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‘Not-Yetness’ and the Constructivist Model of Education.

In the tenth episode of the Hybrid Pedagogy podcast, titled “Questioning Learning,” Chris Friend interviews Amy Collier about critical pedagogies, the concept of ‘risk’ in teaching, and the constructivist model of education. Collier’s research revolves around an idea called ‘not-yetness.’ She describes ‘not-yetness’ as a mental state where students have both an interest in a topic and a comfort in not yet knowing it, but lack the resources and teaching strategies needed for them to thrive. Collier believes that through a constructivist model of education, teachers can exploit this innate curiosity and create excellent learning experiences. Collier centres this experience on teacher-student relationships, which she believes are prerequisites for any successful pedagogy. She strongly states that teachers will never be replaced by computers, since it is neither an effective nor a natural progression.

For this multimedia reflection, I decided to create a narrated and animated sketchnote using my phone’s built in time-lapse feature and a small whiteboard. This idea was inspired by a relatively popular YouTube channel called “minutephysics.” This channel creates very simple but polished animated sketchnotes, and uses them to explain complex theories and phenomena in the world of science.

I assumed it would be easy to create a minutephysics-esque animated sketchnote, but I quickly realized that I was mistaken. Finding a mount to hold my phone was probably the most creative part in this entire process, and finding a way to cover its shadow on the whiteboard was infuriating at best. I have decided to include a picture of my workstation for this assignment, as I believe it to be both informative and humorous. I hope you enjoy my multimedia reflection, I look forward to hearing any of your opinions about this topic!

The whiteboard is sitting under my mom’s camera tripod. My phone was gently balanced on the two hangers placed underneath. The two lights on the sides are tilted lamps without shades, which were used to cover up shadows from the tripod and hangers.

Fixing Education Meltdown!!

For this assessment, I decided to investigate Chris Friend and Amy Collier’s podcast, Questioning Learning. This podcast centers around the fact that teachers are the heart of learning. There are online courses being taught in the schools today and the teachers are being forgotten about. These online courses are designed for specific answers and does not encourage the students to think beyond the norm. The pod casts discusses how both the teacher and students need to take risks to accomplish new learning experiences. They talk about how the teacher needs to incorporate risk, uncertainty, discomfort and unpredictability in their teaching methods as well as encourage the students to apply these assets in their own learning experiences. I demonstrated these ideals with a sketchnote.

Student-Teacher Relationship

The main focal point of my sketchnote refers to the main idea of the podcast; teacher-student relationships are the heart of teaching and that’s what it is really about. I decided to draw a teacher and student inside a heart to represent this and made it the largest image on the page. I also used more color in this image than the others because I wanted it to immediately draw your eyes to the heart then the image inside. Amy Collier mentions that this is truly the whole point of education and at it’s most basic fundamental level, is what education is about. You need a teacher’s guidance and knowledge to help a student reach for new ideas and push themselves beyond their own expectations.

There is a line of child’s blocks leading to the next image. The blocks spell out canned courses since this is another one of the main topics. I drew and outlined a can to get the point across that all cans are basically all the same shape. Outlining the can and the picture of the laptop to represent the idea of online courses, I followed it up with a few key points mentioned. Amy Collier mentions that online courses have very predictable outcome and only go from point A to point B. There is very little room for the instructor to make the course engaging or to keep students thinking. The course is already done and essentially all the teacher is expected to do is grade the incoming assignments, in which all the answers are expected to be the same. Where is the fun and learning in that?

The blocks leading to the next picture spells educational technology. I colored in the laptop since I wanted that part of the image to stand out and have the teacher fade into the background a little more. This way your eye finds the teacher after the laptop and students staring at it. Amy Collier mentioned that there is a huge push for learner centered teaching which is of course what we all want, but there has also been talk about technology replacing teachers.  This hurts the educational system at the core, since that relationship between student-teacher is fundamental to advance learning.

Following the building blocks, there is, taking risks leading to a car with learning outcomes on it and having a sign that catches your eye. The car takes the risk and has two possible outcomes, one of which could lead to entirely new learning experiences. A great teacher will encourage the student to try new ideas and concepts and be there for guidance and support. The teacher and students need to take risks together in learning, since the learning process is entirely risky in itself. By taking these learning risks it could lead to great and exciting discoveries but there is possibility it could lead to nothing at all. But with both the teacher and student working together and taking chances there is a chance for many amazing possibilities.

The next block chain reads chance reward which is a huge aspect of teaching. When you, as an educator take a chance in teaching the rewards can be great. The chalkboard with the four main words that Amy Collier used to explain the qualities a teacher should feel stand out with joy and discovery being the next thing your eye follows as those are the possible outcomes from teaching with a certain level of risk, uncertainty, discomfort, and unpredictability. A teacher needs to put themselves out there and push their students to strive for more. This might result in teaching lessons outside your comfort zone but when you relate to the students and teach them not only context but lessons you yourself have learnt, the rewards can be great. You need to also push the students beyond their comfort zones as well, because when you strive for more, the possibilities are endless.

Will Creativity Be Haunting Our Classrooms Next?

I read Ashley Hinck’s Digital Ghosts In The Classroom http://hybridpedagogy.org/digital-ghosts-modern-classroom/ and I decided to create a sketch note to showcase my findings. I chose to do a sketch note focusing on pictures because I am a visual learner. This article is so fitting to this project because we were given plenty of creative freedom. 

image of empty classroom with a ghost

The article was based around the different types of technological tools used in classrooms. The first tool is the standard ‘drag and drop’ software and the second tool is softwares that allow you to create. However it goes way beyond these softwares, in schools today the ability for creative freedom is lacking. We are teaching students the material the curriculum says the need then send them off into the world, and in the real world there is never just one right answer. 

The problem with the ‘drag drop’ softwares is that there is no room for exploration. These softwares give students boxes and expect them to fill it with the information. It is almost like those fill in the blank sheets you would do in elementary school. This leave no room for exploration or creativity. However, a good thing about this format is that you know your end product will always work. That you will get from point A to point B. This format can be intriguing for students because it is simple and they know the end product will be successful. These softwares have more control than the student creating them.The student just adds what they want and the software decides where it goes. Some students might not be bale to make these decisions themselves, so having the software control it makes the student more comfortable. This is still lacking a lot of room for creativity. 

Stick figure about to cross a bridge over a river

Schools are really just trying to force all the curriculum information into the students brains and this does not really give them any room for exploration.  When teacher are too focused on getting the work done they leave out the importance of creativity and exploration. Teachers give the students tests to fill in all the information they are meant to know and that is all. This can work for some students, but some students, like myself, do not do well with fill in the blank tests. I always find that the fill in the blank tests could have multiple answers for one question. That is another thing teachers are doing they are forcing students to have the ‘right’ answer. This scares me because in the real world there is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ answer. Giving students the ability to explore gives them multiple answers to one problem. As students try these answers they found they will soon realize that some might not work, and that is ok. Creativity lets them explore multiple ways to get a ‘right’ answer. And not all ‘right’ answers are the same.  

Stick figure with thought bubbles with ideas how they can cross the river

Success is something that every student strives for, but how they achieve it is a completely different story. As said above, most students will feel more comfortable going the ‘drag drop’ method, whereas few others will go out of the comfort zone and try to create something new. Why do humans gravitate more towards the ‘drag drop’ choices in life? It is a fear of failing. Ever since we were in school we were told that failing is bad, that getting that F on a paper is a shame. But failing is such an important part of learning. No one is going to be perfect and master whatever they are doing on their first try, instead it takes many attempts. In the classroom students are scared to fail because all they have ever been taught is failing is bad. As a future educator I hope to be able to create a space classroom where my students feel completely comfortable to try new thing and be open to failure. Because when you fail you might unexpectedly end up creating something great. 

Stick figure is looking at both options

Lastly, I feel it is so important for us as future educators to start encouraging creativity in schools, or else the next generation will be reading an article about the creative ghosts that haunt the classroom. 

Ghosts in the Classroom!?!

My sketch note of the “Digital Ghosts in the Modern Classroom” article written by Ashley Hinck.

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.

Digital Ghosts in the Modern Classroom

In this assignment, I decided to take a look at Ashley Hinck’s article “Digital Ghosts in the Modern Classroom”. In short, Ashley’s belief in today’s school system is that students are forced to follow a strict path while digital media making. She explains that the tools students use or are used to using in the classroom tend to create an environment lacking diversity, creativity, and exploration. Tools such as Canva, GIPHY, Facebook, and various other apps create an easily accessible template or mold of whatever the student wants to create. Students think that they are expected to follow a step-by-step, strict, and extremely linear route to success, but with this comes many harmful side effects to not only children but to the whole classroom in the long run. 

The everlasting presence, or ghosts as Hinck calls them, haunts the class even if they are no longer present. Their extremely user-friendly interface is very appealing to students who need a slight push in the right direction, but Hinck would like to think that the “slight push” has become more of a stern shove over years of being pounded into the minds of students. Instead of using these tools to explore new and exciting avenues in their education, kids have come to rely on these programs to find any sort of success at all. Students have become afraid to step out of their comfort zones and rarely take risks. They have also become super lazy during the creation process after being given all the resources they could ever need; they assume that there are only one answer and one way of going about a problem when in reality teachers should be forcing the exact opposite. 

If Hinck’s assumptions are correct, how are we supposed to fix a problem that is ingrained into a class’ society? Ashley says that the first step is raising awareness of the existence of said digital ghosts. Other things that students could do to help their situation could be claiming their agencies as creators instead of followers. The creation process is something that should be exciting and students must start truly believing that a failure IS an option!

Reading this article has proved to me that this sort of issue is affecting everyone, even myself. I laugh at the irony of me making a Canva, but now that I’m aware of the existence of such an epidemic, I will be trying to break out of the habit. Ever since high school, it seems like I’ve been using templates upon templates to achieve success in my classes, but now I have a feeling that taking more risks to be creative could not only benefit my work as a student but also benefit my teaching styles when/if I become a teacher. I just wish someone would have told me this information sooner!

Are Teachers Taking Enough Risks?

While listening to the podcast between Chris Friend and Amy Collier I created this sketch-note. The podcast discusses the options educators can take with students and their approach for self-knowledge. Collier discusses the idea of “Not-Yetness”, which is the notion of finding comfort in not knowing and not having everything perfectly ordered, and she believes this to be closely related to critical pedagogy. I represented this in the sketch-note with the running stick figure trying to grasp knowledge.

Collier then goes on to say that teachers staying in their comfort zone may be prone to becoming restricted or limited which may lead to the teacher transforming into “an enhanced grader.” She refers to this as the “canned course” model and cautions educators to be aware and urges educators to take risks.

So how can we avoid being the distant teacher who simply grades a paper? Or, how can we avoid embedding into the student’s mind that education is a clear-cut, right or wrong process?

Simple. Get comfortable with being uncomfortable.

The risk may be high but the reward is greater and I think some teachers can benefit with this mindset. Listening to Collier, I realized I can succeed even if I don’t have all the answers as long as I keep trying to find new ways to engage with my students and adapt to the constantly-changing classroom

For this multimedia reflection, I wanted to try something new. Throughout my undergrad degree I was accustomed to writing papers and I initially wanted to complete a Twitter essay but I was attracted to the idea of a Sketch-note. After seeing a few examples online I decided this was the best method for me to represent my response to the podcast. While listening to the podcast it was easy to draw/ write the ideas I heard. I’m not much of an artist but I feel this sketch-note was a good way to get out of my comfort zone. Hopefully you can relate, thanks for reading!

Did I Draw a Podcast? Click to Find Out!

For this multimedia assignment, I decided to create a sketch note based on Chris Friend and Amy Collier’s podcast, Questioning Learning. This podcast explores topics such as learning outcomes, online learning, and student freedom. This sketch note took a lot of thought and editing in order for me to express what  I found to be important, and how I would represent this.

sketch note

The first topic I included on my sketch note was learning outcomes. The header for this topic is the largest one on the page because I thought the points Collier brought up about them was important and vital for successful teaching.

Learning Outcomes

Throughout my time in school, I have always come across learning outcomes that provide students with a direct, structured, and restrictive list of what teachers expect. Collier mentions that these outcomes ¨de-risk¨ learning and can become formulated. ¨Students will…” and ¨students will understand¨ are popular terms used when writing learning outcomes, but what effect can this restrive format have on students? Collier and Friend talk about how this format puts students in a box with no way of getting out. Although, neither of them is ¨anti-outcomes” they do believe that inspiring learning outcomes allow students to grow and explore in their learning. Inspiring outcomes inspire students to think and relate to the lesson at hand. Understanding should not a term used in learning outcomes as understanding is not measurable as it is ongoing, evolving and emerging. Learning outcomes should explore the bigger questions that allow students to ¨wonder at their work” and teachers should write them thinking ¨what would cause me to admire my students¨.

I found in school these formulated outcomes do not allow students to explore their own thoughts and interpretations. Obviously, it is important that students work relates to the topics at hand, but this podcast made me question why assignments and takeaways from a lesson have to be so strict. Not all students learn and think the same, so I believe using aspirational outcomes, such as what Collier and Friend spoke about, allow students to grow as learners and enjoy what they are doing.

Learnification

Learnification was another term that Collier and Friend spoke about during this podcast. I had never heard this term before, and it definitely is important to know when you are questioning learning. Learnification focuses on learning rather than teaching. This term is not necessarily a negative one, but it must be questioned and used properly. This style of learning personalizes teaching and can be quite damaging as it forces students to be seen as products rather than a vital relationship between students and teachers.

This term goes hand in hand with online learning. Canned courses is a popular formula used when creating online classes, but these classes hinder students learning.

Canned Courses

Canned courses take away the instructors/teachers ability to customize or create the online courses they are teaching. These teachers have no say in how the class is designed, how students engage with one another, or how tests and assignments are formulated. These classes are impersonal, structured and restrictive and improperly use learnification so that students are used as products rather than a relationship. These classes are designed to formulate and produce answers from students so marking can be done quickly.

Much like restrictive learning outcomes, learnification and canned courses place students in a box that impacts their learning. These types of learning are not acceptable, and should not be used while teaching. Collier mentions that canned courses seem to flourish online, but could never exist in person without being shut down. Online learning should be structured in a way that is interactive and allows learning to flourish. I have taken online classes during my time in university, and I can concur that some of these classes are dull, restrictive, and make us students feel like products just trying to pass in order to receive credits.

Opportunity

After I took a look at all these different learning styles and expectations, I questioned what should I take away from all of this?

I believe that when students are given the opportunity to explore their own learning, they will flourish. Risk-taking compels students learning and leads students to wonder and awe at what they are being taught. When students are given the freedom to express what they have learned, the outcome can be unpredictable, and this unpredictability is incredible. Seeing what students take out of a lesson rather than forcing work out of them will allow you to see what your class is capable of, what needs to be improved, and the different formats students use to express themselves. Using a critical pedagogy allows you to ask questions and question your own teaching without fear or shame. When we become comfortable questioning ourselves and our students, our ability to teach and our students learning will flourish.

I will keep all of this in mind when creating lessons plans and teaching on my own. What I learned from this podcast is what can restrict learning and I cannot wait to explore how to apply this in my own teaching and classroom in the future.

Digital Ghost’s in the Modern Classroom

For this assignment, I decided to explore Hincks article called ‘‘Digital Ghosts in the Modern Classroom’’. Hinck, (2018) explored a topic regarding the preparedness and skillfulness of digital media leaners. The statements and observations cited by the author are of good quality. One thing remains true is that in the practical sense and in a work environment, the kind of training offered will not help, as the client product requirement is hardly linear and straightforward with standard steps to achieve the desired output. Neither is there a guarantee of a working product as increasingly there is the risk of failure due to the dynamics of the industry.
The tools that learners are using hardly prepare them for these realities. Reflecting on the topic, I have completed an Infographic using “Piktochart”. “Piktochart” is web based software offering straightforward themed templates that are useful in the creation of standard infographics and
other visuals. One of the remarkable features of the application is that as a creator, one is able to come up with web-publisher ready, and individual multimedia content. Overall, the application is simple to use. I prepared the infographic embedded in this document within a reasonable period. Hinck (2018) also notes that by following the simple to understand instructions that the application requires I was able to come up with the infographic attached. Some of the features and resources offered by “Piktochart” were rather intriguing to use.

For instance, the templates available are modifiable, easy to manipulate text aspects such as font, size, and most importantly, I could use my own images together with those offered by the software. Additionally, the software allows the users to easily organize their information by use of drag and drop. Remarkably, the drag and drop feature is amazingly flexible and straightforward to make modifications and additions of text. The HTML publisher is also straightforward to manipulate for users who intend to have their visuals available online or embedded on websites. The information presentation tools are also practical ranging from animated icons, charts, videos, and map visualizations further making the software’s output product more appealing and adaptable to multiple scenarios. I cannot help but disagree with Hinck (2018) since despite not having technical knowledge on the development of such features using HTML or other suitable coding languages, an individual is able to come up with incredible creations within a short time. I would like to think of it as the difference between accountants who keep their books manually using traditional ledger books and files whereas there are available accounting software such as SAP and others by Microsoft, Oracle or Sage. In addition, despite having a ready to use software, Hinck (2018) fails to acknowledge the fact that the most critical skill of a creative presentation is the ability to visualize the desired outcome in one’s mind. The availability of applications that make it more accurate and faster to deliver is reasonable and having learners use them is in fact useful and prepares the digital media learner for the real world. Supporting the accounting profession analogy, an accountant who understands how a transaction should be recorded does not depend on the tools available to them. Reflecting on the experience of developing the above infographic, I support the use of such platforms. Rather than focus on the mundane tasks of keeping the images, charts, and text in the right organization, digital media presenters can now focus on what actually matters; the ideas, message, and the means of appealing to the target audience. In comparison, the essence of digital media is primarily to appeal to a specific audience and as such, creativity and a human feel of the multimedia messages cannot be overlooked. There is a possibility that the final products will be similar on multiple instances due to the over reliance on software templates, a scenario that is unlikely when each creative and digital media professional is able to develop their content from the beginning. For example, “Piktochart” has only six hundred templates in its database. Considering the billions of multimedia content generated annually, six hundred templates will probably lead to uniform structures and feel of such creations. Therefore, there is a place for the software applications available on the internet but still a lot of work is required to be done in order to inspire uniqueness and creativity in the digital space.

Meet your classroom ghosts and tell them to leave!

Or learn to live with them cautiously.

A response to Digital Ghosts in the Modern Classroom by Ashley Hinck .

As a student teacher, I am just starting to create my teaching philosophy. As I read about multiple approaches to teaching and learning, I have conflicting feelings about what I want my teaching philosophy to be. Do I let my students decide what interests them and facilitate their learning or should I make sure that we cover everything in the curriculum with diligence? I went to high school when handouts and templates ruled all classrooms. So, I feel comfortable learning with templates, but I am not sure how valuable they are in the long run. Did they really help me retain much information? I would have to say, no.  In the long run, classrooms where we explored topics through class discussion or hands on exploratory learning are the classes that I remember most from school.  

Know Your Classroom Ghosts. Canva. 2019.

Who are our classroom ghosts ?

In the article “Digital Ghosts in the Modern Classroom” by Ashley Hinck the author talks about “The ghosts of worksheets, templates, and shortcut websites” and how their presence in the classroom defines our students’ learning, and our teaching philosophy. The author goes on to say that the drag and drop websites and platforms, such as CanvaWiX or GIPHY, are the new template and worksheets of digital media and are ultimately damaging students’ creativity. Her classroom experience reveals that students’ expectations are so tightly linked to these template platforms that they find learning a computer language completely unsatisfying. She explores the idea that learning through trial and error is not encouraged by these platforms as well as in our kindergarten to grade 12 education system. The author believes that students should be encouraged to explore more open-ended programming languages (CSS, HTML) or programs like photoshop so that they can see themselves as the creative authority of their own work. She suggests that students’ work must not always hit all the marks and a greater value should be placed in the idea of exploring, and the trial and error model of leaning. Having had some experience in the working world and particularly in product development, I agree with the author that learning through the trial and error process is important for surviving the real world. Coming out of school that was a hard concept for me to grasp and it was an idea that I had to accept and adopt, as formal schooling certainly did not introduce me to the trial and error model of learning. 

However, I also believe that not everyone needs to reinvent the wheel. If students in the digital media classrooms enjoy, have an interest in, learning more about these platforms, I think time should be made to explore them.  Templates created by designers on platforms such as Canva are useful, beautiful tools that can be used, explored and enjoyed by students.

Playing with Canva

 Creating the infographic for this article, and using Canva for the first time, I enjoyed working with the platform. Canva provides beautiful templates, but that doesn’t mean that one has to use them as they are. I think Canva templates could also be used as a creative starting point for students. They were definitely that for me. I enjoyed playing with the different features of this platform and creating the ghost characters in the infographic by layering different shapes. I also enjoyed that you could try the platform for free for the first month, so that someone just starting on the platform can explore all features for free.

Approach Ghosts with Caution!

Learning how to code and creating a website from scratch is a valuable skill. In addition, learning the coding language will serve students in the years to come but I think that template platforms are also valuable and can be used to benefit us as teachers to present information in a creative way. Students can use these platforms creatively present their ideas. However, students should be aware that their knowledge about these platforms can be obsolete in a few years because they are always changing. Furthermore, students’ ability to present information creatively will always depend on such platforms if they don’t put an effort to learn the basics of more open-ended tools such as photoshop or coding languages.  

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Are we banishing platforms or are we banishing creativity from our students?

I chose to read Ashley Hinck article: “Digital Ghosts in the Modern Classroom.” I decided to create a sketch note in order to show the main points that were portrayed in Hincks article. I’m far from being an artist but I thought I would challenge myself.

I started my sketch note by writing down in the top left corner “digital pedagogy”. In the beginning of the article Hinck uses her digital pedagogy and explains that the only thing that students know about digital media are the shortcut/template platforms. As a student who grew up in the generation of technology I remember starting off with platforms such as Prezi with the templets being given to me. I feel that the teachers might have recommended these sights because they were “easy” to use. Some teachers also lack in digital technology which could affect how the student learns. Now that i’m older i’ve started to realize that a lot of my work lacks creativity. I chose to create a sketch note, not because I wasn’t sure how to use the other platforms but because I wanted the chance to get creative.  

Students have the fear that there can only be a “right answer”. “Are we really teaching the students to make, or are we teaching them the right way to do things.” ( Hinck 2018) Students follow the directions, to get the right answer, but this is not how they should be taught. Authority is shown in the platforms and the teachers but how can the students open their minds to new things if they are only taught one way? I included the words “banking method”, Hinck talks about how students are viewed as containers. Teachers are filling the students minds with how to do things the ” correct way.” I learned a lot about the banking model of education in my second year of university. I believe that filling our students minds with the “correct way” of doing things could affect how they think in the future.

In the next corner of my sketch note I wrote the words “ choices”, “ experimentation” and “ open space and mind”. Sometimes it can be hard to have an open mind about certain things because you are afraid to be wrong. Teachers should encourage platforms that will give the students more freedom to experiment, for example Photoshop.

Some online platforms limit openness and creativity, I included the words “banish platforms”. We need to move away from platforms that don’t give the students the freedom they need. I also included “makers, creators and speakers”. We want our students to be their own makers/ creators rather than have the platforms and templates take that away. As future educators we should be teaching students to be “makers, “creators” and “speakers”, instead of teaching in a way that shows there is a “right” way.

Hinck doesn’t give up on her students, she is always encouraging them. As a future educator I want my students to see themselves as creative people and that they should embrace their creativity. I also want to teach my students to love themselves for who they are, it’s okay to be wrong sometimes. I hope you enjoyed my sketch note, I had a lot of fun creating it.