About Laura Erickson

I live and teach in the Yukon. I recently moved from Mayo to Whitehorse with my husband, two step-children, and one good dog. I lived in Mayo for over 11 years; before that, I lived in Ross River, another Yukon community. I am currently an Instructor at Yukon University in the YNTEP and Early Learning programs. I use technology in my teaching but not very much in my private life. I am not on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc as I am not comfortable with the loss of privacy. I am hoping this course helps me find ways to use technology in ways that stretch my comfort zone a bit.

AI and teaching

Pedagogy is the art of teaching. It is very different than curriculum which is dependent on where on this planet you and your students happen to be. For example, I don’t think I would teach a lesson on the life cycle of trees to students in Tuktoyaktuk. I would teach that to students in Whitehorse. Yet my pedagogy, or teaching methodology, would be the same for both groups of students.

Educators need to critically reflect on how to use ChatGPT and other forms of AI in their classroom. It is here and if your students aren’t using it yet they will be soon. There is understandably some fear around using this technology. New things are scary. For example, people were scared of the changes the printing press brought to society when it was first invented.

AI can be a very effective teaching and learning tool if used with that end in mind. Take a look at this article as it lists five pedagogical approaches. I can see ways of teaching students how to use AI as a learning tool that fits into each approach. The article also discusses how pedagogy is influenced by the beliefs and culture of the educator. Perhaps concerns with AI lies not in the technology but rather how the educator feels about it.

https://www.iitms.co.in/blog/importance-of-pedagogy-in-teaching-and-learning-process.html  

 

Technology and teaching

I am a fan of CBC and find that articles can be used as teaching resources. This article is an example of this. There has been much talk between faculty at YukonU regarding plagiarism and how to prevent it. I am a fan of being proactive and having discussions with students about it BEFORE it happens. This article speaks to the importance of this. I also think this article has implications for classroom teachers as well. Kids have an uncanny ability of staying one step ahead of adults in understanding and using technology. Give this article a read and let me know what you think. What is the one quote that struck you? Mine is this: “Some call this a teachable moment: both for students and for professors, as a reminder to regularly re-evaluate new technologies and how they assess student learning.”

 

Starting my journey

Hello everyone. This is my first blog, ever. I also swore I would never write a blog….. I realized when I began to create this blog that I am not intuitive with technology. My husband likes to say I am a Luddite but that is not fair! (That is my first hyperlink) I am looking forward to the opportunity in becoming more comfortable in using technology. I live, teach and learn in Whitehorse, Yukon. I have lived in the Yukon for a really long time and recently moved to the big smoke of Whitehorse. I am an Instructor at Yukon University and mainly use technology to create Moodle courses for my students.