Beyond “Free”: A Critical Look at Coursera and OERs
Picture it: April 2020, roughly one month into our unprecedented global lockdown. Our heroine (ahem, me – it’s my story, so I get to be the protagonist) is going stir-crazy. Her then-undiagnosed ADHD flaring wildly, causing her to sometimes bounce off her home’s four walls. Anything for distraction, stimulation- Tiger King, Dr. Brené Brown podcasts,…
Likes, Lies, and Learning: An Educator’s Approach to Social Media
Like it or lump it, social media doesn’t seem to be going anywhere; unless you believe in the speculated Solar Maximum Internet Apocalypse of ’25. For the Gen Z and Alpha students we teach, Web 2.0 is embedded in how they interact, learn, and view the world. As educators, we can no longer merely acknowledge…
From the Mall to Discord: Our Transforming Third Spaces
“Let’s all go to the mall!” A common refrain in my ’90s childhood. From catching up with my friends at the food court, flipping through racks of CDs, and spending all my change at the arcade, my small-town boredom was often alleviated by strolls through the Frontier Shopping Centre. Fast-forward to the early 2000s: College…
Phones Down, Heads up: The Duality of Saskatchewan Schools’ Cell Phone Ban
For the last 16 years, I’ve worked for the same small Catholic school division, and during that time, I can’t recall its elementary schools not having a strict cell phone policy. Even before the recent Saskatchewan cell phone ban, my division strictly enforced the same policy: One strike, warning; two strikes, office for the day;…
A Tale of Two Social Medias
Ah, social media… It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of AI, it was the age of misinformation, it was the era of access, it was the era of isolation, it was the dawn of creativity, it was the rise of filters, it was the season…
The Case of Jekyll and Hyde: My Daily Struggle for Digital Literacy in a Fake World
Reflecting on my digital skills, navigating between reality and rhetoric often feels like a tale of two personas. By day, during the work week, with my family, I’m an advocate for balanced, informed tech use and digital literacy in our homes and schools. Yet, by night, on the weekends, alone, I must confess to being…
Media Literacy and the Algorithm “Behind the Curtain”
In the classic book and movie, The Wizard of Oz, Toto rips back the curtain for the big reveal: The so-called GREAT and POWERFUL OZ is just a stout, balding white male. It’s all been a ruse! The entity we believed was in control is something else entirely! In our media literacy class discussion this…
Reflections on Ribble’s Nine Elements, Two Trials and One Triumph
When I became a teacher, I was prepared to wear many hats – mentor, manager, motivator, counsellor, coach, and even social liaison (the list seems infinite). Technology was rapidly evolving; Smartboards were the latest “must-have” Edtech, and elite schools flaunted their solitary laptop cart. Despite my interest in these advancements, I had yet to acknowledge…