Throughout the semester I was able to interact with my classmates online and have meaningful conversations in discussion groups on zoom and through our blog posts.

In class discussion, I don’t necessarily love speaking out in front of the large group unless I am truly passionate about a topic. However in the small group discussions I am always an active participant. I found that I had something to offer to my classmates as I have been a practicing teacher for five years, while many are still in their undergraduate studies at the U of R. A conversation that was memorable to me was when we were discussing ways to use technology in the classroom. Although many of the ideas brought up in our small group were great, I was able to share through my experience of the reality of how to implement technology with limited resources. Ideas a great in theory, but how are you able to adapt your lesson when there are 8 iPads for 29 kids? Another conversation that stands out in my mind are the discussions around digital identity and what we posted online as teens versus us being professional adults in the workforce. This was a bit of controversial topic as we had a deep discussion over the idea of if we have the right to have elements of our digital footprint forgotten or if we can be possibly “cancelled” over something we posted in our past (either recent or long term). As teachers we are held to a different standard and always have to be smart about what we share online.

Blogging was something completely new and out of my comfort zone. I don’t often like to post about what my inner thoughts on any social media platforms, especially when you have to be careful as an educator as to what you are sharing. So having to share my thoughts about topics and allow my classmates to comment was a little uneasy. Luckily, we were in a group of supportive students who are willing to give positive and uplifting feedback. I tried to reciprocate the positive comments I was given on my blog onto the posts of my classmates on their blogs. Click here to view some of the evidence of my interactions on my classmates’ blogs.

 

AI is new to the digital world and is changing education. I haven’t tried any AI tools until we were assigned with this task and I am so glad that I did. I am eager to use AI when I return to my classroom in the fall.

How can AI engage students in learning?

• AI can personalize learning to an individual’s learning needs by altering assigned work appropriately
• Assist with EAL students as they learn English
• Be a tool for writing assistance such as brainstorming, grammar help, prompts, etc.
• Act as a tutor and help with step-by-step problems

How can AI support the use of critical thinking and creativity in the classroom?

• Help students explore topics of interest through inquiry based learning
• Prompt discussions and provide scenarios for students to engage with
• Allow students opportunity to justify their reasoning and consider other points of view
• Provide feedback and reflection upon student work

AI can assess student understanding through various methods, such as:

• essay evaluation
• multiple choice quizzes
• interactive problem solving
• question and answer

What are some ethical and practical challenges with using AI?

• With the use of AI comes ethical challenges like bias, discrimination, autonomy, and moral responsibility. In class, we discussed how when we ask AI to generate images of different people it produces images of stereotypes. AI can come up with inconclusive and/or misguided evidence when it is uncertain of its knowledge, but still provides you with an answer. For users it is important to note that AI cannot be credited for everything it gives you as correct or accurate.

What is my perspective of AI in Education?

• I think AI can be utilized and it will be utilized lots in the world of education. If it is a tool that we have at our fingertips, why not learn how to use it correctly and to our advantage? If we educate students on the proper use of AI and how it can assist us in learning then we can teach them to not only be smart with AI but they can be aware of the ethical and practical challenges it has.
• I know that teachers and professors around the globe have been trying to figure out how to get around plagiarism and AI. As we continue on life with AI being a part of our digital world, I am intrigued as to how schools are planning to assess students who have potentially used AI to assist with their assignments (or do their assignments completely for them). There are ethical challenges in users who have had AI assist them work that will be evaluated, but how can it be caught?

There are so many questions arise as the use of AI becomes more popular. Check out this article about AI and plagiarism at the University of Manitoba is increasing as more students are turning to AI for support. The video below explains what the student union of U of M is saying about the use of AI at the university. If AI becomes heavily relied on to complete assignments, will there be any actual learning happening? Will you be able to survive in your field of work after schooling? I guess we will see it all play out very soon.

I was intrigued by the article discussing having multiple online identities being more common than we think. I find this true in knowing that I have an account on Facebook and an account on Instagram. My audiences for both platforms are different from one another. My Facebook is more for childhood friends, hometown community members, and family, whereas my Instagram is geared towards friends and audiences of people who are my age (with some overlap). What I share on Facebook, isn’t necessarily what I would share to my Instagram and vice versa. With this I choose who my audience is to see my post. I am not someone who has multiple online identities but I understand why people do. It is all about selecting your audience and sharing what you want to share with the right group of people. Think of having oral conversations with groups of people within your life. What I share with you may not be what I want to share with my family or my one group of friends versus another.

It is also important as we are on social media to know that what we see at face value isn’t always what is happening behind the scenes, just like a Split Image. With mental health being not as taboo of a conversation that it once was, we know that online platforms can tell a story of what we want our audiences to see. Using our social media we can paint a picture of what we want our lives to look like and share it with acquaintances or strangers. Does what we post online need to be truthful to how we are feeling and what we are experiencing? No. And that is how it is for so many of us. If I want to feel like I live this lavish lifestyle of always being out on the town and hanging out with my friends, then I can create an Instagram or Facebook profile that shows exactly that and only that. I also think of the Netflix series: Inventing Anna. For those of you who don’t know Anna creates a persona of who she truly wants to be and posts on her Instagram about her life, claiming she is a German heiress wanting to launch a member’s only club called the Anna Delvey Foundation. The show represents how you can create yourself to be anyone you want to be by believing it and posting it, but this does not tell the whole story or necessarily any truths.

Jon Ronson discusses how one tweet can ruin your life. He shared the story of of Justine Sacco making a racist tweet about the possibility of getting aids on her trip in Africa. During the flight, her tweet took over all of twitter becoming the number one trending topic worldwide. Justine’s tweet resulted in her being shamed online, but went further into her life by losing friends/family, losing her job, and diminishing her mental health. What she thought was humours hit a nerve with many people… again know your audience. Maybe her inner thought should have been a text to a friend, still getting the satisfaction of a giggle without it being made public.

So now here is the question… Do you have the right to have elements of your digital footprint be forgotten? I find this quite controversial. Some people forgive, some people forget, but that doesn’t apply to everyone. You decided to post it, so deal with the consequences. Or should people allow for second chances and give people the benefit of the doubt. This is not how the digital world works, so we need to be careful about what we share wether it be about our beliefs, political standpoints, our humour, etc.

So as educators how we can live by this standard knowing that a post we possibly made as a teenager can hurt our futures in the workforce? How can we teach and protect youth in our schools from public shaming and having them fully understand about the masses that their digital footprints can be?

 

This week we were tasked with finding approachable ways to teach digital literacy to the students of our specific grade range. Given that I teach grades one and two, I took a dive into the curriculum to make connections as well as find ways that I could teach digital literacy appropriately for their ages.

The Saskatchewan Curriculum ELA document indicates that “text is any form of communication, whether visual, oral, written, or multimedia (including digital media)…” I used the term multimedia to help with my search throughout the curriculum in all subjects for grade one and two to make connections. Here is what I found:

Grade 1 Outcomes

CR1.1 Comprehend and respond to a variety of grade-level texts (including contemporary and traditional visual, oral, written, and multimedia) that address identity, community, and social responsibility.

CR1.2 View and comprehend the explicit messages, feelings and features in a variety of visual and multimedia texts (including pictures photographs, simple graphs, diagrams, pictographs, icons, and illustrations).

CC1.1 Compose and create a range of visual, multimedia, oral and written texts that explore ad present thoughts on identity, community, and social responsibility.

• e. Use inquiry to explore a question or topic of interest related to the themes and topics being studied:
  – answer questions using visual, multimedia, oral, and print sources

Grade 2 Outcomes

CR2.1 Comprehend and respond to a variety of grade-level texts (including contemporary and traditional visual, oral, written, and multimedia) that address identity, community, and social responsibility.

CR2.2 View and explain (with support from the text) the key literal and inferential ideas (messages), important details, and how elements (such as colour, layout, medium and special fonts) enhance meaning in grade appropriate visual and multimedia texts.

• a. View and demonstrate comprehension of grade-appropriate visual and multimedia texts including multimedia clips, signs, illustrations, diagrams, photographs, graphs, simple charts, and posters.
• d. Obtain information from different media (e.g., multimedia clips, websites, video clips, magazine photographs).

CC2.1 Compose and create a range of visual, multimedia, oral and written texts that explore identity, community, and social responsibility.

• f. Use inquiry to explore a questions or topic that is of individual or group interest including:
  – accessing ideas using a variety of sources such as simple chapter books, multimedia and online resources, computers and Elders

In the Saskatchewan Social Studies Curriculum document it addresses multicultural content, perspectives and resources. It says for teachers to promote cultural respect and understanding by demonstrating a variety of aspects in their classroom environment and instruction including to “encourage students to read, view, and listen to a variety of resources and media representative of cultural groups with which students do and do not identify”, “choose resources and media selections that represent a diversity of cultures and cultural perspectives”, and to discuss stereotypical beliefs and cultural biases in resources and media”. Although it was not directly stated in the Social Studies outcomes for grades one or two, this is something that can easily be addressed in understanding where our resources come from and identifying the biases we can find in written work.

For students to have strong digital literacy and be successful in using online resources they need to use a critical eye. Teachers need to help students navigate the online world and develop skills to identify good sources. The goals and questions presented in this article are great to ponder as teachers. Are we being critical of the resources we present to students? Are we showing students how to be critical? How can we ask critical questions about what we are reading in grades one and two?

In terms of teaching these skills to primary students, I think it is important to teach students how to properly and safely use the internet. These kids often have access to devices at home, but we can teach them how to be safe on the internet and how to conduct searches that give them real information and will find answers for whatever it is they are looking for. Using sites such as Sweet Search, or tools such as Google Image search can help students find proper resources for inquiries they have. At this age, we tend to do lots of research together as a class. As the teacher, I can demonstrate ways we can make searches on the internet and how to fact check, as well as how to address any biases that we may find on the pages we find information. In the format of I do, we do, you do, I believe that with lots of practice we can create a generation of kids who have a critical eye at a young age.

For this week I decided to code a dance party on Hour of Code. I chose the dance party because who doesn’t love grooving to music!?! Actually, I love dancing so I thought coding a dance party could be something fun that I connect to. I have never coded before and never really given it the time of day to get into what it is all about and why it is so popular. After working on Hour of Code for about an hour (haha), I could understand why youth are loving coding. It is a chance to show your creativity using technology. It is similar to video games but can be so much more than a game.

 

What I liked about creating a dance party on Hour of Code was that it walked be through step by step of the skills I needed to acquire to create a dance party independently. At each level it gave me time to watch a video (like the one shown above) to learn about the new skill and the “why” behind each skill, as well as time to practice. This helped boost my confidence so I felt like I was ready to create a dance party independently once I passed all ten levels. If I forgot what I needed to do at any point in time, I could refer back to the videos I watched to relearn how to complete different codes to make my dancers move in specific ways. I got to chose my own music, the backdrop behind the dancers, the dance characters, the number of characters, and their dance sequences.

When it was my turn to independently create a dance party I went through lots of trial and error to make sure that my dancers were moving to the music in a way that I liked. I wanted there to be some diversity in their moves, all while moving in a good rhythm to the music. I added controls using the arrow keys on my keyboard that would make my dancers move differently than the way they are consistently moving the music. This makes my coding product fun and interactive.

I think coding is important for kids to know that everything technology works because it was created with intention by someone. In a world where we are tech-forward, I think that this is something that kids can experience in school or at home in a safe and fun way. The sites Hour of Code and Scratch are great kid-friendly resources that can be used in the classroom if you are looking for ways to expand your use of technology. You can find specific coding assignments that relate to outcomes such as following a map (social studies), using mathematical skills, following step by step instructions (language arts), etc.

Anyways, check out my final product! I had fun making this dance party and I hope you enjoy engaging with it. Dance away my friends and cue music!