Computational thinking can be a great way to help learners become better problem solvers. Through computational thinking, students are required to look at problems as a series of tasks, turning the problem from one big thing into a series of smaller and more manageable steps. This is the algorithm they are creating through decomposition. Students using computational thinking can also become better at pattern recognition; understanding that new problems may be related to problems they have already solved. These skills can then be applied to a variety of problems, making students better problem solvers. It can also help students feel more prepared to tackle problems, especially once they are able to use decomposition and pattern recognition. By using these, students may feel less stressed about big problems, looking at them properly as a series of smaller problems rather than one big issue.
Photo by olia danilevich: https://www.pexels.com/photo/man-sitting-in-front-of-three-computers-4974915/
Non-Math Related Opportunities for Coding
As I mentioned, computational thinking can be applied to problem-solving as a whole, making it easily applicable to other subjects, from humanities to sciences. Many problems contain steps, making computational thinking a great resource aide. Coding in schools is generally thought of with regards to mathematics, but in reality it could be used for a variety of subjects. Coding can be used for humanities, creating a story and using coding to animate it. Programs such as Scratch allow learners to create simple animations, which can be great for storytelling. Students can create their character, giving commands that cause them to move along with the story. Voice over can also be added using this program, allowing students to narrate their story if their grade level allows. You can also use this for science, mimicking labs. Students can use coding to run a program that shows what they did for their labs, giving an almost alternative to the usual written lab reports. While coding does generally involve math, it does not have to be the main focus, allowing coding to be presented to children in a way that has them focus on other subjects without even realizing that they are doing math!
Photo by hitesh choudhary: https://www.pexels.com/photo/man-in-grey-sweater-holding-yellow-sticky-note-879109/
Creative commons licensed materials can help teachers while creating instructional materials. These materials can range from videos to audios to photos and many more. By using these free-to-use resources, teachers can create a wide variety of materials to aid their teaching. Creative commons licensed materials are free to use, serving as a great jumping off point for creating educational materials. Using these could be a bit difficult at times as you do need to take the time to find appropriate materials that fully suit your needs, which may be hard to find depending on what kind of materials you need. In some cases, this may make it easier to create new materials, but these creative commons licensed materials can still be used as inspiration!
There are many ways that we, as teachers, can help students learn to manage their digital footprint. Emphasizing the importance of monitoring online activity is a great place to start. Information posted on the internet is there forever, so it is important to show this. There are many different archival websites that preserve even personal social media accounts and can be used to show what they looked like at various times in the past. This goes to show how important it is to monitor posts before they are shared, not just reflect on them after. Though it is important to teach about safety with regards to digital footprints, you also want to ensure that you aren’t just making the students fear using digital technologies. These technologies can be very beneficial both socially and educationally when use correctly and safely. The main emphasis should be on privacy when reviewing different technologies, ensuring that there are ways to manage the student’s digital footprint and any possible interactions with other users of the technology.
Video Creation as a Learning Resource in Middle Years
Video creation can be used in the classroom as a great learning resource as it provides students with a creative outlet to present information. When thinking of video creation, I think that many people first think about how kids like to make silly videos for fun, not necessarily how these videos can help a student in an educational setting. Students can use video creation for almost any subject by being given assignments that involve making educational or informative videos. These can be created in a variety of ways, from students just recording a virtual presentation to students making documentary type videos to present information. This allows variety for students, allowing them to operate in whatever mode they feel comfortable. Students can also get very creative with video creation, incorporating a variety of art forms into its creation. This also gives students more options for presenting information, making this a versatile tool. It can also help students who may feel uncomfortable with presenting in front of the class, as they can just present to a video camera and edit it which may help them feel more secure in the information they are presenting and give them a safer environment to present their information.
Example of a Creative Commons Licensed Video
Video by cottonbro studio: https://www.pexels.com/video/a-woman-s-hand-full-of-paint-stain-3796274/ Audio by Jazz One Beats from CC Trax
The SAMR theory of technology adoption is a tool that is used to help teachers evaluate how they are using technology in their classroom. Is technology being used to enhance or transform the learning in the classroom? This model can be seen as a ladder, with a dotted line showing where the use of technology shifts from being enhancement to transformation. SAMR begins with the use of technology, with the first two parts being enhancement and the second two being transformation. First comes the S, which stands for substitution. This is when the technology is being used as a direct substitute for a learning tool without changing the function of the tool. Next is the A, standing for augmentation. With augmentation, the technology is still being used as a substitute for a learning tool, but this substitution also improves the function, therefore augmenting the tool. Substitution and augmentation are both seen as enhancements, not transformations. After augmentation comes the M, which stands for modification. This is when technology is used to help redesign a task. The final step is the R, standing for redefinition. This is when technology is used to create completely new tasks that would not be possible without the use of technology. Modification and redefinition are seen as transformation tasks as they can completely change activities in education.
This model can help you evaluate technologies that you are thinking of using in your classroom because it can help you critically reflect on how the technologies can help learners. Do you want to completely redefine every task, or are you just looking for substitution for some? By looking at how the technology is being used, you can ensure that you are keeping a good balance between enhancement and transformation. This will help you create a learning environment that works for everyone, giving the space for adaptability. This can also help with accessibility, as it can help teachers reflect on possible accessibility pros and cons that can come with various technologies.
SAMR model, illustrated by Sylvia Duckworth
Sketchnoting in Intermediate and Middle Grades
In any classroom, it is usually very common to see at least a few students doodling in their notebook while listening to a lecture or taking notes. Since this type of behaviour is so common, it is good to reflect on how it can be used to help students with comprehension! This is where sketchnoting can play a positive role in the classroom. Sketchnoting allows students to combine their notes with drawings in a way that helps them understand the information much more clearly. These sketchnotes do not include word-for-word transcriptions of the information being presented to students, but rather use summary note-taking. Pairing this summary note-taking can help students grasp the information as they need to understand it enough to be able to provide a general idea of the meaning, not just memorize and regurgitate specific details onto the page. The doodling that comes with creating a sketchnote can also help engage students who tend to lean more into the arts and creative practices, as they are able to illustrate the information in a way that works and is clear to them. This can help some students more than just having written notes. In intermediate and middle grades, this could be used a lot. These students tend to be taking classes where note taking is required, and from what I have seen this also generally tends to be where I see a lot of children doodling in class. Giving classes an engaging note-taking task, such as sketchnoting, can increase engagement in the classroom and help make it more accessible for students who may have difficulty with written note-taking. One barrier that may need to be reviewed in the classroom is students spending too much time trying to perfect their drawings. This could make this task stressful for some, as they may want their doodles to be perfect. It would be important to emphasize that these notes are just for themselves, and do not need to be perfect! If the task is proving too stressful, it may not work in that classroom. Similarly, some students may feel too self-conscious to draw on their sketchnotes, worrying that their drawings won’t be good enough.
I think that technology could be used as well to help with this problem, with programs like Canva being used to create infographics. These infographics can work as digital sketchnotes, allowing students to search photos to pair with their summary notes rather than making them draw the pictures themselves. Providing this option to students could also help make the activity more accessible, as not everyone may be able to sketchnotes. Especially with intermediate and middle grades, I think that having the online option could help alleviate some stress from the assignment, allowing students who may feel self-conscious or stressed about their doodles to have another way to express their knowledge.
One digital accessibility practice that I had not previously considered is the colour of a webpage and font. Despite having my own issues reading webpages sometimes due to the colours on the page, I had never considered how this could be seen as a barrier with regards to accessibility. This seems to be one of the toughest practices to use for me as everyone’s vision is different, and it may be tough to find a colour scheme that works for everyone. Using a basic colour scheme, with a white background and black text, seems like it would be the most universally accessible, but even it may serve as a barrier for some.
Why aren’t digital accessibility practices more common?
Until a couple years ago, I do not remember seeing any digital accessibility practices being used. In school we would watch movies without subtitles or any sort of captioning, and things like alt-text on photos seemed to be non-existent. In recent years, I think that I have seen an increase in these practices. Most people I know, including myself, seem to use subtitles all the time. This accessibility tool has become the norm for me, leaving me more surprised to see a video without subtitles. I think that apps like TikTok have actually been able to help with spreading awareness of this as an accessibility tool, with the app adding automatic subtitles to videos and making it easy for users to add their own subtitles as well. I have also seen alt-text becoming more and more common, especially on Twitter. Many accounts I follow seem to be adding alt-text when including photos in their posts, allowing those who are visually impaired to have access to these tweets. I have unfortunately not seen alt-text used commonly across other social media platforms and websites however.
I think that one of the main barriers preventing these digital accessibility practices from being more common is people being unaware of the need for them. People who may not need these tools may not be aware that others do, leaving them in the dark when it comes to creating accessible content. I think that these accessibility tools should be taught in schools when discussing technology, presenting them early on to help spread awareness. This can help make them the norm in digital spaces, rather than something that is seen as extra. These digital accessibility practices were not taught to me when I was being taught about technology, and I did not learn about them until seeing them discussed on digital platforms and social media. I imagine this is the case for many people, but some may never see it discussed on highly curated digital spaces if they are not often viewing content relating to accessibility.
Using video and audio editing tools as mediums for assignments can open up many doors for bringing creativity into the classroom. Although it may require a bit of additional set-up, the payoff of these tools can greatly benefit students who may be able to present their knowledge more clearly when not completing things such as written assignments. With the wide availability of technology in schools today, these audio and video editing skills can be introduced early on and built on as the students grow and technology evolves. For example, rather than asking your students to write an essay on a topic, you could ask them to record a podcast on the topic. Depending on their level, you could give them certain criteria to follow and certain things that they have to add when editing. This could include requiring them to add audio clips, music, sound effects, or any other thing that would require them to work on their editing skills. You could also have students create short videos to demonstrate their knowledge. Skits have been used in classrooms before, but some students may find these live performances to be anxiety-inducing. Allowing students to create videos that they are able to edit would help reduce this stress, giving students the opportunities to do multiple takes, put videos together, and remove any parts that they feel don’t work well. The flexibility of these opportunities can make them all the more engaging for students, allowing their creativity to flow in whatever way they feel suits them best.
Multimedia Learning Theory emphasizes the importance of presenting information in a variety of ways, not just as a block of text. Using this in instructional videos and tutorials can present students with a more comprehensive guide of the material they are learning. If an instructional video is just a person talking, with no visuals to guide them, it can be difficult for students to focus on and digest the information being presented to them. Including graphics and other modes of presenting the material can make the tutorial or instructional video much more engaging and easier to follow, as it allows students who learn in different ways to have options of how they are viewing the material. There may be students who just need to focus on the audio and what is being said, while others may learn the most from the visual aspect, using the graphics to learn and remember the information. Making instructional videos interactive with tools such as H5P can also help students stay engaged by giving them opportunities to check their knowledge and see what they are retaining.
While I don’t think we necessarily need to reimagine education as a whole, I think it is important to understand that evolution is needed in education in order to create learners who are adapted to the current state of the world. While this does not necessarily mean getting rid of ways of approaching education, mass revisions are sometimes needed. Incorporating technology in education can make learning accessible for many students, providing them with tools that can greatly impact their success. I view these changes more as evolution of the already established educational setup rather than a complete reimagination of the system. I found the discussion of ChatGPT to be interesting, as I wonder how it will affect cheating in schools. Since it is writing the information, I wonder if it would show up on things like plagiarism checkers.
What obstacles do educators face when they try to change pedagogy?
There are a lot of obstacles that educators can face when trying to change pedagogy. Not everyone is always open to changes in education, as some people will always want to stick with how things used to be. Though change can be conducive to education and improve pedagogy, it might not always be welcomed. There can be pushback not only from the school districts, but from parents and guardians as well. It is important to note that changes in pedagogy due to evolving technology and infrastructures can be beneficial once accepted. I have seen education be added to pedagogy throughout my life and have usually found it to be positive overall despite some pushback at the beginning.
What concerns you and/or excites you about this approach?
I found the approach in the documentary to be quite interesting. I like the idea of teaching what the teachers find to be important, but I do think that some structure is needed. I think that there should be some general criteria for the teachers to follow, but that there should be flexibility in the way things are taught. Having gone to school in the US, I know just how test-focused their education system is. This never felt very conducive to learning to me, as I was often just working on memorizing information rather than actually understanding it. I think that allowing more space for learning in the classroom would be great, and I think that this would open a strong opportunity for system reform with the creation of educational portfolios.
Hey, welcome to my blog! I am looking forward to starting my inquiry and posting weekly. Setting up the blog was a bit of a challenge, with the website being a bit confusing and not working for the first few tries. I think that this was likely due to the amount of people using it at once, and the website seems to be working perfectly now. Now that it has been resolved I look forward to customizing my blog and updating weekly!
Before proceeding with this first blog post, we expect you to consider your privacy preferences carefully and that you have considered the following options:
Do you want to be online vs. offline?
Do you want to use your name (or part thereof) vs. a pseudonym (e.g., West Coast Teacher)?
Do you want to have your blog public vs. private? (Note, you can set individual blog posts private or password protected or have an entire blog set to private)
Have you considered whether you are posting within or outside of Canada? This blog on opened.ca is hosted within Canada. That said, any public blog posts can have its content aggregated/curated onto social networks outside of Canada.
First tasks you might explore with your new blog:
Go into its admin panel found by adding /wp-admin at the end of your blog’s URL
Add new category or tags to organize your blog posts – found under “Posts” (but do not remove the pre-existing “EdTech” category or sub-categories, Free Inquiry and EdTech Inquiry). We have also pre-loaded the Teacher Education competencies as categories should you wish to use them to document your learning. If you would like to add more course categories, please do so (e.g., add EDCI 306A with no space for Music Ed, etc.)
See if your blog posts are appearing on the course website (you must have the course categories assigned to a post first and have provided your instructor with your blog URL)
Add pages
Embed images or set featured images and embed video in blog posts and pages (can be your own media or that found on the internet, but consider free or creative commons licensed works)
Under Appearance,
Select your preferred website theme and customize to your preferences (New title, etc.)
Customize menus & navigation
Use widgets to customize blog content and features
Delete this starter post (or switch it to draft status if you want to keep for reference)
Do consider creating categories for each course that you take should you wish to document your learning (or from professional learning activities outside of formal courses). Keep note, however, that you may wish to use the course topic as the category as opposed to the course number as those outside of your program would not be familiar with the number (e.g., we use “EdTech” instead of “edci336).
Lastly, as always, be aware of the FIPPA as it relates to privacy and share only those names/images that you have consent to use or are otherwise public figures. When in doubt, ask us.
Please also review the resources from our course website for getting started with blogging:
