Author: Carson Boyer
Final Networked Learning Post
“How have I contributed to the Learning of Others”
I contributed to learning by participating in the classroom by commenting on people’s Blog posts. Though I didn’t have as much interaction I would’ve liked to have had, I still believe I did contribute to the learning of others. Here are some examples:
I think I could’ve used discord for asking questions. I just feel like I’m not someone that people should be taking advice from in terms of technology. I will look to improve this part of my learning style in the future. I do think if I would’ve asked more questions on discord it would’ve made these blog posts easier not only for myself but my peers as well. It was a pleasure learning from my classmates and all their unique learning projects as well as their insights into technology.
Wrapping it Up
When I was starting up my learning project I knew I had to improve my cooking skills. Growing up I was lucky enough to not have to rely on myself to make nutritious meals. This hit hard during my time in University when I was away from home. I became too reliant on food that I could throw in the oven, or meals like kraft dinner that are easy but not necessarily that healthy. This project gave me the chance to really work on this life skill that is needed. It’s not like I had never cooked before but I was in no way good at cooking. I can say at the end of this learning project that I am more prepared to cook more challenging meals than I was before
Learning Project week 1
Introduction
- Here is where I made it clear where my skill level was. I also gave the readers my experience when it comes to making meals for myself. I also set up goals for things I might make during the semester.
Learning Project week 2
Homemade Spaghetti Sauce with Ground Beef
https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/158140/spaghetti-sauce-with-ground-beef/
- This was a simpler meal that is really easy to have for leftovers. I wanted to have something that I could have for leftovers for a bit and this fit the bill. I also chose spaghetti because you can never go wrong with it, and it is really simple to make.
Learning Project week 3
Sloppy Joes
https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/24264/sloppy-joes-ii/
- For this meal I decided to make Sloppy Joes. This is an extremely messy meal (DO NOT WEAR WHITE), but it is soooooo good. It is really simple to make which I was looking for because I felt like I was still in the beginning stages of this learning project.
Learning Project week 4
Bannock
https://albertametis.com/news/bannock-recipe/
- As a Métis person I felt it was important to make at least one traditional food for this project. I’ve only made bannock once before this but I was being supervised well making it. It was a really cool experience to be able to make Bannock by myself.
Learning Project week 5
Banana Bread
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ob8eL4mMOys
- I wanted to make Banana Bread because I was missing my Grandma’s baking. She often drops off Banana Bread at my place in Swift Current and I was missing it. The resources I used which provided the recipe and instructions was easy to follow because it was a video. Overall this Banana Bread was really good but still has nothing on my Grandma’s.
Learning Project week 6
Fish Tacos
https://www.themeateater.com/cook/recipes/walleye-tacos
- I chose to make Fish Tacos with walleye meat first off because I love eating fish and secondly I have way too much in my freezer. I really like the source that I found online because it is more than just a place to find recipes. Overall this meal was exactly what I wanted it to be so I’ll take that as a win.
Learning Project week 7
Chocolate Chip Cookies
https://www.onceuponachef.com/recipes/the-best-chocolate-chip-cookies.html
- I wanted to give baking another chance and I wanted to try chocolate chip cookies. The recipe I used was super easy to follow which allowed myself to make delicious chocolate chip cookies.
Learning Project week 8
Homemade Burgers
https://www.thewholesomedish.com/the-best-classic-burger/
- I was wanting to make a homemade burger because I was missing small town rink burgers since it is hockey season. This recipe I used was a really simple yet delicious burger. Safe to say it brought back some memories of my time growing up both playing hockey and watching my older brother play.
Learning Project week 9
Homemade Pizza
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDX8fylSisU
- Pizza is one of my favourite things to eat. I learned how to make pizza basically from scratch which I will definitely use again. I still think I’ll order pizza but this i a good meal to know how to make
Learning Project week 10
Philly Cheesesteak
https://www.delish.com/cooking/recipe-ideas/recipes/a54006/easy-homemade-philly-cheesesteak-recipe/
- I wanted to give this famous food a shot. I learned a lot of interesting facts of how this food was made and what to look for when getting prepared to make this meal.
My Takeaways
Overall I will say this learning project was extremely beneficial for myself. It gave me a ton of good resources of recipes that I can find online. It also opened my eyes on how much more I can integrate technology into my everyday life rather than just using it for entertainment. I do think it would be interesting to have my future students do something similar to this in their own learning. It’s clear that whatever you decide to learn about there will be improvement but it also offers the skills that are needed to learn from the internet individually.
Philly Cheesesteak
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, divided
- 2 green bell peppers, seeds and ribs removed, thinly sliced
- 2 red bell peppers, seeds and ribs removed, thinly sliced
- 1 large yellow onion, sliced
- Kosher salt
- 1 1/2 lb. sirloin steak, thinly sliced
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 8 slices provolone
- 4 hoagie rolls
Why I chose to make a Philly Cheesesteak
I wanted to make a Philly Cheesesteak because I’ve never eaten one before. With how popular of a street food this is I figured I’d give it a shot. I won’t be using peppers due to personal preference. I also realize before making this meal that I can’t judge the food based on how I make it. I know if I went to Philadelphia they would have this food mastered and I would probably have a completely different opinion on it. I also find it interesting that it was made because a guy got sick of selling hotdogs and now it is one of the most famous American foods.
What I learned
Some things I learned before I even started cooking was “You’ll want to pick a type of steak that is well-marbled and can be sliced super-thin so that it cooks quickly while staying nice and juicy” another thing was “choose a cheese that is relatively mild in flavour and melts well, like provolone or even American”. To start making the Philly cheese steak I got a large skillet over medium heat and heat 1 tablespoon of oil. From here I added onions and I seasoned them with salt. From here I stirred well and cooked for about 12 minutes. After the onions were cooked I put the onions on a plate. The next step was “In the same skillet over medium-high heat, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon oil. Cook steak, turning occasionally, until desired degree of doneness, about 5 minutes; season with salt and pepper”. After this step I took my onions and added them back with the steak and added the cheese. I cooked till the cheese melted. After this I cut the stake into pieces and put the ingredients into a bun. The only thing left for me to do was eat.
Results
Honestly this wasn’t my favourite thing to eat. I’m just going to assume it’s because I’ve never cooked it before. Like I stated previously, I can’t judge this food based on how I made it. I guess this means I will need to make my way to Philadelphia for an authentic Philly Cheesesteak. I’m still going to try making this down the road and I will try a different recipe.
Homemade Pizza
Ingredients
- 1 Cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon yeast
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 ounces of warm water
- Pizza sauce
- Mozzarella cheese
- Pepperoni slices
Why I chose to make a homemade pizza
I chose to make pizza just because it is one of my favourite things to eat. I usually just order pizza and this can get super expensive so I want to know a recipe that I can use whenever I crave pizza. Pizza is also a meal that is easy to have for leftovers so I can have a meal ready when I’m working on assignments in university. Time is a very valuable thing in university so sometimes the less time I have cooking is really beneficial for putting my time towards finishing up assignments.
What I learned
The first few steps of making the pizza dough was exactly what I was expecting. I put a cup of the all-purpose flour in a bowl and added one teaspoon of yeast, one teaspoon of sugar, and a quarter teaspoon of salt and stirred it around. After this I added one tablespoon of olive oil and three ounces of warm water into the bowl. From here it was time to stir the ingredients then eventually knead the dough. This is when it was time to get my hands dirty. The video told me to knead the dough till it was soft but not sticky. I wasn’t too sure when the dough would become sticky so I just did this for two minutes. After this I got a new bowl and greased it up with oil and kept it on my counter and put a towel over it to let the dough rise for about 40 minutes like the video suggested. After this, I avoided the step of making the pizza sauce from scratch. I felt like I could save time by just buying pizza sauce from the store. Now it was the fun part where I shredded Mozzarella cheese, sliced up onions (started tearing up). From there I started to roll the dough with a rolling pin till it was ready to be put on the pizza pan. This was the most fun part of the process. Once it was in the pan I got a fork and started poking holes in the dough so it cooked properly. After this, I put the pizza sauce on the pizza dough and spread it evenly, put the cheese, pepperoni slices, and onions on the pizza. From here I threw the pizza in the oven and let it bake. The only thing left to do is eat the pizza.
Results
I can’t complain too much with how this meal turned out. The youtube video I got this recipe from was extremely easy to follow along with as well. I don’t know if I will ever make pizza dough by scratch again because I feel it just is more work than is needed, but I’m still glad I learned how to make pizza dough. For this one time cooking it would probably be less expensive if I just ordered a pizza but when I can use the ingredients I bought for other meals it is less expensive. I still prefer the taste of Dominos but overall it still was decent to eat.
Homemade burgers
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds 80% lean 20% fat ground beef or ground chuck
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 1/2 teaspoons seasoning salt
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- Optional: 4 slices of cheese
- 4 hamburger buns
- Optional: hamburger toppings – lettuce tomato, onion, pickles, ketchup, mustard, mayo, etc.
Why I chose to make a homemade burger
This week I chose to make homemade burgers. It’s now hockey season and there is no better way to watch a game than eating a homemade burger. When I was growing up I traveled to many different small town rinks that all had their own unique burger. Burgers that are homemade almost always taste better than the burgers that are made at fast food restaurants. I wanted to see if I was capable of making my own burger that would allow me to somewhat relive my experiences growing up in small town rinks. Other than at hockey games I think of eating burgers at the lake right before starting a fire. This also gave me inspiration for making the burgers because it reminds me of times with family and friends that I had at the cabin.
What I learned
Before making the burgers, this website gave me a good tip for choosing the best beef for the burger. It says that the best beef for a burger is 80% lean and 20% fat. This isn’t something I knew before because usually when I make burgers the patty is already made and all the person making the burger needs to do is throw it on the barbeque. I also agree that a good burger doesn’t require a ton of ingredients like this website points out. Once I had all the materials the first step was to get a bowl and add the ground beef, the sauce, seasoning salt, garlic powder, and the pepper. Once I added all of these ingredients I mixed with my hands. This was all pretty simple, so there wasn’t too much to learn through these steps. Once I mixed all of these ingredients the recipe suggested I divide it into four even amounts. After this I made them into the shapes that a burger should be at about ¾ of an inch thick. The recipe suggested that I made an indent in the middle of the burger patties. I’m not too sure how important this step is but I followed along. If I had to guess this just allows the burger to cook more evenly. After this I cooked each side of the burger on medium high for about seven minutes. The recipe told me to only cook for about four minutes but this didn’t feel like enough for me personally. Once the burger was done now it was the easy part where I put onions, lettuce, cheese, ketchup and mayo on the burger with buns that I bought at the store.
Results
This burger was really good to eat. It wasn’t like the burgers that are made at the fast food restaurants which is what I was hoping for. I would suggest this recipe to everyone because of its simplicity. This burger had that small town rink feeling which was what I was hoping for. Still wasn’t my favourite burger I have ever had but I’ve had some amazing burgers in my day.
Canva
The AI tool : Canva
How can this be used
For teachers Canva can be used to enhance lesson plans and units. What I mean by this is Canva is a great tool for creating units at a glance by how easy this program is to set up. This allows the teacher to more efficiently set up timelines for teaching certain topics. The ability Canva has to also help integrate visual aids for students should be noted. Creating visual aids can take a large portion of time that at times teachers just don’t have. Canva allows us as teachers to create these types of visual aids and resources for our students in much less time when the teachers become familiar with what Canva offers. Another way Canva can be a good resource for students is that it can offer a more efficient way to provide feedback to students’ work. Teaching is one of the few jobs that you can’t just clock out of. Teaching is a job around the clock so I am going to use Canva to help me be as efficient as possible. Another way that Canva can be used is to make an Eportfolio. From what I heard from people in the field and my professors, developing Eportfolios is the new wave that they are hiring. Knowing this, it is important that I keep my ear open for tools like Canva (which is free for teachers) to help me develop these Eportfolios.
For students Canva offers a unique ability for collaboration and creation with their peers. Not only that but Canva allows students to learn how to make infographics, posters and videos. There are more options for students to experiment how to use properly which not only can benefit the students academically but also outside of school. This allows the learners to use their creativity by allowing them to explore ways to show their own learning in their own personalized way. When the teachers use Canva it can offer more engaging lessons that integrate different learning styles that support all students. Another reason to use Canva is that it is available to everyone including students. Some types of tools like Canva aren’t free for students which directly affects the ability for students to use it.
I personally feel like using programs like Canva should be integrated into education. I don’t feel this way about all AI but there are definitely good resources out there. When educators use programs like Canva to support their teaching both the educator and students benefit from it. I look at programs such as Canva like a textbook. When used properly there is no real downside. When you use any resource too much that’s where it can become a possible problem.
Digital Literacy
Digital literacy is defined as “the ability to use information and communication technologies to find, evaluate, create, and communicate information, requiring both cognitive and technical skills.”
How digital literacy helps to combat fake news?
Digital literacy helps combat fake news by promoting critical thinking in what we see and hear on the internet. What this means is having the ability to evaluate sources, have the ability to fact check, and seeing bias. The ability to evaluate sources is crucial for all people to have in today’s day and age. This allows people to determine what type of media they are reading. I’m a big sports fan and an example that I can think of is real vs. fake insiders. There are people that create a page just to tell lies to try and trick people into believing something happened (like a trade). The ability for people to evaluate the source is very important. This was just a surface level example. When you consider that people can spread fake news it is very important that everyone has the ability to evaluate the source. This leads into fact-checking and the tools available for people to use. We talk about how AI is able to create images, if people think those images are real it can have a huge consequence depending on what the image shows. Lastly, seeing bias is also a crucial skill for people to have. For example, when looking at a blog which is a more personal form of media there is bound to see bias. People can add one topic which supports their opinion but leave out a topic that doesn’t support their opinion.
How can this tie to the curriculum and Teaching?
The big thing that I think of when tying digital literacy to the Saskatchewan Curriculum is the overall goal throughout school to build critical thinkers. Digital literacy is exactly that when observing and interacting with all forms of media. I would also add the overall subjects of social studies and health. I think that when looking at the Power and Authority part of the curriculum you can bring in sources into the lessons that students can use their digital literacy. The same goes for health in the Understanding, Skills, and Confidence section of the curriculum. Online sources have a huge influence on today’s youth so having the skills of Digital Literacy would benefit all young people’s mental health.
How I can incorporate the goals of the NCTE framework?
I think one way that I can incorporate the goals of the NCTE is to allow the students to use a variety of media in which they can build skills of digital literacy to enhance their own school work. This will take a lot of work to allow the students to be prepared enough to handle such tasks so I believe as an educator I need to explicitly teach the skills and strategies needed. I also feel as though we (educators) need to model this for our students then allow them to join in once ready. We do these practices for all subjects, like math and literacy. This is how students learn and we can’t expect them to just figure it out.
Cyber-Vigilantism and Digital Footprint
Cyber-vigilantism and cyber-shaming
Cyber-vigilantism is where people online take justice into their own hands. This is a very intense topic that it seems to me everyone has their own opinion about. I believe this is a hard topic for people to find an agreement on because of how vast the circumstances can be. For myself I believe that if you post something online people have a right to comment their own opinion on the post. I compare this to saying something in public, obviously people around you are probably going to say something back. To expand upon this I believe having discourse on the post is alright, it’s where vigilantism kicks in that things start to become unclear. I think circumstances have a major factor in whether vigilantism kicks in. For myself, I never really comment on these circumstances mostly because I never really see them. My time online is looking at sports media, funny and educational videos. If I were to see something I probably won’t comment because I don’t think that the person that put out a post deserves my time. If I were to comment on these posts it would be like talking to a wall. This would lead to me becoming frustrated. A lot of vigilantism that is seen online also causes a lot of name calling which won’t lead to anything positive. I don’t believe going this route will cause a person’s beliefs to change, if anything it will probably have a negative result.
Digital footprints
Growing up in a time where social media has always been a thing, my digital footprint has always been something that I have thought about. I remember in multiple classes this has been a topic of conversation and I think rightfully so. During my time in school, they mostly scare tactics, which I am neither for or against. It worked for me but I definitely would say it didn’t work for everyone. Today we also see people blowing up on apps such as Tik Tok and many kids like the idea of being popular, so they might put something online to try and get attention from others. Looking back at how I was, to who I am today, I would hate to have a video of myself online when I was a kid. Me and my friends find pictures of each other when we were young and make jokes about one another. Since we are friends, we know that it is just a joke, but if someone is making fun of a person and they don’t know each other, it can be hurtful. Then when you consider getting hired for a job, that employer has the tools to learn about a possible employer by searching their name up. It makes me post things that I would want to reflect on myself.
The right to have elements of our digital footprint be forgotten
I think that posts that are ten years old should be scrapped because that is just such a long timeframe for someone to change. I also think that society also changes a lot and things that are “cancelable” today might just be a bad joke ten years ago. I’m not saying these jokes are right in any way, I’m just saying there are circumstances in which people need to be aware. I also think if you are a kid and put something on social media you get a pass most of the time, but if you posted something when you are seventeen and are now eighteen that is a whole different ball game. I believe as more time goes on this will (hopefully) become a more clear topic.
Digital Citizenship
Digital citizenship in the classroom
Digital citizenship is best described as “is the ability to navigate our digital environments in a way that’s safe and responsible and to actively and respectfully engage in these spaces”. I think it is important for students to start to develop their digital citizenship because in today’s world, technology and the internet are used in everyday life. Teaching students these skills gives them the tools and knowledge to navigate these online spaces safely, responsibly, and effectively. As a teacher I am going to implement digital citizenship in a variety of ways. One of these ways is by giving my learners the opportunity to evaluate information that they pick up online. I think it is incredibly important that students have the tools to be able to see the bias, credibility and reliability of online websites. This is part of our jobs as teachers to build critical thinkers and I believe this is a way for students to do this. I would also bring real-world scenarios in the classroom to guide the learning of digital citizenship. I believe bringing in real-world scenarios benefits the students because it makes the learning relevant and more understandable to these students. Once again, I would teach about digital footprint. We’ve talked about it a lot during class because of how big of a topic digital footprint is. Learning about digital footprints has had a huge impact on how I interact with these internet spaces. I think it is important that students learn about the consequences that can happen when using the internet. At the same point I think it is important that students also know the benefits that having a positive digital footprint can have. Often I think we are so worried about the negatives that we don’t let our students know about some of the positive impacts a good digital footprint can have.
9 elements of digital citizenship
My approach when considering digital access is to not expect my students to have prior knowledge on the topic. Not every kid has the ability to access the internet in their home life so there is not even a playing field for these students. I believe to teach about digital citizenship you need to start at step one. If students know about the topics there is nothing wrong with a review. I have a hard time seeing myself teaching strictly about digital commerce just because I am going to teach the elementary grades. I don’t believe the students would be ready to learn about digital commerce unless it is surface level for older grades. I think in high school the students are more prepared to learn about this topic. When teaching about digital communication and collaboration I would allow students to start experimenting with some of the tools available. Some of these tools are email, zoom, google docs, etc. When students have these apps I think developing assignments using these tools would be beneficial. As a teacher I would keep in mind my students skill level when using these apps when assigning work to be done.
When teaching about digital etiquette I would add this to my classroom rules and expectations when using tools for school work. I would also bring in real-life examples of what digital etiquette is and is not.When examining digital fluency with my students I think it would be beneficial to learn ways to understand what is real and what is fake on the internet. Like I have brought up quite a bit I believe real-life examples would be beneficial. When teaching about digital health and welfare I think it is important in using real life scenarios to show some of the consequences of social media when used in an unhealthy way. I think I would use group discussions as well as strategies to combat unhealthy habits online
When teaching about digital law I would bring in a third party to support the students’ learning. One of the resources I would use would be the school counselor. I believe we as teachers should make use of the experts that we have available.When teaching about digital rights and responsibility I would compare it being person to person. Often we see people hide behind screens and be keyboard warriors. I think it is important for students to know the have rights and responsibilities online.When teaching about security and privacy access I would use apps that are popular among students’ age range. Well going through these apps I would note certain privacy and security settings and show the benefits of turning using the features. I would also dive into the terms and conditions apps have and explain what certain parts of it means. Often people don’t even read these things so they don’t actually know what they are agreeing to.