The future of the world is in my classroom today - Ivon Welton Fitzwater

Category: EDTC 300 (Page 2 of 3)

Digital Citizenship for my Classroom

After learning about Digital Citizenship in our last two classes I went on to read the articles assigned and the article, Character Education for the Digital Age  really stuck out to me. In the third paragraph it talked about the “two lives” perspective which explains how “students should live a traditional, digital unplugged life at school and a second, digital infused life outside school.” As I read this, I caught myself thinking, that as much as some people may agree on this and it could benefit students, I believe that it would also benefit students to use technology at school so that they learn about the good and the bad. 

Just like I said in my previous post, these new apps and games can also be used to learn in a school setting as well. We want to teach our children that although the internet can be a scary place, it doesn’t have to be if we use it the correct way. We need to educate our children that everything that happens on the internet, stays on the internet even if you think it is deleted. This brings me to thinking about the relationship between digital citizenship and the Saskatchewan Curriculum. I believe they can be connected with how you look at the different subjects, as well as the outcomes and indicators. When looking through the Sask Curriculum I found a subject that can help integrate digital citizenship into the classroom.

The grade would be grade 3 and the subject is English Language Arts. Outcomes CC3.1 and CC3.2 seem to give us an opportunity to be able to explore the world of digital technology. For outcome CC3.1 I could discuss how sometimes people make up fake accounts on the internet to fool others into thinking they are someone else and to try and bully them and so with that we have to be careful to not talk to anyone on the internet, especially someone who we do not know. I could go on to say that although there are not the best people on the internet, sometimes there are great communities that you can reach out to if you are in trouble or just need to talk. For example; while looking on the Saskatchewan curriculum page I saw under the title quick links they had a “Student Well-being Support” and a link to a website called “Be Kind”. This site has, cyber safety tips, resources, a place for grants, and most importantly, a get help button. With instructions to call 911 if it’s an emergency, talk to a trusted adult, reporting bullying online, kids help phone numbers and the Healthline. I would continue that outcome with the Social Responsibility and discuss how it is up to them as students and children to be responsible and smart when on the internet or any type of electronic or app. 

For outcome CC3.2, I would ask the kids what they think would be good tips to help avoid having their personal information, pictures, videos etc. become available on the internet for everyone to see. I would also get them to write down what they believe is the proper way to act while online and why it is important to be smart while using technology in today’s society. I would remind them about the acronymS.M.A.R.T as well as T.H.I.N.K and to remember that not only as children but when they are adults too

Technology today may sometimes be scary, but like I said in my other post,  if we teach our students the appropriate ways to use the apps, the websites and the gaming systems, there are many great opportunities that go along with knowing how to use them as well. Digital Citizenship isn’t going anywhere and we need to show our students how to navigate it in a way that has a positive outcome! 

My Future Classroom in Technology

With every day being different with the new and up to date technology it makes me wonder how my future students will be dealing with it as well. I first started thinking that the best way to go about the new apps, phones, etc., was not to shame my students for using them, but to educate them and if possible, bring that technology into the classroom to be used in a positive way. The technology and apps made today could be used in many ways, such as:

  • Tiktok could be used to create dances for a class or to learn new ideas like; drawing, tips and tricks, singing, and I like to use TikTok for my DIY crafting!
  • Laptops and Ipads could be used to do research on something the student would like to learn more about
  • Powerpoint has always been my goto in school and even now that I’m older. I think this would be a good piece of technology to teach any student as it is an easy program to use and basically everyone has access to it.
  • Just like we are using Twitter in EDTC, high school students could use it to network and see how other people view the world and use it to learn new information like I did in the SaskEdChat

Although those are only a few ideas that could be brought into the classroom, there is potential for all of them to be helpful inside and outside the classroom if you teach your students how to properly go about using them. 

Technology is a huge asset and I believe that although some days are harder than others and sometimes the technology does not always work to our advantage, I believe teachers will also benefit with all that is to come! Another good thing is that although the students are learning from the teacher, the teacher can also learn from the students. So as long as everyone is learning, I believe that is a powerful thing. 

“Google” by Cesar Solorzano is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Woman in gray sweater using macbook air
Photo by Andrew Neel on Pexels

Thankful for Canva!

After googling and downloading many apps and realizing I was not a fan of any, I finally found the app I wanted to use to put all my pictures together! I had thought about iMovie since I have it on my Mac, but I realized not long after opening it that there was a reason I did not enjoy using it before. To me it was not the easiest to figure out and I wanted something simple enough that I could change it when I needed to and not play around with it for hours, so I finally found Canva! I had thought about using it before the Christmas picture edits but changed my mind even though it looked easy. So I thought it would be a good idea to use it for my Lesson Project to try it out this time around! It is a simple and easy program that gives you little tips before you start going and all the options are right at your fingertips!

Here are a few of the options I used while starting to play around with Canva

You can upload any picture that you have on your computer by simply uploading it and than dragging it onto the slide
The template is the design you want all your slides to be and there are many to choose from!

I think this would be a great app for in the classroom instead of possibly powerpoint or something like that as it has newer updated fonts, styles etc. This would fall under the Substitution category in the SAMR model. My students could use it for projects and I could use it to introduce myself at the beginning of the year! We could also use it throughout the year to watch our progress change as we process into the next grade!

My next step with Canva is uploading a video of me doing the steps of a frame, but this involves me finding the right angle to take the video from when I am making the frames so that will be this week’s project to figure out! I am excited to put all my pictures and soon to be videos together and compare my process as I continue along!  Stay tuned for the video process!

Twitter – Informative and The New “IN” Thing

When I was in high school, I signed up for Twitter because that was the ‘in’ thing to do. I eventually fell away from it as I got older and because I just didn’t have time and really never tweeted anything. Having to sign up again made me smile knowing that I get to learn everything over again. I believe that Twitter can be a very informative and helpful tool for anyone who follows the right people. Just like Instagram, twitter can connect you to people all around the world but I feel it is not much used like an Instagram platform which is totally fine. I follow many teachers on Instagram that I have no clue who they are and are in the states, but with the information they provide or the advice they give, I find myself saving their information or writing it down in my phone for my future teacher self to refer back to. Strangers on these types of platforms, can sometimes be your best friends for new information which I enjoy. 

Using Twitter in the classroom would help the children to understand just how far something can go on the internet as well as the valuable information out there. When we participated in the SaskEdCat, to me it looked like there were people from other places participating and I found that to be amazing! Hearing new thoughts and opinions from others is what makes your mind grow and expand. I think that twitter in the classroom would be beneficial simply due to all the new information out there. The students would have to be taught the proper way to use the internet and the do’s and don’ts, but I believe this is what our world is going to be and the students we teach should learn about it, even if it is just small pieces. 

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