I really enjoyed reading Ashley Hinck’s article “Digital Ghosts in the Modern Classroom” and it taught me a lot about the affordances of adding a technological aspect to your teaching style. Hinck explains how shortcut and template platforms are easy for students to use, however they remove the need for creativity, openness and trial and error, turning students into robots who create products simply to impress their teacher. Even after you remove these platforms, their “ghost” remains, as students have now acquired a “one correct answer” type of thinking and have trouble creating a finished product without a template or exact instructions. I have used platforms like these as a student and now I understand that although they were user friendly, they did not allow me to be fully creative and to have control over my final product. I feel that their “ghost” did linger in the classroom because throughout grade school and high school I remember being intimidated when I was not provided with detailed instructions for an assignment. I especially realized this while working on my artifact, as at first I was a bit overwhelmed with the amount of creative control allowed for this assignment. Although Powtoon was a platform with many predetermined preferences, I feel I was still able to implement many of my own ideas, just in a more organized way. This article changed the way I view the use of technology in the classroom and will definitely have an influence on my pedagogical decisions during my practicum and once I become a teacher.
Although it was challenging at first, I really enjoyed using Powtoon and actually had a lot of fun working on this video. The only barrier I came across was that to use themes from the “pro version” for free, the video must be under 3 minutes. I had to cut back some information from my reflection, however I am still happy with the final product. I will definitely use Powtoon again in the future and would recommend giving it a try!
I hope you enjoy my video!
-Olivia Kireta