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YouTube Video: Digital Citizenship: Integrated, not Added

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Outcome Maps: SunWest School Division Outcome Maps

ISTE Article: Embed Digital Citizenship in All Subjects Areas

This was a really fun topic for me to cover. I’ve always been interested in how to teach our students how to live responsibly online, and as a health major I’ve also always taken an interest in personal wellness. The article posted above just felt like the perfect combination of the two!

As social media and our online lives become more prevalent, so does the need to protect our wellness. A big way that we can do that is to make sure students (and parents) are educated when it comes to digital citizenship and responsibility. The best way to do that is to “hack” the mandated outcomes to show just how important this topic is at this point in time.

I had a conversation with a colleague the other day who takes pictures around town and shares them with her kindergartens, asking them, “where’s the math?” We talked about how we can teach students to see math everywhere they look, and that it doesn’t have to be a scary subject. She shared with me that lots of her students go home to siblings who complain about how difficult math is, so she is working to change that mindset by sharing the beauty of math and how it is everywhere we look.

What does that have to do with anything? Well it got me thinking about digital citizenship. We are at the point where it is part of our lives, and we can see it everywhere we look. There are lots of people (myself included) who see the doom and gloom of social media and the online world, but that doesn’t mean we need to pass those negative views onto younger students. We can change the mindset and see it as a positive thing!

So let’s look at our outcomes and think… “where’s the digital responsibility?”

In the labyrinth of the digital age, our identities are no longer solely our own creatings but are instead co-authored by an array of multiple virtual mediums. – Khalil Liouane

I can’t decide if I have actually witnessed this change in my ten years of teaching, or if I’m turning into that person, thinking kids these days are too obsessed with their phones!

Seriously though, I feel like like things have changed drastically since the rise of TikTok during the COVID-19 pademic. This feeling was confirmed after watching this  TedX Video shared by my classmate Josh this past week. In the video, high school students talked about how much of an influence social media has had on the development of teen’s identity and sense of self since lockdown. If you think about it, it makes perfect sense… this was an unprecedented time in history when everyone was trapped in their homes. Parents were busy working from home and trying to keep everything afloat, and kids took to social media to stay connected. Nobody could have predicted the effect it would have on everyone four short years later.

Brittany shared this great article that discusses our digital selves and how that differs from who we are offline. I wonder how the image of oursevles we curate online affects the development of our personalities in the real world. I wonder how what we consume on social media changes the way we see ourselves… if it makes us with that we had more, or did more.

Just the other night I had a conversation with a colleague about how things have changed socially since the COVID-19 pandemic. We wondered to ourselves why people seem to be so busy… too busy to visit after school, or too busy to attend staff functions. Is it because we are taking on more than ever before, is it because our online lives are eating up so much time, or is it because we are just more comfortable being at home since lockdown?

This led me to wonder how the pandemic and lockdown has impacted our newest teachers — they finished their schooling from the comfort of their bedroom, maybe even attending classes online while laying in bed. How much more difficult would it be to get into the swing of getting up for school and committing to extra curricular as well as after-hours work? What can we do to support our new teachers who have gone through this unprecedented time? Or, can we also learn from them about the importance of maintaining a healthy work-life balance? What does that even mean in the world of education?

So, as usual, I’m left with more questions than answers. I’m curious to know what your thoughts are. Thanks for reading!

Where Does AI Fit Into Education?

This week we jumped into the topic of Generative AI… it won’t shock anyone that this is a scary concept for me to get behind. 

To make sense of all of my muddled thoughts, I want to ask what is the point of education? 

As a teacher, I am obviously a huge advocate of lifelong learning, and I try to continue to learn as much as I can at all times. I believe that education helps us grow into well-rounded members of society who hope to contribute to the world in a positive way. As a classroom teacher for ten years, I always loved building those positive relationships with my students… I could always find a way to see the good in a child who is having a difficult time, and I always worked to make sure they loved coming to school, even if they are getting more socially and emotionally than they are academically.

In my classmate Lisa’s blog post, she mentions seeing the value of AI but also points out that the relationship between educators and students cannot be replaced. I think we need to be very careful how we use AI as educators and when it is appropriate to lean on AI.

Are there teacher guidelines on using AI in the classroom? I’ve never really searched for them, but I think it’s wise to have something in place when a new technology like this comes out (albeit rapidly). I tend to be a pessimist when it comes to Generative AI, and worry that some teachers may jump the gun and use it to give what would otherwise be personal feedback on assignments. While that’s a really handy tool that will save hours of time, is that the best use of AI? If we are trying to maintain that human connection in the classroom, do our students really want to know what an AI tool thinks of their writing, or do they want to know what the teacher thinks of it? Are they going to really want to get better if they don’t have some personal feedback or conversation on it?

That being said, there are so many wonderful ways that teachers can use AI to keep up with the growing challenges we are facing in the classroom. It can be used to help plan, create, and differentiate for students. My question is how far we take it when it comes to asessment.

Where Do We Go From Here?

I’m currently participating in an educational coaching program that talks about the importance of having a playbook. Just like athletes and businesses have a book of plays that they can reach to, it’s beneficial for educators to have the same thing.

This has me thinking… would it be beneficial to have a playbook focused on using Generative AI in the classroom? It would need to be ever evolving for sure, but having something that new (and not so new) teachers can turn to for some quick tips and best practices may be a great place to start.

FOLLOW UP:

I had the opportunity to ask my supervisor about a playbook.. turns out there is an Administrative Procedure for using AI in the classroom on the way, and there is a book that is being ordered as well! The book is called “The Artificial Intelligence Playbook: Time-Saving Tools for Teachers that Make Learning More Engaging” – I’ll keep everyone posted on how it looks when it arrives.

I’d like to start this post with a quote from class last week:

“The skeptic does not mean him who doubts, but him who investigates or researches, as opposed to him who asserts and thinks that he has found.” – Miguel de Unamuno

This definition of skeptic really resonates with me, and I think it’s an important one to keep in mind especially as an educator.

In my current role as a Learning Facilitator, I’ve been finding myself in situations with many different types of teachers — there are those who are eager to learn and try new things, those who will ask for assistance from time to time, and then there are those who don’t outwardly appear to want to change at all. (please note that this doesn’t mean they aren’t interested in improving their teaching practice.. it’s just an assumption on my part!)

It’s not easy to embrace change. It’s not easy to admit to yourself that there is always room for improvement, and it definitely isn’t easy to be vulnerable when it comes to learning something new.

I asked Pi.ai WHY it’s so important for educators to continuously learn and adapt their teaching, and these are the main points that I got back:

• To keep up with new knowledge and research
• To adapt to new technologies
• To meet changing student needs
• To develop professionally
• To model lifelong learning for students

In my own opinion, it’s our responsibility to constantly reflect on our current teaching practices and question what we can do to improve to meet the ever-changing needs of our students.

… and that includes using Generative AI. When ChatGPT first came on the scene, it was a very polarizing topic (especially in education). As stated by Kristal Kuykendall, “Depending on who’s speaking, ChatGPT will either further erode learning outcomes particularly in English language arts, or it will boost ELA instruction and overall learning outcomes by embedding critical-thinking and modern-workforce skills into everyday writing assignments…”  I think most of us are okay to admit that we were doubtful, which is perfectly normal when it comes to new things. It takes some time to wrap your brain around something so radical that seemingly comes out of nowhere.

In this same article is another quote that resonates with me, this time from Deborah Rayow:

“I think academia and ed tech are both going through something similar to the five stages of grief when it comes to this issue. We’ve passed denial and now we’re mostly on anger. I’m not sure all the stages actually apply, but I do think it’s going to be a process before we’ve accepted that this technology is here to stay and will only grow in capabilities.”

So, we are past the point of no return… AI is here to stay. In an ever-evolving digital world, we need to shift our teaching practices to meet students where they are, and that includes using the tools that are available to them online.

How are You Using Generative AI in Your Practice?

I’ve played around with GenAI to find what works best with my own teaching practice… here are a few things that have stuck:

1. ChatBots – In our literature circles, we gathered questions for characters while we read, and then used the Character ChatBot from MagicSchoolto get some answers.
2. More ChatBots – Also helpful to speak to historical figures to ask them about inventions or personal experience! (Again, from MagicSchool)
3. Rap Battles – Students created rap battles on MagicSchool and practiced them during our “Fluency Friday” periods, culminating in some great performances!
4. Report Card Comments – Great baseline for writing awesome comments… I actually got some really positive feedback from parents with this… shockingly done with MagicSchool.
5. Proofreading – this saved me SO MUCH TIME! I would have my students print their typed essays… then take the digital version and run it through the text proofreader on MagicSchool. They would then make the corrections suggested on their hard copies before re-printing their good copy. If time allowed, we would also do peer editing after this. I found that I was able to spend more time giving constructive feedback instead of circling spelling and grammatical errors.

(There are a few others that I have played around with, but honestly I’ve made the most of my subscription to MagicSchool.)

How Can I Support Teachers in Their Journeys?

Unless you have a real interst in Generative AI and are willing to put the time into it, it may seem safer to pretend it doesn’t exist. But it does, and it’s time we start to adapt to use it.

As a Learning Facilitator, my job is to find ways to support teachers and hopefully lighten the load of large class sizes with a lot of diversity. I would really appreciate it if you would share some things that you do with GenAI in your classroom/school so that we can all continue to best support our students!!

I will be the very first person to admit that I can be a grump about spending too much time online… I think that it’s important to experience everything around you without having a phone in your hand, and that slowing down is good for everyone. Like Kate Murphy says in her book You’re Not Listening: What You’re Missing and Why it Matters, “It’s hard to concentrate on what’s happening in the real world when you’re preoccupied with what could be happening in the virtual one.” She then goes on to say that experts have brought up concerns that “… we are even losing our ability to daydream, as fantasizing, too, requires some level of attention.” (page 173)

On the other hand, I know that the use of technology can bring amazing things. When the war in Ukraine escalated in February 2022, Facebook helped my aunts and uncles locate their cousin Igor, the nephew of an aunt who had disappeared in World War II. Months after finding him, his wife and daughters were able to come to Canada to escape the war and stay with my parents, and just one year after that he was allowed to join them. Fast-forward to 2024, he is now a local business owner, living in Canada with family away from the ongoing war. Talk about an amazing use of social media and technology!!

So with all that said, in this class I am really working on seeing more than just the negative parts of technology. Enter Dr. Ribble, the person behind the phrase “digital citizenship.”

Dr. Mike Ribble and the Nine Elements of Digital Citizenship

1. Digital Access: This is basically making sure that all students have the same access to technology. The first thing that comes to mind in my teaching practice is when chromebooks and internet access were provided to families without any during the COVID-19 pandemic. I was, and am still, blown away by the hard work that went into making sure every single student was able to continue to learn in an online format.

On the other hand, prior to the pandemic (and after), students have not always had access to devices and an internet connection outside of school. This is why it’s been important to always have an offline/print version, or to allow students to get their homework done before they leave the building at the end of the day.

2. Digital Commerce: The act of buying, selling, and banking online. I’ve actually never considered teaching this to students (especially in Career Education). It’s very important to learn how to keep passwords safe and avoid any scamming messages… I consider myself to be pretty tech savvy and I fell prey to one of these earlier this year. Someone spent over $900 on a subscription to stock photos… I hope they were good ones!

Digital Commerce is challenging to keep up with in an ever-changing digital landscape, but is so important when it comes to being digitally responsible.

3. Digital Communication and Collaboration: This one refers to the “electronic exchange of information.” What an amazing tool technology has been when it comes to communication and collaboration. That being said, it’s important to instruct students on how to be safe and accountable when it comes to online communication.

4. Digital Etiquette: Digital Etiquette is the standards of conduct and considering others when you are using digital devices… this takes me back to the quote from Kate Murphy at the beginning of this post. We have all spent time with friends who are scrolling on their phones the entire conversation. It doesn’t feel very good, does it?

Making the effort to give your focus and attention to those around you is always a good idea. There are definitely times to be immersed in the digital world or spend time with others in the digitial world. We try to teach our students that phones need to be away when you’re learning and when it is time to close the Chromebooks to take part in activities or class discussions.

5. Digital Fluency: Ribble states that this is “the process of understanding technology and its use.”This is such a big one in my mind. I’ve always tried to instil this in students… it’s so important to consider where messages are coming from, and how to allow others to have different opinions.

It’s so easy to turn into a “keyboard warrior” when you see a view or opinion that you strongly disagree with. I have always tried to teach my students that it’s important to empathize with WHO is speaking and WHY they would speak that way. At the end of the day, when is it worth the argument? Is it better to acknowledge that someone has a different view and, even if you totally disagree, try to understand why and then move on?

6. Digital Health and Welfare: How much screen time is too much screen time? Is all screen time created equally?

As someone who spent the majority of her teaching career in a 1:1 classroom, this has been a balancing act. I was at a school one year during what we called The Great Paper Shortage of 2015… someone used a ridiculous amount of paper photocopying monthly “fun” booklets for their students, and as a result, we ran out of paper in April. So I started doing everything online. In the years following, I was running my classroom on little to no paper; when I did need to print rubrics, I used the good side of left over paper to do so. At one point, however, I was asked if I think my students did too much work on their chromebooks.

I know that screen time has negative effects, but I also wonder if all screen time is created equally? I’ve since worked to find a balance between when to utilize technology and when to put it away. I also take time to teach students about their posture when they’re using tech, and the pressure it can put on their necks when they are craning over looking at a screen.

7. Digital Law: Just like in the “real world,” there are rules and laws that need to be followed in the digital one. Things like plagarism and copyright laws to online bullying. While I believe there is a time and a place to bring in a resource officer to talk about their side of things, it’s important to introduce these expectations consistently in the classroom.

We spend so much time at the beginning of the school year creating class expectations/rules/beliefs/contracts… it’s important that teachers include digital law in these as well.

8. Digital Rights and Responsibility: “With great power comes great responsibility…” Uncle Ben really knew what he was talking about! We are so blessed to be living in a place and time where we have the world at our fingertips. Technology can be used for so much good, but it can also be used for evil. While I have always swayed toward seeing the negative aspects of tech, my goal this term is to shift that focus to also seeing the good.

We were all born with the ability to make choices (good or bad) whether that be in the digital world or IRL. Teachers can’t expect to teach one lesson on rights and responsibilities and expect that to be the end of it… it’s something that needs to be incorporated consistently all year long.

9. Digital Security and Privacy: This last one is what I’ve always thought of when I hear the phrase “Digital Citizenship.” That being said, I haven’t really focused on it as a teacher… probably because I’ve never felt totally comfortable with it myself. Like, what is a cookie? Do we always accept cookies? Remember Trojan Horses… what was that all about??

To Sum it Up…

I definitely put off writing this blog post (and the last) longer than I should have… we have a new foster pup and she has consumed a lot of my time. I also like to write these over a number of sittings so I can really spend time thinking through things. All that said, I always learn so much from getting ideas down onto the blog.

What I’m taking from this is how much more there is to teach students about Digital Citizenship… and looking at how these nine elements can be taught within the curriculum without needing to be part of a specific “Digital Citizenship” unit. The best part is that as a Learning Facilitator, this is something I can dive deeper into and share with our teachers to give our students the best possible education when it comes to living and learning online.

Thanks for reading! I genuinely am curious what everyone thinks about how much screen time is too much screen time in schools… how do you balance it all?

… life in algorithms, emoji mannerisms.♫♫♫

Digital Citizenship vs. Digital Responsibility

I had a tough time starting this first blog post, not really sure what to write about or how to connect the readings to my own learning journey.

The first thing I realized is that I may have had the definition of digital citizenship all wrong. I assumed (you know what they say about assuming…) that being a digital citizen is about being active on social media, which is not something I am very active with.

Over the last few years, I have found myself caring less and less about what’s going on with social media. I have also found it becoming more detrimental to my own mental health and well-being… being bombarded with what everyone else is doing has led to distraction from my own life.

Dr. Mike Ribble defines Digital Citizenship as “the continuously developing norms of appropriate, responsible, and empowering technology use.”

Which brings me to the first article I grabbed from the reading list, Why I Hate ‘Digital Citizenship‘ by Keith Heggart. I have to say, I really enjoy the title for a class focused on Digital Citizenship and Media Literacies.

Upon reading, I can see that this article agrees with Ribble’s updated definition of Digital Citizenship – it’s not just about teaching kids the basics of being online, but about teaching how to use technology in a safe, responsible way. Okay, so it’s not all about social media..

Next I moved along to Alec Couros and Katia Hildebrandt’s jointly written article, (Digital) Identity in a World that No Longer Forgets, and this one really got me thinking about teens and children as digital citizens.

In the book The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness by Jonathan Haidt, there is a metaphor for technology with our children. Jonathan asks readers to imagine that their young child has been chosen by a tech billionaire to go on a mission to Mars. You do not know the dangers that are out there, how it will change their physical bodies or their brains, or what they will be like when they come back. Nobody would ever agree to that! Yet, there has been a generation of children (aka ME) who navigated the new world of social media while we had no idea of the long-term effects, good or bad.

Couros and Hildebrandt make the point that at this time, we also have parents and guardians using social media and the web perhaps without fully understanding it’s implications. There are photos and videos uploaded that may stay on there forever without the consent of those who are in them. I was lucky enough not to have the internet during the most embarrassing years of my life, and I have always asked for consent before putting any photo online of someone else or their children; this is because I was taught to do so by those around me.

“From a purely practical perspective, it is basically impossible to erase all “negatives” from a digital footprint: the Internet has the memory of an elephant, in a sense, with cached pages, offline archives, and non-compliant international service providers.” – Hildebrandt & Couros

This quote really got me thinking. At first, it terrifies me. How can it not?? What can we do about it?

Like everything, the key is education. First and foremost, we need to teach our students how to manage what they are posting online, getting consent from others, and controlling who sees it. Secondly, we need to teach empathy when it comes to reacting to what we see online. Everyone does stupid stuff, but not everyone has it living out on the internet. Part of being a citizen is acting responsibly in the space that you reside in — affording others the same forgiveness and understanding that you would wish to have.

Maybe this doesn’t have to be such a scary thing after all…

“Artificial Intelligence will be part of our future. It’s inevitable.”

Sundar Pichai

Now that we have established that A.I. is inevitably part of our future… how can it be incorporated into education?

I think most educators can agree that when ChatGPT arrived on the scene, it seemed to be terrifying how easy it was for students to have a computer do their work for them. I know the feelings I had can be related back to an 1858 quote about the telegraph from earlier this semester..

There can be no rational doubt that the telegraph has caused vast injury. Superficial, unsifted, too fast for the truth…

There was fear Artificial Intelligence is too fast and too smart. That students would use it to write essays for them and that the world of education would forever be changed (not necessarily for the better). I will admit that I was also very fearful of how Artificial Intelligence would change everything; however after learning more about technology this term I am realizing that humans just have a natural fear of things that they don’t understand.

In the video Evolution of Artificial Intelligence, it is mentioned that in June of 2023, ChatGPT generated 1.6 billion visits. These numbers tell us that we can’t just stick our heads in the sand and ignore that AI is here to stay. It’s now time to ask ourselves some essential questions when it comes to the use of new tech in education:

• What are the good/bad things that this can bring about?
• How does it change the student experience?
• How does it change the way we think about learning?
• What might it solve?
• What new problems might it bring?
• Is it going to help us potentially do better things?
• What ways can we use this technology?

What are the good and bad things that this can bring about?

In the context of education, there are many different answers that I see here. It gives educators and students easier access to an seemingly endless information.  AI can be used to help with research and lesson planning, which in turn makes sure that students are receiving top-notch information. However, this could also lead to students and teachers relying too heavily on AI, using it to do tasks that require human thought and communication. As stated in AI Ethics and Governance in Practice, “In order to manage these impacts responsibly and to direct the development of AI systems toward optimal public benefit, considerations of AI ethics … must be a first priority.”

How does it change the student experience?

After sitting with this question, I’m realizing that AI can have a positive change on the student experience. It calls educators to question WHY we teach the things that we teach. What facts and statistics do we require students to memorize in a world where they have quick and easy access to everything they could ever need? Should we be thinking about shifting to a different type of teaching, that is thought-provoking and allows students to form their own thoughts and opinions? The funny thing here is that I find myself using MagicSchool to help lead me down the right path when it comes to AI-resistant assignments. Key word there being “lead.”

How does it change the way we think about learning?

Learning is “the relatively permanent change in a person’s knowledge or behaviour due to experience.” (Mayer, 1982, p.1040) I look at this quote from earlier this term and see that the idea of a change in behaviour stands out to me more than a change in knowledge. Perhaps having access to Artificial Intelligence really calls on us to focus on WHAT and HOW we learn in this new world. We want students to interpret, evaluate, analyze, connect… things that we can’t ask a computer to do for us. Through writing each of these blog posts, I myself am learning to form my own connections and access a deeper level of understanding.

What might it solve?

Oh, so many things! I have started using AI to tackle mundane tasks to free myself up to focus more on my content and providing the best learning experiences possible for my students. I am also hoping to try AI to correct grammar and spelling errors in student essays so that I can better use my time to focus on content.

What new problems might it bring?

There is definitely the possibility of many problems arising from the use of AI in the classroom. The simplest problem would be students using it to complete assignments. As I stated earlier, however, it is up to us to teach students how to responsibly use Artificial Intelligence, and to create assignments that require deeper thought. I always try to stress to my students that the point of coming to school isn’t just to get good grades; it is to learn life skills that will make them successful and happy in their futures.

Is it going to help us potentially do better things?

100% yes. There are so many ways that Artificial Intelligence can help us. I used an AI Chatbot to help plan a 3 week trip to Europe this past summer. It gave me some great destinations and travel advice, saving me a ton of time and stress while planning an itinerary. I have also used Artificial Intelligence to allow my students to ask questions of great historical and fictional characters – a few weeks ago they were asking a chatbot Luigi Galvani insightful and thoughtful questions about his findings in the field of bioelectricity. There are so many amazing possibilities with AI!

What ways can we use this technology?

In this week’s presentation, Christina gave us an amazing list summing up where we can use Generative AI in Education. I personally use AI to help me expand my vocabulary when it comes to report card comments, creating basic slideshows that I can build from, locating resources, and finding new ways to support my diverse group of students.

In the future I want to teach my students to use AI to help them with their essays. What if I had them print their peer-edited drafts, THEN plug it into AI to get corrections? They would be able to then write these corrections on their original drafts to show what they are taking from it. I genuinely wonder if this would help them learn from errors, and over time prevent them from making the same mistakes.

As far as the future goes, Max Roser puts it best by saying that “A technological development as powerful as this should be at the center of our attention.” Artificial Intelligence isn’t going anywhere, and we need to continue to ask ourselves questions to ensure that we are giving our students the best education possible with AI in their world.

As I find myself coming to the end of my first graduate class, I am thrilled by the amount of growth I have seen in my career, and in my ability to look at new information more critically. I’d like to take a moment to share some of the positive changes I have seen as a result of this class:

I have tried new things!

To complete my summary of learning, I wanted to make a video but was struggling to find a platform that worked for me. I thought I’d give Powtoon a try, but after struggling with it for a couple of hours, I ended up using Canva Video Editor, which I never would have thought to try had it not been for this course! It was very user friendly, and I am going to be sure to utilize more of Canva’s tools, including teaching resources.

I’ve discovered the benefit of the blog

I tried jumping on the blog bandwagon once or twice, but never really understood the purpose of it and ended up giving up. This time though, I can see how much it has helped me evaluate and mull over important ideas and conversations each week. Getting my thought process down has helped me come up with some awesome ideas that I can use in my classroom!

Assessment as a conversation

I know I have mentioned this a time or two, but our class on assessment tech really had a profound impact on the way I’ve been assessing my students. I think that I had gotten so caught up in the flow of things that I lost sight of what assessment really is, and how I can change things up to get the most out of it for my students. I have seen great changes since treating it more like a conversation, instead of a one-and-done grade.

Questioning new things

Right from our first class and first reading, I took away key questions that I need to start asking myself to determine if a new tool is worth the time. I’ve also learned to question what is in it for the company offering this new tool, and if it will benefit my students in the long run or not.

Reignited passion for what I do

Learning about the exciting tech that is coming out and having meaningful conversations about what that means for students has given me a fresh perspective and a new excitement for education. I took my passion to my school division and was given the opportunity to cover a one-year leave as a learning facilitator next year! I am thrilled to take the things that I am learning and apply them to my new role.

Please click below to watch my Summary of Learning

… but what is coding??

What my brain sees when I think about coding…

Jamie K. tells us that “Coding is the process of writing out steps for a computer to follow to achieve a goal or perform a task.” Over the last ten years of teaching, I have learned that coding does not have to be as scary or overwhelming as we first think!

My first exposure to coding was when I was introduced to Hour Of Code. I was a new teacher with a very rambunctious group of third graders and my division’s consultant brought the idea to me. To be honest, I saw something that could get my students settled, engaged, and building their skills in problem-solving.  It allowed me a solid 10-15 minutes each day after lunch to get my students calm after the excitement of lunchtime so that I could sort through the drama of that day (type my log entries for the office, call parents, etc.)

However…. when my administrator asked me what specific outcomes I was teaching with Hour of Code, I was a little stuck.

Fast-forward a year, and my principal at the time approaches me to ask me if I know anything about computers. I say yes, of course… and next thing I know it I am coaching the school robotics team with First Lego League.

wide-eyed and bushy-tailed at the 2018 FLL Provincials

My awesome, mighty team… 3 of whom are graduating this year!

I was never into robotics or really big into technology myself at this point. I had literally no clue what this league was about, or how to do anything. I was blessed with a group of students that were excited and passionate about coding and robotics, and together we figured it out!

The best way I found to learn this was to invite our high school’s robotics coach and students to teach us about the basics. We set up some times after school to head over and practice with the robots and coding programs.

The blessing in disguise with my utter lack of knowledge was that my students were able to take the lead and have a lot of independence on their journey. I remember being at this competition at the U of R… our principal came to watch and was in utter shock that I let the kids take the robot as well as the lead with almost everything. They had learned with me from the beginning and I knew that they were able to do this confidently.

 This experience is also the reason why I strongly believe that coding and makerspaces do not have to be taught by “techies.”

My experience with First Lego League really showed me how much value there is in coding with students: they learned about the scientific method, researching real-world problems to solve, teamwork, and resilience. The students that I had take part in this club were students who weren’t interested in playing sports, but still wanted to be part of a team. It was a beautiful thing to see.

I have found that there are a lot of amazing benefits to teaching coding in this capacity (as extra-curricular, or as work students can do when they are finished classroom tasks). I do, however, see some obstacles preventing me from bringing it into my daily classroom lessons.

1. CURRICULAR CONNECTIONS – I would need to really sit down and see what curricular connections I can make between coding and the outcomes outlined for me. I know, I know — it’s possible… I just haven’t taken the time to do it. I have made some connections between curriculum and Minecraft Ed (building the scene where a novel we are reading takes place, or building a rocket for the Artemis mission to align with our space unit), so I know it’s possible. I have been looking into CoSpaces Edu and am hoping to try that at some point in my near future with some help from my students.

2. COST – During this class presentation, my group learned about Sphero, a coding robot. It looks really fun and I know that students could learn some lessons about resilience/the scientific method from using it, but I’m not sure the cost is worth it. I had a both a hard time relating it to the curricular outcomes I teach, and reconciling that with the cost that it would take to get this for my school.

All that said, the conclusion that I have come to with coding is this… it is a GREAT experience for students to have. Maybe it doesn’t tie in to all of the curricular outcomes, but it can be used to touch on some. Coding teaches valuable life skill such as teamwork and resilience — if schools and teachers want to give it a shot, why not start by running a small coding club with students as an extra-curricular activity? This gives everyone the chance to figure it out, learn, and see how it can be used in the classroom later on.

I mean, what’s the worst that could happen?

Take a minute to think about where you use assistive technology in your day-to-day life. Do you use closed captioning when you watch TV? Do you take advantage of the word prediction on Google Docs? Is the text on your phone zoomed in so it’s easier to see? Do you utilize the voice-to-text option to send messages?

Assistive Technology  is identified by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (2004) as being “Any item, piece of equipment or product system, whether acquired
commercially off the shelf, modified, or customized, that is used to increase, maintain, or improve the functional capabilities of children with disabilities.”

Saskatchewan Schools use The Adaptive Dimension for Saskatchewan K-12 Students to ensure that we are practicing inclusion of students with all abilities and exceptionalities. A great way to include all learners is by using assistive technology. After listening to this week’s presentation, I really started to think about how I use assistive tech in my own classroom.

Let’s start with low-tech devices. Areej Ahmed tells us that low-tech devices are low-priced equipment that costs less than high-tech; it is also simply designed and requires limited training.

Immediately, I think of my beloved wobble stools and rockers in the classroom. They do require limited training (how they are meant to be used) and have a huge impact on my students who are diagnosed with ADHD. It is almost always my first go to when I move to a new school and into a new classroom. I find this has such a huge impact on my students and their ability to focus and pay attention in class. The challenge with these tools is that they are expensive. A rocker could easily benefit every student in my classroom… and many students want a rocker, but we don’t have the budget to make that happen.

Another wonderful low-tech tool that I like to use in my classroom are resistance bands. I like to tie them around two legs of my student’s desk so that they can bounce their feet on them. Unfortunately this can sometimes cause them to snap so I need to make sure to teach how to properly use them first. Resistance bands are also wonderful for body breaks… some of my more active students will walk down to the student support room to do some exercises as a great body break when they are struggling to focus in class!

There are so many other low-tech assistive tools that I use, but I will finish off with these Loop Earplugs. I am blessed to work in a school with families that can afford to purchase items such as this to support their child. I suggested these to a student who, due to a medical reason, is very sensitive to noise – you can imagine the struggle with that in a very rambunctious group of 27 students. I am a friend of this student’s mother, and I sent her the link to these earplugs and asked if she had heard of them. This particular student now wears these throughout the day to reduce excessive sound, and finds them very helpful in phys. ed and other noisy environments! A more affordable alternative to this would be the larger noise-cancelling headphones… the issue I’ve found with these in middle years is that students don’t want to wear them because they are noticeable, and we all know that pre-teens just want to fit in. The downfall of the loops is that they are quite pricey ($70+) and can only be used by one student since they fit inside the ear like earbuds. They are also extremely easy to lose.

I also employ many different high-tech devices, which Areej Ahmed describes as being “… more complicated and cost more. They also require training or guidance from the user, such as adaptive equipment, voice recognition software, or word prediction software (Johnston & Watson, 2007).”

The first one that I hadn’t really thought about as an assistive tool (because I’m so used to it) until this week’s class is my microphone. To be honest, I have always worn it because it saves my voice and I learned on it a lot while wearing a mask during the pandemic years.  This system is so beneficial for so many reasons! It allows ALL students to hear my voice, which immediately leads to better focus and understanding. It also helps my students with who require an SLP to hear me enunciate my words. Additionally, as already mentioned, it saves my voice and allows me sto speak at a normal volume instead of yelling to project my voice through the entire classroom. A downfall here is that since moving to my new school, we do not have the same system that I used at my last school (Lightspeed Redcat). It was very expensive (upwards of $1500), and as such my previous school is not open to sending it over for me to use for this school year. We are using a much cheaper alternative, but I am not finding it nearly as effective or easy to use as the previous one.

The second high-tech device I will touch on is this middle-years calculator (TI-15). I love this tool for my grade 5-7 students because it allows them to keep up to their peers and still have an understanding of the processes going on. For example, I have a particular student who has always struggled with math. They don’t want to ask for help to draw attention to themselves because in the past they have been teased for being “dumb.” This calculator allows them to reduce or add and subtract fractions, round decimal numbers, and use the order of operations along with everyone else. At first, they were hesitant to give it a try just incase other students saw them using an assistive tool. I send a practice book home for them to work through with parents and they saw that it can take a lot of that mental load out of the assignments, allowing them to see the process and understand the concepts. The biggest downside with this calculator is that the student sees it as a negative – which is why I encourage them to do the question first, and use it to check answers instead.

The next high-tech assistive tool I’ll talk about is voice-to-text using something like Google Read&Write. This was actually a tool that my class shared with me a number of years ago. My initial thought was that it would be great for students to listen back to their writing to see if they can catch any awkward-sounding sentences, but at the time the reading wasn’t quite smooth enough for that. So I taught my students how to use it as a voice-to-text tool. In theory, it is amazing, but honestly I have found it nearly impossible to find a space quiet enough for a student to use it effectively. The kids also find that they aren’t enunciating words clearly enough for it to understand what they are trying to say. One thing I do like with voice-to-text options is using it to spell words that you are unsure of. Even writing this blog post, I have my Google search handy so I can just tap the microphone to check my spelling.

Okay, finally I have a new one that I just discovered 2 days ago. MagicSchoolAI is a tool that I’ve been very excited about. I’ll admit, they totally suckered me in when they offered the paid version for free – I used my PD funds to get myself a year subscription to it shortly after. I heard they were going to release a student-centered AI tool called MagicStudent and immediately joined the wait list. On Friday, I got an email that I was now able to access this tool, and there are so many possibilities! One in particular that I enjoy is the ability to speak to any historical figure or literary character in history. I would be able to open JUST this option on students’ chromebooks, and they can type in the name of a particular scientist or historical figure we are learning about and ask them questions! Immediately I wanted to run to school and start trying it out with my students… but then I remembered something that was mentioned in our Productivity Suites presentation…

What kind of data is being collected here?

So, I slowed my roll and decided to do some more digging. I found the Student Data Policy and the Privacy Policy on the website, and will be sure to comb throught it and try to get additional opinions before giving access to my students.

With the evolution of the Web, there are so many new and exciting tools coming out that appear to have huge benefits for student learning. My job as an educator is to properly vet these tools and ensure that they are safe and beneficial for my students. If you have read through the Student Data Policy, I’m very curious to hear your take on it!

Thanks for reading 🙂