I selected the Hybrid podcast “Questioning Learning” by Chris Friend and Amy Collier to analyze and reflect upon. I personally connected most to the podcast. For this assignment, I used a platform that was out of my element, something that I had to learn myself. I am trying to be open to all new forms of technology and different platforms that can be used in the classroom.
The Hybrid podcast “Questioning Learning” was an incredibly interesting story. This podcast touches a large base of facts about “not-yetness” and how it relates to critical digital pedagogy. Education should be valued at an in explainable level and some teachers are having difficulty encouraging the risk in learning and emphasizing the importance of questioning to their students. One of the main foci for this podcast discussed how critical pedagogy encourages students to ask questions first and to not always make assumptions. To encourage our students to not take everything they see or hear at face value, but to truly question and analyze it. The podcast also addresses how a movement and shift from the instructivist model to a constructivist model. Amy Collier stresses the importance of being more learner centered and to be responsive to students learning. After listening to the full podcast, I believe that this is a reality for several teachers, even in today’s society. I fully agree with the concept that teachers need to encourage that the “not-yetness” is okay and that because one strategy may not work, and you fail, it is okay. Many students do not feel comfortable in taking risks and asking questions because they are afraid. Afraid of what their peers may think or even the teacher. We need to empower students to believe that there is no wrong question.
I strongly believe that as future teachers, we need to encourage students and make them all aware that it is acceptable to ask questions. It is okay to fail and to truly shift to a constructivist model of teaching. Future teachers should be more learner centered and focus on what the students learn. I believe that every student will succeed and establishing a classroom culture where students feel comfortable and willing to take risks and realize making mistakes is part of learning; student knowledge, understanding and skills will blossom in a classroom where students feel safe and confident. For the beginning of the school year, I am in the learning process for this course. After listening to this podcast, I am intrigued to listen to more and learn more about how to become a teacher who is learner centered. Critical pedagogy is something newer for myself. I believe questioning learning is crucial to becoming an excellent teacher who instills the love of life long learning in every student. As future teachers, we need to learn together and become comfortable ourselves with asking questions and accepting that “not yetness” okay. In order for our future students to be comfortable with asking questions and not feeling like failures, we need to have a strong understanding of our learners.
The experience of creating my artifact connects to the podcast that I reflected on because I took risks myself using a new platform. I had never used Promo before nor had I created a video and put it on youtube. I reflected on the artifact in a way that allowed me to think deeper into how I want to instruct my future students. I do not want my students to feel nervous when using a new platform the way I did. I know my future students will have mostly grown up around technology and from day one in the class, I want to ensure that my students know “not yetness” is okay. I want them to know that it is okay to ask questions and that no question is a dumb question. I felt this way while creating my artifact. With helpful feedback from my instructor, I was able to complete the task and receive positive feedback to improve the piece. Creating my artifact completely related to the podcast in my own personal way. I am thankful to have had the opportunity to listen to such a powerful, current, podcast topic that I was able to clearly make connections to my own life and future teaching career.