#UWinDig

An article by Ashley Hinck called “Digital Ghosts In The Modern Classroom” looks at the problems students have with learning to create digital media. Hinck talks about how the way students learn today is giving them false expectations about how to actually create digital media. Students are used to following a specific set of steps or guidelines for performing a certain task. Most of the time by following these guidelines the students will reach their desired end goal. Then students who have completed their task will show their teacher and she will congratulate them for being able to follow basic steps. Now this may sound a little silly but this is generally what tends to happen.

Students also have access to many websites or apps that allow them to use short cuts or pre made themes to design. Students can just select a theme and they can make something look creative without ever really having done anything creative themselves.

This point struck me pretty hard as I came across this when designing my own info graphic below. It was easy for me to select a theme, but then when I wanted to change a feature that is when I ran into trouble. A few times the web page would freeze or the wrong feature would change. These were just a couple of the small problems I had to overcome to create my info graphic.

The process or learning skill I often had to use well designing this info graphic was trial and error. This is a skill that many students today are overlooking. Students always want to get it right the first time or are afraid to fail. This is something that I want to emphasize in my teaching. Small failures every now and then are what lead to success! Tasks in life are not always going to be able to get accomplished by following a set of steps someone has laid out for you. That is why I think it is critical students go through trial and error as it allows them to develop creativity, be imaginative, and form critical thinking strategies. Not only will these skills be useful when developing digital media but they will translate across many domains of life.

-Craig Oakey

Hey everyone,

I hope you are ready for a parody because that is exactly what you will find below.  The first half of the song is more of a summary of the article we read for class which was titled “Digital Ghosts in the Modern Classroom“.  The concept of the article was that students have lost their ability to be creative and are not as willing to accept failure.  I think Ashley Hinck’s concept in her article is captured when she says “The assumption that digital media making has linear, standardized steps also affects students’ perceptions of the process of making itself. It turns any problems students encounter into failures, and each success just a predictable step toward the more important final product. ” I think this was the main concept Hinck was trying to convey when she talked about template websites causing students to feel like they are failing.

The second half of the song is my reply to the article.  I agreed with some of the ideas surrounding the main point, but ultimately disagree.  I don’t think the template style websites are the reason students are afraid to fail.  Students have been afraid to fail for longer then the template websites have been around.  I also think that students can take the pre-made templates and make them their own.  I did try to enhance my understanding of Hinck’s view by using a template website.  I used IMovie and YouTube for this video.  I was able to take the templates and completely make the video my own.  I did come across challenges as well such as synchronizing my singing with the video.  Although I hit some road blocks I was never afraid to fail, which is more of a reflection on the way I have been taught rather than types of digital technologies I have tried.  I never felt hindered in my creativity from selecting to use a template website as defined by Hinck.  I don’t believe there is lack of creativity solely because of template websites.

In my classroom I hope to facilitate exploration through digital technologies and analog technologies.  I want to be able to encourage my students to try and use new tools without pressure of being right or wrong.  I hope that in my classroom students feel excited about learning new tools and feel encouraged to be creative.

Steph

Okay, maybe it’s not dead—but it’s definitely dying in the classroom setting.

According to Ashley Hinck in the article Digital Ghosts in the Modern Classroom, we must use technology to allow students to create without setting one clear end result. Below you will find a sketchnote I made on Adobe Draw on my iPad Pro which summarizes all of the key points that I found important in the article.

In my creation process, I became frustrated multiple times. The fear of failure crept up multiple times and I realized that I needed to get over the need for perfection and just allow my work to be seen. This is pretty ironic because the article makes it seem that having no standardized steps allows freedom. This allowed me too much freedom because I was at a loss of where to begin. Although my sketchnote is not perfect, I had to choose a point to stop fixing and changing it. The more I tried to fix it, the more I ended up disliking it. Looking at it now, I am proud of what I created, but I am definitely not excited to use this method again anytime soon.

I found this article quite interesting. I agree that we should encourage students to enjoy the process of trial and error, and I hope to integrate this message into my teaching. The author outlined that it is important to encourage students to create without following systematic steps, but I believe we can take this outside of digital technologies as well. In my future classroom, I want students to take initiative and create their own steps (when appropriate) as opposed to following ones that I outline. I want this to occur occasionally in hands-on experiences and written assignments too. As a teacher, I am not yet equipped to teach how to use non-template driven sites. I would be unable to facilitate these lessons which is why I would begin with other projects before delving into technology. Each student should take responsibility for their learning (with a teacher’s assistance of course), and this article is a step in that direction. Although creating projects from scratch without a template can be time consuming, it is important for students to explore and create their own final products. No two projects created from scratch should look alike.

I hope to challenge my students while initiating recreation from the SAMR Model. I want them to be able to create their own work, something that has never been done, and to be proud of it. I believe this article gives us a great idea of how to do this, but we must adapt it in order to have it fit our own classroom needs!

Although I may have lied about the death of drag-and-drop technology, we must admit that it is aging and that we have the affordances to let our students be creators, not just users.

– Amy N

The article, “Digital Ghosts in the Modern Classroom” by Ashley Hinck, some incredible points about expanding students horizons when it comes to digital technology were made. There are various template programs out there for just about any sort of digital making that are fairly simple to use. I believe that these can be detrimental when trying to have students create their proper technological identity! They are not seen as the “creator” when using template programs. Though, time and time again students quickly turn to these pre-made templates because they are trying to find the easiest way that is within their comfort zone! This is not a good situation as they only scratch the surface of what is possible. This is why I am asking you, ARE YOU UNCOMFORTABLE YET? One of the problems with our modern education is that we need to create more open and broad lessons and assignments so that students are forced to step out of their comfort zone. Enough of the “worksheet” type of work!

I think that as a new teacher it is imperative I learn how to not only step out of my comfort zone when it comes to technology, but as well as help my students’ step out of their own comfort zones! Technology is a great tool I look forward to using when it comes to teaching Geography. This will aid in showing visuals and using different tools, websites, and applications to get different perspectives on Canadian and international Geography! The idea that you are creating programs from the bare bones and you will be frustrated will be an important concept to teach my students when it comes to  Geographic Information Systems (GIS). This is a new computer program they will need to learn how to use (and is very frustrating to learn!) – I have experience with this!

The idea that there is always a right and wrong answer is what fails us in trying to teach our students about creation with digital media. This is what causes the majority of people to feel uncomfortable, vulnerable and incredibly frustrated. I believe we need to encourage students to feel uncomfortable and vulnerable when it comes to creating digital media by not allowing the use of these template programs as a creative crutch! Digital media should be giving everyone creative freedom.

By not using pre-made templates I am allowing students to become more critical thinkers, expand their creativity, and become masters of their own thought! They are learning to create a program from the bare bones that can also be used as a platform of expression! Although these platforms have many benefits, in a society that is becoming ever more digital and technological, we need to help our students become more digitally literate. This allows the students to look past the idea of having just “one right answer” or “one right way to do something.” This also teaches them how to properly participate in a healthy and collaborative online group discussion. Through complete authenticity, we are able to connect to a massive network of people and share our ideas, beliefs, thoughts, and values.

It is time to embrace the uncomfortable so we can expand our creativity and digital literacies by STOPPING the use of pre-made templates. Teachers and students alike, it is time to change our pedagogies, how we are taught and how we learn! I believe practice makes perfect and it is time we start making changes (and mistakes) by stepping out of our comfort zones! IT IS TIME TO GET UNCOMFORTABLE!

LEGEND:

Purple – how are you teaching

Red – the implications and the benefits of using pre-made template programs

Green – the implications and benefits of creating templates and programs from the bare bones

Orange – how being uncomfortable and failure leads to success

Memes were used to help relate to the students as they are viral and all students have seen them/can relate to them!

Click on the link below to see the full Coggle mind map!

HOW_TO_EDUCATE_STUDENTS_IN_DIGITAL_TECHNOLOGIES

-Lexi