Month: December 2023

Reflecting on my journey through EDTC 300, I am surprised to say that I am amazed by the transformation I’ve undergone in terms of digital literacy and personal growth. At the beginning of this course, my familiarity with Zoom barely extended beyond the basics. I remember I even joined a class with the dolphin filter locked on my background screen and I could not figure out how to change it for the life of me. I couldn’t even navigate the breakout rooms. But now, as I complete my final post, I find myself with a plethora of new technological resources and have gained a great grasp on digital literacy.

One of the best aspects of this learning experience was the vast range of tools and resources we had the time to get to know. From discovering how to effectively utilize educational technology, to exploring various teaching frameworks, this course has challenged and strengthened my tech abilities. What was once to me an impossible goal, is now a learned skill that will serve me in my future teaching career.

This course was not only about mastering technology. The collaborative and feedback-driven environment was what stood out to me. It was helpful to watch everyone’s growth and progress through their learning projects. It was fascinating to see the diverse approaches taken by classmates in choosing what they were doing for their learning project. Everyone is uniquely talented in their own way. Whether it was the creativity involved in building their site, technological skills, writing skills, or growth. The insight into different learning styles, and the collaborative learning approach gave way to inspiration for my own development.

One highlight for me was presenting a movie on a subject close to my heart: mental health. As someone passionate about this field, finally having the courage to present my thoughts and findings was a significant personal achievement. This class pushed me outside of my comfort zone, and I’m proud to have made my way through it. I am so grateful for the guidance, support, and knowledge gained throughout this class. The skills acquired and the personal growth experienced here will serve as valuable assets as I continue on my journey to be an educator.

 

I hope you guys are Harry Potter Fans! This weeks title is from the Hogwarts song in The Goblet of Fire. Hogwarts was the first thing that came to mind when I heard the name Magic School.

Today I reviewed the artificial intelligence resource Magic School. The idea of artificial intelligence making its way into the hands of students is scary as a future educator. Magic School is a resource made for teachers that can help keep educators up to speed with their busy workloads.

It helps to generate resources that help with planning, content, questions, intellectual prep, student support, communication, and community tools. All you have to do is give a prompt, the more detail, the more you will gain.

AI is able to do a wide range of different tasks throughout the site. These include:

• Multiple Choice Assessments
• Report Card Comments
• Rubric Generator
• Lesson Plan Generator
• Youtube Video Questions
• Teacher Jokes
• Song Generator (about any topic)
• Real World Connections

There are so many more options. Although you should always be checking your resources, as well as fact-checking, Magic School works as a great starting point for teachers.

Recent Upgrades in Magic School

Just went down their biggest upgrade ever

I was able to sign up through my google account

The lesson plan builder in the newest upgrade makes formatting much easier and more accessible. It provides suggestions for what is missing or what to do next. It gives a number of different resources personalized to your lesson plan. The creator of Magic School also incorporated his own touch, bringing in levels of Mild, Medium, and Spicy which represent the benchmarks as not yet meeting, meeting, or exceeding the current work. This option will generate resources and lessons that help meet students needs at all levels. Drafts and resources are now able to save automatically as well as the option of auto save. The process for exporting a file is another new advancement as part of the new upgrade. You are able to save and export resources and drafts as a separate file.

If you’re still not sold on Magic School, there is a long list of educators, coaches, and faculty fellow that have left their own personalized reviews to help you determine if this is something that interests you or not.

 

Has anyone else indulged in the Selena, Hailey, and Justin drama? To be honest, I have invested wayyy too much time down the rabbit hole of fake news surrounding this ridiculous scenario.

Teaching digital literacy, especially in middle years, is a crucial time for preparing students to navigate the digital world responsibly and critically. The National Technology and Innovation Competency Framework (NTCE) can serve as a guide to incorporate digital literacy effectively in the classroom.

Lessons in all subject areas can seamlessly integrate lessons on media literacy, followed by a critical evaluation of online sources. Focusing on evaluating the credibility and reliability of what kinds of digital content the students are susceptible to.

The advancement in technology brings on another strand of health teachings for the students. Incorporating discussions in health class surrounding online safety and privacy within technology is crucial for kids at this age and any age.

Teaching strategies can be moderated with the uprise of technology. Multimedia creations or digital storytelling can be integrated into classes when it comes to teaching a lesson or the route a student might choose in a project incorporating different media.

If I were to name off all of the ways that different subjects and the curriculum utilize technology, the list would be never-ending, and you wouldn’t possibly have the time to sit and read all of that. However, it is important to know that resources are available for new educators or educators who are unfamiliar with new technology and media. The NTCE provides a starting point in highlighting important competencies that will aid in teaching and learning about digital literacy.

In the Introduction to Digital Citizenship, the Saskatchewan curriculum quotes, “We need to ensure that students are equipped with the skills to safely and smartly sift through this abundance of information to navigate online spaces in ways that contribute to their learning.” The NTCE’s framework supports the objective of the curriculum through its approach.

FAKE NEWS

Fake news is something that is inevitable for all students to be approached by and is, therefore, an area of importance to implement cyber safety into the curriculum.

Hidden Curriculum

The hidden curriculum is a topic that I explored in my ECS 203. It “consists of what is implicitly taught by example day to day, not the explicit teaching of lectures, grand rounds, or seminars” (Mahood, 2011). I believe that fake news falls under this term as students will be so familiar with it in all of the  social media and modern technology they are used to. However, the level of experience and exposure to this technology will vary amongst students, which is why it is crucial to implement this learning into their schooling and at home.

Social Media & Middle Years Education

In middle years, the content the students absorb are most popularly seen through the apps Youtube, Tiktok, Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook. The amount of fake news that is on these applications is excessive. Understanding and knowing what your students are using and finding a way to use that knowledge to relay the dangers in terms they recognize and understand is a great place to start.

Below are resources that can be used to benefit you in your educational journey through implementing the  teaching of cyber safety and responsibility for students.

The Fact Sheet (written by our one and only prof Katia Hildebrandt and Dr. Alec Couros) is an excellent resource that is made for teachers. It identifies strategies that help in determining real news from fake news. The sheet can be found here.

The guide outlines the following ideas:

• Move beyond the traditional
• Prioritize helping students develop investigate techniques
• Teach students to identify bias.
• Bring real-world fake news examples that we encounter everyday into the classroom

You’re not going to believe what I’m about to tell you approaches the importance of education on cyber safety through an engaging and entertaining comic. This can be a fun way to connect to something that your students understand and like, while incorporating a lesson.

 

I spent my first time coding today using the Hour of Code, learning to set up the game Space Invaders.

Through the step-by-step process, you will learn to code all the basic functionalities:

• how to move left to right
• how to fire lasers with space key
• make enemies throw fireballs at random
• make the spaceship lose life when hit by a fireball
• add background music

When I heard about all of the things required to accomplish to finally reach a finished product, I didn’t think my narrow scope of tech would be enough to even get past the first step. However, I was pleased to be introduced to the resource through its virtual tour of the process in step by step format. That alone made the experience very user-friendly, which helped to get the ball rolling. As the codes become more familiar, your confidence in the skill will grow as well. This is a great tool to use in the classroom, even as a free-time activity, as students will be learning a new skill and have endless options to choose from that will fit their interests. Such as the following:

The website has coding for grades ranging from grades 2-9. This is great as it can be a familiar site for students from a young age, building their progress up as they go. I do believe that it is important for students to learn how to code as it is something that is progressively becoming an important skill to have in a society whose advancement in technology is rapid. Coding can introduce students to a skill or talent they didn’t know they had and present them with opportunities further down the line.