#UWinDig 2020

Students as well as teachers alike live in a modern world where technology is ever changing. Technology is constantly changing the methods that students learn and the methods that teachers teach. Digital literacy is a major skill that is taught to students in the modern day classroom. “These literacies encompass the abilities to locate, use, summarize, evaluate, create, and communicate information while using digital technologies and web-based platforms.” (https://extend.ecampusontario.ca/technologist-digital-literacies/) In order for students to succeed in the workplace once they have finished high school and post-secondary education opportunities they must be digitally literate. Educators are responsible to teach students these skills.

Design Thinking has five different steps to the approach that educators must take into consideration as they are teaching their students. Teachers must empathize with the learning process of their students. Teachers must place themselves in the shoes of their students in order to gain a sense of the information that they will absorb from their lesson. Teachers must also clearly define one problem that they wish to solve in a lesson or with a project. The must only choose one, a broad scale of problems will easily lead to confusion with the teacher and with students. Teachers must then move to the ideate point in the process. This is where an educator should have multiple ideas on how to solve the problem that they have chosen in order that it will work for all of the students inside their classroom. Teachers then must prototype. They must create a product that can be tested in the future. Teachers must create a tool or a lesson in order so that they can test it to see if it solves the problem that they have chosen. Lastly, teachers need to test the prototype that they have created. It is important that they ask for feedback from their colleagues as well as their students after they have tested the prototype in order for them to evaluate what was successful and what needs to change in the future.

Teachers must also be aware about the limitations that technology has on some students within their classrooms. Not all students have access to wifi, not all students have access to a laptop, desktop or mobile device. Teachers must be aware of the resources that students have inside the classroom and give students adequate time to complete the work asked of them within the classroom because it is unfair to assume that each child has access to the internet when they return to their homes.

For my second and final multimedia reflection, I chose to create an infographic that focuses on the Technologist Module. Specifically, I made an infographic about digital literacy and design thinking. I chose to create an infographic because it’s something that’s new to me and I’m always trying to get out of my comfort zone. Honestly, I had a lot of fun making this one as it allowed me to be creative without having to be artistic. Not sure if you remember my sketchnote from my first multimedia reflection, but it was pretty rough. 

Anyway, the government of Ontario has created a website called “Ontario Extend”. This is a capacity building initiative that is grounded in the belief that the impact of learning should be the primary motivator for creating technology-enabled and online learning experiences. Its goal is to empower educators to implement technology in the classroom; and the technologist module goes into detail about how to do this. The module starts with defining digital literacy. This is a term I had honestly never heard of before, but after learning its definition, it’s pretty straightforward.

In order to create digitally literate students, it’s important to implement design thinking into your practice. Design thinking encourages educators to empathize with their students struggles in order to accommodate their needs. Over the course of my first placement, I found myself constantly incorporating technology into my lessons in order to help my students succeed. For example, at the start of a novel study unit I conducted with my grade nine students I found myself having to constantly read answers out loud in order for them to copy the right answers. This ended up taking a lot of class time, so in order to better accommodate their needs, I created PowerPoint presentations with the answers and shared them with all my students. That way, they were able to follow along with my explanation and not be so focused on copying the answers. This technology integration was small, but it really helped my students stay focused on what I was saying, which was more important than copying answers word for word. This demonstrates me empathizing with my students, which consequently led to me to define their struggle and come up with a solution. 

Overall, I believe our government is starting to do their part on incorporating technology into the everyday classroom. Having teachers implement technology in small ways is a great start at making the classroom a tech-friendly place. The Technologist Module is a fantastic tool for educators to use in order to start incorporating technology into the classroom.

The Technologist module is broken up into different sections that explain how to formulate ideas and connections in order to add technology into the classroom while also listening to the needs of the students, and making sure that it fits properly into the curriculum. The model itself focuses on the “Design-Thinking” model which is a breakdown of how to accomplish the integration of technology into the classroom. While looking at the module I was struck with how many times they wanted the teacher to do a mind map in order to brainstorm their new technology integration idea. They do an “empathy map” to identify a “learner challenge” within the classroom, and then another mind map to brainstorm what technology would benefit their students. It made me wonder if there were other ways that they could go about brainstorming without having to make a mind map each time.

I chose to do a sketch note to summarize the module. My inspiration for it came from the title, as well as the image above. I was struck by how it looked like a circuit board. I thought that this module was much like a circuit board, as it flows fluidly around ideas and thoughts of how to improve the classroom. This was my approach for the sketch note.

I first started with the idea of how we read left to right. I wanted to draw the eye to the top portion of the design first, so I chose darker colours because they stand out much more. I wasn’t originally going to include the “Overview” portion, but I thought it was very important to understand the rest of the module. I wanted to display how the creation of new ideas flow, so I used the bright colours that fade into each other, but all connect back to the main idea of the technology integration. As you can see in the top right, I wanted to connect the Design-Thinking approaches with their colours, so that the sketchnote was even easier to view and comprehend. As a student, I like some of the ideas that it brings to identifying and working through problems. The idea of mind mapping so much is not really of interest to me, but the rest of the process would be helpful for me when creating lessons.

I wanted my sketchnote to seem very structured, but also a bit like a giant mind map, as this really stuck with me, as I mentioned before. I wanted there to be more images and examples within the actual module, so I added some photos to help connect the ideas to images. For example, I put a feather pen next to define because it reminded me of the dictionary and writing out fancy definitions. Prototype is a collection of question marks because there is still many questions that come with this phase in the process.

As I was about to finish, I checked the “Module Checklist” tab and noticed that it mentioned “Share tech creation”, so I wanted this to stand out as a final thought at the very end of the process, and the sketchnote. This is the portion of the module I feel like I would struggle with most. After all the entire process and finally releasing it to the world, I worry that people won’t like it. Much like this post. Whenever you put something out there that you have worked so hard on you always hope that people will also appreciate it. This is why I wanted this section seperate from the rest. It is the portion that has such a different mindset from the rest of the process, and this is why it is disconnected.

I hope you will be able to read my sketch note, and all the colours came up clear within the scanned image.

As a teacher, I like the idea of the module and what it is trying to do, but I struggled with having to use it in a classroom. I know that it is to help incorporate more technology into the classroom, but it is lacking examples. I know that within the “scenario” tab it has a video about “Terry” and how he has become stagnant in his creativity with his course. It explains how he went through the technologist model to accomplish a new tech integration into his classroom. However, the module does not touch on some other opportunities that the teacher could take. I like that this could work for some classes and with some teachers. The idea of working through problems using this method is very helpful, but I just need some more examples of what the overall process looks like for some teachers. Maybe some testimonials and real life situations would help me connect to the module more. Overall, I think that this module would work in some classrooms, but not every class or educator would benefit from it.

The collaborator module is a great showcase of what a personal learning network (PLN) can do for an individual. This module is broken down into 4 sections; Explore, Engage, Extend and Empower, and I go further to outline these sections with my infographic. Since working with this module, I realized I have been utilizing my peers and relatives as a PLN to help my learning and improve my teaching philosophies. Now, because of the collaborator module I have the subject and content knowledge to express myself as to why my PLN helps me learn and teach.  

A personal learning network is a way of describing a group you connect with to learn, by sharing ideas back and forth, to posing questions, and learning from the experiences of others. Face-to-Face connections are great in any network, but the collaboration module specifically focuses on the use social media such as Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, The Educator’s PLN, and so on. These types of online collaboration tools are great sources of information since they are always online and available. As highlighted in the Explore section of the Collaborator module found on https://extend.ecampusontario.ca/collaborator-explore-collaborate/, collaboration is key in the spread of ideas. Furthermore, I have found that I have had success in my academic career and in my short experience as a teacher, by using my PLN of former teachers, peers, and social media as a great source of input, ideas and references.

The Second aspect of the Collaboration module covers Engagement ( https://extend.ecampusontario.ca/collaborator-engage-personal-learning-networks/ ) The major themes of this section involve the proper use of a PLN, as it requires input in order for others to want to collaborate with you. There is a give and take to making social interactions work, and it is no different with a PLN. Making an effective PLN includes: ownership, independence and user self-determination Learning networks should also include trust, openness and integrity. What if you don’t have a PLN? Where should you start: find a professional group that aligns with your interests or profession like ETFO or OSSTF. Use your peer groups, who better to ask a teaching related questions than a fellow teacher! Find others on social media. Strengthen those connections by contributing, either by commenting, sharing or posting to these groups. As a new teacher, I lack a stockpile of lesson plans and ideas. In an attempt to circumvent this problem I have organized with a small peer group who will share lesson plan ideas back and forth, as well as sharing templates over the internet. This module helped me understand the importance of collaboration when working with a group of peers. This example constant engagement in the PLN shows how making strong connections and makes others more inclined to share their ideas, while also benefiting everyone in terms of new resources and classroom tools.

The Extend Module found here: https://extend.ecampusontario.ca/collaborator-extend/, stresses the point that maintaining a a personal learning network takes effort. They require input, and constant adjustment to align with your profession, it is also crucial to involve a wide variety of individuals in order to reduce personal bias. Following only like-minded individuals will narrow someone’s point of view. Without introducing other points of view that challenge and change our thoughts, it is possible to fall into an “incubation chamber of ideas” or filter bubble; where by only following people with like minded views, the views of the individual becomes more biased. Introducing others whose’ beliefs don’t line up %100 with yours is good. Their points of view can lead to new thoughts or ideas, and their methods of learning could be shared, and ultimately your ways of viewing the world could be changed for the better. Collaboration between PLN’s and more specifically teachers is a great way of bettering the classroom and enhancing the lessons we give to our students.

Empower is the last portion of the Collaboration module, it can be found here : https://extend.ecampusontario.ca/collaborator-empower/. This final module asks the individual who should represent their PLN. For me, My PLN is relativity small and mostly face-to-face. My mother was a teacher for 33 years, so I am using a lot of teaching styles and classroom practice ideas that she has taught me. I even found my self using some of her methods of classroom management during my teaching placement, Furthermore, I also had a great group of peers to ask for ideas and offer mine as well, we shared lessons gave each other feedback on our work, I found it to be very beneficial, as it let me know what is working in my class and what is not. After learning various aspects of digital pedagogy, and the importance of of an online presence in a PLN I will be better suited to grow my PLN in the online community by reaching out and offering my thoughts and ideas to others of search of a collaborative member of a learning network.

The collaborators module was a resource that laid out the important elements for understanding, and creating a successful Personal Learning Network.  The layout of the module, and the ways in which the information is presented was a unique collage of ideas from multiple professionals who have educated opinions, and research on the topic of PLN’s- which in a way makes it in itself a successful PLN. This is why in my Sketchnote, I chose to make the names of the contributors the main subtopics (squared in orange) as I found they were the core of where the information is coming from- collectively they are all their own collection of “hunches” as Steven Johnson mentions in the Collaborators Module. 

 I wanted the viewers of my Sketchnote to see that each one of the contributors hunches are all woven together by their ideas, and contribute to the same topic– the PLN. This is also why certain ideas are interconnected by the black lines, as I found the ideas of multiple contributors link to one another. Such as Dr. George Siemans’ idea of connectivism and Steven Johnson’s idea of hunches. This Sketchnote doesn’t need to be read linearly, you can start anywhere, and easily flow through each contributor’s thoughts and ideas.  

That being said, the information in the module was very helpful in proving the value of Personal Learning Networks for educators.  Both Alec Couros, and Miles McFarlane talk about Professional Learning Networks, and the development of teachers professional knowledge.  As educators we have the ability to access information from all over the world.

I’ve started creating this collaborative experience in my own professional learning while creating french worksheets, and assessment strategies for the credit recovery program at my practicum school. Before I got started, I referred first to Howard Rheinhold’s 8 steps of cultivating a PLN.

So, from there, I explored the web and I found the website Tes, a website created for educators. Within their resources tab, they have educators from all over the world who upload their lesson plans, worksheets, activities etc. There are opportunities to buy, or download these shared resources for free, as well as opportunity to comment and give feedback.  Fellow teachers will kindly point out minor grammar mistakes, ideas for enhancing, or simple words of encouragement and gratitude.

With the help of this network of teachers, I didn’t have to start all my planning from scratch, I downloaded worksheets such as this one. It is a fill in the blank, with picture association and word bank.

I then took this fill in the blank worksheet, and built other lesson’s and resources around “Present Tense Verbs”. In the following picture you can see the resource I created using Canva.

I also created this document to complete the lesson. In this worksheet the students would now write their own personal description paragraph.

My next steps would be to upload my work and continue to contribute to Tes, by following other educators, and responding to users who might comment on my work. The collaborators module by Ontario Extend has empowered me to get kick started, and to take agency over my own learning.

Ice is back with a brand new invention.

Now I apologize if my intro got Ice Ice Baby by Vanilla Ice stuck in your head; I know it is stuck in mine.

Now taking a look at eCampus Ontario’s Collaborator module, there are four tabs on the side breaking down the reasons to collaborate and how to effectively build a personal learning network (PLN). These four tabs are as follows:

1. Explore: Why Collaborate?
2. Engage: Personal Learning Networks
3. Extend: Cultivating Your PLN
4. Empower: Map Your PLN

As stated above, the Collaborator module presents the idea of the importance of building our own PLNs. It outlines some techniques to effectively incorporate a PLN in the world of education and teaching. When thinking of the term network, a few things come to mind. A social network is probably most prominent (and will be touched on later), and also a neural network. That was my aim in drawing out the letters ‘PLN’ above – to depict a network.

The first sentence you read when on the Explore tab of the collaborator module is “Being open to collaboration is a key to building a personal learning network (PLN).” There are a variety of modalities while exploring a PLN. We can use face-to-face, text messages, and even social media. By getting involved on social media, there are many tools available to us fellow educators and students. The “professional” networks such as LinkedIn can intimidate but also cultivate students’ learning, whereas something as simple and popular among students like Twitter, can truly be powerful. Having students explore this tab on their own will guide them in the right direction to start a collaboration process.

As the weird in-between of being a student and somewhat teacher, or the best of both worlds as “student teacher”, we know all about engaging activities. As a student, we want to be engaged, whereas as a teacher, we want to be engaging. This tab outlines some great resources for the importance of having a PLN. It also introduces the idea and definition of a PLN, as shown in the first video posted on the tab – “What is a PLN?” by Marc-André Lalande. The true goal of learning is to promote growth, development, and understanding. This leads into highlighting the social nature of learning by using Connectivism – which sees learning as a social and collaborative activity.

Cultivating a growth mindset is a hot topic within the Faculty of Education here at the University of Windsor. However, with every strength, comes a weakness. Students and teachers can build a PLN that strengthens their learning, but heed one caution: Beware of Filter Bubbles. Letting a PLN flourish to its full potential is great. We want to be able to explore and extend our learning by exasperating every detail we possibly can. We are able to do this by constructing a great professional PLN. However, filter bubbles can pop up during our online searches. Algorithms and online biases will hinder our exploration – so being aware that these exist can also strengthen our PLN.

Empowering students and educators provides insight to their PLNs. At first glance, a PLN may be seen as informal. However, this tab encourages students and teachers to map out their PLN and draw connections (as I have depicted above). The power of social media builds and draws connections without the user realizing it! The term mapping can also refer to a geographical context within a PLN. With social media, we are able to connect to other professionals and colleagues across the globe and continue to cultivate our teaching AND learning. This draws (literally and figuratively) a huge connection to the power of Twitter and other social networking websites.

Now seeing the sketch-note pieced together fully makes more sense than the cropped images. The black slotted lines represent networks and also show the different connections through the tabs outlined by the collaborator module. There are a multitude of commonalties throughout the module, and I thought it would be a creative touch to portray a network while introducing networks! Thanks for taking the time to explore my multimedia reflection – as you can probably tell artwork is not my strong suit.