#UWinDig

For this post I decided to showcase mindomo to present the information of Data-Driven Education by Khurram Virani. The reason I chose to present through Mindomo is because it is a program supported for mindmapping by both the Public AND the Catholic Board here in Windsor (you can trust me, I did the training!). Thus I thought it would be fun to showcase something teachers can use with their students no matter where their placements will be.

The program is fairly intuitive allowing for keyboard shortcuts to add new content bubbles as well as on screen buttons. It also allows for the direct linking of media from youtube or google image search, making customization easy. The app even has an iPad version :O!

The only problem I have with mindomo is that it can be a bit jarring for students who are used to working with mindmaps in the round, as mindomo works in either a linear or tiered model. Linear having farther removed ideas being farther from the center in a line (as shown on the mindmap created below), and tiered making it look something like a tournament bracket rather than an actual mindmap.

You can click here to see the full range of ideas discussed in the video but I believe the biggest take away from this video is that education does not take enough risks. It likes to stay within tried and true methods (much like this blogpost) rather than reaching out and risking failure. I would argue that just as last weeks blog post encouraged students not to fear failure we should also be teaching our teachers the same thing, as failure is how we adapt and innovate. If education fails to do this I fear it will always be just a few steps behind of where the world is today, let alone where it is headed tomorrow.

What ideas/beliefs make you react the way you do

These ideas come from the philosophy that failure is a learning opportunity, not necessarily just a result. It is the way we as humans learn what doesn’t work and, in doing so, continue striving for a better answer.

What were your ideas before

My ideas before related to data driven education were skeptical at first. I had seen many times algorithms fail and send me ads for things I did not care about. Relating it to education, I worried it would be much the same, striking many false positives and derailing a students education with misrepresented ques.

What pieces of new information did you find?

What I found was it is less about collecting all the data available, but selecting which data points are important for education. This would be like if the ad search looked at my open shopping carts on websites for information on what to advertise rather than the one off conversation I had with a friend.  What also resonated with me was the ideas that schools still cannot properly teach their students for the world ahead, let alone what is coming, due to the need to test and retest and confirm before they are willing to push any boundaries.

In reading “No Dark Corner” by Matthew Carney it is hard to not recall the famous novel by George Orwell.

The article explores the rewards based system that China is planning for 2020. It will score individuals based on prior achievement and future choices. There is a pilot project already in place which uses 200 million CCTV cameras to live update citizen’s scores. High achieving individuals receive VIP status at airports and hotels and no down payments on things like car rentals or homes. It is hard to argue that this doesn’t sound appealing. Who wouldn’t want to be rewarded for good behaviour? If you always pay your bills on time and are a model citizen why shouldn’t you receive some perks here and there? Everyone loves a gold star.

However, there is the other side of the coin. Low performing individuals are penalized to the degree of being cast out of their own society. They become unable to purchase travel tickets, or acquire certain jobs. There is a Chinese journalist who has become housebound and fears for the future security of his family. His freedom of speech has been removed and his social media censored. The thought alone of this is terrifying to me, however it is in fact a dystopian future that many people are living.

The idea of this is so jarring to me because I am fortunate to live in a country where I have freedom of speech and am able to make as many (reasonable) life mistakes as I choose without facing severe repercussions.

When I think of this notion of reward and retract in terms of education, I see some scary parallels. I understand that China’s demerit system is the extreme, but rewards based systems have existed in education for years. When these types of reinforcements are used in the classroom we are telling students that their worth is based off of a quantifiable number. Some of this parallel can be observed in Natasha Singer’s “Privacy Concerns for Class Dojo and Other Tracking Apps for Schoolchildren”.

In reflecting on both articles, I know that I believe that classroom management and creating rules and consequences for students is imperative. I also firmly believe in teaching them transferrable life skills and that teaching those skills are arguably more important than curriculum. However, I don’t believe in tracking behaviour and rewarding certain students while routinely punishing others. I also firmly disagree with the awful component of publicly tracking them. This method simply tells students that we value them solely off of their behaviour and not based on what they have to contribute to the learning environment.

In my classrooms I have tried to the best of my ability to make it part of my practice to welcome all facets of students, positive and negative. I think when we give ourselves a way to keep tabs on student behaviour it can influence the way we think and feel about them. I aspire to get to the point where I am able to leave most of my preconceived notions and conscious and subconscious biases at the door of my room.

For this artifact I chose to complete a Twitter thread because I am more comfortable with writing out my thoughts than representing them visually (although the gif’s do add alot). I tried to post the thread the first time but only the gif’s posted with no written content. PANIC ENSUED. I am not super tech savvy and started to freak. I had lost all of my work with nothing saved. I was restarting at ground zero. I recreated the thread to the best of my memory (the gif’s I had used the first time actually helped me remember my written content – shocking), screen shotted them this time just in case and reposted. Tada, my first successful Twitter thread. I felt complete relief and something akin to pride in my ability to get it to work.

Check out my social media prowess

After reading "No Dark Corner" by Matthew for my Digital Tech and Social Media class I have a few thoughts on rewards based systems themselves and their use in education. #UWinDig pic.twitter.com/4ZU3bMW8Iq

— Miss Poole (@alyellen_ed) October 28, 2018

Still not entirely sure how other people nicely embed photos into their actual posts. I will make that my goal for my next artifact assignment!

The TED Talk by Khurram Vieni on Data-Driven Education was very interesting and contained a lot of content.  His main idea, the importance of Data-Driven Education, was one part of his speech, which I used to create the Infographic, found below.  He is both a technologist and an educator; so naturally, he decided to compare the two, technology and education.  He concluded that both serve industries, move people forward, is about people’s experiences and outcomes, are crafts that are influenced by science and they both come down to finding the best approach.  At first, I did not see the link between the two and was wondering where this video was going.  Upon further reflection and thinking about these key points, I realized he was spot on about the link.  We are using technology more and more in the classroom, sometimes so much so, that we are leaving students at a disadvantage.  Students are learning less and less on how to write and spell, and are creating students to be literate at typing and using spell check.  Technology is advancing at an incredible rate, while education is lagging behind, where the gap between education and the real world of skills needed for future jobs gets bigger.  Education is not changing at the rate of education, and we seem to be getting lost in preparing students for the future, because technology is creating an ever-changing world.  We cannot even guess what jobs will be in need in the next decade- they might not even exist today.  Unfortunately, we are no longer teaching for the future, and we are not even teaching for today!  That is the biggest challenge in teaching, constant change and improving our lessons to meet the needs of all our students.

Teaching technology is beneficial for our schools, but we need to find a balance that allows students to use and learn from technology, while also learning basic skills like writing and arithmetic.  Our students are becoming to reliant on technology and it is scary to see that students cannot spell, do simple math and cursive write (they no longer have a signature!)  That seems crazy to me!  I think we can find the balance necessary to teach students basic skills in writing, math and technology without limiting ourselves to one over the other.  In my two placements, I have seen a classroom too dependent on technology and one that had a good balance.  The one with the balance, used many types of technology, like Kahoot, math-based games and the Google Programs without losing out on the basic writing skills.  For example, they would write and edit (sometimes peer edit) their rough drafts and have the option to type their final draft.  Spelling and computing basic math facts, even in this grade eight class was still very weak.  Therefore, like many things in life, I believe that it is important to find a balance with the use of technology in the classroom.  Students should have the opportunity to learn both technology skills and skills in math and writing that will allow them to choose which system of skills they like best.  Some students felt it was unfair that cursive writing was no longer taught and they spent their indoor recesses practicing themselves.

Data- Driven Education is a method for improving teaching and learning in the classroom, used by teachers.  Although, I have not heard about this technique until listening to the TED talk, I feel that I am always checking in with students to see where they are at in their learning.  Sometimes as teachers we have to be flexible and ensure that students understand concepts, even if we need to teach it in a different way.  It’s all about experimenting and finding the best way to teach our students.  Changing things up and teaching with the needs of your students in mind will help improve teaching and learning.  What works for one class will usually not work for the next class.  It’s all about knowing your students and catering to their needs.

I chose to represent the sequence for Data-Driven Education in an infographic because I thought the information would look best in a poster-like format.  I used Piktochart to create my infographic and being new to the program, I thought it was very user friendly.  I used a step-by-step guide from the website to help me and before starting, I looked around at all the options and tools for the program.  I decided to start the infographic from scratch and did not choose to use a layout.  I could not find one I liked, so I went to work creating my own.  I would definitely use this program in the future and I would have my students create posters and other projects using this website.  It would be easy for me to teach to my students and provide more variety than the common used Google or Microsoft products. Overall, I had a great experience with this infographic and I am glad I had the opportunity to try it out.  I think it turned out great.

I chose to analyze a TedTalk entitled “Data-driven Education” by Khurram Virani (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3eO8gYmWCc) . He states that teaching is hard and that the curriculum is even harder but that improving the curriculum is the hardest of the three. He draws an important parallel between technology and education by pointing out that they both serve other industries and pushing these industries forward by giving them the right tools and people to push forward. He believes that there is a divide in technology between the way people learn and the way they work. There is no right answer with teaching. It is not a straightforward science. However, technology and education are not on the same path. In the technology field there is a constant change and it is propelling these industries forward at a rapid rate whereas education is stagnant which leaves a gap between the academic world and the working world. Just like educators are constantly trying to make a connection between science and art, the same is being done with education and technology. One way this is being done is by data-driven education. It is believed that data should be collected in order to improve our education system and make changes to the curriculum based on this data. However, he believes that in the end teachers should make these changes because technology can gather this information, but it cannot analyze or implement it in a classroom setting.

I agree with Virani because I too think that our education system does not teach for today let alone for the future. While we have added technology in the classroom, it has been used at a very basic level. While most of us know the basics of Microsoft Word, Powerpoint, etc., we have not been taught to use these programs in dept for potential future careers that require things such as excel. Also, instead of pushing students to pursue careers in the technology field, we encourage them to pick more traditional fields even though technology is ever changing and booming. He also points out that even though technology is present in the classroom, it is often overused. I remember as a child teachers playing a whole movie in class and then simply asking us what we learned even though it had no real educational value. Having technology in a classroom does not fill the gap between technology and education. Teaching our students how to code or how to use excel would be one way that could fill this gap and give our students tools for the real world. This would not only make our content more diverse but would prepare our students for the industries they may work in one day.

When the idea of data-driven education was brought up, I immediately thought of standardized testing but this is not what is meant by data-driven education. The difference is that unlike standardized testing, this information is analyzed in order to make changes in the education system. If we are not acting upon this information we have gathered, it is pointless. I like the idea of using this idea to compare our education on a yearly basis. Comparing how certain classes work and also to track a students progress. It can also help teachers to collaborate because this information can be passed on and teachers can use this to focus on problem areas for students.

Twitter Thread : https://twitter.com/vedrana_sarenac/status/1056393797469380608

Cellphones. These are the rulers over people in today’s society. Everyone is always on their phones reading text messages, looking at Facebook or Instagram, taking pictures, checking email. This is especially prevalent in today’s youth. Yousif’s article entitled Tackling tech: How some Ontario teachers are attempting to limit students cellphone use discusses this issue among student’s in the classroom setting. The article starts off by saying that students are allowed to take their phone to their desks with them but only on one condition: they are required to place them in a special pouch before they put them in their desk. These specials pouches are called Yondr cases which lock once the phone is placed in it and can only be released when the teacher unlocks it. It has been found to create a positive impact in the classroom setting. I would love to use these pouches in my future classroom. I believe everyone would benefit from these cases including the teacher and students. In my first placement, I found that all of my students were constantly trying to hide their cellphones in their desk and I found it very distracting as the teacher. I was always telling students to put their phones away or to go put them in their lockers. If every school had these cases I think that it would eliminate the distractions for students. I believe that school boards need to look into investing into these cases because their current methods of no cellphones are not really working.

I chose this medium because I thought that it would be a great opportunity to practice my movie making skills. I used iMovie for my last project and wanted to continue to practice my skills by creating another type of video. I used the website www.promo.com to create my video. I was able to use some clips and pictures from their website but I was also able to import my own as well. I did enjoy using this site because I found it to be very user-friendly and easy to use. My only issue with the website was that you could only use five of their clips to create a video unless you wanted to pay for it. Even though I experienced this, I would still recommend the site to anyone who is not familiar with the video making process.

https://slide.ly/promo/share/5bd0c2f2f8bb6e58207b24bd

After reading the Facebook Exodus article. I have decided to do a twitter style essay response to the idea. I believe, that we the users must critically ask ourselves questions when we choose to consume a product. Much like when read the nutrition labels on food, we should research the concerns of a social media platform. With Facebook, we should ask ourselves “Is my data safe” , or “Is my privacy valued.” Sometimes we should even asking more practical questions such as: Will this effect my mood?, Will this effect my self worth?, Am I likely to get addicted to this?. As a consumer, you can choose which media you subscribe to. That being said, young Facebook users, are deleting the app. They are subscribing to other social media platforms, or dieting from social media all-together. This is due to a number factors; many of which borderline : mental health, privacy concerns, and lack of online safety. In this article and my twitter essay, it discusses various issues with Facebook. I have posted a screenshot, and then a link to the essay incase anyone wants to further discussions there. I believe that our society has become more expectant of having things instantly. Although digressing back to previous communications is not a popular opinion, we sometimes find things that are recycled back to the for front. In the recent years in music, vinyl records have made their way back. Imagine a society, that kept cellphones, but the only way to contact people was to call them. Sometimes, we need to go to far, to realize a healthier medium was already discovered. I believe that with facebook, the social media platform has given it’s users “trust issues.”

Before this article, I was mostly engaged with the idea of dieting on social media. However, Facebook, would be what was what I was thinking of keeping. After this article, I realize, that it is the social media platform I need to diet from the most. I am looking at reasons why users are removing facebook. I realize now, it is for various reasons that I would like to as well. News feed is mainly programmed media, which is a waste of my time and brain cells. Gazing at my facebook newsfeed, would be like eating Junk Food everyday, then wondering why I am unhappy with myself.

Twitter Essay 

Natasha Singer’s article “Privacy Concerns for ClassDojo and Other Tracking Apps for Schoolchildren”, discusses the controversial behavior-tracking applications that are available for teachers to use for free in their classrooms. ClassDojo is the most popular of many applications that award students points for good behavior and subtract points for poor behavior. The app displays each student’s name, an avatar and their behavior score for that week. Singer gives a great overview of the many benefits and drawbacks of using apps of this nature, which really helped me to reflect on this topic and make an informed decision about whether or not I agree that these type of software programs should be used in classrooms.

The primary concern about applications like ClassDojo among parents, teachers and privacy law scholars is how the data being collected is used. Although the app’s terms and conditions state that teachers who are signing up are confirming that their schools have given them authorization, it can easily be used without permission from administrators. Therefore, parents are not giving their explicit consent before teachers begin to log their students’ data, and must ask the teacher or email the company directly in order to remove their child’s data from the app. So where and how is this data being used? Although the co-founder of ClassDojo assures that their company is committed to never selling the data, there is a clause in the privacy policy that indicates that they may show the user advertisements “based in part on [their] identifiable information”. Moving past the privacy concerns, there are several other problems associated with behavior tracking software. They encourage compliance based on bribes and threats, which the author compared to a “carrot and stick” method of classroom discipline and the treatment of children like pets. Publicly displaying behavior scores is also concerning because it shames students in front of their peers. ClassDojo emits an audible, disappointed pong sound to the class when a student is penalized. These types of applications are also critiqued for being too subjective, since teachers are adding or removing points based on arbitrary behaviors such as disrespect or leadership – which could look different for each individual student. Finally, critics argue that behaviour databases promote labelling students as a “problem child”, which could harm their interactions with teachers and students throughout their education.

Despite many drawbacks associate with behavior-tracking applications, they can be an effective classroom management strategy to help regulate students’ conduct in class. Not only could they help reduce undesirable behaviors, but they could also help to promote positive behaviors, such as leadership and teamwork, to create a healthier classroom environment. Beyond the classroom, it is an effective tool for keeping up on communicating directly with parents. Some parents really enjoy the fact that they are able to monitor their child’s progress and receive reports from teachers on a regular basis, without a formal interaction. Teachers say the application encourages them to record classroom conduct, which might otherwise get pushed to the sideline, although it is useful data to have come time for parent-teacher interviews and writing report cards or progress reports. Special education teachers have expressed the functionality of such applications to help them set individualized goals with students and their parents. To counter the criticism about shaming students by displaying their behavior scores to their classmates, the application does allow teachers to select whether points are shown publicly or privately, to accommodate the needs of each individual classroom. One teacher has said that he prefers to display points publicly, and awards many more points for good behavior than he subtracts for bad behavior, in an effort to illustrate that the good outweighs the bad. Keeping students aware of their scores could also promote self-awareness.  Some teachers have asked students to award themselves points for teamwork, for example, which encourages them to reflect on their own conduct and contributions.

After much deliberation about my own thoughts regarding behavior tracking applications, I have decided that I would not use them in my own teaching practice. I personally prefer to log data in an analogue fashion, and maintaining students’ dignity is a big priority for me, which is believed is compromised when a student’s peers witness them being awarded, or deducted points. I also do not personally believe in negative punishment as a classroom management strategy, as studies have proven positive reinforcement to be much more effective. Drawing on the SAMR technology integration model, I would consider ClassDojo to be an example of augmentation at best; it is a step above substitution since the information can be transferred to parents. Before I read Singer’s article, I had been exposed to ClassDojo from a classmate who presented it for a “Technology in the Classroom” assignment. My classmate highlighted all of the benefits of using the program, but did not offer any of the concerns that were outlined in the article. I felt a lot more favourably about using ClassDojo in my own classroom as a teacher, before reading the article and getting a well rounded outline of the application. For these reasons, I am opposed to the use of behavior-reward software programs.

I decided to do a stop motion video for my multimedia piece, because I saw it used in another class and I thought it was an engaging way to summarize important information. This is the first time I have ever created something like this, and it did not turn out the way that I had hoped. I created a rough draft for my project before writing the good copy on a Bristol board, but I had not practiced taking photos, which would have helped me realize that it is important to take them from the exact same angle every time. When I went to edit my photos, I was not able to take out some of the edges, because I had not taken the pictures from the exact same position each time. I should have tried editing some photos during the process, instead of waiting until the end because I might have realized how I could improve the quality of the pictures. I also realized during the conception of the project that there was a lot of writing that was moving quickly, which might make it difficult for viewers to read. During the editing process, I felt discouraged and wondered if I should scrap my idea and try something else. I put myself in the shoes of the teacher, and asked myself what I would think if my student submitted the product that I have created. I decided that I would applaud the effort, and recognize that the student tried something new and out of their comfort zone to produce a multimedia artifact that still encompassed all of the requirements of the assignment. In a future assignment, I would definitely give this type of multimedia production another try, now that I have learned more about how to create a better product.