Category: EDTC300 (Page 1 of 2)

My Blog Posts:

For my learning project blog posts, I provided different websites and videos that are useful for learning the ukulele. I also included videos and websites that I did not find as useful, so people with similar learning styles as me will know which videos and websites that they may wish to avoid. When sharing these websites and videos, I included a small review of them, so readers knew what to expect if they chose to use the website.

For my other EDTC300 blog posts, I discussed my thoughts on different readings and videos that we looked at over the semester, and I hope that my contributions aided others’ learning. Specifically, I touched on Powtoon, so I hope that my peers were able to read that post and have a new online tool that they can use.

Here is the link to my blog post on Powtoon: Blog Post on Powtoon

Blog Post Comments:

Earlier on in the semester, I commented on Ava’s blog post about Powtoon. She struggled with exporting iPhone files (like photos and videos) into Powtoon. I told her that I have never found an online tool or website where iPhone file types were compatible. I gave her a tip that I do often, and this tip is accessing your camera roll through Snapchat memories and sending files through there as they typically send in a compatible file type. Also, I told her how I uploaded my Powtoon to help her avoid extra steps in the future. 

Here is a screenshot of my comment: 

While I did comment on a few other people’s blog posts, this was the main one where I gave helpful tips. I am not sure which other blog posts I commented on to find screenshots, but I know that they were mainly encouraging comments where I mentioned something that I liked in their post and wished them luck with their future posts.

Twitter: 

Here are screenshots of some of the tweets, retweets, and comments that I made throughout this semester that were beneficial or helpful to others, or that added to a conversation. I retweeted a few more things than what I have shared here, but I find these screenshots to be the highlights of my Twitter account. 

2022-09-17 (retweet)

2022-09-18 (comments)

2022-09-19 (retweets)

2022-09-21 (comment)

2022-09-25 (comment)

2022-09-28 (retweet)

2022-11-30 (tweet and retweet)

2022-12-07 (tweet, comments, and retweet)

With Twitter, I struggled to make contributions once my pre-internship started. I would have liked to prioritize it more, and I plan to continue using the app after this semester. At the beginning of the semester, I was making fairly regular comments and posts on Twitter; however, over the months of October and November, I typically only posted on Twitter when I made a blog post. As the semester ended, I tried to post a bit more and interact with others more on Twitter. It was definitely a learning curve, and probably the most difficult thing for me to maintain this semester!

Also, I never joined a #saskedchat, and I would have liked to. I ended up being busy on most Thursday nights, but I still have a goal to join in on one in the future.

Discord and Snapchat: 

I made no discord contributions. I meant to help a few times; however, I was always too late and someone else had already helped out. Often, I did not check my discord notifications until much later, so if I were to change something, I would check my notifications for the app more frequently. 

While I did not help out on discord, I was part of a Snapchat group chat with two of my peers for help in this class. This was a space where we could ask questions, and as a group, we met up on some Mondays to work on the course and motivate one another. This was very helpful. As I was part of this Snapchat group, and I had many friends in the class who I knew from previous classes, I never asked questions on Discord, either. 

Conclusion: 

That concludes my final networked learning post. I hope that I was able to help out a few others in EDTC300 with my contributions to the course as I know that my fellow peers helped me with my learning this semester.

Hello, everyone!

As one of my final projects for EDTC300, I made a video that summarizes some of my learning over the semester. Watch it below!

Screenshot taken from Stanford news

As teachers, we need to teach students about fake news when teaching them about digital literacy. Students have access to social media and technology, so they can easily spread fake news if they are not taught skills to decipher between real and fake news. For example, in The Smell Test: Educators can counter fake news with information literacy. Here’s how article by Linda Jacobson, it states that “students at an elementary school admitted that their reports of creepy clowns wielding weapons – really just construction workers with tools – were not true” (para. 9). This can cause worry and panic, resulting in emergency services being called and taken away from real emergencies.

In the future, I will be teaching elementary students, and right now, I am pre-interning in a grade 2/3 split classroom. Teaching digital literacy for this age group will differ greatly from teaching digital literacy to high school age students; teaching digital literacy to elementary students should be introductory. It is very necessary to bring awareness to the topic at a young age as students/children have access to technology much younger nowadays, so it is important that students begin to understand how to be safe and responsible online. They need to be able taught to be weary of what they are seeing, as well as taught to question and think about what they are seeing or reading.

At these young ages, one has to be careful about how they teach the information to students. The information needs to be age appropriate, so students can understand. Further, teachers need to teach students without using fear as we do not want to scare children away from the digital world. In an age appropriate manner, students need to be taught to not trust easily online. We need to not just accept what we read on the internet. Further, we need to avoid immediately sharing news you see online. One should always take at least a few minutes (or longer) to think and consider what they just read before choosing to share it in an online space.

The curriculum needs to be adapted to include digital literacy specifically. As of right now, teachers are not required to cover digital literacy. It is up to an individual teacher’s discretion whether or not they cover the topic in their classroom. Looking at the Saskatchewan health curriculum from grades one to five, a teacher can discuss risk and safety regarding digital literacy. The outcome and indicators are: USC1.4 e and i, USC2.5 a and h, USC3.5 a, USC4.4 d, and USC5.6. From grades one to four, there is no specific mention of digital literacy. These outcomes and indicators discuss risks, so one could discuss the risks of not being aware of digital literacy and fake news. USC5.6 mainly focuses on safety in regard to peer pressure; a teacher could discuss how we need to think hard before sharing online, and we should not just share an article or post that we are not sure about because our friends are or our friends told us to share it.

In terms of the NCTE framework for grades one to five, students would need to focus on being able to “participate effectively and critically in a networked world” and being able to “explore … across a wide variety of inclusive texts and tools/modalities.” We need to teach them the proper ways to interact and network online, as well as provide them experience in different age appropriate online environments, so when they are out of school and exposed to technology, students have the knowledge and strategies of how to be safe and responsible online.

For elementary students, the activity done in class would be beneficial as it was a fun way to engage students. As mentioned in the EdCan fact sheet, this will provide a more meaningful experience with more absorbed knowledge for children.

Teachers are also not alone! Librarians can be a great resource for digital literacy when they are properly trained in that area.

For this blog post, I opted to do an Hour of Code option on Code.org. This activity was designed for grade two students, and it involved making a little dinosaur video game. There are also multiple other activities available for various grade levels. These Hour of Code activities have step-by-step video instructions that you can watch first before completing a task, but they are not mandatory as there are written instructions on each task as well. While going through the activity, I watched the step-by-step guides for the first two tasks, and then I opted to use the written instructions for the rest of the tasks. In the classroom, I think the videos would be beneficial for the grade two students so they can visualize the process and the steps before completing the tasks. Further, after each task, you get to test out the dinosaur game with the new coded additions.

Personally, I am not a huge fan of coding. I used to have to do in in high school, and it never peaked my interest. However, I think that students would enjoy the Hour of Code activities as a fun, new, and different activity. Also, I think coding is so important to teach students as we continue to develop and use digital things more. Additionally, it could give students insight for a future career plan if they develop a passion for coding. If I had the resources in my future classroom, I would attempt to incorporate coding into some aspect of my teaching.

This week in EDTC300, we cybersleuthed another classmate to see what we could uncover about this other person. I cybersleuthed Kaelynn LePoudre this week, and I found accounts of hers on three social media sites, as well as her online ePortfolio. The three social media sites were Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. As I know Kaelynn personally, I follow her on her private social media accounts, so I tried to only look at public information to get the perspective of an outsider trying to look in. From these accounts, I was able to gather information like her birthday, her relationship status (as well as her significant other’s name), her hometown, her high school, and her current city. Further, I was able to find out where she attends university, where she works, and her job title. Lastly, I found out her interests like nature, photography, hiking, gardening, and painting from her ePortfolio. From my sleuthing, I found out that once you can add something to a google search of someone’s name, like a hometown, you have more access to any public news articles or documents that feature the person’s name. For instance, I found Kaelynn’s track and field results from 2015.

Instagram Logo

Twitter Logo

Facebook Logo

On social media, most people like to hide the bad. As per the article, “Instagram is passed off as real life,” instead of just the highlight reel that it is. People post the good moments and make their lives look as ideal as possible. Every day we are exposed to perceptions of others’ lives on various social media sites, and this can be detrimental if we are in a tough spot ourselves. 

Further, social media posts can ruin lives, even just one, as stated by Jon Ronson in his TED Talk. They are forever, and they are exposed to the entire world. This can cause extremely poor mental health, as well as lost jobs and alienation from those around the person who posted something viewed as bad. Even if the post is a miscommunication, the damage is instant and lasting.

Looking through the Saskatchewan Health Education curriculum from grades one to three, I found no mention of the nine elements of digital citizenship. Therefore, one has to find their own connections now to teach digital citizenship in the classroom while meeting the necessary curriculum requirements. I have listed below a few different outcomes and indicators from the Saskatchewan Health Curriculums from grades one to three that teachers can use to discuss digital citizenship at a young age. It is important to begin these discussions at a young age as school age children are starting to use technology at younger ages than before. 

Grade 1: SK Grade One Curriculum PDF

USC1.1 Examine healthy behaviours and opportunities and begin to determine how these behaviours and opportunities may affect personal well-being.

c. Ask questions and seek answers about healthy/unhealthy behaviours and opportunities.

h. Discuss a variety of healthy behaviours over which one has control (e.g., brushing teeth, being active, engaging in quiet time, seeking shade).

DM1.1 Examine initial steps (i.e., Stop, Think, Do) for making basic choices regarding healthy behaviours; healthy brain, heart, and lungs; healthy relationships; pedestrian/street safety; and a healthy sense of self.

d. Recognize the importance of thinking before acting.\

This outcome and these indicators can be used to teach students about Digital Communication, Digital Etiquette, and Digital Security. Students can be taught how to talk to others online respectfully, as well as be taught that they have control over what they post. Since they have control over their posts, online behaviours should be discussed. Also, students should be taught to think before they post, and Stop, Think, Do is an excellent technique for teaching this. 

Grade 2: SK Grade Two Curriculum PDF

USC2.4 Examine social and personal meanings of “respect” and establish ways to show respect for self, persons, living things, possessions, and the environment. 

a. Develop a common understanding and use of respectful language to talk about “respect” (e.g., tone of voice, manners, behaviours).

j. Discuss and provide examples of treating others as one would like to be treated.

USC2.5 Recognize potential safety risks in community “play areas” and determine safe practices/behaviours to identify, assess, and reduce the risks. 

a. Develop a common understanding and use of respectful language to talk about “risks” (e.g., identify, assess, avoid, reduce, consequence).

d. Demonstrate healthy behaviours (e.g., taking turns, wearing a seatbelt, asking for help) that favour the safety of self and others.

e. Explore possible healthy risks (e.g., making new friends, trying new foods) and unhealthy risks (e.g., riding your bike without a helmet, playing in traffic areas, touching discarded needles, approaching stray animals).

f. Discuss how safety rules/guidelines are established to reduce risks

These outcomes and indicators can be used to discuss Digital Etiquette, Digital Security, Digital Rights and Responsibilities, and Digital Health and Wellness. Students need to discuss that they need to be respectful to everyone online without infringing on others’ rights and freedoms. Further, students need to discuss safety online and the potential risks of having an online presence; discussing this topic will better support the health and wellness of students in an online environment. 

Grade 3: SK Grade Three Curriculum PDF

USC3.5 Evaluate safe behaviours/practices to increase the safety of self and others while at home. 

c. Demonstrate ways (e.g., plan ahead; follow the safety rules; stop, look, and listen; ask a trusted adult) to identify and assess the risk of potentially dangerous situations. 

This outcome and indicator can be used to discuss Digital Security. Students need to discuss how to be safe online, as well as need to know what to do if they run into an uncomfortable or unsafe situation online. 

While these outcomes and indicators in grades one to three do not fully cover all nine elements of digital citizenship, they cover five of them. Using additional subjects in the Saskatchewan Curriculum may assist in teaching students about all nine elements. 

In addition to teaching students about the nine elements of digital citizenship, I will closely follow the nine elements myself as I need to be a role model as a teacher. Further, I will be utilizing the above outcomes and indicators in my future career as an early elementary teacher, making sure that students are aware of digital citizenship.