Category: Weekly Reflections (Page 1 of 2)

This is the category to apply to your Weekly Reflection posts from the course.

Final Reflective Blog Post

November 30, 2024 / hannedeener / 0 Comments

Here is a Sketchnote of (almost) all the things I learned in Education Technology and Innovation 336 over this semester

A hand-drawn graphic comprises puzzle pieces, each labeled with different educational tech topics: multimedia, inquiry project, cell phones, closed captioning, coding, TinkerCad, visual schedules, apps for learning, GenAI, and ChatGPT. Center text reads EDCI 336 Tech & Innovation.

Multimedia Approach: This can help create an encompassing approach to presenting information with video, audio, QR codes, script, images, and interaction within presentations
Cell Phones in Schools: My group’s Technology Presentation was on Cell Phones in School and the ramifications of the recently established ban in BC on cell phone use in schools. This topic was illuminating and brings forth such an interesting perspective of how demanding cell phones can be on our focus and time
Coding: I no longer fear coding! It always seemed like a big, scary idea that only students who go through a computer science degree can understand and tackle, but a very light version of coding was introduced in this course and now it doesn’t seem so bad. It’s sort of like a puzzle, and that’s how I’ll present it to my future students too
Inquiry Projects: While my inquiry project didn’t turn out the way I was expecting, inquiry projects in essence follow the student’s curiosity and allow them to bring that into their education. My project was wildly different from any one other students, yet we were all able to progress and learn more about something we had an interest in. Encouraging students to explore their passions helps motivate them to further their education on it and they can learn a lot of life and academic skills along the way
TinkerCad: My very first time using a 3D printer, TinkerCad was confusing but I got exactly what I wanted. I went off-script which made my process much harder. Had I followed the prompt, I think I would not have felt so frustrated. TinkerCad is a neat way for students ~and teachers~ to learn how to design and produce 3D items and tools
GenAI: GenAI, such as Copilot and ChatGPT, can be used as tools for marking in classrooms, developing rubrics, and as a resource to find more resources (think artificial librarian). These AI’s can supplement students’ learning while they become educated on when they should and should not use these tools
Apps for Learning: During this week’s class we learned about how many apps there are (and many more to be discovered!) that can inspire learning and exploration for students and aid in demonstrations for teaching
Visual Schedules: As a part of classroom management that we learned from the guest speaker, Brittany Johnson, how helpful visual schedules are for all students, especially those who are on the Autism Spectrum
Closed Captioning: This is only one aspect of making media and technology for inclusive for people with diverse abilities. Another way is writing alternative descriptions for pictures for people who may be visually-impaired and changing the background text colour to be easier to read and register

Overall, my main takeaway from this course and Rich’s rich (haha!) teaching style, was how he made every new part of learning feel approachable. I used to fear having to teach Applied Design, Skills, and Technologies (ADST) in school because I knew little to nothing about it. I was just hoping maybe it would fall off from the curriculum by the time I became a teacher. After having taken the Technology and Innovation course, I feel so much more equipped to get my students excited about learning new and helpful aspects of technology and AI!

Apps, Apps, and More Apps!

November 15, 2024 / hannedeener

Educational Apps to Inspire Curiosity

A person highlights notes on papers scattered on a desk. A smartphone displays app icons. Nearby, colorful pens and sticky notes are arranged. A computer monitor and mouse are visible, suggesting a workspace environment. — Photo by Firmbee.com on Unsplash

What if the only apps on a child’s phone or iPad were educational AND fun? The natural inclination to create and experiment becomes much higher when children and young adults have access to technological resources that stimulate learning over brain rot activities.

A screenshot from Urban Dictionary for the term Brainrot with a definition about addiction to low-effort content, mentioning cocomelon. Includes a quote and author name. Buttons show 486 likes and 22 dislikes. A banner advertises a Brainrot mug. — Screenshot by Hanne from Urban Dictionary

Let’s take a look at some of the apps introduced during our Technology and Innovation class. These are my written thoughts and notes during the class, so language and punctuation may not be as proper:

A List of Apps for School

Khan Academy apps: I don’t have a lot of information on this one, but I have used Khan Academy for years on my laptop and rate the math explanations quite highly
Google Keep: Can do keyword searches to find words from your notes if you take pictures of the writing to ‘search’ your own notes! Try this and add it to the blog?
Socratics App: Uses questions to solve them with AI (“What is Mitosis?”)
Arduino Science Journal: Could be used for science classes! Measures tilts, gravity force, changes with distance, magnetic pulls, light magnitude, sound, vibration, etc.
Google Science Journal: Lesson plans and activities for age levels and grades complete with written lesson plans and materials
Google Sky Map: Point your phone at the sky and it will show you the star constellations (to be used during a camping field trip?)
Coach’s Eye/Hudl Technique: An app to video tape a physical skill in P.E. so you can see your performance in slow motion and pause to find the exact motions that need to be practiced
Macro Lens DIY: (not an app, just an activity) I have made this before! Try it out. Could be a fantastic inquiry project for students and have them use this to do a science project with cells!

Two Apps I Keep on My Phone (and use frequently)

Desmos: An app to use for graphing. It is so helpful to check your graphing coordinates and a fun app to play around and learn through experimenting!
Symbolab: You can scan material with the camera option, or write in the equation, to have the answer and the breakdown of the steps. It has helped me tremendously and I do recommend it to my students to use AFTER trying the question first. Symbolab can be used on phones or on the computer via this website: www.symbolab.com

Arduino Science Journal App Experiment

Above is a screen recording of the three experiments I did on Arduino Science Journal on my phone. I did the experiments from the Acceleration Module which teaches about Motion and Aerodynamics in Science. The app is pretty neat and the editing is laid out similar to WordPress, with options for embedding pictures using a personal gallery or the camera function and adding text in the form of titles, subtitles, paragraphs, or notes. The adjusting of the ‘blocks’ uses the same movement as WordPress with two vertical lines of three dots indicating to press and move the ‘block’ of content up or down in the ‘post.’

My Perspective on Cell Phones in Schools:

Below is the link to the blog post before detailing the Technology and Innovation Presentation where my own and my group’s perspectives can be found.

Cell Phones in Schools

In My Future Classroom…

A person wearing a purple and black striped shirt and black pants is sitting and holding a smartphone with a blue and gray case. Their nails are painted dark, and a blurred background suggests an indoor setting. — Photo by Julie Ricard on Unsplash

While technology is all around us and not going anywhere, I do recognize the downsides to the constant reliance on technology. For example, text to speech is helpful for students with disabilities, such as blindness, but it can also hinder students who need to work on their reading skills to strengthen them. Additionally, apps that help with math explanations can be a huge asset, and I can personally vouch for that. However, too much dependence does not allow for students to adequately gain the skills and develop their comprehension of the material. I can also speak to that from experience.

In my future grade 6 classroom, I will consider introducing a new academic app every two or three weeks that will include an assignment using the app for the students to become familiar with it’s functions and uses. That being said, save for potentially a ‘Free Friday Phone Block’ class that the students must earn a block to use their phones, I will be implementing ‘phone-free’ classes where the cell phones will remain on silent but may be with the students. I would do this because there are known developmental effects of the over-use of cell phones by children and adults. Most of us are addicted and too much screen time can affect mood, sleep patterns, self-esteem, and lower productivity rates, among many more. Let’s encourage healthy and appropriate phone use for our students.

Classroom Management

November 11, 2024 / hannedeener

In my Future Classroom…

Photo by Hanne

In today’s Technology and Innovation class, we had a guest speaker, Brittany Johnson, discussing her classroom management techniques with tools and routines she found useful to help navigate the demands of the class and students.

Classroom Setup

Photo by Hanne

Classroom setup has been an inquisitive topic among my peers since we first started the program. What is the best classroom setup to meet the needs of the students and encourage them to thrive for high success rates? While that is a loaded, and seemingly unanswerable question, Brittany was able to share some of her experienced insights that she has developed over the years:

try out different desk arrangements and gather the students’ input and preferences (Sometimes it takes several tries to find the balance between comfort and compatibility for students and the teacher)
a space in the classroom for mindfulness (something like a ‘calming corner’ that incorporates relaxing components, like sensory tools and different surfaces to sit on, to help with emotional regulation)
a classroom decorated with art and work done by the students. Brittany said she starts each school year with bare walls and creates a classroom design with her students. She does this so students feel they have contributed to their classroom and can feel ‘at home’ in the space

Ultimately, the best classroom setup that I’ve gathered is one that has been orchestrated by the students in collaboration with the teacher. This is because the students feel that their input is valued and they have autonomy over their learning environment -a space they occupy for the majority of their weekdays.

Photo by Hanne

Above is an example of creating the class design and art. The students in my kindergarten class are working through each letter of the alphabet to design the ‘alphabet wall’ in their class.

Routines and Visual Schedules

Routines are an important element for all children and especially for children who have Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). According to the Provincial Outreach Program for Autism and Related Disorders (POPARD), children with ASD struggle with remembering extensive verbal information, so a constant visual schedule can provide predictability and assist with transitions between activities because they will be expected due to the visual reminders. They can also help students comprehend abstract time concepts and learn concepts such as later, next, or last. As POPARD describes, visual schedules can increase independence for students, teach the importance of organization and planning, increase inclusion, and it can help children with ASD learn to adapt and become flexible with schedule changes or adjustments.

“The visual schedule can bring structure and predictability to the child’s day and can be extremely effective in decreasing unpredictable behaviour. It also promotes and increases motivation to complete less desired tasks and provides visual reminders that preferred activities are scheduled within the day.”
Popard

Below is a picture of the daily visual schedule in my practicum kindergarten class. At the beginning of the day, the class sits on the carpet and goes over the daily schedule for any questions or clarifications. This removes unpredictability and can set the expectations for the day. Throughout the day, we sit and check off things we have completed so the children can see how far into the schedule or day we are and know how much of the school-day is left.

Photo by Hanne

Digital Portfolio/Fresh Grades

Mrs. Johnson taught us about Digital Portfolio, or also known as Fresh Grades by our instructor, Rich McCue, as a means to create a digital footprint following the child and their progress throughout the classes and semester. The parents are then able to track their child’s progress and achievements through viewing the online submissions by the teacher and have real-time updates on how the student is doing.

Below is a video showing how Digital Portfolios can be used in the classroom.

The pros:

Students are able to pick their best work to show their parents or guardians
The parent is able to get the most clear evidence for how their child is doing in their skill development and content acquisition
The parents are able to use the updates as conversation starters to discuss how the activity or lesson went for their child
The viewer can observe the areas in which the student may need to practice to strengthen their abilities
When parent-teacher interviews roll around, the parent that has viewed the student’s work prior are able to be informed before entering the conversation with the teacher to better target goal planning and setting
Less work going home and getting lost or thrown away

The cons:

A child may not have a very supportive relationship with their parents or have a poor perception of their academic capabilities and skills
The challenge can arise if a student is feeling a particular way about their schoolwork that may leave them open to criticism
The parents don’t have access to internet at home or technology to view the online images

In The Future

It’s hard to say what specifically I can and will incorporate into my own future classroom because so many factors influence the implementation: classroom and resource availability, teaching budget, accessibility resources and components, student profile, and time. Ultimately, there are several aspect that I would love to include and I’m excited to see how these ideas will manifest when I gain the privilege of having my own classroom one day.

Photo by Hanne

Coding for Kids

October 28, 2024 / hannedeener

Coding is Cool!

a picture of a silver Macbook pro sitting on a light grey ottoman open showing a screen that has light green, teal, and orange text running a coding sequence along the screen. On the left hand side of the picture is a small, dark green cactus-type plant in a small, white, textured pot. On the right-hand side of the laptop is a pair of black sunglasses and a phone in a tan, slim case facing down. — Photo by Goran Ivos on Unsplash

In our latest Technology and Innovation class, we learned how to do some simple coding through a couple of games. This taught us how to learn simple coding as well as how effective educational games could be for children… and adults too!

How can Gaming be Helpful?

For students, their brains are so busy learning that they can often feel overwhelmed by the material and content covered in class, not to mention the readings and homework they have outside of class. What if we were able to make homework as easy as playing an online game? To do this, we would need to develop games that have specific purposes with the intention of teaching a topic or unit. Take this Code with Anna and Elsa Game:

a screenshot from a simple coding website with the animated Disney character Elsa saying, "You've officially become a master artist! Create a winter wonderland." The left-hand side of the image has a smaller image of an image of the animated character Elsa from the Disney movie 'Frozen' who has light blonde hair, pale skin, and is wearing a light blue dress standing in the centre of the image with white concentric circles in the background creating a flower-like design on top of an ice-blue background.
The right-hand side of the image has: coding text bubbles from top to bottom:
'When run' in an orange box
'Repeat 5 times do' in a pink box
'create a snowflake type of flower' in a green box
'jump forward by 130 pixels' in a teal box
'turn right by 72 degrees' in a teal box
'create a circle size 20' in a green box
The middle of the screen features options for more blocks in the coding workplace. — Screenshot by Hanne on Code with Anna and Elsa Game

With the fun features of colour, seeing your work develop before your eyes, and a relatively interesting character, the student (being me, in this case) was able to learn some coding techniques while playing a game! When learning is fun and engaging, students rarely feel stressed or overwhelmed by the information. This is the design I was able to code by the end of the game/lesson!

an image of the animated character Elsa from the Disney movie 'Frozen' who has light blonde hair, pale skin, and is wearing a light blue dress standing in the centre of the image with white concentric circles in the background creating a flower-like design on top of an ice-blue background. — Screenshot by Hanne on Code with Anna and Elsa Game

The coding to achieve the white flower-like design of the snowflake was fairly simple. It only used a handful of steps to be effective and allowed me to feel capable of coding more complex information. Below is the simple code used to make the design from the Code with Anna and Elsa Game.

a screenshot of coding text bubbles from top to bottom:
'When run' in an orange box
'Repeat 5 times do' in a pink box
'create a snowflake type of flower' in a green box
'jump forward by 130 pixels' in a teal box
'turn right by 72 degrees' in a teal box
'create a circle size 20' in a green box — Screenshot by Hanne on Code with Anna and Elsa Game

Computational Thinking

Another aspect of the class on Friday was learning about computational thinking: that is, carefully thinking every step through in an algorithmic style. We watched the YouTube video below to help comprehend the way computational thinking manifests.

After watching the video above, I discovered how integral task breakdown is for some learners and that there are steps that we think are intuitive simply because we have already learned them. I would think it would be intuitive to use the flat edge of a knife when scooping out peanut butter from a peanut butter jar, but as the video shows, task breakdown needs to be so specific in the instructions for them to be clear. Even then, barriers still exist like language, disabilities, learning challenges, reading levels and comprehension, and attention to detail or time constraints. Computational thinking can help learners become better problem solving because it forces the brain to look at a situation from a systematic perspective, sort of like a computer. It allows you to think about the task in a new way and consider which part of the steps could be failing or need to be adjusted.

An image of a green, felt puppet
(Kermit the Frog muppet from Sesame Street) staring out a window with raindrops on the glass with one hand up against the glass in the background, The image on the text says, "My code is doing exactly what I'm telling it to do... but not what I want it to do." — Screenshot by Hanne from Medium

Coding my Own Game

I will certainly need more practice and time to take this skill further to make use of it in my future grade 6 classroom. I expect I could make studying for upcoming tests more interactive and enjoyable for the students if I can use games to promote learning!

Here is the game I started coding:

A screenshot with colourful, simple coding boxes in a game-like setting. To the right of the image is an animated medium, brown bear set in front of an animated background featuring snowy rocks and a tree branch. — Screenshot by Hanne on Scratch

Although it has yet to be finished, it involves the player helping the mother bear, Bearnard, in her quest to find her cubs! For students, the game could factor in an educational aspect, like having to solve an equation before the cub reveals it’s location, or having to answer a multiple choice question for social studies or science. There are so many possibilities when you have an abundance of creative freedom.

Doodling for Degrees

October 23, 2024 / hannedeener

Okay, so maybe not for degrees, but how about doodling for your education?

black drawings with the spanish (in red ink) and english (in green ink) translation of words for sea, waves, bird, bubbles, starfish, seawall, jellyfish, tentacles, seaweed, fish, eel, octopus, seashell, sand, and rock. — Picture drawn by Hanne

Pictured above is a sketch-note I created for learning Spanish words for an under the sear image! It contains the Spanish words for sea, waves, bird, bubbles, starfish, seawall, jellyfish, tentacles, seaweed, fish, eel, octopus, seashell, sand, and rock! All the doodles have the name of them in Spanish and English, so it could help in learning both languages.

The theory with sketch-noting is the idea that information can be better stored in memory through sketching -in real time- the content the student is learning. The process of sketch-noting is supported through research conducted at several universities.

Backed by Science!

Rachel S. Smith illuminates in the article, The Scientific Case For Doodling While Taking Notes, that writing while doodling is more effective for information retention than typed notes, which tend to be word-for-word from the instructor. Instead, learners taking notes must process and re-frame because “it isn’t possible to capture everything when writing longhand,” Smith points out that, “students tend to listen, digest, and summarize.”

The “science” behind what the researchers at Princeton University and the University of California found to support the argument in the article was the example of students studying for a test. The students who captured the notes on a computer notably had more content written down, while the students who took notes on paper had less. However, the tests showed that the students who wrote longhand did better on the tests because their conceptual understanding and recall had been previously re-framed into their own words and comprehension. This means that through the act of handwriting notes actually increases information retention and understanding the material.

So What About Doodling?

In the same article by Smith, a study conducted at the University of Waterloo made a case for the effectivity of creating simple doodles or drawings to aid in remembering words or characteristics related to the words. It was concluded that the quality of the drawing had no influence over information retention; the quick drawing or doodle was sufficient enough! This bodes well for us non-artists!

note pad with simple sketches in black ink of flowers, a tree branch, wild strawberries, and a leafy branch. Background is a cable-knit pale blue sweater. — Photo by pure julia on Unsplash

Achieving A’s through Art

A white background with the title: The Electromagnetic Spectrum with a black wave that starts loose on the left and rises then dips tighter on the right side of the photo. There are colours behind the wave left to right of blue for radio waves with an illustration of musical notes above, orange for microwaves with a microwave illustration, green for infrared waves with a fire illustration, burgundy for visible light with a rainbow illustration, teal for ultraviolet with a sun and sunbeams illustration, red for x-rays with an x-ray of a skeleton illustration, and purple for gamma rays with the word "POW!" in red with a spikey orange spot around it. — Picture from Khan Academy

Could sketch-noting benefit learners in grade 6? Certainly! I would especially like to incorporate sketch-noting into science and socials as process for information retention is so different from numeracy or literacy. I could create science-related test on wavelengths, for example, that is all pictures and the students have to describe what they are and what they do. That style of test could be really fun for the students. I could also go the other way where I provide a test of words with spaces and the students would draw what the word means or represents. I would assess which style of test was received better and potentially create more tests of the successful style.

More Access, Less Excess

October 14, 2024 / hannedeener

Foreground: A red, rectangular road sign that says "ACCESS ONLY" in white, capital letters with a white border around the edges. Two orange and reflective white traffic cones sit in front of the road sign in the middle of a two-lane city street. They sit partially on the double-into-single yellow line.
Background: dark red brick building with a black metal parking lot fence on the side of the building. — Photo by Patrick Robert Doyle on Unsplash

What could we do, moving forward, to ensure higher accessibility for website pages? In our Technology and Innovation class today we learned several ways to improve the accessible features of our sites.

Described Image:

An image of a distressed yellow-coloured disability sign for a parking space. Symbol is of a stick person in a wheel chair painted on dark, clean pavement with the person facing to the left. — Photo by Jakub Pabis on Unsplash

The image above now has an ‘alt. text’ that describes it as such:

“An image of a distressed yellow-coloured disability sign for a parking space. Symbol is of a stick person in a wheel chair painted on dark, clean pavement with the person facing to the left.”
Author’s added described image

The image at the top of the page also has a description now that can be utilized to describe what the image depicts.

Closed Captioning in Videos

Another accessible tool is the use of ‘Closed Captioning’ which means embedding described video with real-time text appearing on the screen as the video plays.

Below is a video used as an example:

Video by Silktide on YouTube

The closed captioning allows for people who are hard of hearing, D/deaf, have a hearing disability or challenge, and those who have audio and visual learning styles to access videos more easily.

The efforts made by able-bodied people to create more inclusive media and entertainment will never incapacitate them. It will, however, allow our ever-evolving world to be much more accessible for people who encounter barriers everyday.

Into the Third-Dimension…

October 7, 2024 / hannedeener

3D Design and Printing could be used for language revitalization through the use of interactive games and activities that stimulate learning with tactile qualities. One of the greatest advantages of 3D printing and design is the ability to take something that is simply visual and further its development into a kinesthetic tool. It could be used to upgrade games like Scrabble with virtually very little cost and no new supplies other than the printed letters.

Photo by Freysteinn G. Jonsson on Unsplash

There is no faster nor more effective way to learn than experiencing something that evokes an emotional response. Ideally, these experiences will primarily be positive emotional responses.

Furthermore, the printed tiles could be used to showcase a word a day and placed somewhere at home or in the classroom with a short write-up about the meaning of the word. The students could come up with their own write-ups or it would be a great opportunity for a new word to be discovered and students get to find the definition on their own!

3D Design and Printing could be useful in a classroom for a variety of applications for the students and teachers. It could be used for tools to strengthen their fine-motor skills with various-sized objects that could be specifically tailored to their needs. There could be devices made to help children hold pencils and the possibilities for adaptations for people with disabilities are endless!

Check out this website I found with print files that are downloadable to create 3D tools to aid people with disabilities: Cults 3D

Pros and Cons

There are pros and cons, like with many things, for 3D printing and designing. We have covered many pros about the concept, but what about the cons? For one, children may see peers with tools that they want but do not need. This could cause jealousy or upset. Another con would be that not all schools will be able to afford a 3D printer, the materials, and the upkeep of them. It may divide schools further with socioeconomic differences. There also exist the concern for the misuse of the equipment. Most, if not all, of these concerns could be addressed with solutions or alternative methods, ideally.

Below are two screenshots of the item I designed for a paddle board to hold a can of soda! The slot is for the paddle board cord to go through and hold the cup holder onto my paddle board.

What’s Up With The Robots Anyway?

September 30, 2024 / hannedeener

Some of the major limitations of GenAI is the inability to provide personalized output, despite specified instructions or information, that takes into account experience and individuality. With students, their work is so specific to their abilities and strengths that personalized feedback is necessary for educational guidance. I expect it would be possible to create generated responses that are specific to recurring errors, such as common mistakes with apostrophes or capitalization, that could be automated. In fact, I am considering creating such a tool now…

Use in the Classroom

For grade 6, the age group I am intending to teach, GenAI could certainly be utilized for students and educators. I would use AI for project guidelines and examples as it would protect student confidentiality while providing the students with an adequate outline for expectations. This brings up another important use for AI: while it may seem impersonal, it can be a great tool for creating broad examples and can be integrated with student work while the learners would remain anonymous through altering pictures or replacing identifying factors on the person. For example, if a picture of a student with their work is to be published, the use of GenAI would allow the image to be doctored to protect identity.

GenAI could be used for bringing students’ projects to ‘life’ with interactive videos and presentations. This vastly expands the possibilities for students to be creative with their assignments. It also promotes comprehension of the limitations and possibilities of GenAI.

As it is becoming more utilized throughout day-to-day life already, it is imperative that students have literacy and familiarity with artificial intelligence.

In With The New!

September 22, 2024 / hannedeener

A Consideration for a Multimedia and Flipped Classroom Approach

What if I told you we could engage our students and children more with their education and actually want to learn. Would this intrigue you? It certainly peeks my interest! This could be achieved through creating a multimedia approach at teaching and through a Flipped Classroom technique. Let’s explore these further.

Multimedia Approach

So what is a multimedia approach anyway? This short video outlines some of the keys to creating a multimedia presentation that will grasp the viewers attention:

The video and audio editing could be easily taught and utilized at a grade 6 level for children to create their own projects and potentially inspire a passion for developing online content. Assignments would become more engaging for children and it could be applicable for any subject. The skills developed in the younger grades have the potential to increase in improvements and complexity for further education and job requirements or opportunities.

As discussed by Orana Velarde on the website Visme in How to Create a Multimedia Presentation (& Tools to Use), multimedia presentations exceed just text and images; they may include “animation, video, audio, or interactive features like forms, popups and more [to] help enrich [a] presentation both visually and content-wise.”

With math, the prompts on the screen could include some practice questions for a concept that was previously explained in the video. With Social Studies, a video could be created to explore a civilization through an interactive video with a quiz feature during the video and another quiz at the end. This would be a helpful tool for students to absorb the content while engaging short-term recall. Furthermore, children would be better equipped to complete the in-class tests or discussions while exercising long-term recall.

One caveat to consider with a multimedia approach is the potential affects on attention disorders and whether the layers of stimulation could be a factor of increasing attention deficits or presenting new challenges for learners. With the shorter social media interactions and over-stimulation in a fast-paced world, the adverse affects of leaning into a multimedia approach may need to be calculated.

Barring the concerns of multimedia stimulation factors, the use of audio and video editing could be better for students with learning disabilities who need to take breaks from the video, require slowed or accelerated information, and for those that use closed captioning or bluetooth audio to connect directly to hearing aids. Additionally, an interactive video is far more engaging than a non-interactive video.

Flip Out!

https://ctl.utexas.edu/instructional-strategies/flipped-classroom

From demonstrating the use of a coding language such as Python, to the most effective way to organize a bookshelf, the amount of time a child spends listening to adults is profoundly more than how much time we spend listening to them. The skills children would develop and improve upon with the Flipped Classroom method include, but are not limited to, public speaking, presenting research (provided this is part of the communicated expectations and with respect to the differing age groups), learning how to develop an argument and potentially comprehending an opposing perspective, answering questions, reflecting upon the learning, and progressing a concept further if necessary. There are certainly many benefits to implementing a Flipped Classroom, especially if the child starts learning with a topic they are comfortable with and will gain the ability to present upon a concept about which they are still learning.

Although it’s a new concept to explore a Flipped Classroom, I would more than endorse it. Learning must be collaborative and routine. When I teach, I would ensure each child gets to present on a topic they are passionate about and at which they excel. This would incorporate the interest with the curriculum in a manner that supplements their learning. Nearly every child has an interest that they know more about than some adults realize… sometimes they are not provided the environment in which to share their knowledge.

Reimagining Education – A Student-Teacher’s Perspective

September 15, 2024 / hannedeener

There exist more than a handful of challenges and concerns when asking if we need to reimagine education. In theory, the answer is simple: Yes! We can always make the education our children receive better. But who decides this and how do we ensure all students receive the education that is right for them?

The video below depicts a school that does just that: reimagines education in a way that supports students in the exploration of their niche interests.

Video: Most Likely to Succeed (2015) on University of Victoria Libraries

Within the parameters of improvement bring novice obstacles to overcome. A progression as such will always present opposition and barriers. Often the most essential advancements are sure to generate both. These effects are necessary for significant success. To experience struggle is one of the most important determinants of success.

In the case of reimagining education, the obstacles may manifest as parental pushback, student uncertainty, funding concerns, and fair governmental involvement. As a future teacher, my personal apprehensions involve educator skill availability and willingness to be uncertain of the outcomes with success rates. We will need individuals willing to take the risk to challenge the status quo of our current educational perspective.

Despite troubled, at the very least, we do know the positive and negative outcomes with standardized schooling using the rigid, set curriculum established. Although as previously stated, the extent of creativity and exploration for students and teachers alike is managed by a sturdy glass ceiling. It is, however, slowly deteriorating. How can we prepare to catch the pieces when it falls?

Here is a Sketchnote of (almost) all the things I learned in Education Technology and Innovation 336 over this semester

Educational Apps to Inspire Curiosity

A List of Apps for School

Two Apps I Keep on My Phone (and use frequently)

Arduino Science Journal App Experiment

My Perspective on Cell Phones in Schools:

In My Future Classroom…

In my Future Classroom…

Classroom Setup

Routines and Visual Schedules

Digital Portfolio/Fresh Grades

In The Future

Coding is Cool!

How can Gaming be Helpful?

Computational Thinking

Coding my Own Game

Backed by Science!

So What About Doodling?

Achieving A’s through Art

Described Image:

Closed Captioning in Videos

Pros and Cons

Use in the Classroom

A Consideration for a Multimedia and Flipped Classroom Approach

Multimedia Approach

Flip Out!

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