The Summary of Learning! The Final!

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I can’t believe this is my final blog post that I will be making for EDTC300. This class went by so fast, and I think it’s wild to know how much I’ve learned in just 4 months. To finish things up, Adair and I made a digital artefact that reflects our experience and growth during this semester. You can check it out here. We used Canva to make the artefact because it let us combine visuals and our own voices in a clean, and creative way.

Throughout this semester, we have looked at a lot of important topics, such as:

  • Understanding how to protect our digital footprints and how to support students in doing the same
  • Gaining knowledge about replacing traditional methods with meaningful use of technology
  • Learning how to navigate and use Edusites
  • Knowing how to spot fake news and promote media literacy
  • Teaching and modeling safe online behaviour for students and even us

These topics helped us feel more confident in using digital tools more responsible.

One of the challenging parts of this course was the learning project. At the start of the class, we weren’t too sure about what we were getting ourselves into, but as weeks flew by, our confidence in the class grew. By the end of the semester, we created a full project on Edusites that reflected our passions and learning.

We took sometime in our artefact to look at the pros and cons about learning online. There were definitely some challenges that we experienced, but also a lot of amazing benefits that came with learning online, such as flexibility and independence. This part made me really think about how online learning affects various types of learners, including ourselves.

In the end, our artefact doesn’t show what we did, but how we developed. From knowing pretty much nothing at the beginning, to completing a full assignment on our learning projects, and understanding major ideas in educational technology, it’s been a wild journey. We also got to learn more about our passions and connect them to learning, which made this class even more meaningful!

Thanks for following along this semester. This class has given me more skills and knowledge that I’ll be taking with me into the future!

How I Contributed to the Learning of Others

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Throughout the semester, I made efforts to contribute to the learning of others in the class. While I wasn’t the greatest at being a vocal participant, I made constant engagement through comments on my classmates blog and staying a bit active on our Discord.

Here’s the breakdown of how I contributed and support to our learning projects.

Reading and commenting on other classmates’ blog posts each week had helped me stay connected to what everyone was learning. I tried my very best to leave encouraging, and meaningful comments on blog posts that spoke to me or showed a lot of progress. Here are three of those example: 

Adair’s Plant Propagation Project:

Adair shared her accomplished in finally propagating cutting after so many attempts, and I was super excited for her, so that I had to leave a comment to cheer her on: 


Link to Adair’s Blog Post

Carys’ ASL Happy Birthday Video:

Carys did a thoughtful thing for a family friend that is deaf and learned how to use ASL and sing “Happy Birthday” to that friend, and I really thought that was such a meaningful thing to do! So I had to comment about it.

Link to Carys’ Blog Post

Morteza’s Calligraphy Challenges and Practices:

Mort gave us an update on his calligraphy about refining it by modifying to a 52-degree slant. I found his commitment and challenges inspiring, so I had to comment.

Link to Mort’s Blog Post


Even though I didn’t directly respond to my classmates’ messages on Discord, I made an effort to stay engaged and actively posting throughout the semester. I shared updates on my learning project about astronomy, and participated in class discussions and group work, and put my thoughts on the weekly topics.
I posted 8 times in the Discord group, which helped me stay present and helped me along the way in this class and to let others know what I was working on and what I was having troubles with.

Although my contributions weren’t in the form of constant conversation or resource creation, I tried to consistently show up. Commenting on classmates’ blog posts and being actively engaged on Discord has helped me feel like I was part of a supportive learning environment. I learned that small encouragement or sharing progresses with each other can go a long way in making classmates’ feel seen and heard!
This class made me realize that learning ins’t always about personal achievement, but about building space where all of us can grow together.

Canva AI and the Class of Tomorrow

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A Creative Tool for Modern Classrooms, Canva AI

For this week, I decided to try a new AI tool on Canva. A tool I was familiar with for the basic designs, but I didn’t really explore the AI possibilities. The AI features like Magic Write, auto generated layouts, and smart layout recommendations caught my eye, and I was super curious on how they might support both teaching and learning.

Adding to Student Engagment

An Image Created by Canva AI  Canva AI could be a super assistant for teachers. It can help robotize extreme tasks such as designing presentations and creating assignments. Rather than the teachers spending hours on arrangement, teachers can easily generate appealing grade level content that captures the students’ attention.

 

For students, it provides new ways to engage with content. Instead of a regular written assignment, a student can use the AI on Canva to design so much, such as an infographic, a timeline, or even a mock Instagram post of an important person. These creative alternatives make room for various learning styles and encourage students to have deeper engagement with the material.

Supporting Different Learners and Critical Thinking

One of Canva’s AI’s capabilities is the ability to support different types of learners. Like, visual learners can organize ideas graphically, while other learners can use AI-powered text suggestions to brainstorm or clarify their thought process. Also, group work would be easier with collaborative editing features, letting students co-create group projects in real time.

It also inspires creativity, and elaboration. Students need to explain content, make design choices, and think of how to communicate their ideas clearly through visual and text.

Practical and Ethical Considerations

Needless to say, there are going to be challenges. It’s important to lead the students in using AI without letting them do all the thinking. There’s a huge difference between adding to creativity and replacing efforts. Approaching the subject about using Canva AI can also be an issue, not all of the students could have the same technology or have the premium stuff that Canva offers.

 

My Take on AI in the Classroom

For myself, I see a real possibility in tools such as Canva AI when it’s being used intentionally. They can save time, spark creativity, and support more individualized learning. But like any other tool, it really does come down to how we use it. AI should be supporting learning, not replacing it.

Looking forward, I really do think AI will become regular in classrooms, like how calculators and search engines became regular in classrooms. The crucial part will be teaching students  how to use such tools responsibly, creatively and with motive. An Image of an Infographic Canva AI made

 

From Doubt to Discovery: My Coding Experience

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For this activity, I chose to accomplish the Hour of Code coding activities. I went with NASA’s Space Jam. At the beginning I wasn’t sure on what to expect, I’ve never really seen myself as someone who could or would be into coding, but I figured I would have to give it a shot! 

The Hour Of Code activity guided me through some of the beginner ideas using simple, drag and drop blocks. It was fascinating to see how simple the instructions would be to control the actions on the screen. Once I got the hang of it, I started to understand the basics of coding and how coding really is just giving such clear steps for a computer to follow. It’s somewhat like solving a puzzle, you think about what comes first, what happens in the next step, and how everything is connected.

An Image of The Beginning of My Coding

An Image at The End of My Coding

What I Learned

Even though Hour of Code was super easy to use, I had to still stop and reflect about what I was doing. This took me by surprise, because I thought it would be just dragging and dropping and then I’d be done, but it did require a lot for me to focus and problem solve. If I didn’t do something the right way and it didn’t work the way I wanted it to the first time, I had to go back and read the instructions and figure out why it didn’t work. This part was super frustrating and oddly satisfying, and when it eventually worked, I felt like I completed something! 

I also took in that coding isn’t always about numbers or typing lines of codes like they show in the movies. It’s about logic, creativity and trying to figure things out step by step. The picture side of it, particularly the activity I did made it feel more like a game than it did homework, which was a nice perspective on this.

Is Coding Important

I’m still not really sure if I would want to go into a career that involves coding, but I do see it being a valuable skill. If anybody is interested in technology, video games, software, etc learning to code would give them a head start. It’s the kind of thing that teaches useful thinking skills, such as how to break big problems down into smaller ones, or how to troubleshoot something when it isn’t working.

Being said, I don’t think everyone has become a coder. Not every career will use it. But trying it once, helps you understand how the technology around us works, and that’s definitely worth something.

Final Thoughts

This coding activity made me think a bit different about what it actually means to code. It’s not just for “technology people” , it’s something someone can try once, and who knows, they might even enjoy it. I’m happy that I tried it, and now I know what coding really is, instead of assuming it isn’t for.

 

 

 

My Universe in Sound, Wrapping Up with Suno AI

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I can’t believe this is my final post for EDTC and my astronomy learning project! It’s been a wild orbit of experience, imagination, and cosmic curiosity. I’ve spent a lot of weeks diving deep into black holes, decoding the solar system, and coding planets into motion! But, instead of just typing this up with a super easy summary or constant visuals, I tried something completely new, I turned my astronomy learning project into music.

This week, I took a look at Suno AI, this is such a mind-blowing AI app that lets your make music using nothing but whatever you like! WIth just a few short words, I created an original song that captured what space would feel like, the wonder of galaxies, the mystery of black holes, and the calmness of stars drifting in the night sky.

Why Suno?:

I’ve soaked up space through videos, podcasts, coding activities, and a lot of articles. But SunoAI gave me something no other app did, a way to feel space. Here’s what made Suno AI remarkable.

  • Creativity Flow: Instead of me watching or reading, I listened to the music. Suno helped me hear what space may sound like, unusual, gorgeous, and limitless
  • Emotional Connection: This music made me pause and think on the scale and curiousness of the cosmos. It wasn’t about learning, it was about feeling something
  • Deep Learning: I still have the song “Astronomy”stuck in my head, and I love it! When learning sticks inside my head like this, you know that it worked!

 

Astronomy Soundtrack: Here are the two songs that Suno made for me:
 Cosmic Wonders

Astronomy

What I learned about AI: 

Before any of this, I thought AI was all technology driven. But Suno educated me that AI can also be poetic, musical, and expressive. It’s not always about robotization, it’s about greater creativity.

  • AI can turn deep thoughts into songs
  • Art and Science aren’t opposites, they’re partners
  • You don’t need be a singer or sound engineer to compose such emotion

11 Weeks of Astronomy Growth

  • I can understand weird ideas such as time dilation and black holes
  • I can build musical solar system with NASA’s Hour of Code
  • Explore the multiverse, and talk about it with confidence 
  • Create space-original music with SunoAI

Sounding Out the Universe:

Over the past 11 weeks, I didn’t just learn about astronomy, I experienced it! From coding the solar system to composing space music, I’ve changed complicated science into artistic expressions.. And this is the real win, learning is at its best when it’s personal, emotional, and a little bit of a wild ride.

So thank you to the universe for being the biggest motivation that I never expected. Also, thank you to the classmates and the prof for riding along on this ride!

The universe has a sound, and this semester, I finally heard it!

Astronomy Soundtrack

Want to hear what space sounds like to me? Here are two of the songs SunoAI created for me: Cosmic Wonders

Astronomy

 

Creating a Musical Solar System with NASA Space Jam

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This week, I took a deep dive into the cosmic world of coding, music, and astronomy, and it was out of this world! I discovered an activity from Hour of Code called NASA Space Jam, where I got to make a musical solar system. Yes, you heard that right, planets making music!

What made this activity cooler? I didn’t even know how to code before! This coding activity was beginner-friendly, visualizing and inspiring, but I still learned a lot with real coding skills and a whole new outlook on space.

What is NASA Space Jam?

NASA Space Jam is a fun, interactive coding activity where you can learn basic coding principles to make a musical model for the solar system. Each of the planets becomes it’s own music: While using this website you can:
You can program various planets to make unique musical sounds
Can adjust their speed and rhythm to create loops and melodies
You can can personalize your solar system and listen to how it sounds in motion

This kind activity is a great entry to coding, an idea that combines technology with arts. It made me recall a lot from Chrome Music Lab, another coding website where you can code music and visuals together. If you’re into mixing science and sounds together, this is definitely up your alley!

An Image of My Coding Progress.

 

Where Music Meets Astronomy

The most surprising part for me was seeing how music and astronomy joined together through coding. As I arranged each orbit and note, it felt like I was directing a cosmic orchestra. Every loop, sound and movement was mine to build.

This coding activity also helped me better understand how coding is used in space simulations. I got super curious and explored NASA’s real-world tools such as Eye on the Solar System, where you can look at the actual NASA mission data in 3D. This hands-on experiment between what I was doing and what scientists are doing right now made it feel even more significant.

 

Why This Activity is Important in Astronomy

This activity wasn’t about making music, it was a start for me to understand how programming works in cosmic exploration. Timing, arranging, stimulation, and modeling are used in NASA for real missions like the James Webb Telecope and Mars Rovers.

What I Learned This Week

This wasn’t just about playing, it was about learning. Here’s what I learned from my experience with coding:

  • Loops and Repetition: I used loops to duplicate musical patterns, just like how satellites rotate around planets
  • Variable & Functions: I learned how changing values such as speed, variable affected how each planet sounded.
  • Object-Oriented Logic: Every planet had its own properties, (like how a real code object has), and I used the functions to describe behaviours like playing the sounds when a planet moved
    Imagination Through Coding: This has shown me how coding isn’t always about numbers and grammar. Coding can be used to tell stories, design art or even simulate the solar system

In addition, I also checked out the NASA STEM YouTube Channel to see how engineers and scientists use coding in real life missions. Super amazing stuff, and it connected to what I was learning in a small, super fun way!

Fighting Fake News: Teaching Digital Skills in the Classroom

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An Image Showing How to Recgonize Fake News.

Teaching Digital Literacy to Combat Fake News

In today’s digital universe, disinformation quickly spreads, making digital skills a basic skill for students. Teaching kids how to acutely assess, showing bias, and confirming information helps students become more responsible users and developers of media. In my area and grade level that I want to teach, I would include digital skills by combining fact-checking exercises, content analysis activities, and talking about bias into my lessons. 

Integrating Digital Literacy into the Curriculum

One way to set digital skills in my classroom is through fact-checking exercises encouraged by Web Literacy for Student Fact-Checkers by Mike Caulfield. His route acknowledges plans like fact-checking across sources, where students connect multiple sources to confirm claims. For instance, I could show students trending social media posts or news stories and have them look into their reliability using fact-checking sites like Politifact or SweetSearch.

Another core strategy is educating students to judge bias in news outlets. Using the Media Bias Chart, students can search how different outlets have the same story and talk about how framing influences public representation. The exercise will be put to use that connects to critical thinking and researching skills highlighting in our lessons.

To have students’ understanding grow, I would combine lessons from the NewseumED unit on media literacy, which gives interesting activities on recognizing misinformation. One activity might have students take the “Can You Spot the Fake News Headline?” quiz and thinking about why misinformation headlines are successful. This would connect into my lessons on effective writing and power of speech.

Aligning with the NCTE Framework

The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) framework inspires students to be knowledgeable, thoughtful, and honest communicators on the web. By joining these digital literacy activities, I would be acknowledging severy key NCTE principles, including:

  • Active Inquiry and Critical Thinking: Inspiring students to ask where the sources came from and think about media critically. 

 

  • Multimodal Literacy: Teaching students to point and explain different media formats.

 

  • Social Responsibility in Digital Spaces: Talking about the ethical issues of sharing misinformation and the importance of responsible online behaviour.

 

Teaching digital skills is important in providing students with the skills to explore today’s information landscape. By combining fact-checking strategies, bias analysis and media skills lessons, I can help my students by developing critical thinking skills that they need to tell apart credible information from misinformation. 

An Image of "Stop Scrolling" Asking If This is True or Not.

The Multiverse, Are We Living in One of Many Universes?

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What if this isn’t the only universe? The concept of a multiverse is that our universe is just one of many, maybe even an unlimited universe, with different laws of physics, taking turns of ourselves, or even different realities.

This week I was diving deep into the science behind the multiverse. What does it mean? Could it be real? And importantly, can we ever prove it?

What Is the Multiverse

The multiverse is the concept of our universe is one of many universes that exist. If this is true  this could mean:

🔹 There are limitless versions of our world, each a little bit different
🔹There may be universes with different physics, where atoms, time or space act different
🔹Our universe might’ve split into different realities every time an atomic event happened

An Image of Multiverse Universe
One universe? Or infinite? The multiverse could hold endless possibilities!

Why Do Scientists Think the Multiverse Might Be Real?

  1. Big Bang Theory: If our universe became larger from a tiny point, what if other universes formed in the same way?
  2. Quantum Mechanics: Some explanations (like the Many-Worlds Interpretation) suggest that every possible event happens, making a collateral universe, just in different universes.
  3. Cosmic Inflation: The quick expansion of the early universe may have made multiple bubbles. Based on inflation theory, different regions might have been inflated into entirely different universes

Different Types of Multiverse Theories

There’s not only one multiverse theory, but there are several, and each one of them mind-boggling in their own way.
(Watch this video from PBS Space Time to see and listen on how they explain visually)

Bubble Universes (Inflation Theory)
1. The point that after the Big Bang Theory, that some parts of space kept getting bigger, making separate “bubbles”, each one a new universe
2. These universes could have different physics, meaning that life as we know it may not exist there

An Image of Bubble Universe
Each ‘bubble’ might be its own separate universe!

Many-Worlds Explanintation (Quantum Mechanics)
1. Every time an opinion or an unplanned quantum event happens, the universe separates into a different realities
2. This could mean,  there could be multiversal selves of you living in another universe, each making different things happens

Braneworld Theory (Extra Dimensions)
1. This approach suggests that our universe is just a 3D surface (brane) drifting in a higher hyperspace
2. Other universes could be right next to us, but we literally can’t see or interact with the other universes

Could We Ever Prove the Multiverse Exists

As of right now, we can’t directly notice other universes, but scientists are looking for clues:

Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB):
Some scientists think if our universe crashed into another one in the past, there might be a strange pattern in the Cosmic Microwave Background.

Black Holes & Wormholes:
Some theories put forward that black holes might be gateways to other universes. If we study them more, we might actually find proof

Particle Physics Experiments:
The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is colliding particles together to see if extra dimensions exists, which could point to other universes

Want to Go Deeper?
Sean Carroll’s Mindscape Podcast – An amazing discussion on the Quantum Mechanics and Many-Worlds Interpreation

One Universe… or Infinite Realities
If the multiverse is real or just a beautiful theory, it challenges us how we see the world, and ourselves. It asks an important question of all: What is reality? And how much of it are we even able to know, until scientists find answers, stay interested!

What I Learned This Week

Looking at the multiverse pushed me to think beyond what I usually thought was ‘reality.” I learned that the concept of multiple universes isn’t ust sci-fi, but it’s taken seriously by a lot of scientists and rooted in real theories like quantum mechanics, cosmic inflation, and string theory.
I also learned that even without direct proof, science still studies the frameworks to understand the unknown. Ideas such as Many-Worlds, bubble universes, and extra dimensions aren’t just shot in the dark guesses, they’re ways to describe observations that don’t always fit within our understanding of physics.
Above all, I learned that multiverses aren’t just about other universes, but also a way to reflect our universe. It calls for questions about choices, possibilities, and how small events might lead to completely various outcomes, not just in theory but as well in life.

Digital Footprint Analysis of Adair Johnson

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Digital Footprint Analysis of Adair Johnson

Name: Adair Johnson

Professional (Job-Related): She work as an Educational Assistant and Office Manager

Biographical (Age, Birthday, Location, Appearance, etc.):

I couldn’t find a lot about Adair on this one, but I know her birthday is October 1 and she is living in Regina, Saskatchewan.

Personal (Relationships, Family, Hobbies, Activities, Likes/Dislikes, etc.):

For this, I know her personally so I know she has a boyfriend, lives with her parents, and has a brother. She also has a dog and 2 cats. I couldn’t find much about her online for this. 

Where is she on the web? (Social Networks, Job Profiles, etc.)

I found her Facebook page, and edusites she has for school. No other sites or social media pages popped up. 

Analysis

Overall Impressions Based on Her Digital Footprint:

I was overly surprised that I could barely find anything about Adair online, and that she keeps a low profile, which makes her value a lot of privacy. 

Do I Trust This Person? Would I Hire Them? Would I Be Their Friend? Why or Why Not?

Yes, I do trust her, she doesn’t have anything suspicious online. I would also hire her, as she is responsible and is always professional at work. I would be friends with Adair, if I didn’t already know her. I think she seems like someone I would be friends with based on her lack of negative social media content. 

What Are This Person’s Beliefs? Political Views? How Do You Know?

I couldn’t find anything about Adair’s beliefs or political views as she doesn’t have enough information online for this, so it seems like she doesn’t post about politics or controversial topics and since she keeps her online to a minimum, she may prefer to keep her online stuff private. 

What Advice Would You Give Her?

The advice I would give her is, if she wants to stay private, she’s already doing a wonderful job by not giving access to her Facebook page, just who she adds can see her profile. Other than that, I think her online presence is very limited and she doesn’t have much online about her.

Dark Matter & Dark Energy: The Invisible Universe

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The Mysterious Universe

When we stargaze at the night sky, we see stars, planets and galaxies. But, did you know that all of the astral wonders form 5% of the universe? The rest of the 5% is a complete mystery, that’s made out of two mystery forces, dark matter and dark energy.

Dark Matter: A clear substance that holds galaxies together
Dark Energy: Is a force that makes the universe expand faster            An Image of the Night Sky with Stars and Galaxies.

These forces are important to the universe’s existence as the very stars we appreciate, but they remain the most perplexing events in science. Let’s look at how these invisible forces  shape the universe, and why scientists are still grasping to understand them.                             

 

 

What is Dark Matter

Dark matter is an invisible substance, we can’t see, touch or interact with it. Actually, it doesn’t radiate any light of energy. So, why are we sure that it exists? Simple, it’s due to gravity on everything that’s around it. It holds galaxies together and makes them revolve in ways that just couldn’t be possible if we relied on visible matter alone.

How Do We Know It’s There?

An Image Showing The Dark Matter Halo.

  • Galaxies Spin To Fast: Galaxies rotate way too fast, they should fly apart, but something holds them together
  • Light Bending: Light from far away galaxies curves around dark matters
  • Dark Matter Structure : Dark matter reacts as a framework that helps form galaxies

 

What Is Dark Matter Made Of?

Scientists aren’t quite sure about this. Some concepts are:
Weakly Interacting Massive Particles: Imaginary particles that could make up dark matter 

Axions: Small particles that could explain dark matter’s weird effects

Primordial Black Holes: Tiny black holes that are left over from early universe

But, for the time being, dark matters continues to be one of the biggest mysteries in science

What Is Dark Energy

In 1998, astronomers found something unexpected: the universe’s growth is speeding up instead of slowing down. This surprise led to the term dark energy. But, what really is dark energy, and how does it work? 

Dark energy is the force that’s accountable for the fast expansion of the universe. It’s invisible just like dark matter, but the effects are undeniable.

How Do We Know It’s There?

  • Distant supernovae looks lighter than it does, meaning the universe growth has sped up
  • The cosmic microwave background shows proof of horrible energy in space
  • The broad structure of the universe matches the predictions that dark energy exists.

What Is Dark Energy?

While scienctsist don’t have all the answers to this, here are some possibilites 

Vacuum Energy: A attribute of empty space that makes a steady force
A New Force of Nature: Scientists think that dark energy could be a new fundamental force
A Breakdown in Einstein’s Equations: What if our thinking of gravity isn’t complete

But, no matter how we look at it, dark energy is one of the biggest mysteries in cosmology, and answering it might change everything on how we understand the laws of the universe.

How Do Scientists Study Dark Matter & Dark Energy?

Although, we can’t see dark matter and dark energy, scientists are busy working to study them using tools:

The Vera C. Rubin Observatory (Launching 2025): This is a new telescope designed to map dark matters across the universe

The Euclid Space Telescope (Launched 2023): This is a space mission that focused on revealing mysteries of dark energy

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC): Scientist are breaking particles together to see if they can make dark matter particles

What I Learned This Week

This week, I’ve come to the realization of how little we actually know about the universe. The stars, planets, and galaxies we see display just a small part of the cosmos. Dark matter is holding galaxies together, while dark energy is pushing everything apart. In spite of all of this technological progress, we still have absolutely no idea what these forces are.

Do you think we will ever unlock the mysteries of dark matter and dark energy? Or are these mysteries meant to remain unresolved?