#UWinDig 2020

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.

For my multimedia reflection, I chose to listen to Chris Friend’s podcast titled Questioning Learning featuring Amy Collier. I was immediately interested in Collier’s idea of Not-Yetness, and how integrating critical pedagogy in the classroom is beneficial for the long-term success of students.

First of all, let me just say that drawing this sketchnote was very much out of my comfort zone; I’m not very artistically inclined, but I am a visual learner, which is why I thought this would be a good fit. In the centre of my sketchnote is the idea of critical pedagogy, this is what Collier describes as “the notion of asking questions and being comfortable asking questions, to embrace not always having clear answers”.  Embracing the fact that you don’t know everything there is to know about the subject you’re teaching creates a safe environment where students are in control of their learning. It allows us, the teachers, to take risks in the classroom. No risk, no reward, right?

Adding onto the idea of “embracing not knowing” is Collier’s idea that Understanding is Never Complete. There are always new concepts to learn, and information that can be added onto what you already know. 

My favourite part of the podcast was when Collier gave the example of the math teacher who played a video of him standing on a basketball court holding a basketball, aiming for the hoop. He launches the basketball and then stops the video, while the ball is halfway through its arc. His students immediately ask, “Did he make it?” This creates a sense of uncertainty and curiosity. This math teacher isn’t saying “My students are going to learn this formula”, he’s saying “This is going to COMPEL my students to learn”. I chose to colour “compel students to learn” in a different colour because I believe that this is an idea that should be integrated into every subject we teach. Making students want to learn is the most efficient way to get them to learn.

Another idea Chris and Amy bring up throughout the podcast is the idea of learnification, and how when you exclusively use an “instructivist model” in your classroom, you tend to lose the student-teacher relationship; which really is the heart of education. I’ve always believed that learning in the classroom should be focused on the learner, aka a “constructivist model”, and that when we stop using learning outcomes as a “map” and saying things like “all students should be at the exact same place by the end of my lesson” amazing things tend to happen. It’s not about a measurable outcome, rather, it’s about asking yourself “what could my students know at the end of the semester that would make me happy? That would make me admire them?” 

In conclusion, Collier and Friend talk in detail about critical pedagogy and how to incorporate it into everyday teachings. The idea of creating a comforting classroom environment is very important to me, as I know how important that can be for a middle/high school student. Being a teenager is tough, and I want to make sure I can create a happy environment where my students feel supported and excited to learn.