To be completely honest I do not remember much on being educated about “cyber safety” within my life. I like to think that most of it comes with common sense and respect for yourself and others; but it is obvious many people do need this education and true understanding of impacts.

The one time I do remember being educated on cyberbullying would have been when I was around grade 6/7 and some of the Saskatchewan Roughriders Players came into our school for a presentation. I was able to find an short article on this anti-bullying program here! This being a long time ago I do not remember much, the two things I do remember were the quotes “the internet is forever” and “If you wouldn’t want your grandma to see it, don’t post it!”. Obviously two smaller messages but ones that have still stuck with me to this day. This example was definitely more focused on education to proper use over scare tactics. I believe both can be beneficial when done right. For example when using scare tactics it definitely makes a bigger impact when it is close to home, whether that being a local story or even just a story like Amanda Todds being within Canada definitely made it taken more seriously for me.

When I think of my university experience with this it is definitely something that has been Brough up often. Especially being in education, a common conversation is regarding our digital footprint. Understanding that our future employers, students parents, and more will be seeing what we post and everything we have posted. One good way it has been put is that we always hav out “teaching hat” on so it is important to always understand the greater impacts of our actions.

It is truly amazing the impact participation culture has had on the world. I really enjoyed the example of how fast YouTube grew in the video. I think today’s obvious example would be TikTok. It grew insanely fast and if you are a frequent user you can see how common participation culture occurs on the app. Every new original video you see on the app whether it just be a dance, a song, or a voice over it is rare that you will only see it once. Over time depending on how popular the original video got there will be thousands of recreations making the video seem like the next big thing, until a new one comes around the next week.

This graphic was one that really shocked me. It is crazy to think that one app can have such a large amount of people using it until the next app comes out and we see it slowly fade away. Im curious to see as we get into out later years of teaching what this will look like. Will Facebook even be a thing? Will everyone still be using Snapchat? Will something have replaced TikTok?

As for future classrooms, I think participation culture will continue on the path it has been on. Not only students but teachers will be continuing to look for new technologies to assist them with learning and teaching but also continue using the new apps during their free time. One thing that comes to mind for me is the use of AI, we have seen it absolutely takeoff in this past year. Personally I seem to find a new AI tool out there at least every week. It will be interesting to see where AI goes and as teachers and students how we will be able to take advantage of it and monitor it in the right ways.

I was able to explore the website Videoscribe. This website allows you to create different animations mainly including whiteboard animations. It is quite easy to create your own animation within the app. Right after signing in, a short video pops up that breaks down how to use the website. There is the option to start with a blank canvas or to pick from one of their many pre-made templates for almost any kind of presentation. The presentations allows you to add text, audio, multiple scenes, images, and shapes that are all put together and played through a video.

As a pre service teacher I understand how often presentation are used within the classroom, whether that be us as teachers creating the presentation for our students or getting students to create presentations. This website can definitely be utilized within the classroom often and is a great way of reaching levels of the SAMR model. Some examples  include creating an animation for your students to teach them about a certain topic rather than the more traditional way of standing infant of the class talking to them; or getting students to create an animation on the website rather then completing worksheets or poster board presentations.

Technology has always been a big part of my life and continues to grow more and more. I feel like being in this generation we have seen tech grow in so many ways at a very fast rate. You can use tech to find out almost anything, teach yourself anything, keep yourself organized, and so much more. For me I definitely use tech a lot for both school/work uses along with social media/entertainment purposes. As for the more social side I find myself using Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, TikTok, and iMessage a lot in my day to day life. I definitely have a pretty busy life with work, school, and football; but a large amount of my free time between those is spent on those apps. As for the work and academic side of tech I find myself mostly using my email, UR Courses, google docs,  and iMessage. For the most part I feel like my tech usage is pretty balanced between work/academic pursuits and leisure/social interactions.

One thing that comes to mind when I think about tech is time management. Especially coming out of High School during Covid times and spending my first year of university online I spent a lot of time using technology and had to learn the importance of time management skills. For me my biggest focuses have been staying organized along with always having a plan. For organization I keep my phone and computer separate. My computer is only used for work and school purposes and has a specific calendar and notes app with all the information I need for both of those. I also often use my notes and calendar on my phone to help stay organized with everything but it is more football and leisure focused. For always having a plan I like to map out how my days/weeks will look. Making sure I know all my work tasks I need to get done, assignments I need to work on, and times I need to be at football. To avoid distractions I have often used a bit of a “reward” system with myself, for example if I am working on homework I will work for an hour straight then take a 10-15 minute break on my phone. I find this works well for me and creates a good balance of work and rest. The ways I have set and am used to have worked well for me so I plan on continuing with them. I also understand how tech is growing and there are so many tools to assist with organization and time management. I enjoy checking these out and trying them out whenever I have the chance and continuing to find better ways to do things.

Hello! My name is Noah Pelletier, I am a fourth year students at the University of Regina within the Saskatchewan Urban Native Teachers Education Program. SUNTEP is an elementary level program focusing on training future educators to be sensitive to the individual needs of Indigenous students and all students.

I am extremely grateful to have the opportunity to be a pre-service teacher. I have been very passionate about becoming a teacher for a long time and have come a long way in my journey. The creative minds of students has always intrigued me and excites me to not only assist in their learning process but also to learn so much from them. Through my pre-internships along with my job as a special education assistant with Regina Public Schools, I have been able to be a part of many different classrooms. All these experiences have been amazing and make me even more excited to have my own classroom in the near future.

Other than teaching another passion of mine has been sports. For as long as I can remember I have always loved sports and have at least tried out almost every sports. Although I have greatly enjoyed every sport I have had the opportunity to play, one that has always stuck out to me is football. I have been playing football for 15+ years now and it has given me countless teachings, friendships, opportunities and memories. Since beginning within Regina youth flag and Regina minor football I have also had the amazing opportunities to play for Balfour Collegiate, team Saskatchewan three times, team Canada twice, the University of Regina Rams and even had the opportunity to spend some time with the Saskatchewan Roughriders. I plan to continue to play and coach football for as long as I can.

Being a part of a younger generation I definitely feel like technology has been a big part of my life. You do not really realize how helpful technology can be and how much it has truly taught you until you take a second to sit back and really think about it. Throughout my education journey I have been introduced to so many different types of educational technologies that have made learning much more simple and engaging. The world of Ed Tech is truly endless and I strive to continue to learn more and more about what is all out there.

Blogging is something that is new to me, but I am excited to have the chance to do it. In the past I have had some simple e-portfolios but nothing to this extent. To be honest it has already been a bit of a challenge but I am always happy to take on new learning experiences. I feel like we got a good base of everything we need to know and there is a lot of opportunity to explore and learn on your own. I know I always have my professor and classmates there for me if I need assistance with my blog which is a great feeling. I am excited to keep adding to my blog along with reading and commenting on others throughout this course.