Author Archives: dennisob

Feb 25 2020
(10) 5332

The Technologist Takeover

For my final Multimedia Reflection, I chose to explore the Technologist Module using twitter. I am someone who is pretty active on twitter. For an assignment that incorporated a lot of summarizing, I found twitter to be the perfect technological tool. Although it did have it’s challenges only using 300 characters per tweet, I enjoyed that I was able to add photos and gifs to bring my essay alive.

This particular module caught my eye because I found the visuals and diagrams to be very clear. As a learner, having visuals is extremely helpful for me. I found it to be very organized as well which was something I enjoyed. After scanning the through the module a few times my mind seemed to have been already made up, this module definitely sparked my interest immediately which made is so much easier to learn.

Something I enjoyed was that everything throughout the module was done in steps. This made the module easier to follow and gave the reader exact directions in terms of how we should apply each method. It almost put me at ease that I was able to go step by step and made the module a lot less overwhelming. This is something I will remember when I have my own classroom. I will present the students with one step at a time so they do not end up feeling overwhelmed or anxious by what is in front of them.

In conclusion, I found the technologist module to be very educational and it taught me a lot. I think it is very important to centre our teaching around our students, which is what this module all about. As teachers we need to adjust our teaching to fit our students learning, even when using technological tools. There are so many incredible tools that can be used to help students who are struggling with learning, it is our responsibility to explore and do our research. Technology integration can reinvent an entire classroom, which is why I found this Module to be super helpful with easy to follow steps. The technologist module shows a healthy balance that can be beneficial for both the student and the educator. It can be seen as reciprocal learning, which is a huge part of my teaching philosophy. I am looking forward to incorporating some of these tools in the near future.

Oct 02 2019
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(11) 5332, Uncategorized

The HAUNTED Modern Classroom

I chose to read Ashley Hinck’s article “Digital Ghosts in the Modern Classroom”. I chose this article because the title immediately sparked an interest in me. Which is also why I drew an actual ghost right in the middle of my page to start off my sketch note. I enjoy having visuals and I am very much so a visual learner, so having that image was helpful to get me started. I chose to do a sketch note because I thought it would be the most effective way to show all my ideas. Since I was young, I have always thought in pictures. By this, I mean I associate objects, words, even dates, with images in my head. Although I have never been an artist and am not the best drawer, I still believed this would be the best choice for me to get my message across. 
 
In the center of my sketch note I included the many “ghosts” that unfortunately still linger in modern day classrooms. Something I thought was important to include was the point that students have been taught to follow a set of directions that will lead them to getting the “right” answer, then they will hand it in and receive praise. I drew this in the format of a cycle because students will follow this cycle in every subject area because they have been taught to believe that this is the key to success academically. This type of teaching and mentality has led to decreasing amounts of creativity in the classroom. It has led students to believe that there is either right or wrong and no room for creativity in between. I stand by these points strongly because I am a student who has been taught in a similar fashion. I even saw these qualities in myself while doing this assignment. I found it to be stressful in the beginning because there were not specific guidelines for me to follow that would lead me to guaranteed success. At the start, this left me feeling stuck, however I actually used the article as a means of motivation to let myself explore in order to create. I hope that I can use my experiences as a reference while encouraging my students to challenge themselves and their creativity. 
 
On the outsides of my sketch note, my goal was to provide a contrast to what was found in the center. I used terminology like creators, choices, experimentation, discovery, and trial & error to portray that all of these things are part of the creative process. I wanted to express that there are alternatives to “Traditional Learning” that can be just as successful, If not more. It is important to teach students the importance of exploration and discovery. Through these practices students are able to learn far more than just what the curriculum provides them with. It also gives students the opportunity to find themselves and to understand which learning styles are more suitable for them. I have always been an advocate for creativity, given I am a drama major. Through my craft I have gained so much more of an understanding and developed many skills I would not have otherwise. I want to encourage my students to think and work freely and to find what works best for them. Through technology there is so much to discover and explore, however these tools need to be taught in a more effective way so that students are given more opportunities. If teachers can learn to teach with more of a growth mindset, one day students will be able to free themselves from these “ghosts” that linger in the classrooms. Students will be successful because we are giving them the tools and the freedom, not the templates and the rules. Through courses like these and by educating myself, I hope to one day create change in modern day classrooms.

Brianna Dennison