#UWinDig 2020

For this assignment, I chose to produce a twitter essay based off of Ashley Hinck’s article “Digital Ghosts in the Modern Classroom.”

Hinck’s refers to the overused digital tools that, like class worksheets, limit the abilities of student learning… and essentially follow students around their educational careers. To some it may not seem like the biggest deal, but what Hinck suggests is that limiting student learning tools further limits student’s creativity. Because common tools are so easy to navigate, the task at hand is simple for students to simply drag and drop.

Hinck promotes digital tools like CSS, HTML, and Scratch, that allow for multiple right answers rather than regurgitated curriculum. With tools that allow for diverse thinking and creativity, students will shy away from the fear of being wrong. Teachers should promote the joy of discovery, and figuring out learning through trial and error processes. 

Personally, doing this activity as a twitter essay was very much like using the suggested tools in Hinck’s article. I admired the idea of commenting on my own posts material that was short and to the point, or at least I thought so at first. As interesting as it was to include GIFS and images in my responses, the responses themselves were limited to a low about of characters, just like any other tweet. 

My mistake was posting each tweet after finalizing it, rather than writing out each tweet individually on a document and moving them on to the twitter platform. Four or five tweets in I realized I could have added another tweet or two in-between tweets I had already posted.

This was frustrating and cumbersome to fix, but it at least allowed me to learn from my mistake and approach the platform a little differently. 

You can view my twitter essay in its entirety by clicking here!

The podcast Questioning Learning by Chris Friend and Amy Collier was very insightful, informative and had me questioning a lot about how students learn and how we teach both in the classroom and online.

My overall experience in constructing a sketchnote can be compared to that of a roller coaster ride. It was full of ups and downs, but at the end of the ride it was well worth it. I ran into a couple of challenges along the way while creating this artifact, such as trying to find a way to express the podcast in the form of images and single words or phrases. If I had any suggestions for future users it would be to make sure you clearly lay out how you are going to connect your ideas through the use of colour, arrows, word size, etc., to ensure that it is easy to follow for the reader. Sketchnotes are a creative way to speak your mind. At the end of the day all you need is a little perseverance, imagination, creativity and a pen and paper. I would definitely do a sketchnote again and would recommend its use to future students. 

According to the podcast message, the concept of “best practice” can be described as a standard way to teach, the idea that a specific way is best, and that all students can learn in that same way. This way of thinking is based on standardization, which in my opinion is a process that should be avoided in the classroom. It is important to use critical pedagogy, and question whether or not this is the best way of teaching? Why? For whom?Instead of finding the best way to simply teach all students we should be inquiring and experimenting with how specific students learn best from our teaching practices and adjusting our teaching style based on how they learn and what we’re teaching.  

The article mentions online courses being like “canned courses,” meaning the course is designed so that students do the same assignment, go through the same path, in the hope that they finish by gaining the same credentials at the end of the course. The teacher is merely there to grade assignments and answer questions when needed. Collier presents the idea of virtual office hours and bringing in online speakers. As a teacher, if I was selected to be an online teacher, I would definitely include virtual office hours and online speakers as well as add other creative ways to build that student-teacher relationship within the online world. 

Using “Beacons instead of outcomes.”  In my classroom, I would take the time to help guide my students in creating outcomes; goals that should be accomplished by the end of the unit. The notion of creating outcomes to be interesting and inspiring (beacons), as mentioned in the video, really resonated with me. I think the idea of transforming outcomes into big questions is a great idea. In this way, students know what is expected and can also come up with their own way to answer the questions at hand. 

“Learnification” is another topic that can be described as the individualization of education with a focus on the student learning for themselves instead of attaining help from the teacher.  In this case, the teacher can be seen as a “ghost” a figure that is still present in the classroom but out-of-reach for the student.  

Once again, I believe that a teacher/student relationship is key in education. When you build that relationship, you are able to get to know your students and design lessons that are built to their specific needs and learning styles. In this case, learning is individualized for the student but there is still that essential bond between the student and their teacher. 

To further explain my point, I believe the article demonstrates two main paths on the road to teaching and learning. The first would be the standardized “factory model” path, an environment in which everyone is conditioned to be like clones; depicted on the sketchnote by the red cars, brought up to learn the same way and hopefully reach the same goal in the same manner.  You will have certain students who reach success since they may learn best through, or in spite of, that particular teaching style. However, you will also have a large number of “cars” that run out of gas, reach dead ends, get discouraged or give up and in the worse case scenario “dropout.”  

Alternatively, I believe the article is demonstrating another “pathway to success”, one in which not all students are the same, one which acknowledges individuality and a multitude of learning differences.  Students on this path can be depicted as cars of different shapes, colours and size, symbolizing that each individual comes in with prior knowledge, prior experiences and prior baggage that may have an impact on their learning. Drawing on my own personal teaching experiences working with a learning support teacher, no two children learn the same or reach the same goal at the same time.  I would always try different tools for students whether that be hands on activities, comedy, demonstrations, examples, etc. and some tools would work better on one student and not at all on the other. Students may seek different avenues of learning, may branch out in different directions, obtain specific directions in order to reach their desired destination. No two people have to follow the same path in order to obtain success.  

Amy Collier discusses what is important in education today by discussing the concept of “NOT-YETNESS” with Chris Friend from HybridPod.  This is my initial reaction to having to create a digital artifact. I wanted to jump off something! Luckily the highest thing around was this trusty 3 foot high desk. All kidding aside this assignment was a huge LEAP for me, into the unknown FUN yet CREATIVE world of educational artifacts!

In response to this podcast I tunneled my creativity into a digital sketchnote!  The process of creating this digital artifact was surprisingly very fun however tedious primarily because of using the iPad pen. It would have been much easier to just use thicker pencils or markers of a different colours. With the iPad however each change of these elements was 4 maneuvers with the pen on the touch screen. Next time I will simply utilize a pen and paper, because it is the process of condensing and summarizing thoughts and adding creativity into the artifact that is the point, not the medium.

The creative visuals I brought into the sketch note-the stop sign, flower, globe, can, pendulum definitely helped me and would aid other students as well in remembering and mastering the content.  I would have my students create a sketchnote from one of my lectures and share it with the class. It would also be a great way of displaying to students that perspective and internalization of the same information is different, therefore learning is a creative individualized process. RISK, CREATIVITY and DISCOMFORT would definitely come into play as they presented their works and defended their interpretations-having them live in this realm of uncertainty each day, as Amy suggested. Uncertain of others opinions and perhaps open rejections and responding to these situations would help greatly to prepare them for a world they will THRIVE in.

Amy defines “NOT-YETNESS” as when you are working on building your experiences and understanding but you are not quite there yet therefore you are embracing RISK and DISCOMFORT. Amy is talking about the critical time when new, ground breaking discoveries could be made….. the BRINK !!!  She believes education is a series of risks and that we need to swing the learning PENDULUM outcomes to qualitative measures. I definitely believe this to be critically important for growth. We can do this by bringing our experience, background and our inspiration into the classroom and creating excitement about the topics we present!

When I reflect on my own education, we focused on key concepts, formulas, memorizing, canned courses and rogue answers. I was on the road everyone else traveled (see me on the road above in my sketch note) and it was not personalized, did not involve risk and discomfort. I was not on the BRINK of discovery, yet could have been if my teachers tapped into my love for chemical reactions and science and let me explore this more through collaboration and development of further experimentation. I would love to share this passion with my students.

Learning outcomes were not individualized based on my interests, where creative freedom was embraced. When I think back I don’t even know if all of my teachers knew my interests, heck some did not know my name. I think it would be amazing to ask myself instead what I would ADMIRE as a learning goal for my students as Amy suggested. For me I would admire my students if they developed an ability to collaborate and foster respectful relationships while experiencing risk in areas that interest them. My teachers did not concentrate on what brought me JOY and what ignited a FIRE within me. It was A +B =C student who understands the concepts and who we can check the box for. Many on-line “canned” courses as Amy refers to them were exactly the same, creating clones of regurgitated information. Deposits in the heads of students like money in a piggy bank. To try to avoid this I would try to make online courses more personal and foster connections with students.

For students to THRIVE in this WORLD today they have to be exposed to unpredictability and uncertainty because the WORLD is exactly this!! I could not agree more!! Students spend SOOO much time in the classroom so let use this time wisely and prepare them for the REAL WORLD. 

In order to do this we have to focus on creative educational experiences, so that our students can be the next generation of CREATORS. What would this look like to me in my classroom?  I would give opportunity to build confidence with creative learning opportunities that are NOT EVALUATED. 

An example in Science would be to have my students devise a new and creative way to deal with environmental sustainability. Even if their creation is not at all practical or sustainable that does not matter, what matters is their reflection of what they learned. Why they chose to make this creation, implications on society and understanding of sustainability in practice.  The reflection demonstrates a whole other level of understanding and ties together their overall learning experience and does NOT KILL their CREATIVITY!!

You never know, maybe just maybe one of my future students will come up with a brilliant creative idea because I provided the scaffolding for such an opportunity. Or maybe a few students could collaborate on an risky idea and expand it into a groundbreaking innovation. After all CREATIVITY is a precursor for innovation!

Another way we could have students experience more risk is to get together with other classes and have OPINION BASED DEBATES on CREATIVE APPLICATIONS of the curriculum. This puts students into a RISKY environment where they have to know material well, be ready to defend their point of view, think on their feet, and apply their knowledge to creative opinion-based forum. Again NOT KILL CREATIVITY with right or wrong questions yet utilize their content knowledge and apply it to creative concepts.

Amys notion of critical pedagogy, encourages us all to NOT always have clear answers and best practices and to embrace this discomfort as a best practice. If teachers adopt this GROWTH mindset in class it will force students to do this as well and will better prepare them for the work force. I have worked in the pharmaceutical industry for 20 years and embracing change and discomfort is critically important for developing new therapies and asking new questions as to what should be studied or investigated next. Risk and uncertainty has always been an integral part of the pharmacy industry and of my personal and professional growth.

IT IS THE SUPREME ART OF THE TEACHER TO AWAKEN JOY IN CREATION EXPRESSION AND KNOWLEDGE-Albert Einstein

After all Einstein had it right decades ago…..so why has it taken us so long to catch on, and make CREATIVITY a priority in TEACHING.

PASS IT ON!

For my multimedia reflection, I listened to the Chris Friends interview with Amy Collier, “Questioning Learning“. The podcast demonstrates the concept of critical pedagogy and the importance of a constructivist model of teaching to enhance the learning experience. A constructivist model prompts students to construct their own learning experiences through collaboration and exchange of ideas. The role of the teacher is to mediate learning and to encourage student engagement in the classroom. One of the main ideas that Amy discusses is “canned” or “online courses” and how that restricts students learning or as what Gert Biesta calls it, “the beautiful risk of education.” Teachers should strive for methods of thinking that create opportunities and intellectual growth. Taking risks in teaching brings passion and “fire” to the classroom and allows students to see greater opportunities in the curriculum. Teachers should be willing to try new things and make the most out of incalculable circumstances and experience with new methods of teaching. To facilitate learning, I believe that teachers should encourage student observation and allow students to come up with their own conclusions to shape educational learning.

One of the key moments that stood out to me was the example of the “basketball court”, in which a math teacher demonstrates a video of himself standing on a basketball court aiming to shoot the ball. He launches the basketball and then stops the video with the ball halfway through its arc. Such a demonstration immediately makes someone ask “did he make it?” The video creates a sense of uncertainty and brings out an inherent curiosity. Instead of delivering a lesson based on content and memorization, he is encouraging a learning outcome that says, “This is going to COMPEL my students to learn.” Education should not focus on what students should learn, but that they learn something for particular purposes and be able to ask questions such as “What’s the real meaning behind this sociological phenomenon?” or “how can this be applied to my educational pedagogy?”

I believe that following a rigid curriculum de-risks the future of students and where they may end up in the real world. Within a classroom, taking risks should become something that we learn to adapt to. It allows us to operate in unpredictable situations. By using methods that appeal to student learning such as a simple basketball, teachers are bringing joy and excitement and allowing students to engage in difficult subjects, such as math.

Listening to the podcast made me reflect on my high school days and all those projects and assignments I spend hours doing, only for it to be graded and handed back to me, with zero feedback and little knowledge about how this particular assignment will be useful to me in the future. Therefore, it is essential to incorporate critical pedagogy into the curriculum because it gets students out of their comfort zone and allows them to think about topics in an exciting and innovative way. Rather than following the traditional way, it is crucial to understand that student thinking has changed and the way students understand and comprehend information is different for everyone.

For my artifact, I decided to create Canva because I wanted to experiment with technological websites and take a “risk” as the podcast suggests. Although I originally wanted to do a twitter essay, I believe that deciding on the infographic was very useful because it gave me the freedom to express my creativity. However, the website is not user-friendly, and I had constant moments of frustration because I couldn’t change the size of the textbox or insert a caption. After a few tries, I was able to become more familiar with the website and capture a visual image of the podcast. Having such creative sites allows students to incorporate their creative and artistic skills, which can be very useful for teachers to use in classroom assignments.

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I listened to Questioning Learning by Chris Friend and Amy Collier.

Collier utilizes critical pedagogy, pointing out several aspects of the education system that educators have an opportunity to improve. I created the infographic below, which compares teaching practices that Collier condemns, and tenets she recommends in their place.

I used Canva to create my offering. Canva is a template-based graphics website which allows users to customize a variety of documents. My experience with Canva was positive – I was able to pick a visually appealing template and extensively customize my offering by choosing fonts, icons, colours, and rearranging the template itself. Tools are what you make of them, and Canva is definitely a tool with room for creativity, although I can see why some users may fail to customize pre-existing templates, resorting to a “Drag and drop” experience.

RISK IT ALL

What really spoke to me about the podcast was Collier’s idea of risk. In terms of the student-teacher relationship, both should be “all-in” in terms of risk. In other words – go big or go home! De-risking learning would be like de-risking snowboarding – there may be no risk of failure, but the chances of achieving something incredible are now slim.

What’s more, without risk, there is no excitement, passion, or joy. The idea of beacons, rather than learning goals, also encompasses this tenet of risk. Ask yourself – what would I be blown away by if my students were to achieve it by the end of the term? This is where the bar should be set for student learning.

The process of creation for this assignment incorporated a great deal of risk. Students in our classroom were experimenting with a variety of new technologies and demonstrating a unique way of expressing thoughts. We had a general idea of what to do, but a great deal of wiggle room in how we ultimately tackled the assignment. It was daunting. It was difficult. But this risk is what will create exciting, creative, unique learning opportunities.

OPPORTUNITY VS BROKENNESS

Friend and Collier also focused in on a language of opportunity within education rather than a language of brokenness. With critical pedagogy becoming more popular, we need to be careful that we are criticizing educational practices in a constructive way. A language of brokenness when speaking of the education system does not acknowledge all those who are doing great things already.

Diane Ravitch, the former US Assistant Secretary of Education and a powerful advocate for Educational Reform, echoes similar thoughts as Collier. A language of opportunity provides room to grow, while also acknowledging that the system already contains effective practices and exceptional educators.

Questioning Learning ultimately influenced me to think critically about best practices that are continually reinforced within my pre-service education, such as student learning outcomes. I hope to develop my own educational philosophy which will be centred around critical pedagogy and risk-taking.

Thanks for reading,

Megan Elliott