I thoroughly enjoyed our last class and chance to hear Alan Levine share a little bit about the topic of open education (full disclosure – I typed “Adam Levine” at first and thought… wait a minute…). Prior to hearing him talk about it, I didn’t really know how to define it. I knew very little about it. I suppose I could have taken a good guess at what it was, but it was definitely a weak definition prior to our…
I am so pleased to be updating my learning project posts with some positive progress! After the whole “sewing machine not sewing” fiasco, I asked my mother-in-law to take a look at the machine and see if it was threaded right and even able to function properly as it is quite old. Was it broken? Was it missing a part? My MIL suggested I try a new needle because perhaps the old ones were either too dull or didn’t fit the…
This week’s class focused on social media activism and we were given several opportunities to consider and voice our opinions on the topic. My initial thoughts going into the presentation were: I do not share much of anything online. I am much more of a consumer than a producer of social media content. Must I go out of my comfort zone to start promoting social justice in online spaces? Do I believe in fighting for social justice and equity? Of…
For my social media platform exploration choice, I chose TikTok. As someone who regularly uses Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat, I figured this was the logical choice. It’s the one app in this category that I feel just “makes sense” for me to check out, plus it’s definitely the app of choice among my grade 7 students. Becoming familiar with a culture they are immersed in can’t hurt in building relationships and connections! The first step was creating an account. I…
Debate 7 – Educators and schools have a responsibility to help their students develop a digital footprint. (Just a quick heads up – I went a bit off the rails with this one into some borderline philosophical territory. Happy reading if you wish to continue (: ) [Quick nod to the debaters for topic 7. You did a masterful job!] It’s no question that technology and the internet have become central and integral to our lives. As stated in the…
Debate #6 – Cell phones should be banned in the classroom. This topic is an especially difficult one for me. In the pre-vote, I easily chose “disagree”, but upon reflection, there have been a number of times in my teaching career so far where I have said “OKAY CELL PHONES AWAY EVERYONE I DON’T WANT TO SEE THEM AT ALL FOR ANY REASON ANYMORE” or something along those lines. Granted, this usually happens in moments of erupting frustration around some…
This week’s debate (1 of 2): Social media is RUINING childhood. As pointed out during the debate a couple of times, ruining is certainly a strong word. It is also interesting thinking about childhood and the biases each new generation holds regarding what makes a “great childhood”; each age group seems to have had it better than the one that succeeded them for various reasons, one being the digitalization of society. A common outlook is viewing today’s children as missing…
“I am not asking for the complete removal of all these strategies, but merely a re-balance, a refocus, a re-emphasis on the importance of acquiring and mastering basic math skills.” The above quote is from Nhung Tran-Davies, a parent concerned about the lack of basic math skill teaching in his daughter’s Alberta school (full article here). Granted, this article is from 2014, and aptly stated by our professor, anything published related to education and/or technology beyond 7 years or so…
The pre-vote for this topic took me about 1.5 seconds. I was 100% team agree. After listening to Nicole and Daryl defend their argument from the disagree viewpoint, however, I definitely questioned my rigid beliefs on this topic. I thought more about what the word “enhances” means. Naturally (at least to me), this led me to a few dictionary definitions of the word. Merriam-Webster defines it as to increase or improve in value, quality, desirability, or attractiveness. Dictionary.com defines it…