Category: EdTech Reflections (Page 1 of 2)

I appreciated the topic of knowledge curation tools in class. To me, this is something that has been overlooked as an important aspect of teaching and taking this program. If we aren’t organizing what we’re learning in a way that is easy to access, so much of it will be lost and we’ll be forced to learn it all over again (or not bother).

I also think that we as teachers need to explore and share the wonderful resources that already exist online for free. There are so many organizations that work with experts to develop fantastic units and lesson plans that are available for free. For instance, I think the material at “Facing History and Ourselves”, “Zinn Education Project”, “CIVIX CTRL-F,” “The Critical Thinking Consortium,” “Composer Education,” “Teaching Tolerance,” and “Common Sense Media,” are all incredibly helpful for a social studies classroom. Often they include built out activities with profiles and details that teachers would not normally have the time (and often the expertise) to create. I like the creative aspect of creating units so I probably wouldn’t take anything completely without tweaking it to meet the specific needs of my students, but they are a fantastic place to start.

Personally, I use OneNote to organize all the notes and resources I find. I was introduced to the software at my last work place, and it was there that I grew to appreciate how powerful it is. I can have all my notes, information, links, etc. available just a couple of clicks away, in an easy to organize fashion. Rather than having to peruse through layers and layers of folders in order to open up separate documents, everything is at my finger tips. If I’m typing notes for my PSYCH class and she shares a strategy that resonates with me that I would want to do in my future class, I can quickly add it to my “Class Planning” notebook.

Regarding the future of education, I hope it continues to move in the direction it has been moving since I was in high school. I hope that it becomes less rigid and grades become less important. I hope that students are cared for first and foremost as human beings. I hope that they learn to explore what they are interested in, but also are inspired by their teachers and classmates. I hope that technology is leveraged carefully and selectively to enhance the experience, but nature and the outdoors is done so just as often.. And I hope that teachers work together to bridge disciplines and learn and grow from one another. This is the future that is worth working towards.

This week we got to hear from Tracy Humphreys, the Chair and Executive Director at BCEd Access. She talked to us about the organization, and the importance of considering accessibility and inclusivity in the classroom. I appreciated getting to hear from her, as this is something I know will be a critical priority, and also a real challenge. This semester has mostly been focused on creating unit and lesson plans that are exciting but I realize I didn’t often have a wide diversity of students in my mind when making them. Sure, I always try to include different forms of engagement (such as videos, writing, moving, etc.), but what happens when one student is miles ahead and another is struggling with the basics? I realized I have been designing for a monolithic classroom, and have not built in much UDL or differentiation.

This is a good learning for me. I already know that I have a tendency to want to cram in an unrealistic amount of activities into short periods of time, and this approach would be a big disservice to many students. That tendency of mine probably has roots in capitalist, ableist ideas that tries to squeeze every ounce of “productivity” from the moment. Yet it is the opportunity to pause, reflect, ask questions, and struggle with the content that leads to deeper learning, and helps those who may otherwise fall behind catch up. I will try to reframe the issue to myself as one of equity, and hopefully this helps me step back and be okay with “going slow.”

I imagine supporting diverse learners is often pushed to the side for new teachers, who spend so much of their time just gathering and creating lessons and units for their classes. I hope that any opportunity I have to prepare and plan ahead of a semester starting I take it; I want to be able to give my energy and presence to the students, and be receptive to their needs and interests. I can already picture how difficult this would be when I am feeling overworked and anxious about the half-planned lessons that I need to finish. Yet in a world that is already so challenging for people with diverse abilities, I hope to meet all my students where they’re at, and help them to get wherever they want to go.

E-PORTFOLIOS

What is it?

E-Portfolios (or digital portfolios) are collections of writings, documents, and other artefacts collected over time to demonstrate student learning. While there are different types, we will explore the Learning Portfolio, which facilitates and demonstrates learning over time (rather than the best pieces being evaluated at the end).[i]

Benefits

Making Learning Visible

By collecting, documenting, and reflecting on different pieces of work over a period of time, digital portfolios allow students and instructors to see progress that has been made. The insights that digital portfolios provide help educators give targeted feedback seamlessly and allow parents to follow along with their child’s learning. At the end of the unit / class, students walk away with a tangible representation of their learning.[ii]

Metacognition

Digital portfolios allow opportunity for students to reflect on feedback, past work, and their learnings in a way that encourages growth. Built in opportunities for self, peer, and educator feedback can help students deepen their learning.

Building Independent Learners

Digital portfolios can support the development of self-directed learning and representational learning. Through the gradual release of responsibility, teachers can support students in finding new and creative ways to represent their learnings.[iii]

Digital Tools

E-Portfolios can be kept on a number of different platforms; some offer the benefit of simplicity, while others allow for greater creative freedoms and options. Here are some ideas:

1. Google Slides: students document their learning through notes / images on Google Slides. The teacher may create a template that provides a clear structure, but the Slides are somewhat limiting. Great video example here.
2. Microsoft OneNote: Students could have their own section or section group in which they can add a multitude of media types. This has the advantage of everything being easily accessible in a single Notebook. Guide here.
3. WordPress: Students can create a website through which they can blog and add media, like we’re doing in our class. Some students may find the platform challenging without a lot of guidance. Guidance here.

NOTE: Students can complete a lot of their portfolio without computers in class through writing, drawing, etc. They just need to take photos of their work and upload them once they have access to a computer.

Assessment[iv]

Self-Assessment: The portfolio format allows students to self-assess how well they’ve demonstrated their learning.

Peer-Assessment: Through comments or separate submissions, peers can provide feedback and direction. Both self and peer-assessment should be supported by clear criteria and expectations around how to give it. If using a site like WordPress, you may ask students to read and respond to the works of others, using hyperlinks. You may have students work in “peer blog mentor” groups to help facilitate this. Teachers should still review all feedback.

Teacher Assessment: Ongoing meaningful feedback is critical for students. Teachers may choose not to give grades throughout, and instead provide written / oral feedback that students can incorporate in their future posts.

Check out the below rubrics for E-Porfolios:

1. Assessment Rubric
2. ePorfolio Project
3. Blogging Rubric

Steps to Implementation[v]

1. Develop and communicate a clear purpose, focus, and structure
   1. Determine where will there be choice for how students reflect their learning, and where will you give them clear structure
   1. Structure should be clear, but not overly rigid
   1. Don’t overwhelm them with all the information at the beginning for a long portfolio.
2. Choose a platform and create a template for each student to use
3. Facilitate students developing and creating media / learning artefacts
   1. Start a lesson by telling students what their portfolio output look like at the end of a lesson / unit. This will help them begin with the end in mind, and engage with the material intentionally.
4. Support skill development and time management
   1. Remind students regularly to put work in their portfolio
   1. Avoid a “digital dump”’ – make sure that everything they upload adds something.
   1. Build in time for reflection, self assessment and peer assessment. Check out some strategies / questions for facilitating metacognition here.
5. Support students in keeping the contents of their portfolio at the end.

Possible Products in an E-Portfolio

• Artwork
• Audio recordings / podcasts
• Book reports / reviews
• Charts and graphs
• Essays (drafts and final copies)
• Self and peer evaluations
• Interview results
• Blog / journal entries
• Maps
• Classroom notes
• Photographs of experiments / monuments / etc.
• Videos of presentations, debates, interviews, or simulations
• Mind Maps
• Embedded social media posts from figures
• Posters / Digital Posters
• Activity sheets and other assignments

Examples

1. Create a digital museum exhibit with some of the most important items from history. Each entry should center on a different object related to what we learned in class and be supported by evidence.
2. Your digital portfolio is based around the question: how do we see the past in the present? As we explore themes in our class, you will reflect on ways that it relates to your life today using tools of inquiry.
3. Your digital portfolio for English will be where you house your responses to the different texts we explore. You will be prompted with specific questions relating to the texts that build on one another week to week.
4. Your digital portfolio for HPE will track your research and learning around what makes a healthy lifestyle. This will inform your personal health plan, which will be the summative assessment.
5. Your digital portfolio will be where we track your learning throughout the semester. You’ll answer the question “Why is science important?” at the beginning, and regularly return to ways that your thoughts have been broadened and deepened.

Group Work

The best way top facilitate group work with portfolios is creating small groups that are accountable to reviewing and providing feedback to one another. Additionally, products that are created together could be shared across different platforms or linked between them.

Drawbacks / Risks

1. Access to technology. Many students may struggle if they don’t have reliable access to computers or the internet. This could be mitigated if they have a phone (can upload at school through photographs), but still adds an additional burden on that student. It is recommended you survey your students’ situations and provide fair accommodations before beginning.
2. A lot to keep track of. It’s critical to provide regular and ongoing feedback because if you’re not on top of it, you could fall behind. Having a clear roadmap with milestones and opportunities for metacognition and different types of assessments will help ensure it stays under control.

An Illustrative Example

Ms. Brown’s wants to use an ePortfolio in her social studies classroom across the entire semester. She surveys the students to get a sense of their access to technology and provides alternatives ways of participating and looser deadlines for students with more limited access. She decides she wants to use WordPress and so sets aside class time in the computer lab to walk students through signing up for the platform and getting familiar with it. She plans to use the portfolio as a way to track student thinking and learning, as well as facilitate collaboration and feedback. Ms Brown explains the benefits and purpose behind the portfolio for the students, outlines the criteria they will be evaluated on (which includes creativity), and explains that she will be explicit about when they need to add something to the portfolio. She chose this strategy rather than “upload whenever you want” because she thought her students would benefit from the direction, it would make assessment more straightforward, and would ensure higher quality work rather than risking a “digital dump.”

She also outlines the different options for students, explaining they can use a pseudonym and works with the class to develop rules that everyone is comfortable with (ie. Don’t use last names, etc.). She has students submit their websites to her in a form, and emails the parents of the students to let them know that they are encouraged to follow along.

Ms. Brown splits the class into groups that will support one another’s portfolios. Ms Brown is the only person to initially provide feedback, but instead of giving a mark, she gives concrete praise and suggestions for improvement, which her students can choose to immediately implement for a small boost of their grade. After a few weeks, she supports students in understanding how to self-assess, which she then begins requiring before she assesses, to help support student metacognition. A few weeks later, she teaches students how to give effective peer feedback, and occasionally requires this through the use of private comments, which she oversees and corrects when necessary.

Ms. Brown frames each unit around 1 or more critical inquiry questions, that allow the students to demonstrate their evolving understanding through their portfolio. One unit for instance, is framed around the question “Which social movement most drastically reshaped our world?” The students submit assignments like a digital infographic on the impacts of the Pride Movement, an interactive map to capturing dimensions of the Idle No More movement, a photo essay of evidence of the current day feminist movement around their neighbourhood, and a podcast interview of someone who lived through a major social movement. Additional submissions range from larger items (such as a group project timeline) to smaller pieces (such as a paragraph detailing the student’s top takeaways from a single class discussion.)  Ms. Brown also requires periodic reflection posts that encourage students to make connections between topics and recognize their learning strategies and skills that have been successful thus far. For each major content submission, Ms. Brown tries to give a few options of the multimedia type of submission that can be used but explains that diverse modes of communication are part of the criteria for assessment. Rather than expect students to know how to utilize these different types of multimedia effectively, Ms. Brown provides step-by-step guides and encourages peer mentorship within the groups.

Part way through the semester she has students fill out a survey to get a sense of how they are finding the portfolio, and if she can make any changes to make things simpler for them. At the end of the semester, Miss Brown asks the students to choose 1-5 portfolio submissions that represent their biggest learnings from the class and supports them in writing a short paper explaining and backing up their choices.

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[i] Cleveland-Innes and Wilton (2018), Guide to Blended Learning. Retrieved from: http://oasis.col.org/handle/11599/3095

[ii] Morris, J. (2003). Digital portfolios reflect how we learn. In Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education

International Conference (pp. 122-127). Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE).

[iii] Wall, K., Higgins, S., Miller, J., & Packard, N. (2006). Developing digital portfolios: Investigating how digital portfolios can

facilitate pupil talk about learning. Technology, Pedagogy and Education, 15(3), 261-273.

[iv] Burt, R., Morris, K. (2020). The Complete Guide to Student Digital Portfolios. Campus Press. Retrieved from:

The Complete Guide To Student Digital Portfolios

[v] Case, R., Clark, P. (2020). Learning to inquire in history, geography, and social studies: An anthology for secondary teachers.

The Critical Thinking Consortium.

Unfortunately I had to miss class this week because I had to get my hand sorted out (I broke a finger). I did however get some class notes from a classmate and am reflecting more about SAMR and TPACK.

 I have learned about these frameworks before and find them useful but refreshed my memory with the video below and this great article on Edutopia.

While I find them helpful I also think the amount of technology options out there can be overwhelming – there are so many tools that serve different purposes and at some point it probably becomes confusing and unhelpful for learners. On top of this the tools are frequently changing, or changing from free to paid subscriptions; the result of this is that teachers often invest a ton of energy into learning one tool only to have it no longer available. I can think of many examples of this: apps like Mentimeter were once free, SMART Boards were all the rage for a couple of years, and I learned recently that schools are even stepping back from Chromebooks which were once promising the revolutionize things.

I think what’s probably most important around technology is mindset: being okay with that technology transience and accepting that this part of the work is always in flux. Similarly, I hope to accept that sometimes technology (or my plan for it) will fail, and that’s okay. Over the years I hope to build up a toolkit that helps enhance learning for my students

In class on Friday we were lucky enough to have Jeff Hopkins, the Principal of the Pacific School for Innovation and Inquiry (PSII) speak with us. I found the discussion fascinating, particularly the way the school has been set up to support learning: it looks so different than standard schools.

For instance, the school utilizes the surrounding community of downtown Victoria for much of its programming. Students have memberships at the YMCA and Crag X for their physical education, and frequently go to parks as well. I was struck by how seemingly obvious this step was, because it highlighted to me the ways I never questioned the separation between school and community beforehand. When I was in high school, I felt very much within a bubble and separate from my surroundings. I think this is a problem because students don’t develop the community awareness of community building skills that would serve them after graduation; school would be such an ideal opportunity to forge these connections and develop within students a sense of civic responsibility.

I also really liked that the students used Trello, a project management software to help organize and manage their learning plans. It made me realize that we so often overlook ways to support students in developing skills and capacities that are important for the real world. Why shouldn’t they get comfortable with software that is widely used in workplaces amongst adults? Often the switch from school to work can feel overwhelming and foreign to students; perhaps there is opportunities for further integration to make that transition smoother.

I was struck by Jeff’s generosity with his ideas and resources; he said we were welcome to take the resources they had created, including the <a href="http://<!– wp:paragraph –> <p>I was struck by Jeff's generosity with his ideas and resources; he said we were welcome to take the resources they had created, including the competencies and inquiry framework. Listening to the way this school worked made me feel like I really wanted to attend the school; not just as a kid, but now as an adult! To have support and guidance but the freedom and agency to follow your passions and interests sounds incredibly appealing. I am left considering the ways this model could be taken into a more traditional classroom environment, and hoping that it becomes more widely accepted and implemented across all schools.</p> competencies and inquiry framework. Listening to the way this school worked made me feel like I really wanted to attend the school; not just as a kid, but now as an adult! To have support and guidance but the freedom and agency to follow your passions and interests sounds incredibly appealing. I am left considering the ways this model could be taken into a more traditional classroom environment, and hoping that it becomes more widely accepted and implemented across all schools.

In class on Friday we explored the power of video as an educational tool. I had always seen the value of bringing in videos from online as teaching tools (after all, why not have someone with a much higher budget and lots more time explain a concept?!), but the class got me thinking more broadly. Video is a great example of the power of technology for accessibility: videos can be slowed down, replayed, and captioned to support learners. A major challenge in the classroom is differentiating learning, knowing that everyone learns at their own pace. Video helps solve this problem; fast learners can whizz through a video while slower learners can take their time without feeling embarrassed.

I also have very fond memories of creating videos in school as part of assignments. Videos were a way I could access my creativity, while having a lot of fun with my classmates. At the same time, creating a video on a topic required sifting through a lot of knowledge, boiling it down to the most important points, and creating a persuasive and engaging narrative. These are all skills that are valuable for students to learn.

I imagine part of the challenge of integrating technology into the classroom is supporting students with learning how to use it. That’s why I found Rich’s workshop so valuable; they workshop was centered around a “go-at-your-own-pace” style, in which you worked through different Google Documents that outlined and explained the different steps to help you get more comfortable. Normally, creating guides like this would take too much time for a teacher to be able to do, but I was so excited to hear that the UVIC Libraries Digital Scholarship Commons has all of these guides or “Lesson Plans” available under the Creative Commons license on their website here.  This really helps support educators and students in learning new skills. For instance, for a summative unit assignment, I could give my students the option to make a video, a podcast, a storyboard, or an infographic; one class could be spent with the students learning how to use the tool they’re interested in guided by these lesson plans. Taking part in the workshop also helped me realize that we can’t expect students to just know (or easily learn) how to use these software, as this can be very frustrating and they will likely choose to take the easy way out (by choosing a software they already know). By having resources and time set aside for these skills, I think teachers can help broaden everyone’s skillset.

Another tool I learned about through the workshop that I am very interested in learning more about is H5P, which allows you to make any video interactive, with a variety of question types and texts to prompt the reader to think about what they’re seeing. This would be a really great tool in an online or blended classroom environment, to help support learners be active participants in their learning, rather than mindlessly (or distractedly) consuming video content. Choosing the questions would take some serious thought, as I have taken part in online trainings that use a similar software and it can turn into a game of “how fast can I get through these video questions?” Critical, interesting, and scaffolded questions might help create more interest for the learner. I also found it took quite a long time to make a video interactive, and so it would probably make the most sense if you could re-use the video year after year.

I’m really happy we got to play around with these tools and I am excited to brainstorm ways to implement them into my lesson and unit planning!