After reading Dr. Michelle Jacobsen’s article, Teaching in a Participatory Digital World, and watching the video, Henry Jenkins: The influence of Participatory Culture on Education, I feel that I have a deeper understanding of the importance of incorporating technology into the classroom in meaningful ways, and I hope to incorporate these techniques into my classroom in the future. The article made me realize that my elementary and secondary teachers could have done a better job at using the technology available. This does not mean they were bad teachers; however they may not have had the learning opportunities needed to understand the advantages of technology and therefore could not pass this on to the class. Like Jacobsen discusses, it all starts with the teachers. We cannot expect to have digital literate students who use technology to make deep, meaningful connections if we do not have teachers who can pass this knowledge to them. This is something that seems obvious but I had never really thought critically about before reading this article. Of course we need to provide teachers with the necessary knowledge and skills if we expect them to incorporate technology into their lesson plans. I feel that this course is a great way to provide pre-service teachers with a foundational understanding of technology in the classroom setting and provide future educators with many different resources that bring active participation, reflection, collaboration and web 2.o aspects into the learning environment. During practicum, I had the opportunity to implement technological aspects that brought active participation into the classroom. Not only did the students’ respond well to it, but my associate teacher told me that they loved the resource I used and plan on implementing it again in the future. The knowledge I have gained from this course so far has been very useful in the classroom and has helped a teacher (my associate) and many future teachers’ (our class) enhance their practice.
Many “old school” style teachers punish their students for using technology in class, even confiscating devices. Rather than reprimanding the students, teachers should show them how to use technology responsibly in the classroom to gain knowledge, make connections, reflect on their work and actively participate within the online community in a meaningful way. I wish that my teacher’s would have given us this opportunity, as I feel there is much to learn by connecting with people around the world, as we saw first hand in our twitter discussion last week. As future teachers, it is important for us to continue brainstorming the ways in which we can create the optimal learning environment for our students by incorporating technology that will help push their educational experiences to the next level. This being said, I also feel it is important to recognize when technology is simply being used in substitution for an analog model and when it is used to transform the ways in which students gain knowledge.
For my multimedia reflection I decided to create an animated sketchnote using the app “Scribble Together Whiteboard” on my iPad. I screen recorded while I sketched on the app and then put these videos to music using iMovie. Although buying an apple pencil by no means turned me into an artist, I feel that this medium allowed me to express my thoughts thoroughly through text as well as doodles. The Powtoon video I created for my last reflection was visually nicer, however the sketchnote looks much more organic and real, and I am happy with the final product. I also had more creative control, as I could draw, write or add in any images I wanted. The app is actually a great tool to use in the classroom, as it allows you to “share your whiteboard” with others. Anyone who has access to the board can add their own thoughts and ideas, allowing students and teachers to collaborate further. You may want to incorporate into a lesson at your next practicum!
I hope my childlike drawings make you smile! 🙂