#UWinDig 2020

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.

While I was listening to Chris Friends interview with Amy Collier, Questioning Learning, I noticed some major themes that developed while they spoke. Right away Collier began talking about this idea of Learnification. This got me thinking about how education really does have a divide. There are those that believe we need to focus solely on the student and their learning style, and those that consider it best if each student learns the same thing. Now I had to look up what learnification meant, and it is essentially where Gert Biesta believed that if we start to change education so that we are focusing more on the student, then the teacher will soon become obsolete. Teachers become useless in a new technological age where any question we could possibly ask has a readily available answer. Amy Collier, in her interview with Chris Friend, mentions,

“What we miss is that learnification actually comes from the paradigm of kind of really individualizing education, putting it at the responsibility of the individual rather than kind of a community activity, taking away the relational context of faculty to student, that when you think about teaching has always kind of been there.”

On the other hand, you have educators that believe seeing the student and adapting the curriculum to suit them is what we really need to focus on. I think that it should not be more of one than the other. We need an equal balance of both types of logic. Within my own teaching I know that I often forget to follow the curriculum and instead focus more on what would be relevant and fun to learn. Sometimes I find myself “seeing the student” too much and not enough on what they are told to be learning. Being in Drama and English I often have more free rein on what I can teach my students, and I think that is what helps me to achieve the balance.

Education isn’t just about what the student should learn, but it’s also exactly about that.

Another major topic that they approached was the use of language in education. With a specific focus on the word “risk.” How “education is a series of risks” and we have to “embrace risk”. This was one concept that really resonated with me. Again, the balance between staying within the guidelines of what we have been afforded, while also taking risks. This is something that I find some teachers really struggle with achieving because they’re too afraid of getting it wrong, or not being liked by their students. Personally, I have been hearing the word “risk” a lot in education. I know that working with students who are “in-risk” often scares many teachers, but these are the students that I enjoy educating with the most. I enjoy working one on one with them because they are often the students that we can learn the most from. They are also the most rewarding. Working with these students in my undergrad has really made me realize that this is the type of student that I want to continue to learn from.

While I was making my artifact I tried to really capture the sides of education that Friends and Collier were discussing. I was originally going to make a video, but I was struggling with how to capture what I was thinking onto the video. I then looked at other mediums to use and landed on the infographic. This was the perfect way that I could capture what I visually imagined while listening, and how I gathered the information. I decided that the infographic would capture the essence of the podcast more, so this is the final product.