After reading the article “Digital Ghosts in the Modern Classroom” by Ashley Hinck, I decided to create a sketch-note.
In her article, Hincks discusses the influence that digital shortcuts/templates have on how students perceive digital media, and how these shortcuts basically take away creativity. She discusses how when students are given assignments that involve using digital media, they assume that these projects are a simple, series of steps that are clearly defined, and just need to be followed. Students also believe that due to the steps being laid out, digital media projects are prone to failure.
I agree with everything Hincks talk about. When I think back to my experiences as a student, every time I was given an assignment involving digital media, I was excited . I always resorted to using powerpoint, which was super quick and easy to use. The provided templates don’t require any thought of colour choice, and make life that much easier. Everything I needed was basically at the click of a button!
Now that I am able to view this situation from a teacher candidate perspective, I can point out how restricting tools like PowerPoint can be. Although students may appreciate how quick and easy these programs can be, they are not requiring students to exercise their creative mind within the classroom. Hincks also talks about how even when these “templates”, or “shortcuts” are not being used in the classroom, the expectations that they have still linger throughout the classroom, influencing decisions that students are making. As current educators as well as future educators, we need to be empowering, and encouraging creativity, thinking, and letting students know that they do have options they are able to choose from. All of the expectations that these shortcuts and templates have made make students feel that failure is not ok. We need to let students know that FAILURE IS A GOOD THING. It is a natural process, and sometimes it even helps unravel a path that we have yet to travelled down.
After reading this article, I put all of the main concepts into a sketch note. This is the first time I have ever made a sketch note. Now, I am not the most creative person, but I love doodling, and colouring. I did face some challenges on deciding on how I was doing to incorporate drawings into some of the main concepts. It really had to think abstractly. In the end, I’m extremely happy with the way it turned out. I will definitely be incorporating sketch notes into my future classrooms!
Thank you all for reading! I hope you enjoyed my sketch-note!