Time sure flies when you’re having fun (and are in 6 classes!). Over the course of my time in EDCI 336, I am impressed with the immense amount of topics we covered, and feel more confident in utilizing various technologies in the classroom. Here’s some key takeaways:
Re-learning to Learn
When I reflect back on my introduction video handed in just before the course started, I remember touching on my worries towards by ability of completing a course online. As someone who completed my last year few years of high school online during COVID, I remember the trap of unproductivity that online learning can lead one down, and I have abused online learning in the past for this reason. This, along with my ADHD, led me to feel worried about my ability to stay focused in class and up to date on my assignments. However, and because I knew this could be a potential problem for myself, I held myself accountable by setting boundaries and good habits. Every morning before class, I would start my day with a 45 minute walk without my phone. This led me to feel grounded and accomplished before my day even started. Then, I would ensure (most of the time, with a few exceptions) to be out of bed and sitting at my desk to mimic an academic setting. I feel like my behaviours have helped lead to my success in this course, and this experience has helped me see how much I have grown in my academic journey, too.
On this note, too, I feel I learned to push back on certain topics and challenged view points. As a student learning to be an educator, it is important to exercise critical thinking skills and interpret what is being taught through an individualistic lens to formulate an opinion for yourself, rather than blatantly agreeing with everything being said. This is something that I will likely experience in my career, and it is important now to learn to be uncomfortable yet confident in challenging topics in respectful, evidence backed ways. One of my posts that exemplifies this is in my Weekly Reflection 2, where I discuss AI, and some of my opinions around it. Here is a quote from it that I am particularly proud of:
“My takeaways from our discussion today is that AI education needs to be more comprehensive than what we are proposing to incorporate into digital literacy practices. It is simply more than a concern of plagiarism and ethics, and far more complex than maybe some of us are willing to admit. Students will use AI. We know that. But is is vital that we provide them with all of the facts and figures so that they can make an educated and informed choice on their use of AI.”
Implementation of Course Concepts into My Teaching Practice
Overall, I am really pleased with what I have learned in this course. I was not sure what to expect, and while I should note that I feel this course just skims the surface of technology in the classroom, I feel I leave this course with more knowledge than I came in with (which is always good!), as well as many tools and resources that I can implement into my future teaching practice. That being said, I do think it would be valuable to teach us how to use certain technology, developing skills in Microsoft applications, or learning how to use Brightspace or Google Classroom as an educator, etc. I am aware that all of us come from a variety of experience with technology, so providing what I listed above as a foundation before introducing much of what we learned could ensure we have the appropriate skills to effectively implement the tools and resources into our practice!
That being said, here are some of the most useful concepts I learned:
Exploring Privacy Laws (Week 1): this was an important lesson, and I am pleased we began with it as it really helped me consider privacy laws and keeping children safe online throughout the rest of the course topics, too. I found that the Focused Education Resource videos on privacy approachable, as the FIPPA document was overwhelming and difficult to understand. I can see myself rewatching these videos for a refresh on privacy laws as I navigate through my career.
PSII and Inquiry Based Education (Week 4): to be quite frank, this was probably my favourite week of the course. It was so inspiring to see what education and school can be, and it really opened my eyes to another possibility for the direction of my career.
“PSII undoubtedly challenges our public school system, and really demonstrates what learning should be. Meaningful, connected, and valuable to the learner. I am inspired, and as a pre-service teacher I feel an entire perspective-shift towards education, and perhaps my future career.”
Gamification of Learning (Week 9): what a fun week! This week, we discussed gamified learning, and how learners can develop problem solving skills through online games and programs. I was reminded of many gamified learning tools I used as a student, such as Scratch and Duolingo, but also surprised at all the new ways learning can be gamified! My favourite tool, introduced by SD71 educator Kara Dawson, is Minecraft Education. Back in my day, teachers would shake their heads at student Minecraft use, and more often than not ban the use of it entirely. I think it is wonderful that students interests can be utilized as an approachable, fun, and familiar platform that “encourages creativity, problem solving, and collaboration.”
Free Inquiry
To be honest, I was a bit worried about the free inquiry portion of this course. While it is wonderful that we are able to explore something we are passionate or interested in, having lack of direction can be challenging, and can sometimes lead to nowhere. Thus, I am pleased that we were encouraged to connect our free inquiry project with our teaching practice, as it led me down an unexpected path that I am eager to continue to explore.
For my inquiry project, I decided (and was lightly encouraged) to explore fashion. I love fashion, and find it a great way to express myself. Many of my peers know this about me, and when we learned that we could choose any topic for our free inquiry, many urged me to create some sort of fashion blog. At first, I thought it would be fun to take a simple approach, perhaps documenting outfits I wore throughout the week, styling, etc. Instead, my learning was much more robust, and led me to powerful experiences.
One of my favourite experiences was seeing, and meeting, David Suzuki. I was inspired by his words, and continue to embrace much of what he said into my daily life. It was interesting to experience this more general presentation on climate action and apply it in a more narrow way to my inquiry project.
“I left this event feeling many mixed emotions: happiness, disappointment, anger. But, and perhaps most importantly, I felt inspired. I left with feelings of hope. David spoke a lot about action, and as he says, ‘Action says you hope something different is possible.’ Without action, there is no change. Without action, change is not possible.”
I am also really proud of my 5th post, where I discuss what I have learned and apply it to my teaching practice directly. My free inquiry really made me consider creativity, self-expression, and individuality, and this blog post reflects this exploration and applies it to the classroom. It is important to teach these concepts to students, and as I say in this post, “As children grow up, they continue to navigate these complexities while exploring their identity, and that can feel challenging. So, when it comes down to it, as teachers all we can really do is be there, provide a safe space, honour strengths, and encourage diversity.”
Conclusion
As I wrap up this post, I am blown away by the immense amount of knowledge I leave this course with. So much learning occurred in relatively little time, and I was led down many paths as I explored the world of educational technology. That’s inspiring! I am excited to continue to implement what I have learned in this class in my teaching practice and life, and to continue to build upon the skills I have learned!