Off the Screen, Back Into the World
Allow Me to Introduce Myself…
My pronouns are she/her and I am honoured to live on Treaty 6 land. In the last 13 years, I have taught every grade from 1-12, and for the past 2.5 years, I have been the K-7 Online Learning Support Teacher (OLST) for the Light of Christ School Division. I am freshly returned to teaching middle years for 2022-23, while I continue to help educators with edtech curriculum and content creation. My family consists of my husband, Mark, two children, a polar bear (Great Pyrenees) named Tank, and – sadly – our recently departed mountain lion (cat) named AJ. My interests include creative writing, reading (largely fiction and personal growth), learning, hiking, travelling, my family, mental health, and environmental/social justice.
“Back In My Day…”
Photo by Skitterphoto on Pixabay
The powers-that-be (AKA: my students) have dubbed me a geriatric millennial, but I think I prefer xennial-on-the-cusp. The dubious title holds a wealth of experience with early educational technology. Strobing lights and flickering sounds of a classroom projector, alongside dying of dysentery a million times on the Oregon Trail, are some of my earliest educational memories. My elementary school was progressive enough to have a computer room simply to practice our wpm, but when I went to high school, typewriters remained the norm until Grade 10. Pshhkkrr-king-tshchchchch-ding-ding-ding, dial-up is a sound time does not forget; a necessary evil I endured while researching senior-level science projects and English essays. Registering for University classes blindly on the Registrar phone line….what could possibly go wrong? Technology and us…me? We’ve come a long way since those early Oregon Trail, Windows 95 days.
After the After(math)
Edtech and Me
In my first Graduate class, I wrote my first blog post, outlining the before and after(math) of educational technology during the pandemic years. Before the pandemic, my classroom heavily relied on technology to create student projects, but -in hindsight- I wonder if I unknowingly used tech for its own sake (mostly to seem current).
After spending 2.5 years as an Online Learning Support Teacher (OLST), isolated between four small walls and my face between four small points on a screen, something in my educational pedagogy shifted….a redefinition I still struggle to word. In my online time, navigating the digital divide was a daily struggle. Zoom, Edsby, TikTok, Flip, Peardeck, Kahoot, Blooket, Miro, etc. etc. etc.? What I finally understand is that all the programs, apps, platforms, and tech tricks can’t help without equitable access and human connection.
Returning to the classroom now, tech is interwoven seamlessly throughout my teaching day. From my classroom 3D printer to Zooms with Indigenous Saskatchewan artists, edtech provides amazing opportunities for my students (and me) to connect to learning on a deeper level. My edtech and teaching pedagogy is more purposeful now, revealing a silver lining in my post-pandemic online world.
Photo by mohamed_hassan on Pixabay
Drop a line and share…
- What were your early experiences with edtech? Do you feel it shapes how you use/don’t use technology in the classroom now?
- Tell me someone out there mastered the Oregon Trail!?!
- Do you see a clear distinction between your technology use before and after the pandemic? Have we become too reliant on edtech now? Or perhaps adverse to it due to overuse in the last 2.5 years?
8 Comments
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Hi Kimberly,
My mom is also named KimberlEy, and also hates being called Kimmy.
First I want to commend you on your dial up sound. “Pshhkkrr-king-tshchchchch-ding-ding-ding” I can hear this loud and clear. You nailed it!
To answer your third question, I’m still struggling to re-cover from the pandemic. Prior to the pandemic I worked at a typical high school where I worked really hard to include new and current tech games and activities in my classroom. In February 2020 I accepted a contract at Adult Campus (18-21 year old students). These students were unsuccessful in traditional high schools and were all working towards their Adult 12 diploma. When we were sent home I had to completely re-invent my teaching and materials. Most of our students did not have computers, wifi, or really any means of completing online work. I had to go backwards and turn everything into paper and work booklets! Now I often feel far behind because while other teachers were learning new online resources and tools I was doing the exact opposite. I remember my first class in January 2021 EC&I831 the first day we did a Jamboard. I think I was the only person who didn’t know what a Jamboard was!
Blogging is also 100% new to me, but I like a challenge. So hopefully I did this right!
I’ll be stopping in often, I really enjoyed your post.
Nikki
Hi (again) Nikki,
Thought I’d respond to this on here rather then the post I wrote on your blog.
Yours is a different experience than most for sure – but there remains a large portion of teachers in my division resistant to technology. It sounds like you’ve struck a great balance of understanding the purpose of tech as a tool while acknowledging the need for balance. Thanks for taking the time to read and respond.
Hi Kimberly! I would love to answer your last question because I think that my experience might be different from some other folks. During the pandemic my technological wizardry skills increased tenfold. I was pulling out all the stops and felt that I had done an excellent job at becoming the teacher from the not-too-distant future. When we returned to regular teaching in the classroom I carried over a lot of my distance education habits (thinking I was ‘enhancing learning’). One day I as an off hand remark I asked some of my grade 11 students (who had worked with me pre-pandemic in grade 9) what they thought of Mr. Fehr 2.0. They were shockingly honest. Many of them missed when I was up at the whiteboard joking around and drawing cartoons. They said the gadgets were fine, but they missed the way school was before the pandemic. They felt as if their teachers were still far away even though we were in the room. Now, I have reverted back to a lot of old school instructional techniques because it allows for more relationship building. I haven’t abandoned tech per se, but I have relegated it to a “sometimes food” like cookies.
Hi Matthew! I love that – Mr. Fehr 2.0. My experience was similar – I did end up thriving online – which is why they offered me the OLST position. Just like your students though, mine always come back to personal connections before tech in the classroom. It’s actually encouraging to see. Yes – just like sometimes cookies! 😉 Thanks for taking time to read and reply.
I really enjoyed reading your post and I appreciate all of your links!
I think there has been a big change in using technology pre-pandemic and now. Some good changes, but some are not so good. I think I use technology a lot more and have some great resources for my students. However, I find that it can be difficult to keep my students focused without the use of technology. They love doing projects and using computers ( which I don’t mind since it’s skills they need for the future) but there needs to be a balance. I also think teachers need to be more aware of digital citizenship and teach their students how to use technology properly.
Thanks Megan!
I agree with you – some pros and cons for sure….and I definitely feel like a circus entertainer trying to hold their attention sometimes. Digital citizenship, as you said, is of the utmost importance and I always start my school year focusing on those concepts.
Thanks for reading and responding!
Hi Kim!
Kudos for putting the dialup tone/sound into words (or letters hahah)! I was very impressed ?. It is no easy task.
I guess some of my earliest memories with technology came from home. My dad loved buying every new gadget that would come on the market that had to do with electronics/technology (he still does haha). My mom loved being up to date with computers and the newest software available and she always passed on that enthusiasm to me (the things that woman can do with Excel is AMAZING!). My aunt – who is also a French Immersion teacher at O’Neill – loves incorporating technology into her teaching. She’s always wanting to try out new apps/software and she’s one of the first people I turn to when I’m wanting to research a new tech tool to use with my students. So, I guess to answer your question, I have been surrounded by technology ever since I can remember.
Looking forward to collaborating with you this semester!
Hi Valeska,
I am always impressed by someone who excels at Excel (terrible pun! Sorry!). But seriously – I remember having to create a budget in Grade 11 using the earliest form of Excel – it was painful then for me…..and still is! You have certainly been surrounded by a love for technology from an early age, and it sounds pretty amazing. Thanks for sharing!