From Chalkboards to VR headsets

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This week classmates Haneefat, Ayodele, and Jason shared resources and information about the use of Virtual Reality (VR) in education. Josh mentioned in his blog, reflecting the era of smartboards, and I had thought the same thing. When hearing about the use of VR in the classroom, I thought back to the various new technologies that have appeared over the years. I remember having the days where we went to the “computer lab” and learned how to use Paint. Then this transformed to learning about using PowerPoint or other various Microsoft programs. I remember waiting for the internet dial up to connect, then getting to use Messenger to chat with friends. Next was moving away from chalk boards to white boards, followed by a course in University about using a smart board. I taught using a smart board for my first 5 years of teaching and thought I wouldn’t be able to go back! However, as they broke down, the cost of upkeep and software updates meant they were no longer being replaced. Now fast forward, and we have iPads, chrome books… and VR?

Computer lab in 2003 : r/Zillennials

I enjoyed the way that our classmates presented their research as the positives and the negative aspects of VR in education. As someone who has never actually tried VR and only just heard about them or have seen videos of people using them, it was interesting to hear the different perspectives.

When thinking of my own reflection on the pro’s and con’s of using VR, I thought of:

Pros:

  • Provides opportunity or experiences that students may otherwise not have had a chance to do – possibly due to safety (ie science experiments) or cost or access (ie virtual field trips)
  • Engages and motivates students – I think with anything new and exciting such as VR would keep students engaged. However, thinking of my own personal class right now, anytime I mention we have an activity or assignment involving the iPads they are PUMPED, so would it need to be something as extravagant as VR to engage students? Unlikely.
  • Personalized education – The chapter shared by Jason titled How Emerging Technologies are Transforming Education and Research: Trends, Opportunities, and Challenges explains that the use of AI or VR could help personalize education to allow students to learn about topics of interest and provide accommodations as needed.

Cons:

  • Cost – Thinking back to my reflection about SmartBoards, the big issue there was that as they broke down, they were no longer being replaced. We are seeing this already even just with our chrome books and iPads. The money is simply not there for the upkeep. I think to have VR in a classroom/school be meaningful, you would need more than one headset which is costly. Those costs could easily be used for other resources or materials that could benefit a larger portion of the students.
  • Accessibility – Again, thinking of the software, internet, and access to VR is huge. Most days teachers struggle with having inconsistent internet and wifi use in the classroom, so I would imagine the infrastructure needed to successfully use VR could be challenging.
  • Privacy and Security – As I have been digging into the various privacy concerns of other apps in schools, as well as what privacy policies look like within our division, there may be some concerns with the overall privacy and security (although I haven’t actually looked into it all).

Computer Vision in AR and VR - The Complete 2025 Guide - viso.ai

From this, I personally do not think the classroom is the best place to use VR. I think the idea is really neat and there are some good potential uses for it. What are your thoughts?

Digital literacy, beyond the classroom.

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Andrea and Dustin presented this week on how we can foster a culture of lifelong learning in digital citizenship that extends beyond the classroom. The article provided by Andrea, Empowering the Future: How Digital Literacy in Schools is Shaping the Next Generation, discussed the importance of digital literacy in school for reasons such as

  • preparing students for the digital world – this has become a common theme throughout our discussions. We know students are surrounded by technology and digital media.
  • numerous benefits and skills to prepare for the workforce  such as understanding how to communicate and collaborate, access a wealth of information, and potentially coding and programming skills.

The article provided by Dustin, Digital Literacy: The Most Valuable Tool for Lifelong Learning also highlights the importance of digital literacy skills in your professional life, such as

  • Digital etiquette
  • Digital security
  • Project collaboration

As discussed in a previous week, when integrating digital literacy skills into our teaching, we should be looking at ways to incorporate those lessons and skills into what we are already teaching, vs a stand alone unit or lesson. This fosters the idea of life long learning by providing project based experiences in whatever subject it may be, where students can use the digital tools. I think this ties into the work by Wes Fryer and his various projects he has shared.

When thinking about lifelong learning in digital literacy, I personally am not sure simply adding it into our curriculum is enough – because we’ve mentioned it before – I think the amount of stuff on teachers’ plates as is may mean that they skip over those digital literacy skills, or maybe they do not have the resources readily available. Maybe it is also a technology equitability piece that is difficult to navigate. Either way – teachers are not and cannot be the only solution (in my opinion).

“Digital literacy education is a collaborative effort that involves not only schools but also parents and the wider community. Parents play a crucial role in supporting and reinforcing digital literacy skills at home.”

This quote was taken from this weeks article Empowering the Future: How Digital Literacy in Schools is Shaping the Next Generation as they describe ways in which the parents and community can support digital literacy skills. Thinking of my own experience this past week, I had to reach out to parents regarding sharing of passwords for our classes Epic! accounts. Although it may be minor as its ‘just Epic!’ (Epic! is an online reading app with lots of books for students to read), even after having discussions with my students about the importance of passwords (I used parts of the commonsense grade 3 lesson on passwords) we were still struggling with this. I think it is important to provide resources to parents as well to help them support digital literacy skills – we do it with reading and writing? why not for the digital world? 

AI – The dragon, or the Knight?

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This week our classmate Taylor Zerr shared information around the challenging topic of AI, and analyzing the ethics and morals when using ChatGPT. Taylor opened her presentation stating that AI is scary, which I found myself nodding in agreement with. When asked to think about AI at the beginning of this course, I too found myself thinking it was this scary, unknown technological advancement that was going to take over the world…. Do I still think it is scary? Yes. However, after spending the time throughout this course thinking critically about AI, learning more about how it truly works, and how there are benefits to us, I can feel my opinion on AI slowly changing.

Share Your Thoughts on the Future of AI! | Elektor Magazine

Image from Elektor Magazine

In the Ted Talk titled “Cheating or Learning? Walking the AI tightrope in education”, Eric Winerö discusses the concept of AI being “the dragon or the knight” when looking at AI use in education and if it is considered cheating. Teaching in the primary end, I cannot say I have had much experience with students using AI with their assignments or that it is a concern… yet. However, as I navigate my new role as a student again, as well as how I am using AI as a teacher, the main ideas presented in this video combined with the discussion questions in class have helped me gain a better understanding of the various ethical ways in which we can be using AI.

Learning loss? 

One aspect of Eric Winerö’s video that stuck with me, was that we need to recognize that learning involves overcoming obstacles, and that when we use AI to generate our product, we risk losing out on valuable learning opportunities. I liked his example of how teachers use AI to assess.  He explains that although it is tempting to simply push a button and have assignments assessed for us, a vital part of being a teacher is recognizes and being aware of the mistakes our students are making, which is often found when assessing manually.

Does that mean I think AI should not be used by teachers for assessment? Of course not. There are ways to use AI to help build rubrics, provide clarity of curricular outcomes, or providing formative feedback when time is limited, but I think the critical piece here is that we are taking the time to actually review was is being provided by AI and thinking critically whether the information accurately depicts what we were are wanting.

Chris Kennedy shared a video on his blog of teachers sharing their experience using AI (Magic School) in their classroom. This was a great way to see some more practical examples of how teachers are using AI in the classroom, but also the various levels in which teaching are using it.

Model, model, model! 

We know the concept of using AI in the classroom is complex as it depends on the context in which it is being used and will also differ between teachers. Thinking of my own experience in the classroom, I’m a firm believer of modeling and explicitly teaching everything to our students, right down to how they should be behaving in the classroom. This applies to use of technology in the classroom and how to appropriately use its features, including AI. I accidently fell into the assumption that because I have grade 3/4 students, they must know how to use iPads, because they are the ‘iPad kids’ or the ones who have been around technology their entire lives. I was rudely shaken from my unrealistic expectation when over half of my class did not even know how to turn it on. It made me realize my own assumptions with technology use and digital skills for students. This ties to the use of AI in the classroom in that we need to model how to use it ethically, such as showing students appropriate prompts to use, asking those critical questions when evaluating the content, and working through those processes together.

My takeaway

If you’ve made it this far, thank you for reading my scattered collection of thoughts regarding AI in the classroom. My main takeaway is that the use of AI in the classroom can be meaningful and promote ethical uses, if we take the time to acknowledge our own use, model and include the students in the process, and be clear with expectations.

Fake News: Navigating Truth in a World of Misinformation

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The concept of Fake News has been around for centuries, as described by classmate Anna in her video Can We Still Trust What We See and Hear?, yet I am willing to admit that I don’t remember hearing much about Fake News and its challenges until around 2016 – likely due to the American election. Of course, as the pandemic arrived, we were inundated with more fake news. Reflecting on my past self, during the pandemic I made the decision to simply stop watching all news. At that time, I unfollowed EVERY single news page I followed on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. I refused to turn on the news simply because I felt I couldn’t figure out which news to trust and which news was “fake news”. After learning more about Fake News this week, I am aware of where my own actions could have changed, and am better aware of what term “Fake News” means.

Image from https://www.flaticon.com/free-sticker/fake-news_11474080

Fake News – What is it?

In the article provided by Lisa, Fake News Bias, I learned that the term Fake News is often being used, although it may not necessarily mean the same thing. The term “misinformation” has been more present (at least I’ve noticed it more on my social media platforms), however I was never truly aware of the various types of fake news.

The article breaks down disinformation and misinformation as follows:

From my own personal experience, I feel as though I have experienced seeing, reading, and unfortunately been someone who shared misinformation (damn you, facebook posts!) in the past. I think this is easier for my to identify and be aware of, especially in the social media world. I usually think of some of the questions discussed last week:

  • What is the purpose of this post?
  • Who is sharing it?
  • Is it relevant or recent?

Also tying it back to being a visitor or resident makes a difference. For me, I am a resident with Facebook and have watched it change and develop over the years. I am usually pretty quick to notice those misinformation posts being spread. However, on a platform that I am unfamiliar with, I may not have that same experience and know what to be looking for.

Chris shared this infographic in his video Fake News and How We Combat It. which is a great visual to see the many types of misinformation. The article Chris provided reminds us how important media literacy and digital literacy skills are when combating Fake News. “Research from the RAND Corporation and others shows media and information literacy improves critical thinking, awareness of media bias, and the desire to consume quality news—all of which help beat back misinformation. Even brief exposure to some training can improve competencies in media literacy, including a better understanding of news credibility or a more robust ability to evaluate biases.” (Lord & Vogt, 2021)

Lisa discussed in her video this week the concept of confirmation bias and the ‘filter bubble’. When researching media literacy skills last week, understanding algorithms is an idea that is quickly being added into many resources.  I remember using TikTok during the pandemic thinking “I don’t know what I clicked on to get my ‘for you’ page to this… I have to change my algorithm!” But realistically I had no idea what is actually was or how it was influencing my social media world.

How aware are you of the algorithms on platforms you use, and do you think a better understanding of algorithms would help combat fake news?

 

**Use of ChatGPT: Once again, I have used ChatGPT for a blog title. It just generates much more intriguing titles than I can come up with.

The Ongoing Relevance of Media Literacy in a Digital Age

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This week our guest speaker was Andrew McLuhan. He brought forward the work of Marshall McLuhan and discussed the 4 laws to media. Understanding the history behind media and how we have come to media literacy or digital citizenship studies helps to see where we may be headed, as well. The 4 laws to media were as follows:

  1. Enhance: enhances some human function.
  2. Obsolesce: obsolesces a previous way of achieving that function.
  3. Reverse: When pushed to the limits, new media will reverse it’s original characteristic.
  4. Retrieve: The new media brings back some features of earlier media.

I think these 4 laws of media are the starting point of a much more complex understanding of media but important to remember when looking at media literacy and what it means to be media literate in today’s world. For instance, when looking deeper at some examples of these 4 laws in a way I could better understand or in a way I could connect better, I found an article that provided some examples when looking at social media:

  • Enhance: online connections and non-local friendships; the image of the user of the social media site.
  • Obsolesce: face-to-face socialization and real life.
  • Retrieve: long distance correspondence; Narcissus and masquerade.
  • Reverses: into social isolation; online virtual life and socializing; fake identities and fake news.

We can see that McLuhan’s work continues to be relevant in today’s society with the rapid growth of technology and media. With that rapid growth comes the importance of teaching media literacy and understanding the media we are seeing.

Image from https://www.niallmcnulty.com/2021/06/why-is-media-literacy-important/

This week’s catalyst content was provided by myself and classmate Kelsey. From both resources provided, we can see the Media Literacy it a broad concept, or an umbrella term, with many pieces to it. From my research, it was apparent that media literacy skills are crucial in today’s world with the ever developing media and technology, spread of misinformation, and our overall lack of critical thinking skills. When looking through resources and various articles, I was trying to find more recent resources. Many I found were from 2020 or earlier, and although the content provided would still be relevant, I felt that media continues to change quickly, and our media literacy skills may be falling behind.

Consistent across most resources found, was the importance and ability to critically think about the media we are consuming. Media literacy educator Renee Hobbs states that there are five inter-related competencies that are now needed to participate in the digital world.

Access refers to technology skills such as keyboard, mouse and interface skills, understanding hyperlinking and digital space and using effective search and find strategies.

Analyze and evaluate refers to the ability to identify the author, purpose and point of view of a message; evaluate credibility and quality; and recognize and resist stereotypes.

Create and Collaborate refers to being able to brainstorm and generate ideas, work collaboratively to create messages using language, image, sound and digital forms like curation and remix, using feedback to edit and revise

Reflect involves examining the impact of media messages and technology tools on our thinking and actions in daily life.

Act refers to engaging in using digital and media in solving problems and at the same time take advantage of global connectivity.

Image from https://www.bathacademy.co.uk/2023/03/03/how-limiting-your-social-media-will-increase-your-productivity-2/

When I reflect on my own media literacy skills – or whether I feel I am a media literate person – I had always felt I was. However, after reading and learning about these various competencies, or even thinking about the questions when consuming media, I unfortunately think I fall into the middle ground. I have always found myself as not a strong critical thinker, and when thinking about media, I am not sure I truly take the time to think about what I am seeing, listening to, reading, etc. As highlighted in my video, there are lots of questions you could ask yourself when consuming media. There are questions geared towards understanding advertisements, news sources, social media content, and the list goes on.

As I know not everyone in the course is a teacher, I am curious about your own reflections:

If you have younger family members or friends, how do you think your media literacy skills can influence them?

 

**Use of ChatGPT: I am terrible at creating a blog title, so I used ChatGPT to help me come up with something! I actually didn’t like the 3 it generated for me and used a mash of them for my title.

 

 

Thank you for engaging in the discussion questions during our zoom (and for your patience with my lack of Zoom knowledge!). Here are the additional questions to reflect on:

Thinking about your media literacy skills when consuming news (our group started discussing this as well so maybe you already did):

Can you describe a time when you encountered information that seemed questionable? What steps did you take to verify its accuracy?

Thinking of your media literate skills from a social media perspective:

How has social media influenced your views on current events? Have you noticed any changes in your critical thinking as a result of your online interactions?

 

 

Digital Citizenship in Schools: Don’t Reinvent the Wheel

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How can schools integrate digital citizenship into existing curricula without it feeling like an ‘add-on’?

This was the topic presented by classmates Miranda, Jenni, and Allysia this week. Reflecting on my own digital citizenship – or any media instruction – in my current role as a grade 3/4 teacher, I have been guilty of having more “one-off” lessons or units, rather than embedding it throughout the various outcomes. This has become a goal of mine this year, and although I have been able to have a few conversations with my students regarding digital citizenship that has tied into what we are already learning, I have a long ways to go.

Miranda, Jenni and Allysia shared through their videos and the resources provided, that a barrier to teaching digital citizenship is the lack of integrated curriculum, or that teachers feel they need to reinvent the digital citizenship curriculum, however, as explained in the ISTE resource Embed Digital Citizenship in all subject areas, teachers can simply “hack” the outcomes, or integrate it to what we are already teaching.

Speaking of not “reinventing the wheel”, I was aware of resources such as common sense education, however if it was not for this course, I honestly am unsure if I would have dug deep into the various lessons to find those resources. Because digital citizenship is not at the forefront of our divisions strategic plan, as well as the new technology ‘ban’, I am curious if other educators are simply putting digital citizenship on the backburner for now. In order to teach these skills, educators also need to feel comfortable with digital/media skills. Could this be another barrier? Are teachers feeling unprepared to teach the resources? I hope in the future and with the revamping of curriculum outcomes that language around digital use and technology can be more embedded in the curriculum, so that we do not have to “hack” the outcomes, but instead it would be common practice. Maybe wishful thinking?

Thinking of my own practice, I always give myself “baby step” goals each year which usually align with our divisions strategic plan. For instance, Indigenous Content and embedding indigenous ways of teaching, history, and content has been one of our goals. Each year I have slowly been increasing my own experience and adding more into my teaching practice. I feel this will be the same with teaching digital citizenship. As I am becoming more comfortable understanding the various aspects, become more comfortable with resources and scope and sequences such as Ribble’s Digital Citizen Progression Chart, I am finding myself looking for ways to include digital citizenship into our everyday lessons.

Moving forward, I am looking forward to using Common Sense Education, delving into some of our health and ELA outcomes to see where I can incorporate digital citizenship, and supporting colleges with resources as well (I’ve shared quite a few of these resources already – I think they might be getting sick of me!). Thank you to the videos and resources provided, as they show it may be easier than we think to embed digital citizenship into our curriculum, it just means we need to be willing to adjust and take the time to do so.

“Unmasking Myself: Navigating Identity and Authenticity in a Digital World”

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Who am I? The concept of identity is challenging enough to wrap our heads around, before taking into account the digital world. Personally, I feel I have spent years trying to truly feel who I am as a person, and I wonder – has the digital world played a role in this journey, without me realizing it?

When thinking about how we approach the concept of identify in a digital world, our classmate Brittany shared the concept of digital identity, as described in the article The Illusion of Self in the Digital Age, that “our identity is becoming, or is already a fractured collective of who we are but also who we are or who we present ourselves to be on all the different platforms.”

To gain a better understanding, I decided to look into other interpretations of what digital identity means. A few other definitions I found was:

  • “A person’s digital identity is an amalgamation of any and all attributes and information available online that can bind a persona to a physical person.” (Forbes.com)
  • “A digital identity is a collection of information about a person that exists online. ” (Onfido.com)

From this, my understanding is that your digital identity begins with what you are sharing about yourself online and what can be found publicly.

Reflecting on my own digital identity: 

Growing up in the age when social media was just forming, I feel as though I have changed my online persona or identity multiple times throughout those years. From my super awkward song lyric slightly-emo high school posts, to my unfortunate images of my college partying days, to my beginning career era where I was overly cautious about what I was posting publicly. In the past, my online presence was primarily Facebook and has slowly expanded over the years.

As Dr. Couros described in our conversation, digital identity was previously explored with the fear tactic of “what you post will affect your job prospects” and this was the experience I have had. When in our small groups discussing Brittany’s questions about whether or not we post conscientiously on social media, I shared about my past experience with posting a funny (to me) meme about math homework (I can’t even remember if now!). I was pulled into the office the next day as someone made a complaint about it. From then on, I have been more cautious of who I have on my social media and what I am posting, however I do feel I have very different online presence depending on the platform. As Khalil Liouane described, with each platform and each mask, it could be shaping us as a whole, or it could simply be showing the different masks we wear. Personally, I think it contributes to me as a whole and that I have just recognized the audience to which each platform is for. 

Listening to the Social Media Ted Talk  provided by Josh had me reflecting about my own fragmented sense of identity, where I would change my online identity to match what may be trending or seen as more acceptable. However, I think as I am getting older, this has definitely slowed down or stopped (I am very NOT on trend with the current slang words, fashion trends, or following ‘popular’ people… is this just a part of getting older? Or have I developed a stronger sense of who I am and not influenced as easily?). There is a sense of belonging that comes with the online identity. I am guilty of feeling as though I know someone, even though I simply follow them on instagram, yet have never met them. On the flip side to that, I am not sure that’s always a negative thing?  

Is it authentic? Is it trending? Is it just to get a “rise” or followers or reach a certain limit? These are a few other thoughts I have when thinking about my own digital identity and how I am influenced by others, created more fragmented sense of identity.

Moving Forward

After reading the article and listening to the Ted Talk provided by Brittany and Josh, it has made me realize that I need to check in with myself on my own digital identity and what I am sharing online. I remember times of thinking “am I posting too often? Should I make a schedule for my posts? Does this sound like ME?” I am recognizing that the concept of identity in a digital world is much more complex with many pieces playing a role. I often find myself taking a “step back” from social media to “find myself” again, which makes me worry for our students who are truly growing up without necessarily having the opportunity to discover who they are first, without the digital world.

My final takeaway:

Just like many aspects of the digital world, I feel the concept of identity is growing and changing, as we see technology grow and change. I do fear children and teens are influenced by what is seen on media and that it is shaping their identity – not always for the best. I wonder how me, as a teacher, especially in the younger years, can help educate students on the reality of social media (not everything you see is true, can be a highlight reel etc.) and how to encourage students to continue being their authentic self.

 

Use of AI: I did use ChatGPT to help me create a catchy title for this blog post. 

Leaving my comfort zone: Giving AI a try.

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This will be part 1 of my blogs this week, as I wanted to do a follow up to my previous post.

When first reading about AI and learning more about the various types, I was still quite skeptical and hesitant to really cross over from the fear side. However, since discussing it more as a class, and actually spending some more time discussing it with other colleagues, I think I am slowly leaving my comfort zone and seeing the many possibilities of using AI.

Screen Image from https://loudme.ai/

I was quite intrigued when learning about LoudMe or other song generating AI. This past week I attended a literacy PD for our division, where we were reminded that we need to be including songs, poems, etc. into our literacy instruction when possible. I am not a musically gifted human being aside from singing in my car when no one is around, so LoudMe sounded like a perfect opportunity to see what we could come up with!

Image from Maths With Mum blog https://www.mathswithmum.com/skip-counting-by-3/

To start, I thought about a few concepts I would be covering in the upcoming weeks and decided on generating a song for skip counting by 3’s.

Prompting generative AI takes practice, as I am learning, so I tried a couple different ones. It wouldn’t create a rap song for me, which I think the kids would have thought was fun, but did generate two different pop type songs. I will attempt to link them here if you wish to listen.

Attempt #1

Attempt #2

I was going to try some more prompts but realized this could be a fun activity to actually do WITH my class and choose a song they want to use. We will see how that goes!

  As part of my personal journey into media, I have been learning about and using the app Threads. I’ll share more information from Threads later on, but what I have noticed is the amount of teachers or educators who have been sharing ChatGTP or AI tips and tricks. I have ‘followed’ some and have some of the posts saved to give a try at a future date. I have found my overall perspective shifting this week and would like to continue trying Chat GPT or other generative AI platforms in the future.

Another realization I had this week, is that the school division I work in has created a few AI Professional Development opportunities as well. I was starting to wonder when we would start hearing more about it from the division level in regards to expectations, assessments, or accountability, and it looks like they are starting to provide that information.

We also have our Teachers Convention coming up, where I registered for “AI – Helping Teachers Teach”. I am looking forward to learning more about how it can be beneficial and going to try and go in with an open mind, while letting some of my concerns or fears regarding AI take the back burner for a bit. Don’t get me wrong – they are still there – but I’ll admit I need to extend my knowledge.

Thanks for reading!

Kathleen

 

“AI will not be stopped.” My limited understanding and exploration.

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The emergence of AI…. A topic I know very little about and seem to spin around in circles trying to find where I stand on the topic and how it could benefit me as an educator.  I think we can all agree that AI is not going anywhere, so I suppose its time to buckle up and learn about it.

“AI will not be stopped. ” – Mo Gawdat

Reflecting on the readings this week:

After taking time to read more about what exactly AI is, I have a slightly better understanding that it has been around us for more than we probably were aware. Examples such as having amazon predict items you may like, or using google. Personally I had not thought deeper in thinking with was AI.

I was aware there were different types of AI and the different pathways and processes those AI use. Thank you Dean, as well as the video Generative AI in a nutshell for presenting AI in a way that was a bit more understandable. That being said, I want to spend more time looking into AI and understanding the risks and benefits.

Giving ChatGPT a try:

During our zoom, I rated myself as a 0 when it came to using AI, which in hindsight was a bit lower… I’m probably more of a 1 or 2 (still not that impressive, I know). Previously I tried using ChatGPT in a small amount to help create report card comments. I had followed a teacher turned entrepreneur who posted this video that gave some information about using Chat GPT

At the time, I thought it was amazing (it still can be helpful) but we were also quickly shut down by admin/division office about using Chat GPT for report cards. To be honest, I never pushed back and truly questioned them as to why, but chalked it up to “oh well, glad I didn’t spend too much time using it!”

Fast forward a year or so later and I really hadn’t given Chat GPT or AI another shot…. until now. This weekend I was creating my morning slides for my class, where we have a different attendance question each day. I usually try to make my slides a month at a time, so thinking of questions can be a bit tricky. Here’s how I used chat gpt to help:

(Sorry if the image is really blurry – I’m not sure what is going on)

From this experience, I can see that Chat GPT could be quite helpful with certain aspects of teaching, such as helping to create new ideas, maybe help with lesson plans (although I’m not sure how well they would connect to the curriculum outcomes? Might be worth a try!), helping to phrase things, etc.

On the flip side….

Image from  The Future of Human Being

Deep down, I still have many questions and concerns about the impact of AI on society, especially with its insane speed of development. Of course I have many concerns around privacy and how exactly it is being used. I do feel like people are quick to think AI is “taking over the world” without maybe knowing all the risks involved or without learning how to use AI is a less risky way?

Looking at all the fake news and deep fake videos out there is also quite concerning. As we discussed in our zoom, those deep fake videos could create quite a disruption to society should they be used in a malicious way, spreading misinformation, impersonating others, etc. With so many limitations, as described in The Top 10 limitations of Chat GPT I feel that we still have a ways to go with finding just the right balance between productive  use and harmful use.

I also fear that with AI developing SO quickly, could it eventually start taking away jobs or roles we as humans have? I had a student last year tell me “Ms. Guest, why do we have teachers when we can just learn everything from tik tok?” I mean, he wasn’t completely wrong…. Maybe he was wrong in assuming tik tok is the best place to gather information… BUT, with AI continuing to be more intelligent and a more readily accessible form of information…. Is it a threat to society in that way?

The takeaway: 

I think AI has its place in the world and is here to stay. I think as educators it could be quite helpful when looking at our overall work load and creating new ideas. I absolutely have my doubts and fears about what is to come from using AI and how it will be used in general. I keep thinking to myself “I teach primary grades, I don’t have to worry about this as a teacher” in regards to students using AI, however I need to shift my thinking and also think “how can I help prepare them for the world of AI as they grow older?”

Thanks for reading!

Kathleen

Understanding Digital Citizenship, Digging Deeper

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This week we had the pleasure of listening to Mike Ribble share his research and information to our class.

“Digital citizenship is the continuously developing norms of appropriate, responsible, and empowered technology use.” – Mike Ribble

There were many takeaways from Mike’s presentation, as well as the readings this week, but what stuck with me was the notion that it is continuously developing, as well as the idea of empowering others to do more using technology. I found myself nodding in agreement when Mike described the differences amongst students and their abilities. You will have those who use paper and pencil with no problems, and others who could show their knowledge in different ways. His question of “Are we ready as educators? Are we ready…to accept more of that and using that to be able to show how how we understand things…” really had me thinking of my own use of technology in the classroom.

Reflecting on my own teaching practices and experience, I feel as though I am treading in the shallow end when it comes to using technology in more meaningful ways with assignments. I have tried to provide opportunities for students to create videos, cartoon creations (Chatterpix is the one we’ve used the most – I’m sure there are better ones out there!), and voice recordings to share what they have learned, however I truly feel I only lightly touch on how to use that technology in an empowering way. I’m curious for those who are teaching the younger years (ie younger than middle school) on how you may be using technology in the classroom in a deeper way?

 

9 Elements of Digital Citizenship

Image from Socially Savvy

Reflecting on the 9 Elements of Digital Citizenship:

As I was learning about the 9 Elements, I realized that I have seen some – but not all – of these in action both at home as a parent and in the classroom.

Digital Access: A fun little fact about me is that I happened to be on maternity leave during the crazy covid year of online learning (or at least the heaviest part of it!), so I do not have the same experience as others when it comes to navigating and pivoting to the online teaching world. However, I was still teaching when schools initially closed and it was an eye opener to the realization that not everyone has the same access to technology. Even to this day, the expectation for parents and students to be using online platforms for communication with schools (ie Edsby, School Cash Online, etc) is concerning as we need to recognize that access to technology may not be the same.  On the flip side to that, does this new policy of no (outside) technology in the classroom help ensure everyone has equal access to technology provided by the school? Would it help with the divide amongst peers as to who has newest devices or not?

Digital Commerce: For this element, I cannot say I have seen it in action in the classroom at the level I teach, however I have heard of older grades using technology to explore banking and budgeting activities. The other day at home I did see a SaskTel Commercial that made me think of this element, where it shows how technology could help them in business or future paths.

Digital Communication and Collaboration: As described on the Digital Citizenship  website, “All users need to define how they will share their thoughts so that others understand the message.” This area I have seen in the classroom a variety of ways to help students communicate, such as using google read and write, speech to text, or translating apps for students who are struggling with language or reading/writing skills.

Digital Fluency: As part of my ELA instruction, we complete an “Advertisement” unit, where students look at various advertisements they see, and we discuss the good information given, poor information given that might just try to “hook” you in, and we also spend a lot of time identifying real life vs fake – for example, in GTA you can run people over… we don’t do that in real life.

Digital Health and Welfare: I think for me, personally, this is the one area I focus a large amount of my time monitoring and discussing with students, and my own child. As posted in my previous post , I spend a disturbing amount of time on my phone for no real reason (It’s getting better, I SWEAR!). As a mom this is something I have been more and more mindful about and have been trying to reduce screen time.

Image from Digital Citizenship

Integrating Ribble’s 9 elements: 

The digital citizenship progression chart, shared by Mike Ribble, is a fantastic resource to help us understand where and how to integrate the 9 elements. While digging into the elements more, I wondered if we did have a guide like this here in Saskatchewan that I maybe just wasn’t aware about, and sure enough I found this publication from the Government of Saskatchewan with an outline for REPS from K-12. I am guessing it is not the most up to date as it refers to REPS (Respect, Educate, Protect) as Mike Ribble said was from quite a while ago.  I’d be curious to see if or when updated resources like this would become available here.

As mentioned above, my digital experience as an educator is just beginning and I am hoping to use this progression chart as a way to organize and provide instruction in ways that move beyond Safety and Protection, but ways to empower students and use the digital world as a tool.

Thanks for reading!

Kathleen