Category: TIEgrad (Page 3 of 7)

“Not Yet”

April 5, 2020 / lhuston

Image by S K from Pixabay

“Imagine, Create, Play, Share, Reflect and back to Imagine”, the kindergarten approach for learning discussed in Resnick’s (2007) paper is applicable not only to the students we teach but to teachers themselves, especially within the transition from face-to face to online teaching currently happening due to the COVID-19 crisis. This ties in perfectly with “The power of yet” discussed by Dweck (2014) in the TED Talk, “The power of believing that you can improve”.

This week and in the coming weeks, teachers have been put out of their comfort zone into a new and challenging situation where they can fall to the “tyranny of now” discussed by Dweck or they can use the words, also stated by Dueck of, “not yet”. We are not there yet, but we can imagine, create, play, share, reflect and then imagine again. We will get there, or maybe we won’t (yet), but continuing to work towards solutions to the “wicked problem” teachers face, will lead to new ideas, lead to improvements and lead to new connections. Additionally, students who see teachers modelling a “not yet” approach to teaching, may begin to also say “not yet”. Changing mindsets from I’ll never figure this out and I’m not smart enough and I can’t do this to I’m working on it and it is hard, but I’m going to keep working on it and I can get there, but I’m not there yet may be the most important thing we could ever teach our students.

References

Resnick, M. (2007). All I really need to know (about creative thinking) I learned (by studying how children learn) in kindergarten. In Proceedings of the 6th ACM SIGCHI conference on Creativity & Cognition (pp. 1–6). New York, NY, USA: ACM. http://dor.org/10.1145/1254960.1254961

Dweck, C.[TED]. (2014, November). The power of believing you can improve. [Video]Retrieved from URL https://www.ted.com/talks/carol_dweck_the_power_of_believing_that_you_can_improve

Mindful Designs, Wicked Problems, Data and Digital Stories

March 28, 2020 / lhuston

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

The initial shock and panic of the last few weeks has now settled into new routines of living; my new normal. Within this new normal are the constant streams of COVID 19 data fed through the internet and the “wicked problems” that have arisen as part of this crisis. This data and the wicked problems both tell many stories and after this week’s reading and Ted talk, I wonder what story is being told and how many other stories many be embedded within the data shared or revealed through the solving of some of these impossible problems. I wonder about critical thinking when it comes to interpreting this data, approaching these problems and I wonder about how this data and these problems are shown to the public.

“Wicked problems in design thinking”by Buchanan, R. (1992) and Rosling’ s (2016) Ted Talk “The best stats you have ever seen” both illustrated how there are multiple ways to approach a problem and multiple ways to show things. The way a problem is approached, the question one asks, may give the opportunity for many different answers. This does not mean one is right or wrong as the design and the problem being explored are different. However, it could be argued that any design problem, approach and answer only shows the answer to a particular problem and cannot always be transferred to a new problem, and it may only show a partial or singular view of any story/problem; thereby also potentially creating a solution to only one aspect of a wicked problem. It also shows that there are multiple ways to design something and that the solutions are often not linear or singular. In addition, Rosling’s presentation illuminated that data, surprisingly, is more than just fact and figures, more than just numbers; data talks, data shares stories.

Rosling’s Ted talk video below illustrates very clearly how data can tell many stories, it’s a matter of knowing how to look at it. This in turn creates critical thinking as the designers of the data, or those who pull the data apart, use critical thinking when they explore the many ways data can be looked at. The data exposed in the video illustrates the many different stories that can be told. In this moment I pause to think about digital stories.

I want to have a clear understanding of what digital stories are before progressing further. A classmate of mine created a blog post connected to this idea; this got me thinking further about what digital stories are.

Digistories defines digital stories as:

“A digital story is a personal event or experience made into a short piece of television or internet video. It is created by the storyteller without professional mediation. Participants are taught new skills to enable them to tell their story. They use mainly still images processed and compiled with software like Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Premiere, Final Cut Express or iMovie”

It has also been defined by wikipedia and definitions.net as:

““Digital storytelling is a short form of digital media production that allows everyday people to share aspects of their life story. The media used may include the digital equivalent of film techniques, animation, stills, audio only, or any of the other forms of non-physical media which individuals can use to tell a story or present an idea.”

Both of these definitions could be further expanded to include data. Within the context of data, the data shared within the Ted talk showed how it could be manipulated to tell a variety of different stories. This illustrates clearly how the data regarding the COVID virus, could be looked at in a variety of different ways to tell stories other than the main ones being communicated through the media. This also illustrates how critical thinking can lead to solving problems, problems illuminated through data, problems revealed though questioning, perhaps even wicked problems and how ultimately this can build new stories, stories that can be shared as digital stories.

Finally, I have included below, some of the resources and ideas both shared and discovered this week connected to both data and wicked problems that can be further explored as ways to create and critically examine, and to have students create and critically examine, a variety of data. This exploration may potentially lead to the design of new digital stories; digital stories told by students connected to their understanding and exploration of data. Perhaps the exploration of data, questioning, the exploration of design and the transferring of these understandings can help to develop approaches to solving “wicked problems” where students work in tandem with a variety of different approaches to solve them. Perhaps this is true development of 21st century skills; these are skills that students will need to successfully navigate the world as an adult; skills that may allow for solutions to the many “wicked problems” that continue to arise.

1.Designing Learning

2. Citizen Science

3. The Power of Data Analysis

4. Digital Timelines

5. GapMinder

6. #wickedproblems

7. Catrien J.A.M Termeer, Art Dewulf & Robbert Biesbroek (2019) Policy and Society, 38:2, 167-179, DOI: 10.1080/14494035.2019.1617971

References

Buchanan, R. (1992). Wicked Problems in Design Thinking. Design Issues, 8(2), 5-21. doi:10.2307/1511637

Rosling, H. [TED]. (2006, February).The Best Stats You Have Ever Seen. [VIDEO]. Retrieved from URL https://www.ted.com/talks/hans_rosling_the_best_stats_you_ve_ever_seen?language=en

The Internet: Helping or Hurting?

March 22, 2020 / lhuston

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

I wake up and roll over, determined to sleep further and then wonder if things have suddenly improved overnight. Pulling myself out of bed, I grasp my phone, quickly flipping it over to see what I’ve missed throughout the night. Yes, I know grabbing your phone first thing in the morning is not the best way to start your day. I scan one alert, followed by another; a news report on closed borders, deaths, what to do if you think you have COVID 19, flattening, no planking the curve. I check my flight tracker to see how close my parents are to home and start to worry about all of the people on the plane and my 73 year old mothers respiratory issues. Suddenly, I feel like I might be a little feverish, is my throat sore? What if I’m infected and I infected someone unknowingly? My mind plays over images of the last few days as I recall things I may have touched, where I was and who I saw. As the rope around my chest begins to tighten, I remind myself to breathe. Swallowing a few gulps of air, I relax my shoulders and begin to inhale and exhale deeply.

Over the past few weeks, the world has changed. Changed due to a virus; a virus named COVID-19. It sneaks into places unaware and lies quietly, but actively on innocent looking surfaces awaiting its next victim. A cough sends out thousands of tiny little warriors just looking for a new home, a new body to invade. This microscopic, invisible virus has managed to turn the entire world on its head. Businesses, schools and all aspects of social life has been abruptly halted, leaving many unemployed, lonely, scared, bored and trapped in their homes, their only connection to the outside world through what they see or find online.

If isolated people worldwide have only one contact to the outside world, via the internet, the issue of what is found online becomes vitally important. What may be found online? How do we know what if what we see online is true? This week’s reading by Rheingold (2012) connects directly to the current state of the world, as knowing how to find what you are looking for online as well as how to decide if what you are reading is indeed fact or fiction may be vitally important as it may influence the direction people take in response to the COVID-19 virus. Could the information found and shared on the internet impact the spread and management of the virus? Could it impact how people mange themselves during this crisis? Does one article stating that you need to stock up on supplies for two months cause pandemonium at stores? Does a facebook post telling people that they need to stay home impact an individuals movements? Does a video plea from Italy change someones decision? Does a statement that the virus is no big deal and that more people die from the seasonal flu impact someones choice to go out or stay home? Does information stating that you won’t get sick if you drink lots of water, or drink bleach (hopefully no one is drinking bleach!), or don’t eat ice-cream influence decisions and change thoughts about the virus?

Does access to the internet help, or hurt?

It could be argued that these may all influence an individuals decisions. As an educator, understanding the in’s and out’s of the internet and how to determine if something is fact or fiction and teaching this to my students can help them to make informed decisions. Teaching students tools to navigate the web, teaching them how the web works and how it filters information is important for decision making, building knowledge and broadening perspectives.

Rheingold’s (2012) book chapter, Crap detection 101: How to find what you need to know and how to decide if it’s true, offers some strategies to use with students to help them to sort through all of the information they see on the internet. The ideas presented connect in multiple ways to the BC digital literacies framework and were reminiscent of work I have had students complete: the CRAPP test students complete when conducting research and the effective searching strategies tasks that students carry out; however there were also a few new ideas and tools that I have not used.

For example:

1. Alexa.com (I found it fascinating that their slogan is “Find, Reach and Convert your Audience” ) can be used to see how much traffic a site receives.
2. Using “In the context of web context: How to check out any web page” can give students and teachers further tools to use when reviewing information found online.
3. Plugging your URL into networktools.
4. Looking at Global Voices to gain a variety of world views.

One of the big ideas I pulled from this chapter was to always be skeptical, to always question and to always look for opposing ideas.

Students can learn to be skeptical, students can learn to conduct effective research and can be taught many of the tools mentioned, but what if they are not even being given all of the information in the first place? What if all of the information they receive is filtered based on their preferences as determined by an algorithm. The video below, outlines the reality of this as well as the issues that may arise as a result. The search results I see as an educator may be drastically different than the results a 16 or 17 year old will see. The social media feeds I am exposed to would also be different than those my students see and different from those others in the world would see. This explains why the the fake news circulating on social media did not show up on my social media feed and why I had to do a search for “corona virus”+ “fake news” to discover it.

Within our group project, teaching students all of these tools prior to them conducting any research is important. Teaching them to look for opposing points of view is important. Showing students how algorithms work and how the internet has the potential to, rather than create further discourse and understanding of world views, create further support for a singular personal world view is also vitally important, not only for effective research but also to, as Pariser (2011) says, “preserve democracy”.

So does the internet help or hurt? The answer is not definitive as it has the capability to do both. However, overall, I think most would agree that it is more helpful than hurtful. The more we teach students the working of the internet and how to navigate the information found, how to destroy filter bubbles and how to question, the more helpful it can become. In this current crisis the internet is a powerful tool that can be used for information, entertainment and arguably, more importantly, for communication; communication with friends and family, communication for work purposes, communication for education. The internet will be, and is already being used as a tool by many to communicate with their students as we move to the continuation of learning through online methods. As such, it is important that we as educators understand how the internet works, that we teach students these tools, that we continue to question what we read and see and, that we continue to share and explore opposing views.

References

Rheingold, H. (2012). Chapter 2 Crap Detection 101: How to Find What you Need to Know, and Decide if It’s True. In Net Smart: How to Thrive Online. (pp. 77-111). Cambridge, Mass. MIT Press.

Pariser, E. [TED]. (2011, March). Beware online “filter bubbles”. [Video] Retrieved from URL https://www.ted.com/talks/eli_pariser_beware_online_filter_bubbles?referrer=playlist-how_to_pop_our_filter_bubbles&language=en

The Importance of Digital Literacy

March 15, 2020 / lhuston

Image by Krzysztof_War from Pixabay

What changes can occur in just a few short days. I’m sure that for most of us, our visions of how the week would unfold, were different than the reality that emerged. For me, my vision of an intense week of musical theatre rehearsals followed by two productions on the weekend was halted the moment this announcement was made on the news, “mass gatherings of 250 or more people are banned in BC”. Pulling my car over to the side of the road, I paused and then immediately contacted my co-director followed by the vice-principal, then the principal. A flurry of discussions and e-mails ensued, culminating with a lengthy e-mail to all of our hardworking students and families headlined, “IMPORTANT NEWS ABOUT THE MUSICAL-PLEASE READ ASAP”. As you may imagine, the emotions ranged from a mix of understanding, some relief (for those who had grandparents attending), and deep sadness. So now, rather than sitting in a dark theatre, I am at home writing my blog post and thinking about what may ensue over the next month.

You may be wondering how this all connects to digital literacy, and, as I’m sure the anticipation is killing you, I will tell you.

Given what is happening around the world right now as a result of the COVID 19 virus, the potential for K-12 students to resume learning after Spring Break in a new manner is plausible. And, this is where digital literacies come into play as those who have developed certain digital skills, may find the transition to a new type of learning easier than those who have not. This includes both teachers and students alike.

According to Tim Winklemans, executive directory at the BC Ministry of Education, The Digital Literacy Framework was developed about 10 years ago in response to a promise made by Christy Clark to ensure that every student was digitally literate at a young age. As there was no set definition at the time for digital literacies, this allowed for the creation of a unified definition that included multiple aspects; from the ethical to coding. The framework was developed using the ISTE national standards as its basis, with a couple of changes. Interestingly, the ISTE national standards has been updated recently (2016). This would then lead me to assume that the BC Digital literacy framework we have in place is based on an outdated model that is being phased out. It is also interesting that the ISTE standards also include standards for educators, coaches and education leaders.

The following video, connected to digital literacy made some important connections to essential elements of digital literacy: cognitive, constructive, communicative, civic, critical, creative, confident and cultural. Within the Digital literacy framework, the following two components are not explicitly included; confident and cultural.

Students, and teachers who do not feel confident when using technology, will struggle with building their skills and trying new types of technology. It may make sections like, “e. Learning About And With Digital Technologies” (BC’s Digital Literacy framework) harder for students to experience success with.

The missing cultural component was also mentioned by Tim Winklemans as he noted that the framework doesn’t pay enough attention to world-views, indigenous populations and inclusion.

Although the framework contains material that is still relevant and may still be useful for teachers, the framework is in desperate need of a revision.

While the future is uncertain and the fog may be thick, that new learning will occur as we travel through is certain. Once on the other side, we will be able to more fully assess what this learning was, and we may, as a result make changes in our teaching that may create a shift in our current educational system.

One certainty within my future is the project that my group and I are currently working on. I am excited to see how this project unfolds as we will have an opportunity to try out and gain new expertise with a variety of digital tools in the process. I am also excited about the potential future uses of this project especially as we have had many conversations about ways to create cross-curricular learning within our program. And, yes, in case you didn’t pick up on it already, I am very excited about our project!

After this week’s discussions around digital literacy, I think that one component to consider more deeply as part of this project would be the “confidence” component. How do we specifically build and/or scaffold students’ learning connected to technology so that they build confidence in connection to the tools they are using for this project while simultaneously strengthening their overall feelings about their own digital competencies?

The project framework is a ‘How to’ Video Project. In the overview below, core competencies are in black and the specific core competencies are in orange. The BC digital Literacy framework headings are in blue. We will be creating the teacher-centered portion of the project.

Please feel free to ask questions and/or give feedback on it.

Storytelling

March 10, 2020 / lhuston

Image by Tumisu from Pixabay

As an English teacher, I am passionate about story telling and include stories and story telling within the classes I teach. When it comes to digital storytelling, I have used a variety of different tools with my students ranging from online storyboards to the creation and sharing of stories in an auditory manner. We have looked at, and created podcasts, Ted talks and, have used tools like iMovie, and photostory. As we are discussing digital storytelling in class this week, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to start to review some of the resources given and perhaps find some new ones, all in the hopes of using some new tools and designs with my students.

The following resource has some ideas connected to podcasting: that I would like to explore further.

I am also interested in trying out a screenplay with my students as I haven’t approached story telling from this angle and I believe there would be a high level of interest and engagement with this. I have had students plan out sections of a screenplay, but have not included the actual videoing and editing to create a finished product. This might be a great project to complete in a cross circular manner with an ADST class/ Tech class.

I’m excited about trying to integrate some of these new ideas into my classes after Spring Break!

I tried out one new tool this week called PIXTON

Say What? Yes, it’s another reflection!

February 12, 2020 / lhuston

For this weeks blog, I wanted to just spend a few minutes reflecting on the whirlwind that has been this master’s program so far. I felt that spending a little time going back over some of my previous ideas and blog posts would help to clarify where I have been and where I may be headed next. I was especially curious to look back at some of my original research questions in order to see how and if they had changed. As I reflect over the last few months, it has become evident to me that the engagement piece is where my passion lies. I do believe that when students engage, both the student and teacher benefit. I have also come to connect deeply with some of the findings in previous research connected to the tie between in class and out of class engagement. Going forward I would like to continue to build and develop this by creating meaningful and engaging in class activities that connect to out of class activities. I began this week with my Grade 9 class through the utilization of a flipped learning assignment where students read and answered questions prior to class, allowing for us to use the class time to actively work on creating a structured paragraph connected to the reading. I felt like this really allowed the students to have the time to learn to structure a formal written response with teacher guidance and immediate feedback that would not have been possible without the completion of the assignment ahead of time. Each student was able to, by the end of class, create a well-structured and well-supported paragraph! A success in my books 🙂

Moving on, these are the research questions I posted last year. My thoughts on them now have been added in, in blue.

Blog List of Research Questions.

How do I create meaningful learning in an online (Moodle) environment?Based on the research I looked at the use of social media or other social constructs may be one way. I wonder how I might build these structures within the courses. I wonder about building community within these courses?

Other things I have looked at and considered: AI as a tool to engage and flipped learning.

Can the use of animations create higher levels of student participation?Again, this could be connected to the use of social media and may even be used as a scaffolding tool. Students could start with animation and them once they have built skills and confidence, could move away from the animation.

I am still curious about this and wonder how this might work as a means to perhaps have students collaborate outside of class time as well. I am reminded of the class discussion on the value of synchronous class time and wonder how this could be used here.

Can the use of social media increase student participation and engagement in online and blended classes? This may be possible as the research demonstrated an increase in engagement with the use of technology. This use of social media, as pervasive technology, may also increase engagement. This engagement may lead to higher levels of participation and may lead to higher level of creativity.

The biggest issue and hurdle here is privacy. I now believe that there are many other means to increase engagement that are not connected to social media.

Can teacher presence increase student engagement in online classes?Again, this could connect to the use of social media or other tools like pod casts or vodcasts.

Absolutely! I have come to realize just how important this it! It can be as simple as messaging a student and responding to messages promptly. I also suppose timely feedback on assignments would add further teacher presence as well.

How can I create a community with my online learners? Again, this is connected to social media and other tools that create opportunities to collaborate with others. I wonder what this might look like…

I still wonder about this…..those who are only online could perhaps take place in some synchronous learning…..now that I have more Grade12 students taking English to graduate early, perhaps this might be something to look at. This sounds like a spring project to try and tackle.

What is the best way to implement cross-curricular/inquiry projects/project based learning? This is a project in the works that may come to unfold…hopefully… in the fall of 2020. I will keep you posted.

And….thats all folks! Again, comments and feedback are always appreciated 🙂