This is my final post for EDTC300! I can’t believe the semester is over. I hope you enjoy my summary of learning video!
Here is the video transcribed:
During my time taking introduction to educational technology and media through the U of R, there have been many valuable things I have learned throughout. I will be able to use these skills in the future when I become a full time teacher. In the digital age we are in now, I think learning how to use technology to your advantage is very useful and efficient. In this video, I will provide a summary of all of the things I’ve learned and skills I have gained.
In this class we have talked about many various technology related topics. For example, we learned a lot about digital citizenship, and how to teach our students about what it looks like to be a good online citizen. Learning about the 9 elements of digital citizenship was very interesting to me. I grew up in a time where digital citizenship was already important, but was never taught these elements in school. Another topic we covered in this class was digital footprints. Not only did I learn how important it is to maintain a good digital footprint, I also learned what mine looked like as we participated in an activity where we looked our names up online. I was happy to see that mine included a lot of volleyball and honour roll related headlines. We also learned about digital literacy and how to distinguish fake news and trolls on the internet. We talked about how to combat fake news in the classroom, and one of the ways I enjoyed the most was playing games like “spot the troll”. I think that fun and memorable activities like these are the most effective ways to learn an important topic like digital literacy.
In this class we also learned to use online apps and resources to create digital content. One of the things I used this semester that I hadn’t before TikTok to try and make a video. There were a lot of steps that I had to practice, but I found it fun. I also heard of canva for the very first time during this class from some of my classmates. I haven’t done much experimenting with it yet, and that’s why I decided to use it to make this video along with imovie. This class also taught me about AI sources and how to use them in beneficial ways. I learned about a program called Magic School that I am very excited to use in the future. There is so much it can do like creating worksheets and lesson plans, I didn’t know about this program going into the class but I am so glad I have learned about it. I know these skills will be very useful for me when creating lesson content for my future classrooms.
The main online resource I learned to use through this class was the online blogging platform called edusites. I have used it to build an online personal portfolio that I will add onto as the years come and go. Customizing my blog platform and getting to make it look exactly how I like is something I have really enjoyed this semester. As a class we have done weekly blog posts to share our learning with others, and have conversations about it. There are pages on my blog that showcase my learning so far, share resources and tell others a little bit about me. This class has taught me the importance of having this digital portfolio, as it is somewhere potential employers can learn about me, and somewhere other teachers can interact with me and collect resources.
In this class we also participated in a learning project activity. This activity had the main goal of learning a skill through online sources. I decided to learn how to do clay art, something I had been interested in trying for so long. Even though I learned a lot about clay, I also learned so much more. For example, I learned just how many online resources were available for people, and also how to find and use them to my advantage. Staying connected to my classmates through online platforms like blogs and discord was really helpful through this project, as I was able to see what kind of resources they were using and learn from those as well.
Online blogs take me to my next point. Possibly one of the most important things I have taken away from this class is the digital community aspect of the class. Creating online communities and relationships is becoming more and more important as our world adapts to the changing times. In this class specifically, we have created an online community through our blog platforms and discord. It was easy to ask questions and give encouragement to my classmates through this. Knowing how to create these relationships online and learn from each other is definitely going to prove to be helpful for us future and current teachers. For me, learning how to create a blog, share resources, and help each other out on our digital platforms is one of my greatest takeaways from this course.
I think this is one of the most valuable courses I have taken to date. Not only is it something I can use in my future profession, but in everyday life too. As we enter an age that is even more digital than it is currently, it is important that we know how to be good online citizens and use technology to our advantage. This class has done just that and I would recommend it to anyone!