#UWinDig 2020

For my second multimedia reflection, I decided to explore the Collaborator Module on the Ontario Extend website. Since I created a sketch note for my first multimedia reflection, I decided to create a Twitter Essay for this reflection.

(1) In this twitter thread, I will be explaining the Collaborator Module on the Ontario Extend website. This resource emphasizes the importance of using peers and colleagues in order to deepen our thoughts, ideas, and learning. #UWinDig #OntarioExtend

— Alyssa Coutts (@AlyssaCoutts1) February 25, 2020

I have been an active member on Twitter since 2011 for personal use. However, I have only just created another account last year for professional use. Since the majority of my time on Twitter has been liking funny videos/tweets and dm’ing relevant tweets to friends, it is a completely different purpose to use Twitter as a professional network of co-workers, colleagues, and professional members. 

The Collaborator Module emphasizes the importance of connecting people who share the same passions and concerns as well as the goal to improve their practices.  Using collaboration is key to reaching goals and completing tasks. Throughout my education, I have often reached out to a peer online or in person to consult them about an assignment or researched my question online through discussion posts, YouTube videos, or educational papers. 

Steven Johnson’s interactive sketch note titled “Where Good Ideas Come From” explains the importance of collaborating so that we are able to become our most creative, organized, and overall best selves. Since all of us are striving to be our best selves in our personal lives and our work lives, collaborating is something that we should all be participating in. As Johnson explains, we do not individually carry all the good ideas we may need for our projects and this is where collaboration comes in. Through collaboration we are able to share ideas that may complete another’s project or goal to create an invention or new concrete idea. 

Without noticing before, I have realized that I rely heavily on collaboration and feedback from my peers to finish work, make corrections, and make decisions. Collaboration is the easiest it has ever been due to technological advances in the internet and the various social media platforms there are available to create online networks and communities.

I chose to read Ashley Hinck’s article titled: “Digital Ghosts in the Modern Classroom”. I also decided to create a sketch note to visually portray the main ideas and points in the article as well as to show relationships of concepts. I started my sketch note in the top left corner with “right answer” printed in a large font with bright yellow colouring surrounding it. I chose to begin my sketch note this way because the concept of “right answers” was an important theme in the article. Hinck explains that a “right answer” is a structured element and a product of the teacher’s rigid instructions. This leads to assignments having essentially the same characteristics: drag-and-drop, templates, lack of technology, lack of choice, lack of creativity. Hinck describes that this is due to teachers portraying that there is, “a narrow set of predetermined correct answers” (Hinck, 2018) which leads to linear and standardized answers as well as a restricted possibility of right answers. These ideologies are all shown on the left hand side of my sketch note. 

The opposite side of my sketch note shows the opposite view of predetermined correct answers. It involves teachers encouraging students to be makers, creators, and speakers. Furthermore, it inspires trial and error, experimentation, and exploration. This way of thinking inspires creativity, choices for students and an endless possibility of correct answers for students. This view of learning and evaluation empowers, enables, as well as enriches the learning experience of students. 

Personally, I have always been a visual person who learns best using visual strategies and tools, however, I have rarely had the opportunity to submit an assignment in a way that is able to heighten my learning and understanding. High-graded assignments are normally those that provide in-depth explanations of concepts and ideas, but are rarely those that provide visuals or demonstrations because these strategies are harder to place on a grading scale.

Finally, I would like to explain my reasoning for placing the quote, “Students are containers to be filled with correct answers by teachers” (Hinck, 2018) on the bottom left hand corner. This quote sums up the main idea of the article which is that right answers are limited and restricted to non-creative tasks that do not involve experimentation, exploration, or trial and error. Having a narrow set of “predetermined correct answers” limits creativity, choice, and openness of students. I agree with Hinck’s point of view and will try my hardest to ensure that I am not continuing the trend of narrow set of right answers when I become a teacher. I will always try to keep things new and exciting in my classroom by introducing educational technologies, creative assignments/projects, as well as differentiated evaluation to encourage experimentation and exploration.