The podcast entitled “Questioning Learning” with Chris Friend and Amy Collier was really interesting and beneficial for me. It has made me realize that online learning may not be the best way to have fair learning and there are some other options.

Schools always work on doing what’s fair. Fair is an aspect that needs to be taken serious. With the diversity around the world and schools, it is important not to choose favourites and make sure it is equal among the classroom. This podcast talks about just that and I agree with it 100%. The biggest struggle with fairness is online courses. They are encouraged for many students especially in university but what if the student has a learning disability? Will they be able to take the online course? Personally, I don’t think so. Online courses are designed to be the same for each and every student no matter the way you learn. I agree with the learning outcomes as well. How are you supposed to put each student on the same scale? Not every student will have the same results and be in the same place at the end. Instead of putting what they should understand, they should have questions at the end of the semester that should be able to be answered based on the work throughout the semester. I really enjoyed the podcast and agree with everything that was said.

The mind map I have created displays key points that were spoken about throughout the podcast. Online courses, understanding, learning outcomes and canned courses were the four topics that really stood out. Each one is designed with their own colour in order to understand the differences between each one. It is easily visible with the bigger titles and different colours. The few pictures add to it by putting some visuals. There are not many because I felt like it would be too busy and the words explain themselves.  Please visit the below link to see what the mind map was created looks like.

Mind Map – Questioning Learning

The article ‘Digital Ghosts in the Modern Classroom’ emphasizes the importance of moving students from users of shortcut websites and platforms to more open-ended and experimental users of technologies. When most students initially take courses on digital media they come in with the expectation of learning how to photo shop pictures and make YouTube videos, these assumptions come from their understanding of how school is suppose to work. Students learn through following a series of linear, standard steps which in the end counts towards the right answer. This assumption of right and wrong is affecting the way students learn. Most platforms that students use on a daily basis are things like Snapchat, Instagram and PowerPoint, which limit their creativity by taking away the ability to tweak filters or choose things like font and colour.  In order to move away from this form of thinking and learning we must help students see the limitations of shortcut websites and platforms, we need to give them permission to make mistakes and try and fail. Once they begin to see beyond the idea of “right answers” they can start to become full participants of their own creations.

As I read this article, I couldn’t help but realize I am also the kind of learner that is stuck in the same form of thinking as the students in this article. The only way I have ever used digital technology is through the template/shortcut platforms. You don’t really think of the way traditional school culture (worksheets, multiple choice) affect the way you learn, but after reading this article I realize how much these expectations affected the way I learn. I am hoping that by the end of this class, I can open my mind to a different process of creating and expand my technological knowledge.

I chose to read the article, “Digital Ghosts in the Modern Classroom” by Ashley Hinck. I really enjoyed reading Hinck’s take on digital pedagogies in the classroom and I found it to be very informative from a teaching perspective. I believe that the incorporation of digital learning is extremely important in our generation; however, I never realized how important the platforms being used to foster learning were until I read this article. I was surprised to read how Hinck believes various platforms such as Facebook, Google Slides, and YouTube are rigid and actually restrict student creativity; however, after completing this article I totally agree with her! These programs used within schools are simply template-driven platforms that direct students to drag and drop or effectively follow a set of rigid instructions to reach a static goal. Lost is a sense of creativity, open-endedness, discovery and exploration. As educators, we should be shifting to a more critical digital pedagogy that utilizes technologies which enable and privileges openness and experimentation. Digital media should be used to allow students to explore their creativity; however, these template websites and platforms are leading to digital ghosts in the classroom. Through the use of these platforms, students are learning to follow step-by-step instructions, therefore they begin to perceive their hesitancy and trial-and-error as a failure.

As educators, we should be working to banish these ghosts and dislodge student expectations. I love how Hinck suggests that within a classroom we must give students permission to try and fail and revise. I believe that if teachers follow this approach to learning, students will be less afraid of failure and as a result will be open to more exploration and creativity within the classroom.

In terms of the platform I used to summarize this article, I chose to draw a sketch note. I am not the most experienced when it comes to technology and ironically, I didn’t trust myself with the other platforms; therefore, I thought it was safest to go with a sketch note. After reading Hinck’s article I find it funny that I was doing exactly what she suggested most students do in their classes, which is shy away from creativity because of fear of failure. I wasn’t comfortable enough with the other technology platforms, and as a result I ended up choosing a route that was more familiar for me rather than attempting something more foreign. Although I stayed away from technological platforms for this assignment, I do believe that the sketch note actually allowed for more openness and creativity, which Hinck suggests is lacking in certain online web platforms. Even though it was an extremely analogue task, I was given a lot of freedom and was able to map out all my ideas visually without any restrictions or step-by-step instructions. In terms of the sketch note, I actually really enjoyed creating it! It was a lot of fun designing the art piece and using a combination of pictures and words to express what was said within the article. I really tried to incorporate the use of colour and arrows to direct my pattern of thought, as well as pictures I believe symbolized what was expressed in Hinck’s article. Overall, I had a really great learning experience using the sketchnote; however, for the next reflection I plan to step outside my comfort zone and try one of the other suggested platforms!

Alaina Mancina 🙂

For this assignment, I chose to read Ashley Hinck’s article “Digital Ghosts in the Modern Classroom.” This article discusses how students these days have an assumption as to what digital media and digital media making is. It often consists of simple step-by-step instructions that lead to a pretty outcome with very little struggle. I am sure that most of us, at one point or another, have held this belief (I certainly can’t be the only one who used to copy pages of coding for cool MySpace backgrounds when I was younger!).

To summarize Hinck’s article, I chose to explore the Piktochart platform. I found it slightly ironic that I was reading about expanding horizons in digital media making, and I was using the exact same drag-and-drop solutions Hinck suggests we move away from. I think that Hinck does have some very good points, and steering students away from the standard templates, and drag-and-drop mechanics could, potentially, be very beneficial. I do think that many students are afraid of failure; however, I also think that many students expect instant gratification. Students are used to working on something and having an instant payoff, so I think the greater struggle would be convincing them that if they work a bit more the results will be more rewarding. If teachers were to slowly implement changes, from drag-and-drop content to maybe creating blog posts, like we are doing for this page, that would be a strong start. From there, harder digital media making methods could be introduced, like coding for a website, or using Photoshop and/or Audacity.

Hinck is definitely pointing teachers and future teachers in the right direction, I just do not think that jumping in with both feet is the most correct method. Let students explore with digital media similar to what they already use, then gradually implement changes that lead them to design and post blogs, code a simple website design, and edit photos. Once they feel comfortable with simple, slightly more challenging digital media, they may develop an interest in more difficult media and make the decision to tackle it on their own.

Here is my Piktochart that I created to summarize Ashley Hinck’s article:

(also here’s the link if what I’m trying doesn’t work: 32808563-digital-media-ghosts)

-Courtney M.

The below video is of a Canva I created with an audio voiceover, summarizing the key points from “Digital Ghosts in the Modern Classroom” written by Ashley Hinck, published on March 29, 2018, http://hybridpedagogy.org/digital-ghosts-modern-classroom/.

Hinck criticizes the current digital pedagogy represented in schools, how teachers only use the basic programs that lack creativity. I agree with this, as in my educational experience teachers always promoted websites that were extremely user friendly with easy cut and paste methods. Looking back now, I see this lacked creativity, however in the moment I found these programs very useful.  I did not mind a rigid marking scheme with specific instructions to get the grade. People like myself like to stick with what they know, it is hard to venture into more complicated software, even if the simple programs lack control over the final product. However, it is important to me to learn more complex software in order to incorporate these aspects into my own classroom so my students do not miss out like I did in the digital technology educational process. My current mindset is though, that I will struggle incorporating these more complex software’s into my teachable subject of the social sciences. Thinking of different ways to integrate technology in general is a challenging process but integrating more complicated programs will be even more so difficult. Social sciences is extremely broad, made up of multiple different theories, majority of the class is understanding these theoretical perspectives. I think that using technology to teach these theories is going to be complicated, and I would be very interested in my collogues thoughts on this.

In regards to the media I used, Canva, it took me an hour or so to get myself accustomed to the program. Once I figured out how the task bar on the left hand side worked it became much easier to navigate the site and create my summary of Hinck’s article. I enjoyed working with Canva and am happy with my finished product, I know it could be better and if I ever have the opportunity I will explore Canva’s functions more in depth in order to use it for a range of future assignments and even use it in my own future classroom. I realize how it is ironic that I am using Canva while Hinck directly opposes these types of platforms. However I strongly believe that starting with programs like these and gaining some basic knowledge is not a bad thing, and can be a stepping stone to the more complex programs that Hinck wants students to look at. A limitation to Canva that I found was that it lacked the ability to download and incorporate gifs. I was looking forward to using gifs on my presentation. In addition to using Canva, I also used a program to screen record my presentation with audio, called Debut Screen and Video recorder. I used this Debut Screen and Video recorder because Canva did not have the capability to screen record, which is another limitation I came across. I have never screen recorded before so this was a struggle for me, however I was extremely happy to be introduced to it because of doing this assignment. In conclusion, my finished product was a video that incorporated my Canva graphic design as well as audio. Overall, it was a positive learning experience.

Dani Dimu