Category: EdTech

Hey Cloggers,

For this week’s EdTech class, our cohort had to have class on the online platform called Zoom! It’s kinda of like Skype but I think it can have more people on it. It was a really awesome experience and went way better than I thought. It was also so nice to see everyone again and get to reconnect with our cohort after being away from each other. As crazy as it might sound, it’s been like 1 day without class and I truly miss seeing my peers everyday.

We also looked at a platform called Twine in today’s class. It’s a platform that allows you to create and tell interactive stories. Although it is somewhat tricky to navigate, we had instructions to help us get through some of the initial steps. If I implemented Twine in my classroom, I would definitely give the instructions to ensure students understand the task and do not become overwhelmed. I started working on a story about how COVID-19 is affecting our education but it was quite messy and all over the place and I got lost so I ended up just getting rid of that one (they can’t all be winners…). I would, however, like to keep working with Twine and get to know more about it because I think it would be a super fun and creative way to get students to tell stories. I might use Twine to submit an assignment that is due in the next couple of weeks – we’ll see what Carly thinks, but I think it could work.

I’ll keep you updated on my journey with Twine.

Oh, and my group is going to be using Zoom to work on an assignment next week because one student has an Android phone so we needed an alternative to FaceTime. So, shoutout to Rich for introducing us to this platform!

Clogging off for now,

COordt 🙂

Hey Cloggers,

This week in my EdTech class, we had some awesome visitors. A grade 6 class visited our class and showed us how to play Minecraft and they have used Minecraft as a learning resource.

Some ways that they use Minecraft in their classroom is for math lessons. They use it to look at and learn about area, volume, and coordinates through building and moving around the map. They also explained that they used Minecraft to learn about Greek mythology and used various monsters to act as different ways of death in that day and age. Interesting stuff! The teacher also created a server that she could moderate. This allowed her to pause everyone’s screen to get the class’ attention, remove players who were not following the rules, reward players who were playing nicely, and finally, change the settings of the server (day/night, weather, monsters, and creative/survival).

I ended up playing on single player for a bit. I found a really nice beach front property and decided to build a house. Here’s what came of my beach house:

(I had to stop building before it was finished because I was getting so dizzy and nauseous from my screen moving – this is a good thing to keep in mind when implementing Minecraft into the classroom because some students may be affected by this similar to how I was).

I thought Minecraft was a super cool way to get students engaged in projects. I would use it more sparingly to allow it to be a different and exciting assignment #TooMuchOfAGoodThing

Maybe I’ll finish my beach house one day…

Clogging off for now,

COordt 🙂

Hey Cloggers,

I’m back for a quick blog post (I already wrote one about our visit to George Jay but wanted to add some information about today’s class). I worked with Laurence (check out her blog @lboucher #plug)

We used Screencastify to screen record us talking about a provocation that was inspired by Rebecca’s dinosaur inquiry assignment. We talked about why the “p” is silent in pterodactyl. We think her students would definitely wonder this as they’re learning about language and various sounds.

Here is the link to our video: https://youtu.be/bao93pdNLDw

Screencastify allowed us to record our screen, voices, and even ourselves if we wanted – but we didn’t (lobo is having a bad hair day…) 😛 You can also use the online pencil to draw, write, and add arrows onto your screen. Interesting stuff!

We both enjoyed working with this application – it would definitely get students engaged and help them learn due to the way they can talk things out and record their learning.

Anyway, gotta go help lobo with her hair.

Clogging off for now,

COordt 🙂

Hey Cloggers,

Back with another blog and today I’m talking about our visit to George Jay Elementary (which is also a French Immersion school).

As a class, we visited Rebecca Bathhursthunt’s kindergarten class – except after hours because 30 adults in a kindie class would be quite overwhelming…

Rebecca introduced us to the idea of inquiry based learning at the primary level. I always saw inquiry as a way to engage middle school students (it just seemed unreasonable to have 20 primary students all working on different assignments before they can even read or write). However, I was super surprised as to how well she implemented the inquiry style into her classroom.

She focuses on guided inquiry where the teacher controls a lot of the learning that occurs. Using picture books for students to research as well as finding a topic that students are interested in are two strategies she uses.

Finally, Rebecca talked about her education heart. This is a concept I have never really heard but one that I love. I would really like to create an educator heart and perhaps use the new fonts that I have learned in my free inquiry to help make it look pretty!

Here are some pictures of Rebecca’s classroom!

Clogging off for now,

COordt 🙂

Hey Cloggers,

So, I’ve decided to delete my blog because I want to make sure I get a job in the future.

See ya…

Just kidding, but seriously, today’s class gave me a snap back to reality.

Today in class, we talked about internet safety and the online footprint we leave and honestly, I’m kind of scared. I know that I’m safe on the internet and that my social media profiles have all the strictest privacy settings on; however, how private does that really make my profile? I know that people can’t see pictures on my facebook or instagram, and I know they have to ask me to follow me, but does this make my profile private? Or just somewhat less public? It’s scary to think about.

Nonetheless, it’s also unrealistic for me to just shut down every social media profile and call it a day. My entire family lives in Europe and social media is one of the ways I can connect with them as often as I do now. And I’m so happy that the internet has allowed me to do this.

I think it’d be cool to have someone with extensive technology skills to search and see what kind of information about me is posted on the internet. I trust that when I hit the private box on instagram that no one can find me, but somehow people from across the country can find my profile and request to follow me… how does this work?

Online safety is scary and I’d like to learn more about how I can adequately hide my personal life without just getting rid of social media and staying offline forever.

Anyway, we also talked about video editing today. I’ve never done any type of video editing at all but it’s definitely something I wanted to learn more about because there’s so many opportunities for student projects with platforms such as iMovie. Keeping the privacy aspect in mind when implementing this tool into the classroom is important (especially after our talk with Jesse Miller today).

I learned that you can pause and play videos on iMovie by clicking the spacebar as well as turn the volume up and down. Here is the video I edited in class today:

The movie isn’t that great but at least the name is quality.

Clogging off for now,

COordt 🙂

Hey Cloggers, fellow bloggers, and amigos!

Claire, Laurence, and Kaylyn here. Today for our EdTech blog, were talking about Kahoot! If you haven’t heard of Kahoot, we feel bad for you because it was one of the best parts of our childhood school experience (kinda sad when you think about it…).

We wanted to look at some of the pros and cons of Kahoot because, as educators, we need to be critical before bringing a technology into the class. So here we go…

Pro #1: It’s FUN!

Kahoot is honestly such a fun way to take information. It allows you to play a game with your peers online and makes a traditional lecture more engaging.

Pro #2: It’s quick and easy!

With regards to efficiency, Kahoot usually immediately engages students and is a quick way for teachers to see where their students are at with information. It can be made in as little as 10 minutes and you could even pass this responsibility onto a student – this will help students better understand information too.

Pro #3: There are so many pre-made Kahoot quizzes already out there.

This can make it even more efficient because there is a good chance that there is already a Kahoot made for the topic that is being discussed. This can make at home or spontaneous studying and learning accessible and fun!

Con #1: Students can create their own usernames.

Since students can create their own usernames, there is often a mix of joke names and real names. This can make tracking student progress really difficult for a teacher. It can also be a way for students to make inappropriate jokes in front of the whole class without being identified.

Con #2: You need access to enough tablets or computers for every student.

If your school does not have enough iPads or laptops, then students will either have to share (which usually ends up with one taking control) or some students will have to sit out for certain rounds (which can result in less learning). Not ideal.

Con #3: It’s a competitive style of learning.

The very goal of Kahoot is to win, not to learn. Although learning might occur while students compete, it can create a somewhat toxic classroom environment. Furthermore, if students fear being incorrect (and having everyone see that dreadful red screen), then they might simply check out of the activity.

SO, what are your thoughts on Kahoot? Is this a platform you want to implement into your classroom? Or avoid completely?

Clogging off now/Adios Amigos,

LOBO, Kaylyn, and COordt 🙂

Hey Cloggers!

This past Tuesday, I visited the Pacific School of Innovation and Inquiry. It is a inquiry based independent school located downtown Victoria, BC. Here are some facts about the school:

• This school is for students in grades 9 – 12.
• There are only 7 teachers.
• It costs $7500 tuition to attend this school (but, there’s a discount if you have more than one child attending).
• They don’t have a timetable with scheduled blocks.
• They allow students to select their own topics for assignments.
• The only weekly scheduled subject is math.
• School subjects and grades are all integrated.

Now that you have a bit of an understanding of the school, let me tell you what I think about it. PSII offers an alternate learning environment (different from that of a traditional school) which allows students to take control of their own learning. This occurs through the use of inquiry assignments; this concept allows student to dive into assignments that truly interest them, all while learning the various components of the curriculum. Although this type of learning sounds ideal, I still have several concerns and doubts about it. If I, a student who thrived in the traditional school system, were placed in this type of school, I would feel so overwhelmed by disorganization that I wouldn’t even be able to learn. Everyone can choose where and when they want to be working, and I simply think that not all students will benefit from the lack of structure. I also think it is hard to implement this concept into elementary schools because I believe students would not stay on track as much as is necessary for this structure to be beneficial for students. Finally, although I think this concept is great, I am concerned about how students will transition into a university setting where they are being tested and sitting in lectures. Perhaps they will be able to stay on task better than others, but perhaps they will struggle with traditional testing.

An inquiry school, such as PSII, is a great idea and I hope that our current school system adapts more of these ideas.

CLogging off now, (outtro inspired by Aria)

COordt 🙂

Hey Cloggers! (like the new name? I was inspired by Beyonce’s beehive) 😛

Today in class, we watched a movie called RiP! Remix Manifesto Documentary (should I add the copyright sign after that title?? I don’t wanna get sued…). It’s a movie talking about the various ways people have experienced the unfortunate reality of copyright. For example, making remixes of songs, downloading music, and singing happy birthday are all infringements of copyright (well, not the happy birthday anymore… can you believe I was technically a criminal for 18 years – crazy stuff).

Anyway, this movie has really shown me how careful we as teachers, and just humans in general living in a society run by the internet, should be with regards to material we show in classrooms, worksheets we hand out to students, and pictures we put up on the wall (I wouldn’t want people mistaking my classroom for DisneyLand…) 😛 This is especially important in a ever-developing online world.

Today, we also discussed Creative Commons. It’s a platform that allows teachers to post their materials as well as use other teachers’ materials and lesson plans in their own class. On the website, it says “when we share, everyone wins” and ain’t that the truth?!? Furthermore, we looked at OER (open education resources) and searched up some resources we could use in class. These platforms are IDEAL or teachers because sometimes, the creative juices aren’t flowing… and that’s okay!

Anyway cloggers, happy resource hunting… and don’t sing any remixes while you’re at it 😛

Logging off for now,

COordt 🙂

Hey Blog!

For today’s tech class, we talked about the Most Likely To Succeed movie as well as created Trello accounts.

I thought the MLTS video was really interesting. This type of education is obviously the ideal for so many teachers and students; however, it seems so unrealistic to incorporate it into the education system that exists right now. Our current post-secondary system is so often centred around the percentage that’s attached to your student number and this makes the school system in MLTS almost pointless. Even though students will have the opportunity to have this really insightful learning (which is SO awesome), eventually, students will have to go back to the typical test taking system if they choose to attend post-secondary – and who knows if they’ll be prepared? Nonetheless, I believe teachers should begin to implement these types of inquiry based projects into the classroom while still incorporating the traditional math and grammar. I believe that these subjects are simply too important in daily life to overlook in the classroom. Students should also learn how to listen to information that is not necessarily related to their interests due to the high possibility that they will have to know how to do this in life after education (or even during education).

With all this being said, I still know that learning increases when students are interested in coursework, and teachers should strive to make their classroom environment a fun, welcoming, and engaging one.

With regards to Trello, I felt that setting it up was not as simple as setting up this blog. The instructions were out-of-date and this required me to actually use the Trello website to try and figure out how to set it up (maybe this was intentional from my teacher, who knows???) 😛 After setting it up, I was able to ask peers and use the remainder of the instructions to create lists, cards, and checklists. I quickly figured out that Trello is pretty much an online agenda. This is great for people who are on the move, do not like to write, or prefer technological ways of organizing their tasks; however, since I prefer writing down my commitments and events, as well as being able to see everything at once, I don’t foresee myself using Trello as an agenda/online organizer after this class. Nonetheless, it’s a good tool to know so that I can introduce it to my future students who will be children growing up in an age centred around technology. Therefore, this type of organizing might be ideal for some of them.

In simple words, I’m glad I’m learning a variety of technologies so I can pick and choose which to incorporate into my daily life as well as pass on this knowledge onto the next generation. Because isn’t passing on knowledge what teaching is all about?

Logging off for now,

COordt 🙂

I never saw myself as a blogger but here I am.

Today I created a blog for my technology class. It’s a requirement to be able to post weekly blogs (right here on this awesome blog) about the various concepts we learn and discover in this class. Technology is a subject that I feel quite comfortable with; however, I also definitely realize that there is so much more about technology, and so many different technologies, that I can better understand.

Creating a blog was quite simple. Nonetheless, it’s important to note that I had a prescribed list of instructions that I followed to create it. I believe that I would have struggled much more (and maybe even given up…) without this set of instructions. The OpenEd website, although colourful and eye-catching, was not very clear. Due to my limited knowledge of various blogging platforms, I was unsure which direction to take on the website (before using the instructions, of course). After figuring out which buttons to click, the process was definitely more structured with fill-in-the-blank boxes. Receiving the confirmation about the WordPress blog took longer than expected, but the email came through in the end.

Once my WordPress blog was created, navigating the actual blog website was simple. I quickly figured out how to add posts (without instruction – *self-five*) and categorize them into the various course sections.

And now, I’m here writing my first ever blog!

Overall, this experience went just as well as expected. Since I did create this in a classroom setting – with help from my peers and teacher – I did not expect much struggle in the first place.

In conclusion, I am excited to start this course and begin the extensive journey of technology in the classroom.

Oh, and by the way, I’m Claire. Thanks for reading my first blog!

Logging off for now,

COordt 🙂