Because this class is looking at how technology can help people connect, we were asked to keep a log of the conversations we had with our classmates and others on the internet.

The slack community

I struggled a little bit with the slack community in general. Many of the questions that my classmates had were either questions that I also had or questions that I did not have the answers to. Some of the resources that my classmates shared were helpful such as the website that Alexa shared.

Some other classmate questions were somewhat simple answers but the answer was dependent on other factors. For example I only know about video editing on a mac because that is what I use so that would be an easy fix for someone with a mac but a little harder for someone without one.

Blogging

I enjoyed commenting on my classmate blogs about their learning projects. Many of the posts were so descriptive and had great sources, it almost felt like I was learning along with them.

For example, I love following Mary-Anne’s project because it kept me accountable for cleaning my house as well. At one point when Mary-Anne was preparing her camper I was able to give a few tips that I have learned over the years.

I enjoyed looking at the weekly blog prompt posts, especially those who were in a different grade area than me because they look at issues through the eyes of a different aged child.

Twitter

I was able to connect with others even outside of my classmates on twitter. During my time in this course I was able to participate in 2 #saskedchats,the one we did within class and one on June 20, and the themes were new/pre service teaching and summer professional development.

I started to also connect with EdTech K-12 Magazine and Texthelp for Education (the company that owns the EquatIO)

There were times and questions were my job as a librarian and reading program coordinator came in handy.

 

I was also able to have great conversations with my fellow classmates about different topics.

 

Shared and met some current educators.

 

Even one of the local elementary schools in my city started to share some of my resources.

I will be totally honest, I forgot to screenshot a lot of my conversations (even though Katia told us not to forget). Many times it felt like a natural conversation so taking screenshots was not what I was thinking about, as I was actively involved with the conversation.

I found that portion of the class was vital, especially because it was online. We were able to make connections with classmates and other educators around the continent.

 

This week I started to learn how to code, which was one of the things that I was scared of at the beginning of this class. I chose to learn through Hour of Code playing the Dance Party game. Dance party is a coding game for grades 2-5 that has the user manipulate a mascot to do popular dance moves. Students learn to create a code through block coding meaning the person takes one block from the block station and moves it into the corresponding work station to make the mascot move.  Within this example I was learning how to make a second dancer, which is really easy. All that was needed is another starting block but as you can see I some messed it up. My mess-up was simple, as I just needed to move one robot to the side, but it made me think how easily one line of code could change the entire goal.

Near the beginning I realized that only one block within the pattern matters and the rest can come in any order after. Within this one, the green block saying the amount of time before changing dance moves needs to go first because there is no indent on the top just the attachment on the bottom. These patterns are really good for students to find because it helps practice their problem solving skills.

As I was coding I realized that the website itself has a particular code that it needs to follow. For example, I tried to have my mascot move along to the treble of the music but that did not match the code that the website had which was the mascot first had to react to the bass of the music.

I was on level 5 was when I began to have problems. The point was to use the “every 2 measures” block but when I did the website must not have liked it because it would not let me move to the next station. I was able to move past it but I still do not know what happened.

A few years back the library that I worked at introduced coding for kids between the ages of 5-8. I was impressed with the outcome, there were at least 8 in each class. Students are able to be creative in new ways through coding and it helps strengthen their brains to look at situations in multiple ways. This article explains why every child should learn how to code, it even explains that coding does not need to be online but can be through paper and a pen as well.

 

 

Here are my final thoughts involving my time in edtc 300.

The resources within this video

Mixminder

Is Your Child Ready for 21st Century Learning?

Photos

Amanda Todd

Photo Credit: diabetes type 2 Flickr via Compfight cc

To start my dive into fake news I thought to check my Facebook to see if I was being fed fake news and if so what was it about? Though I did not find much, I found that there was a lot of creditable news centers, such as the Leader Post being shared around but the articles were five plus years old.

Within the article “How do we teach students to identify fake news?” it explains that students should be taught to find biases within media. I made a lesson plan for grade 8 health students to find Saskatchewan biases, particularly in the news. Students may not be able to see how a news article is manipulating them to lean one way or the other on a topic.

In grade 8 ELA, we practice pre-reading skills all of the time, before reading anything we went over all of the areas of the text, including table of context, photos and page numbers. This is something that could be used when finding news articles including looking for the authors, headings and photos.

The following two outcomes from the grade 8 English curriculum ask students to view and react properly to text (which can include news articles)

CR8.2

Select and use appropriate strategies to construct meaning before (e.g., previewing and anticipating message), during (e.g., making inferences based on text and prior knowledge), and after (e.g., paraphrasing and summarizing) viewing, listening, and reading.

CR8.4

View critically and demonstrate comprehension of a variety of visual and multimedia texts including videos, television broadcasts, informational presentations, dramatic presentations, websites, and news programs to locate and interpret key messages and details, to develop conclusions, opinions, and understanding, and to evaluate the effectiveness of the text.

At the beginning of the year I would have my students complete a quiz similar to “Quiz: can you spot the fake news headline? to see what my students look for in news articles. I would start by having the students take the quiz individually, then as a class going over every area and ending by taking a different quiz as individuals to see if they could use the techniques they developed.

When creating research assignments, especially for younger students, giving students the links to websites to use for research will help them to know what is credible before they start searching through other websites. Having the five C’s from John Spencer’s video hanging up in the classroom as a friendly reminder of what to look for when they are researching.

The biggest questions that students need to learn is “why”, in particular “why is this content being made”. As Claire Wardle explains in her article, there are 7 types of Mis and Disinformation, which help to show why the content is being made.It would be interesting to see if students would be able to put different articles onto the spectrum they provide.

With anything a student reads, it is important to have them read it with an open mind but understand that all news is made for a reason

Photo Credit: Christoph Scholz Flickr via Compfight cc

I guess that my last blog did not post properly so here it is.

This week I was asked to search Hyomin Moon. My technique for this was to use the steps that I have learned from the TV show Catfish on MTV. The steps begin by finding all of the information or profiles you have contact with, being her blog and twitter, then check other social media platforms to see if there is anyone similar. Take the information from the online profiles to google, such as searching the school they are affiliated with or doing a reverse image search on their photos.

I started my search by going onto her professional blog. I knew prior that she was in her third year of middle years’ education at the U of R. On her blog there she has a page explaining who she is and a little about her life growing up including the fact that she was born and raised in South Korea but has lived in Regina for more than five years.

I went to her twitter page next, since it was so nicely advertised on the side of her blog. As I was looking through her account, she is mostly following those within our EDTC 300 course as well as some teachers that are active on twitter.

After the blog and the Twitter account, finding another social media platform was difficult. I try a few different combinations of Instagram handles that could match her name, but I was not able to find any. The other network I tried was Facebook. There were two different profiles with the name Hyomin Moon, one is from Korea and the other was a faceless profile that attending school at the University of Regina.

I finished by doing a basic google search of her name followed by Regina and Saskatchewan. Due to the fact that he last name is moon, most of the result were about the moon phrases.

It is clear to see Hyomin’s digital identity is quite small but professional, there is nothing on the social platforms that her students or parents of students would not be able to see.

 Nicole Lee explains in her article “Having multiple online identities is more normal than you think”, many people have different profiles for different people in their life, for example Instagram is for their friends and Facebook is for family.

This got me thinking whether it is better to have a small or large online identity. As Jon Ronson explains in his TED talk, we surround ourselves with like-minded people, and we are able to feed off of those people. Having a smaller online identity can allow one to make more personal connections with each other, but those people may not help you grow as a person. But on the flip side is it better to be more known and open yourself to the world of cancel culture. I think it truly comes down to what you are comfortable putting online, but understand that things can also end up online without your permission.

I also decided to do a quick google search of myself. Coming into this I knew that there was another Sarah Wright that is of similar age to me living in Saskatchewan (no we are not related), so I knew that when googling my name, I would need to put Estevan after it. I also have the joy of sharing a name with the actress Sarah Wright Olsen so it is a little harder to find myself online. When googling Sarah Wright Estevan on google images the articles I am link to are involving my job at the local library, my old dance recital photos and the Women of Today Awards; the google search is quite similar.

 

 

 

This week I had the pleasure of working with Hyomin to discuss the use of technology in the classroom. Our topic was parent permission for the use of social media in the classroom, mainly Twitter. We decided to make a text conversation between a teacher (Ms.Anderson) who would like Twitter in her classroom and a parent (Sharon Smith- Amy’s mom) how does not understand or agree with social media at her child’s age. Coming from a house hold in which I did not get Facebook until I was 13 and Instagram until 17, I understand where both the teacher and mother are coming from. Let me know what you think.

Here is a sample newsletter that would be sent home with the students to describe Twitter in the classroom.

These would just be some of the resources that would be shared with the parents and students…

This week I learned about a Google Doc extension called EquatIO, which simply makes math equations digital.  The main area that I used it with was the ability to write or speak about an equation and EquatIO will translate it into an equation that is digital and editable, almost like google translate. It was made to make sure STEM subjects were not left behind as school becomes more digital.

This video gives an over view of what is offered within EquatIO for free.

 

The software itself is easy to use and simple to navigate. The only down fall that I can see right now is not knowing enough of what it is capable of. I looked at many of the reviews and so many teachers are loving the extensions, it saves them from having to give hand written worksheets and have everything saved in the same place.

The first way I thought of using this was on a smart board for the class to see. Say you had a graph on the board, students would be able to record themselves saying what they believe to be the equation and see if it matches.

There is a premium feature that builds upon the already existing extension. Within the premium package there is the ability to use the app on a smart phone as well that allows for many students to input the equations at one time.

Because this can be used by both teachers and students, and it leads itself to fall into multiple areas of the SAMR model. Within the graphing area, a student can manipulate the graph or the equation simultaneously making it a modification. For the worksheet area it is substitution because the questions are the same as they would be handwritten it is just easier.

This app can be used both by students and teachers, either at home or at school, this can be a cheaper option for graphing calculators. It is acceptable to almost anyone with a google account for free. Give it a try yourself, I think you will be pleased with what you are capable of doing on it.