Classroom Technology

  As I write this blog post, I am looking at six different screens within a two-meter radius. Four of the screens come with cameras, and three have microphones. I am a STEM instructor, and I deal with technology daily. I often wonder and worry if some of my students will feel resentment towards their families and teachers. I worry that some of my students will say when they are adults: “My childhood was a screen!” Although I believe that students can learn creative skills in Minecraft, students should apply what they have learned from digital platforms to the physical world.   Growing up, my Minecraft was the forest. I would knock on my friend's doors every day and drag them away from their Gamecubes and Playstations. I enjoyed video games, but I also had the freedom to wander around the neighborhood. We would go down into the forest and build forts. We would build frames, harvest grass, and mix mud and grass to create strong walls for our forts. In winter, we would play ...

  I decided to go with three different applications. First, I used a cellphone app called Video Maker. Furthermore, I used tools on both Youtube and Canva. I went with Video Maker because my computer does not come with a microphone. I tried using a headset with Canva, but unfortunately, I could not get it to work. Video Maker was great because I could upload images from my phone and my Google drive. After I uploaded the video, I used YouTubes creative studio to add background music to set the story's mood. After I uploaded the video to Youtube, I downloaded the video from Youtube and uploaded it to Canva. I thought Canva was awesome because I could add some animations. Furthermore, I could add a title and a goodbye message.    I made a video about my experience in Laos. I feel like Laos is unknown and forgotten. I would like my students to be curious about the world around them. I would like people to know that even when you are experiencing something challenging, yo...

  Storytelling is a helpful way to pass down information. Stories can provide meaningful opportunities to learn about the experiences of others. The experiences we share with one another allow us to develop empathy. When we can learn to put ourselves in the storyteller's shoes, we can learn from both the success and failure of the storyteller's experience. Storytelling has developed and remained the same for thousands of years. In some communities, elders are living libraries that share context-dependent stories with their communities. Growing up, many of us had written text to read and gain new information. Today, digital viewing is one of the six language arts. Digital storytelling allows us to share many stories presented on an easily navigable platform. The stories are organized by category, and the platform allows listeners to view the experiences of others from the comfort of their homes.    In the video My Struggle with Mathematics , we are introduced to the a...

    I have had a lot of experience with group projects at work and at school. Group work is great when all members do their part. However, at university, I have been surprised that some students go completely AWOL only to log in to Google Docs to put their names on an assignment they had no contribution to.  Despite my negative experience with group work, I have had some positive experiences with group work. My positive experience has come from paid work and school work that had a greater purpose aside from just trying to learn a simple skill.     During my second year of college, I had a great time doing group work in my methods course. I was placed in a group with a member who wanted to work on a proposal for creating a space for Indigenous men. This project was essential to my group member because he was fulfilling a dream of his to help his community. This was a positive experience, and we formed a relationship because the purpose of the project e...

Last year I entered a Canadian classroom for the first time since 2008. I was surprised to see a Smartboard and disappointed to see Chromebook. Although I don’t like Chromebooks because of their limited functions, the fact that more classrooms and schools are using them will broaden the market for online freeware. The online freeware market will continue to develop stream services with similar factuality as programs such as Photoshop and Movie Maker. Personally, I need to use technology for everything I do. I use an iPad for reading remediation, and a laptop for online EFL tutoring, and STEM instruction.      In the article Are Chromebooks Good? Pros and Cons, reviews the disadvantage that Chromebooks have with their storage capacity (Wylie, 2021). At an average of 32 GB of storage, one might need to find an online service that students should use when saving material. However, according to Wylie, the storage capacity is only an issue if you allow it to be. Google a...

Bookmarking online service: https://feedly.com/i/my      I really enjoyed using the online service Feedly. I deleted my Facebook almost a year ago, and I kinda missed all the news outlets that I used to follow. Feedly is a great way to read the news without the temptation of reading all the opinions in the comment section. I can also search for different topics and organize the topics into folders. For example, I can search up the word “education”, and follow sources that create content for the subject.  Feedly will give me website suggestions based on the topic “education” and the algorithm will track my likes and suggest sources based on my interest. I can hit the follow button when I see a familiar source, and it will be saved into the “Education” folder that I created.    Podcast: https://www.podbean.com/ew/dir-v2j7n-114b3110 EdTech Bites Podcast: Ep. 98: Who To Follow On Twitter And Instagram This Podcast Gives suggestions on ed...

Implementation 2     In my second year of college, I took a course called “The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.” The professor finished the class by stating “You now know more about the Charter than 95% of people in this country”. When I lived in BC a man once asked me: “Why does Langford have so many big box stores compared to Victoria?” According to CIVICINFOBC, the answer to that question is due to the fact that Langford only gets 18.49% of eligible voters casting their ballot in municipal elections (2018). Students need to learn how to vote, why voting is important, the division of powers within Government, the amending formula for the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and that international law is not law but an agreement between sovereign states. I don’t think civic literacy is taught well in schools because I only remember being lectured or taught historical facts in my primary years. I think that out of all the key subjects and 21st-century themes listed by Bat...

  I am very comfortable with technology because my job as a STEM instructor requires that I know a little bit about coding and servers. I really enjoyed learning about the 4 levels of Peuntedura’s SAMR model because I found it to be a useful way to conceptualize how we utilize technology in the classroom. Peuntedura’s SAMR model was created by Ruben Puentedura so that teachers could evaluate their teaching strategies (Common Sense Education, 2016, 0.07-0.09). According to the introduction of the SAMR model, the four levels of Puentedurals SAMR model are substitution, augmentation, modification, and redefinition (Common Sense Education, 2022, 0.25). The explanation of the SAMR model instantly made me think of guided research projects. If teachers just want to enhance their guided research project they could use tech to both enhance and transform their assignments.    Substitution is located at the bottom of Puentedura’s SAMR model. In substitution, technology acts as a too...

Public Education is dependent on Government funding for resources. When I saw the term “21st-century skills” I thought of other political buzz words such as “common sense”, “ethical oil”, etc. Buzz words are great for bringing up attention to your political cause.  Buzz words are often broad, catch-all jargon that aims to include everyone and everything within its definition. The article titled, The Rush for '21st-Century Skills by Jay Mathews proclaims that we don't have a definition for what “21st-century skills” means (2009) . In my opinion, 21-century skills, is just a political buzzword, to get public interest in funding an already gutted educational system. 21st-century skills and it's ever-expanding definition allows everyone to interpret and conclude what they think is wrong with education. Being able to interpret the word “21-century skills”, allows the public to feel like their voice matters which inspires debate and rhetoric within the public sphere.   ...

  Mr. Winkles Wakes is a satirical video that highlights how the educational system is becoming obsolete. Although technology has penetrated every aspect of society to the point that it would cause culture shock for anyone in the 19th century, the school system has remained a shelter for any would-be time travellers to find some comfort. 

  The perspective that one needs to be either a digital native, immigrant, resident, or visitor lacks nuance and the answer will depend on the definition. In research by Prensky, digital immigrants are defined by those who don't believe that their students can learn while watching television or listening to music (2001, p. 2). I would be angry if such a teacher exists in the school system because viewing and visual representation have been widely accepted as members of the six language arts. Personally, I think the author is getting confused between a perennial teacher who only wants to focus on the classics with someone who did not grow up with technology. I think there is an opportunity for using an intersectional lens that is not just dependent on whether or not one grew up using technology.    Although I have grown up with technology, the platforms and media that I consume are almost unrecognizable from what I grew up with. According to Kuehn, it is just an ...

Mr. Winkles Wakes is a short, satirical video that highlights how education has made no advancements in the last hundred years. The video shows that society has made advancements in healthcare, infrastructure, and business but failed to place any value on education. Towards the end of the video, Mr. Winkle found comfort in the teacher-centered classroom that is structured with rows of desks and students taking notes.  Although it was nice to see Mr. Winkle find a cure for his culture shock it was problematic because the classroom was not reflective of the world that the student will be going into after they graduate.  The teacher's classroom in Mr. Winkle Wakes did not adapt to the changing times. The hospital and businesses in the community all incorporated technology but the teacher and school failed to adapt. According to Did, You Know 2022 people in the United States will have worked an average of 14 jobs by the time they are 38 (Free Working Tricks, 2016).  In th...