Digital Ghosts in the Modern Classroom written by Ashley Hinck, explores the influences left behind by shortcut/template websites and platforms on students while in the classroom and in their everyday lives. Students often times don’t realize they have such limited choices because it’s what they’ve grown accustomed to when constructing social media posts or taking a SnapChat and adding a filter. Similarly, students don’t have as much freedom when creating in the classroom either. The shortcut/template platforms used by teachers allow the students to incorporate some of their own work as long as it fits in the predetermined spaces 
within the selected template. These learning apps and platforms invite students to follow the directions, get the right answer, turn it in, and get praise. Although many teachers will claim to be moving towards a more authentic way of educating children, either purposely or without knowing these websites and platforms used by teachers reflect the old way of teaching and learning, which views students as containers to be filled with the right answers by teachers. Unfortunately even when these platforms and websites are absent from classrooms they are still affecting student learning, instead we as educators need to help our students move away from users of shortcut/template platforms to makers, creators and critical thinkers.
I chose to use a Sketchnote to respond and reflect to this article. Sketchnotes are essentially purposeful doodling and are much a method of notetaking as they are a form of creative expression. I chose this me
dium for my response because after exploring a few of the other options I was a little intimidated by needing to create something digitally. Additionally, after reading the article which spoke about online platforms limiting creative freedom I felt as though this medium just made sense because it would allow me to get my genuine untouched thoughts across. If I were to use this medium again for a similar purpose I would spend more time brainstorming and planning my Sketchnote before getting started.
A few thoughts came to mind while reading and reflecting on this article. First, the education system is a taking a big step with trying to incorporate STEAM into the classroom but these digital ghosts seem to directly contradict the STEAM approach. STEA
M is about incorporating the arts into math, science and technology but by using these shortcut/template websites and platforms we are limiting the range of creative freedom for students trying to create when using technology. Secondly, I think that we need to give students the tools to critically reflect on these platforms on their own. By teaching our students to think critically and analytically they can start finding these digital ghosts themselves and find alternative ways to create digitally that allow them to use all of their own authentic ideas.
Digital Ghosts Sketchnote – Please open this link to view my artifact, you’ll also need to flip the image to view it I couldn’t figure out how to make it stay that way after I saved it.
Christine Belcher