Author: mayaparkins (Page 1 of 2)

This term we have learnt about many different ways to incorporate technology into the classroom. In the picture below, I have used sketchnote to create a map of the topics and ideas that I believe are the most important and interesting.

The key takeaways I have sketchnoted

• Generative AI as a tool to support learning and an idea generator
• Screencasting and H5P to create accessible content
• 3D printing as a cross-curricular resource to teach your students in a creative way.
• Collaboration between teachers and students to create an inclusive classroom.
• Self check-ins and self-regulation to help students recognize their emotions and their needs to feel regulated.
• Cellphones in the classroom: the pros and the cons.
• The usefulness of coding and gaming to helo students develop computational thinking.
• The differences between Sketchnoting and High tech medias and when to best use them.
• Assistive technology and the importance to ensure it is integrated in the classroom to hlep students reach their full potential.
• SAMR: Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, and Redefine

Cell Phones in Schools

The use of cell phones and other personal devices in schools has been a largely discussed topic all over Canada. There are many pros and cons in the argument of if phones should be allowed in classrooms. The video below was a group project some classmates and I created about phones in schools. It explains the policies and the pros and cons, among other things, in regards to phones and other personal communication devices in school.

In the future, I would like to teach grade 4; therefore, I am going to assume that some of my students will have phones or some sort of personal communication device. Their digital literacy will be advanced enough that they would be able to navigate using phones and tablets in the classroom for educational purposes, with support and aid from myself.

I believe that the use of phones and tablets in my classroom for this age group would be useful to help the students to gain more independence in the learning. From researching different topics, conducting assignments and using sites to reflect their learning in different ways, it would help enrich my classroom and provide a UDL approach to the learning. However, if my classroom did not have access to tablets, it would be much more difficult to use technology in my classroom. Because they are still young, there is a high possibility that some of them do not have phone or are not allowed to bring them to school. Therefore, I would have to check to see who has access to phones before creating a lesson which requires them.

A great academic app that we tried out in class called Arduino Science Journal. This is a great way to help kids understand difficult scientific content such as acceleration. Below is the acceleration experiment I conducted using the app on my phone. It was really interesting to see how different movement was represented on a graph. I would definitely use this app with my class in the future. It was easy to navigate and fun to use!

In today’s Technology and Innovation class we had a guest speaker, Brittany Johnson, discussed how she manages her kindergarten classroom and create a collaborative learning environment to help her students thrive. This presentation was one that I found really resonated with me. Her focus on not only the collaboration with her student is something that I would love to bring into my classroom in the future.

To start her students day, she has the children place their hands on a ‘How are you feeling’ chart as they walk through the door to help her understand her students emotions starting the day. This is an amazing way to not only help Brittany navigate the day while being mindful of how her students are feeling that day, but also it is a great way for students to begin to recognize their own emotions. I believe that emotional literacy is a skill that should be taught at a young age, and this approach is a great way for students to begin their own inquiry into gaining emotional literacy.

Collaboration in building a classroom is another great way Brittany displays classroom management by ensuring that her students feel a sense of ownership in their learning environment. At the beginning of the school year, Brittany’s classroom is an empty canvas to be designed in tandem with her students. They work together to create the Alphabet and other academic displays. By having her students help her create the classroom displays, she is creating an environment where the students can take pride in their classroom and the learning taking place. This is a lovely way to manage the classroom becuase the students will want to respect the space they have created and will be more passionate about their learning. It would be amazing to see if there are other teachers who also create their classroom in a collaborative way and if they see a change in student engagement compared to when the teacher creates all the displays.

Problem solving is one of the most vital skills a student can learn in school. Without learning how to solve problems that arise in their lives and adapt, students will struggle to cope with the constant changes and road blocks life throws at them.

This is why learning computation thinking is so important. Being able to take a problem that can seem very large and unsolvable and breaking it down into manageable parts can help reduce the overwhelming feeling that comes with problems. Also, by breaking down the problem, you can start to discover patterns or similar problems that you have faced in the past. The decomposition of a problem also helps you recognize what is important to focus on and what needs to be fixed. This is a skill that can be used in an academic setting and in with real world problems.

Coding in a great way to help students understand computational thinking in a fun and creative way. Using a website called Code, teachers can have their students great a game by following easy steps. However, if there is a problem with the code or a student forgets a portion of it, then the students will need to problem solve to figure out what went wrong.

Another great way integrating coding and computational thinking into the classroom is by having your students create a step by step plan on how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in their Science class and have the teacher follow the exact steps to show the importance of including every detail. However, I wonder how a teacher may do this while being mindful of the limited class time. Learning this is a great lesson for the start of a Science class to show how if the instruction for a task or experiment is not detailed enough, it could go in a very different direction.

SAMR Theory of Technology Adoption

When looking to bring new technologies into the classroom, it is important to think about if the technology will enhance your students learning. By using the SAMR theory, which stands for Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, and Redefinition, you can better evaluate if a new technology is the right fit for your classroom. If the technology that you are planning to bring to the classroom is replacing another media without any task redesign, it may not be the most useful. Ideally, when bringing new tech into the class, the media should allow for the students to expand and express their learning in new creative ways. However, this does not mean that replacing a pen and paper with a computer to write an essay is not beneficial. It is a useful tool to help students who struggle with hand written work. It just means that when introducing new tech, it is important for it to open opportunities for students to expand and create beyond what they first believed was achievable. I wonder perhaps, if using this model, some teachers out there may find some technologies in their classroom are not as supportive to enhancing their students learning as they thought.

Low Tech VS High Tech

There are many different way to have student complete similar educational tasks and it is important to choose the right medium for your classroom. Today, we looked at Sketchnote, a low tech media, and Canva, a high tech media. We discussed the uses and what grades they would work best. I think that they are both great and useful in different ways. I feel that Sketchnoting is informal in comparison to Canva which is a formal and creative way to express information. You could use Sketchnoting in a younger grade level because it does not require your students to have a laptop, and Canva could be a difficult media to teach to younger students. For older grade levels, you could have them use Sketchnoting to plan out an infographic and then create the final copy using Canva. Therefore, I feel that Sketchnoting could be used in any grade level I end up teaching while Canva would be best be used in an older classroom where they have access to computers and their digital literacy is greater.

Here is an example of an infographic created on Canva and Sketchnoting: