My course module is strictly an online one. As a result, content delivery will be done by giving students pre-recorded videos of basic concepts before the class. Students will be assigned a self-paced quiz based on the pre-recorded lesson. This will then be followed by live online sessions for discussions and questions and answers, as well as the presentation of slides and notes to students for personal reading or revision. Within the course, I plan to use various interactive formative assessments that include statement questions, single-choice, multiple-choice, and fill-in-the-gap methods of assessment. Students will also label body planes in interactive diagrams.

During the live online sessions, I plan to ask real-time questions using polls via Zoom at the beginning of the lesson to check for students’ understanding. As the online session proceeds, students will be assigned to break-out rooms for further discussion with peers on specific activities. Towards the end of the lesson, students will be given reflection questions in the discussion board.

Students will also engage in open-ended questions that require class members to give their views on answers given in the class. At the end of the lesson, additional interactive activities, assignments, and quizzes will be given to students.

Watching the documentary on the story of Amanda Todd made me reflect on a lot of things. I remembered a discussion we had in one of the classes I took in the fall, when somebody had indicated that back in those days, we had children who sometimes engaged in awkward and awful things, and they were able to get away with it. But in the era of technology, it appears that whatever you do and post online always has a way of coming back to you if you are not careful.

I think this is my second time hearing the word Sextortion which the dictionary describes as the practice of extorting money or sexual favors from someone by threatening to reveal evidence of their sexual activity. However, from the definition, I realized that this is not something new or something I am oblivious to. Watching the documentaries  Sextortion of Amanda Todd and Stalking Amanda Todd: The Man in the Shadows shows that this absurd practice of sextortion is becoming more rampant due to social media and online platforms that provide a conducive environment for perpetrators to exploit their potential victims. This is a global online crime that can have tragic consequences, including suicide, long-term trauma, cutting, social isolation, and depression. The anonymity and accessibility of online platforms, including social media and some dating apps, make it easier for perpetrators of this heinous act to initiate schemes often targeted at vulnerable individuals, including teenagers, youth, and members of sexual minority groups who can be easily coerced or exploited.

The ongoing report around the use of online platforms and social media for these heinous acts is alarming. For example, the National Crime Agency (NCA) UK reported a higher percentage increase in sextortion reports between 2017 and 2020. In addition, the organization indicated that cases reported to the “US National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) were more than doubled in 2023, rising to 26,718 compared to 10,731 the year before”. The statistical profile of online child sexual exploitation incidents reported in Canada shows a devastating increase in issues related to child pornography. The Internet Watch Foundation also notes that images of child sexual abuse created through sextortion are a significant and growing problem.

Reflecting on all these alarming reports around the dangers of social media and online platforms, especially with regards to sextortion, I feel many of the victims might not be equipped to recognize and respond to concerns around the use of online platforms for some personal and private information due to a lack of awareness and support. One possible way to address this issue among teenagers and vulnerable victims will be to create more awareness and teach various elements of the digital citizenship framework. According to Mike Ribble Digital citizenship is not only about teaching the use of digital tools but also equipping students with knowledge, skills, and practices for guided and safe participation in online space. The Digital Citizenship Education in Saskatchewan Schools and Digital Citizenship Continuum from K–12 serves as a guide that teachers can use to address the dangers associated with the use of social media in the classroom. So, I think teachers can use these guides to promote responsible online behaviour and awareness among students. By integrating digital citizenship education, schools can equip students with the knowledge and skills necessary to navigate the digital landscape safely.

Digital citizenship image captured from agpartseducation.com

There are various resources and lesson plans from common sense education that teachers can use to create engaging activities that highlight the consequences of sharing personal information online, cyberbullying, deep fakes and fake information, use of AI, etc. Looking at the digital framework continuum, I think teachers can also engage students in discussions around the importance of understanding how to communicate and protect oneself in digital spaces. Teachers can also use case studies that allow students to explore scenarios in real-life situations and how to ethically engage in such circumstances. More importantly, I think teachers need to create a safe and supportive learning environment that can make students open up as they learn and engage in activities related to the negative use of social media. I also think having parents awareness programs on the daunting effect of social media on children could go a long way in how parents can help their children outside school. Regardless of the approach used to teach elements of digital citizenship in the classroom, I think this should be done continuously or probably be part of the curriculum so that its importance is reiterated and students can become acquainted with these safe practices.

I know there are cases where some students might still want to explore some gray areas on the use of technology despite warnings, awareness, and teaching. What would you do as a teacher in this regard?

According to Jenkin’s theory of participation (2006), participatory culture is defined “as a way in which different people or the society act both as consumers and contributors of meaning and further play a major role in shaping content”. Research shows that people traditionally created and produced their own content before the 19th century. However, the evolution of social media around the 19^th century brought about a drastic change in how information is shared and consumed. Looking at the pervasive use of social media platforms in today’s world, participatory culture could refer to a social environment where individuals actively engage in creating, sharing, and collaborating on content, often facilitated by digital platforms. This culture contrasts with traditional media models, promoting democratic participation and collective intelligence.

The use of social media platforms like YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and many others has actually reshaped how knowledge is translated and disseminated in education.  In the book History of Intellectual Culture, the authors explained how participatory culture allows diverse voices to contribute to knowledge, challenging traditional hierarchies in education. The authors further argued that The World Wide Web, in particular, has helped to make knowledge “promiscuous, and Wikipedia grows by leaps while research faculty in traditional humanities disciplines remain ambivalent about technological changes. I remember back in my secondary and university days when we only depended on what the teachers handed over to us in the classroom and recommended textbooks. However, this has changed over time as people can easily turn to YouTube for several videos to enhance whatever they have been taught in the classroom.

I have also realized that most educational content and knowledge shared on social media platforms are sourced from several origins and I see this as a great way of providing a more dynamic understanding of the learning process to individuals. I came across a digital textbook on Teaching and Creating with Generative AI around last year. The book was produced as a result of work submitted by students registered in an EdTech program at the University of Saskatchewan. I think this book exemplifies how the participatory culture in that program gave students the opportunity to collaborate among themselves and come up with ideas that were translated into open educational resources that are useful for people navigating that space of AI strategies and applications that can be used for teaching. I think this participatory culture can help teachers integrate new media tools into the curriculum they teach, and this could possibly help improve teacher’s strategies for teaching certain topics or subjects.

https://robe1481.medium.com/social-media-participatory-culture-4e05752ccbf5

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In the article Participatory Culture and Open Educational Resources, the author explains how social media encourages the sharing of resources, enhancing accessibility and fostering a community of learners who contribute to and benefit from collective knowledge; and can also be used as open educational resources to respond to the youth culture based on openness, on social connections, and on networking. Engaging in participatory culture could also be another way of helping students cultivate foundational skills needed to thrive in a digital environment, more like equipping them with digital citizenship skills.

I have learnt a lot through YouTube, and I think the participatory culture on this platform has to do with the ability of experienced people or experts to provide guidance for novices. This could foster a sense of belonging to novices. So, I can say the impact of collaborative culture through social media on education is profound, as it fosters collaborative learning, which caters for diverse educational experiences and enhances student engagement and knowledge construction.

Our third week’s blog post is about designing a course profile. To have a better understanding of how to fill the necessary sections of the ADDIE template, I had to do further readings, and I came across the Remote/Online Course Design Checklist on the University of Toronto’s website, which creates a simple road map on basic things that need to be considered when designing online learning courses. So, let’s get started with specifics about the course. See the link to my ADDIE: Medical Terminology Course Profile

Welcome to this online course. MEDICAL TERMINOLOGY (MTHS101)

This course is designed for medical students and professionals interested in learning or refreshing their knowledge and application of healthcare languages. This course is also relevant for medical-related professionals who work in non-clinical healthcare careers and students who aspire to work in these fields. These include fields like medical transcriptionists, continuing care assistants, healthcare administrators, and health information managers

For example, there is a growing need for health administrators across the country because they are essential to the efficient running of medical institutions. However, many students enrolled in health administration courses often struggle to understand and use medical terms. Medical terminology is a foundational skill and language required by many healthcare professionals to enable them to communicate clearly and effectively across various settings. Without proper instruction, health administration students may find it difficult to interpret and document medical conditions, patient information, billing and coding procedures, interact with patients, and communicate with other healthcare professionals. This lack of knowledge can cause mistakes in patient care and inefficient administrative processes, as well as make students less credible in their responsibilities.

Course delivery

This is a self-directed online course that will run synchronously for 9 weeks with daily class reviews through Zoom, and course content, assignments, and related materials will be shared using Google Classroom. Videos and live photos of content related to the course will also be shared during the class review.

All assignments and exams are done online through Google documents that will be shared in the course’s Google Classroom site.

Course structure

• Topic 1: Introduction to Medical language and health care today
• Topic 2: Respiratory system
• Topic 3: Cardiovascular system
• Topic 4: Nervous system
• Topic 5:  Integumentary system
• Topic 6: Gastrointestinal system
• Topic 7: Blood and lymphatic system
• Topic 8: Skeletal system
• Topic 9: Urinary system

Course objective and learning outcome

By the end of this course, students will be able to:

• Identify, describe, and pronounce the combining words that form the foundation of medical terms
• Understand the meaning of medical term constructions and its relation to anatomy and physiology
• Identify and describe the major anatomical position, body systems, plane and direction
• Identify the various structures of the human body and describe their functions
• Identify and describe common diseases and how they are diagnosed and treated.
• Explain the critical role of accurate medical terminology in various healthcare professions.

Assessment Overview

Assessment of this course will be done through the following:

• Online Quiz(zes), weighted at 20%
• Assignment Weighted at 30%
• Exam Weighted at 50%

The minimum passing rate for the assessment is 70%

Time allowed for online quiz (zes) is 120 minutes

Quiz(zes) are done during Friday class with webcam’s on.

Here are free resources that can also help in learning this course:

Medical Terminology Quizzes

Interactive medical terminology exercises

Learning Materials

All core readings for this unit are provided for free through the Building a Medical Terminology Foundation—Simple Book Publishing, which will be uploaded on the unit’s Google Classroom site. However, if you would like additional readings, you may wish to purchase:

• Textbook: Medical Language: Immense Yourself, 5^th edition, Susan M. Turley, Pearson Canada
• Pearson Canada: My Medical Terminology Lab. Students can have access to online resources and quizzes to each chapter to enhance learning. Links are available in the contents.

IT Resources

You will need access to the following IT resources:

• University Student Email
• Internet
• Unit Website (Google Classroom)

Attendance

• Regular online attendance in this course is mandatory to ensure optimal learning. Though the medium is different from regular classes, it is still expected for you to be interactive and participative in every online and offline activity.
• Should there be any mitigating situation that could lead to a student’s absence, please notify the instructor accordingly before the class.
• Students are responsible for learning any missed material due to absence(s).
• Students are required to review the course material before coming to class in order to develop a basic understanding of the course content.

This week’s discussion on the cell phone ban policy in schools across some provinces in Canada really got me thinking. The use of mobile technology has become very common among school students, prompting widespread integration into K–12 education. As a result, schools have implemented technology policies that vary from full integration or bring your own device (BYOD) to limited use within specific times and locations and even a complete ban on students’ use of mobile technology, as recently observed in schools across some Canadian provinces.

Image copied from Linkdeln

For instance, the Government of British Columbia enacted a policy banning the use of personal digital devices (cell phones) in schools in August 2024. The policy aims to reduce distractions in classrooms, support focused learning environments, foster online safety, and promote provincial consistency. Similarly, the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan implemented bans on cell phones and personal devices at the beginning of the 2024/25 school year. While some schools allow students to use phones during break periods, others only allow students in senior grades to use their devices either before school, during lunch, or after school. This limited access is often extended to spare periods for high school students.

My first question will be, “Why should phones be trending among students in school? I never had access to a phone when growing up until I entered my 2nd/3rd year at the university. Unfortunately, that is not the case for the current generation of students that we have. While I acknowledge that phones can connect individuals to the world and offer valuable learning opportunities when used appropriately, using a phone in the classroom is a NO..NO…NO.. for me. I remembered a situation where a teacher was teaching and writing notes on the board, and a particular learner was busy recording some content in the classroom without the teacher’s consent. It was his laughter and that of those sitting next to him that alerted the teacher to this misconduct.

I have also seen cases of students watching inappropriate adult content in class while teaching is going on. Gone are those days where students, even children, engaged in physical play with one another. The students of today have become so addicted to technology, even at home, and this is causing a lot of mental stress, isolation, anxiousness, and sometimes a feeling of being left out among their peers. I am sometimes of the view that there are many rude, mean, and disrespectful students in schools today because they have access to the same information and opportunities as their teachers, if not even better, leading them to perceive themselves as equals. This, in my opinion, could be influenced by the social content, such as videos and music, that they consume through personal devices.

Image obtained from giffy.com

I know many schools want to integrate technology in their classrooms but lack the resources. I think schools that are adequately equipped with educational technology could have little justifications in place for students to bring personal devices. On the other hand, schools that lack sufficient educational technology resources need to have clear guidelines, policies, and strategies in place regarding the use of personal technology. Is it truly effective to ban students use of phones in classrooms while permitting it during breaks? Considering that students utilize their phones extensively outside of school, an outright ban in classrooms may not be the most effective approach. In fact, it could inadvertently create more challenges for our education system. Students may not receive adequate guidance on the appropriate and effective use of these devices and their applications. I believe a balanced approach is necessary to address this issue

HyFlex Learning represents an educational model that integrates both hybrid and flexible methodologies. The hybrid component pertains to instruction delivered either in-person or through online platforms, whereas the flexible aspect pertains to the autonomy granted to students in determining their mode of attendance, whether virtually or physically. In other words, HyFlex learning is distinguished by its hybrid and flexible methodology, which empowers students to select between attending in-person or engaging online within the same course. According to the Ideal Consortium, this structure offers learners three distinct avenues for participation in the course:

• in-person attendance
• virtual engagement during synchronous sessions using a web conferencing application, or
• the completion of asynchronous activities.

Each mode of instruction remains consistently accessible, except in situations when in-person classes are necessitated to be cancelled due to adverse weather conditions or other emergencies. According to Beatty, this instructional model is “an approach to serving fully online students without abandoning current classroom students,” and it aspires to cultivate a flexible educational environment that caters to the varied needs and preferences of students (choosing what is best for them on a weekly or daily basis).

In his work, Beatty explained that the HyFlex approach shares similar characteristics with other instructional formats used in higher education institutions around the world, like Mode-Neutral, Multi Access Learning, Flex Learning, Converged Learning, Peirce Fit, Multi Options, Flexibly Accessible Learning Environment (FALE), Blendflex, Comodal, Flexible Hybrid, Synchronous Learning in Distributed Environments (SLIDE), gxLearning, Blendsync, and Remote Live Participation (RLP).

HyFlex learning offers a flexible learning model that allows students to choose between in-person and online attendance, accommodating individual schedules and preferences (Cumming et al., 2024). This model supports accelerated course delivery, aligning with students’ desires for speed and convenience (Dickinson et al., 2024), while also catering to diverse student needs and enhancing participation and retention rates (Dickinson et al., 2024; Yang et al., 2024). It increases access to courses (e.g., when in-person attendance is problematic or when desired classes are scheduled concurrently), students tend to have greater control over their daily schedules, and the flexibility to choose the most effective learning methods to meet their individual needs and preferences (Beatty, 2019).

The work of Beatty also explains how the HyFlex model provides opportunities for faculty to develop online teaching skills without sacrificing in-person instruction, provide a built-in alternative for students facing scheduling conflicts, and serve more students with existing resources.According to Dickinson et al. (2024), the model supports varied learning styles and can accelerate course delivery, aligning with students’ preferences for convenience and efficiency. This aligns with the work of Beatty, which explains how faculty valued the HyFlex model due to its increased capacity to support diverse learning needs through this flexible model and providing opportunities to conduct pedagogical research on their own teaching practices and potentially publish their findings within their academic discipline.

While HyFlex learning presents innovative solutions for modern education, it also raises concerns in several areas. For instance, Tulekova et al. (2023) claim that the HyFlex model can restrict meaningful interactions, as students may not engage as fully in discussions or collaborative activities when participating online. Moreover, the online component of this model requires substantial time management skills (Beatty). Studies suggest that remote learning can sometimes lead to feelings of isolation and disconnection from peers, potentially impacting student engagement and academic performance (McInnerney & Roberts, 2004; Gillis & Szabo, 2024). Nevertheless, it is believed that implementing the HyFlex model will require significant investments in technology and faculty training, which may present a challenge for some institutions. This could also extend to students, as argued in the work of Beatty, where he indicated that students could lack the personal and technical resources most commonly required: hardware, network access, the ability to engage with online learning platforms, and the ability to learn through mediated experiences. These resources are essential for successful participation in the online version of the course. I also think that giving students autonomy to choose how they want to attend instructions could compromise the depth of learning for some students who may prioritize convenience over active engagement.

Reflecting on the above discussion and aligning it with the evolving educational landscape characterized by the use of emerging technologies, particularly those that emerged during the health crisis, there is clear indication that the HyFlex model presents a promising future for education due to its flexibility and adaptability. However, I believe teachers utilizing this approach require ongoing training and professional development on strategies that effectively integrate various learning modalities, with a particular emphasis on assessment and student engagement. Furthermore, while student autonomy in lesson participation is valuable, it may need to be carefully guided or controlled to prevent situations where courses devolve entirely into online learning. In such classrooms, clear expectations for both online and in-person participation must be established and consistently communicated to students.