Month: December 2024

Making Bannock and Using iMovie to Document

Posted on by Carson Boyer

This week I’ve chosen to make Bannock. Bannock is a traditional food of many Indigenous cultures in North America including the Métis. I am a Métis person but I haven’t made Bannock that much. This could be for multiple reasons but the biggest reason for this is because my family members that came before me went “underground”. What I mean by this is they were forced to leave some of their traditional ways of being, in order to be accepted by Canadians. Things that are passed down through families like food are often no longer being taught anymore another example of this is Métis language that is known as “Michif”. I wanted to get the recipe for Bannock from a reputable source so I chose a website which represents that.

 

I chose to document my learning with iMovie. I movie was an extremely easy resource to use. I took videos on my phone, then went into the app and placed the videos in the order that I wanted. From here, I made it into a youtube video and uploaded it to the blog. This app also gives people the opportunity to make storyboards, and trailers. I found a great resource that helped me create my iMovie and it was a great help with creating this video.

Anyways here is how I made Bannock

 

Our Changed World

Posted on by Carson Boyer

I believe it is extremely hard to reflect on our changed world because of how quickly technology is changing and adapting. We are living in a time where everything is new and improving. I think of a phone for instance, if you have a phone that came out more than five years ago it is seen as an old piece of technology. The new technology isn’t seen as a luxury anymore and more of a need. I’m trying to think of someone who doesn’t have a phone, computer or television. Most people I know have all three of these technologies. This then pushes people to get involved in creating social media accounts, upload things on social media which can be recreational, or to help them in their careers. I have peers that created social media pages to help their business by using it as an advertisement to reach new potential customers and clients. Technology is also being used as a tool to help get jobs. An example of this is making an online portfolio for a teaching career that you will be able to use to help get employed as a teacher. When looking at how people are active in their participation in using social media for fun. You get to interact with more people than you could ever imagine by a touch of a button.

What does this mean for the future classrooms?
For future classrooms I believe one of the most important things is making sure that young students know safety online. Like I talked about in this blog already, you can interact with more people than you can imagine. It is important that students know the world that they are living in and how they can protect themselves. With that being said I think it is important for students to be better prepared with tools that can be used to help them during their time in school and help them outside of school. In order for us teachers to do this I believe we need to take advantage of different training opportunities when it comes to new technology. We need to stay up to date with the rapidly improving technologies and relay the information we learn to our students. I believe we should be preparing our students for life outside of school, and with how new technologies are becoming available it’s only in our students best interest that they should know how to utilize and use these new technologies.

What does it mean for schools in general
For schools I believe there needs to be more of an emphasis in being able to use these new technologies. I have already seen that utilizing tools such as google classroom to make the class more tech based has been beneficial to students. I think that if we bring in more options for teachers it can help students with different learning styles have success within the classroom. I think there will be more of a focus for schools to try to build more technology fluent students. This will help those going to get further education and students that decide to work after highschool graduation by giving them more tools to use.

How might we rethink the idea of schooling and education in our networked, participatory, and digital world?
I am of the idea that our schooling needs to buy into our networked, participatory, and digital world. I believe this because as we teach them they will pick up on how to be safe online. I am not saying whatsoever that students need their phones in class. I think phones are a distraction in the class and in the outside world. I think that in the health curriculum there needs to be more of an emphasis for healthy lifestyles and this includes screen time. With the world we are living in we can’t just turn a blind eye to what technology is used for and how it can impact people’s lives. Students will need these tools in the real world.

How can we balance the challenges of our new digital reality with the possibilities that it offers?
I believe it is important for schools to offer technologies that can be useful in the classroom. Students love the ability to use technology in their own learning and to demonstrate their own learning by using technology. As teachers we need clear expectations and rules about the use of technology for not only the students but also the parents of the students so they are up to date.

The Role of Technology

Posted on by Carson Boyer

Like any person I use websites, apps, and online platforms in my daily life. All three of these can be tools for academic purposes, but they can also be tools for leisure and social interaction. The websites I use most in my daily life are either websites for my time within the university setting to help out with assignments. One website that I found to be the most useful as a future teacher is the Saskatchewan Curriculum. It is very important to myself that I become familiar with the curriculum in order to be able to think of how to use it most effectively and efficiently for my benefit and my future students. In my time off I usually look at a lot of hockey articles and tools for building a better knowledge of the game. I enjoy looking at these websites because I love learning about new tools used to evaluate players (ex. advanced analytics), and other people’s opinions on the game. The apps and online platforms I use most in my daily life are apps such as Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, and video streaming services. The apps I use on my phone aren’t used for academic purposes really at all. These apps are for entertainment, like watching funny videos or highlights or even films. I hope to broaden my knowledge of what apps could be useful for academic purposes. Online platforms are platforms that I use for social interaction, such as talking with friends from back home that I don’t get to see as often during my time in University. Obviously during the summer I get to see my close friends and family back home, but during the fall and winter it helps us stay connected with each other.

 

For  University it is very important to stay organized and productive throughout each semester. Some digital tools and apps that I rely on to stay organized and productive are on the iPhone such as their Calendar and the Reminders app. These tools help me stay up to date on when due dates of assignments are. These tools also help me set up my times that I would like to study or work on assignments. I find using the iPhone extremely productive because I (like many others) always have my iPhone on me so I don’t need to worry about forgetting what I wanted to do. I think it would be extremely beneficial for myself to expand my tool kit of tools that are available to help organize and stay productive.

 

With how common technological devices are there are many pros and cons for how easy it is to get your hand on some of them. One major flaw is how technology can reduce productivity. Some technologies that tend to take up my time and decrease my productivity are definitely my iPhone and Xbox. On my phone, social media can be really addicting and sometimes I can lose track of time. One strategy that I use is to turn off all notifications that come from these apps. If I can avoid looking at it in the first place it works for me, so I am sticking to it. For my Xbox I just don’t allow myself to play it till after supper. This gives me time throughout the day to get as much work done as possible. The xbox is really similar to the iPhone with the way that it can allow you to lose track of time. So instead of wasting time earlier in the day I get done my work and treat the Xbox like a reward instead.

 

Having a healthy relationship to technology is very important for myself to have success in University. I find balance between screen time for academic purposes and personal well-being by setting up times to do work and times to relax. I am a big believer in setting goals, so going into each week I try to make short term goals for that week, each month I set up an end of month goal. I find when I am working on something is a great way to make sure I buy in. I also try to reflect on how I did for each goal after the date. For myself, I find it extremely beneficial to allow myself to see the growth I’ve gone through. A strategy I’ve established to ensure a healthy relationship with technology is to try and stay active. It is easy to sit and scroll on social media but when I’m on the move that urge to go on social media takes a backseat.

Who am I?

Posted on by Carson Boyer

My name is Carson and I’m in my third year of education at the University of Regina. I grew up in Swift Current and often spent my time growing up playing sports such as hockey and lacrosse, or I was out at the Saskatchewan Landing where I was either fishing,  surfing, and sitting by the fire. I am a Métis student that is in SUNTEP and I have the hope to continue learning more about my culture and people.  I have one older brother named Logan who is a teacher in Swift Current and I have one older sister named Kaitlyn who works for Monette Farms.

My experiences with educational technology.

Throughout my journey as a student I used educational technology to help me with math and science during my time in high school when I wasn’t fully understanding a topic in class. I found this really beneficial because it allowed me to learn at my own pace and build more of an understanding of the topic. I appreciate the value that educational technology has to students because it can offer the students different ways of teaching which can allow the students to understand topics that wouldn’t be available in the classroom. I also can appreciate the value it can have for teachers by offering other ways of teaching topics.

My thoughts on blogging!

Before creating a blog I had very little insight into what a blog is. My first instinct was that a blog was a personal journal or an online platform to express a personal opinion. After doing research online I found a deeper understanding of what a blog is and what it could be used for. I found it very interesting how blogs could also be used to fulfill a business needs and to add to someone’s personal brand. This led to my next question: what’s the difference between a blog and a website because I found there were a lot of similarities. I found a big difference was a blog allows the reader and the creator to interact and have discourse between one another. I’m really excited to learn more about blogging and develop this skill during this class. I believe this will help me as a teacher because if I can find other teachers’ blogs it can give me really cool lesson ideas to incorporate into my own classroom to keep students engaged in their learning.

https://www.classvr.com/blog/use-of-technology-in-education-a-complete-guide/