Category: Weekly Reflections

Last week, we did this really fun activity called EdCamp. EdCamp is a way for people to collaborate and discuss ideas that interest them. Here’s how it works: Attendees write down topics or questions they want to explore and post them on a wall. Afterward, everyone votes on the topics they are most interested in. The topics with the most votes become discussion groups that participants can join. The topics shared are usually centered around a specific theme. For example, our class explored topics related to teaching and learning.

For EdCamp, my group discussed ideas around field trips. We debated whether it’s better to do a field trip before or after learning a particular unit. We agreed that going after some learning had taken place was the best approach. This way, students can apply what they have learned, in class, on the field trip or build upon it by exploring new ideas that might have been difficult to grasp without some prior knowledge. We also discussed how field trips could serve as a reward system or a motivational tool during a unit. Additionally, we explored virtual field trips and discovered some cool websites teachers could use if going in person isn’t an option. For example, the Royal BC Museum offers a virtual tour where you can “walk” through the museum on your computer screen. 

Here are some resources we found:

• Digital Field Trips Royal BC Museum

• Gallery 360’s – Royal BC Museum

• Take Your Kids on a Virtual Field Trip by AirCanada 

• Explore VR Field Trips 

I thought this was a really neat activity, and I could definitely see myself using it with my own class someday. You could also modify it so that the teacher chooses the topics they want their students to explore, and then students can pick whichever topic interests them most. Alternatively, the teacher could post several different topics for students to vote on, then break them into groups based on the most popular choices. Afterward, students could share what they’ve learned with the class, ensuring that everyone gets a chance to learn about each topic. I think EdCamp could also be a valuable tool for review, whether before a test or just to reinforce learning. For example, if a science test is coming up, students could write down topics they still need help with or need to review, and post them on the board. Then, students could vote for the topics they also feel need reviewing (not every student needs to post a topic). The most-voted topics would then become breakout groups where students focus on reviewing that particular topic. Additionally, I think this could be a fun activity for when reading a book in class. Students could post questions or discussion topics related to the book being read, vote, and break into groups to discuss different aspects of the book. I love that EdCamp is very student-led, and I think it would be a fantastic way to engage students in class. 

This reflection was edited with the help of ChatGTP.

Last week, our class discussed the benefits of using videos as a learning tool. Videos have been used throughout my schooling. I always found them useful in my learning because they tended to be more engaging to watch and listen to than always listening to the teacher. I remember watching lots of science and psychology videos. Often these videos were able to explain concepts succinctly while providing helpful visuals. While I was aware of some of the benefits of videos, there were some I hadn’t considered. For example, our class discussed how videos allow students to see the unseeable. If you’re teaching your class about plate tectonics, videos provide a great way for students to visualize how they work. Additionally, videos are extremely helpful for independent learning. If a student is stuck on a concept, they can watch a video, pause it, rewind it, and rewatch it as many times as needed. As a teacher, even if you don’t show the video in class, it can be helpful to share videos with students that they can watch at home for more explanation. We also discussed the benefits of teachers and students creating their own videos. For example, teachers can create videos of themselves demonstrating a process, perhaps they make a video of themselves walking through the steps of a task using screen sharing, allowing students to watch and follow along. Students can make videos as a way to demonstrate their learning, this allows for creativity and a different form of showing their understanding. This led to our video workshop with Rich McCue from the Digital Scholarship Commons. In this workshop, we used iMovie to create our own videos and experiment with its various features. I am fairly familiar with iMovie, but the workshop was definitely a good refresher since it had been a while since I used it. As well, the website Rich McCue shared with us is a great cheat sheet for how to use iMovie. There is also a section on how to use green-screen videos. I didn’t get that far in the workshop, but I am excited to explore it further. I can totally see my group using that function in our educational technology project. 

The video I created in our video workshop is a little compilation of some of my favourite clips from my backpacking trip in 2023. Because I took these videos with my phone upright, it won’t fully take up the screen. In the future, I’ll have to take videos horizontally on my phone to get a better-quality video. Check it out!

This week our class explored multimedia learning and graphic creation tools. During this class, we discussed the multimedia learning hypothesis, which is that people can gain a deeper understanding from words and pictures than just words alone. At first, I thought this was quite obvious, but it was interesting to see that there is more to it than simply putting up a picture beside some text. This was demonstrated in class when we viewed only text about how a bicycle pump works versus the text with a photo. While the photo helped a bit more than just the text, what really created a better understanding of how the bike pump worked was having a diagram of the bike pump throughout the different stages where students could see the inside of the bike pump, the unseeable part. Better yet, the text was broken up to go with the diagram. While the multimedia learning hypothesis probably seems quite obvious to most people, it is good to know about so teachers can keep it in mind when teaching and creating visuals for their students. Also understanding that the hypothesis is based on the idea that humans have two channels for processing information: one for visual and one for auditory information. If teachers can strive to explain information through both these channels their students will likely gain a better understanding of the material. In light of this multimedia learning hypothesis, the class explored some different tools we can utilize when teaching to benefit our students. We spent a lot of time looking at PowerPoint and I was surprised to learn about all the things you can do with that platform. It was interesting to see how engaging you can make your slides on PowerPoint. I’m so used to just picking a theme for my PowerPoint and inserting pictures here and there, but now I know that I can add more engaging visuals like videos and 3D images. Michael also showed us how we make slides more interactive by simply putting a white box over some text so you can then reveal the answer. I think this is a great way to get students engaged in some discussion during the lesson before revealing the answer, and you could even let students come up to reveal the answers. I played around with PowerPoint in class and created a collage of a bunch of things that I like. I tried out the tool where you can get rid of an image’s background and it was so easy! I remember being in digital photography in grade 10 and using editing programs and it was never that easy. This made me think about doing digital collages with my students someday. It could be a collage they create about themselves as part of an “about me” project. I also think it could be cool to do an assignment where the students make a collage based on a book they read. Michael also showed us how we can use PowerPoint to make worksheets for our students. I have used Canva in the past for making worksheets and I love all the graphics they have, however, there is only so much you can do with the free version of Canva. Using PowerPoint provides an alternative, free tool for making worksheets. 

After class, I played around some more with Canva and created myself a teacher logo!

Today Jesse Miller came to our class to discuss social media and mobile technology. It was a super helpful lecture and I learned a lot about the important role teachers have in the media world. One of the topics that really stood out to me was the use of AI. Jesse talked about the use of AI as a support tool and/or companion for teachers and students. He discussed how teachers can use it for lesson planing and how students may use it as a way to aid their learning. I decided to go and experiment with ChatGTP. I asked if it could make me a lesson plan on early operations of multiplication for Grade 3 Students in Canada, British Columbia. ChatGTP provided me with a well-laid-out, easy-to-follow lesson plan that included how the lesson should flow, how much time to spend on certain activities, and made connections to the curriculum. I think this is a great tool to use as a starting point and then go in and make adjustments based on your students needs and other things you would like to include. Or as a way to brainstorm and get some ideas while preparing your own lesson plan.

After Jesse’s presentation, I talked with some of my teacher friends. I asked them if and how they use AI as a tool in their teaching career. They told me they often use AI to create rubrics for assignments and assessments, as well as to help them write report card comments. They put in the information they want as part of the assignment, assessment, or comment, and AI generates a rubric for them or a comment they can add to their student’s report cards. This saves them a lot of time that they can then spend on creating lessons for their students and avoiding burnout. Another way they use AI is to turn their teaching notes into a PowerPoint. They just upload their notes and AI creates a nice PowerPoint with all of the main points they would like to talk about.

From what I have explored, I think that AI can be a really powerful and helpful tool for teachers. I know some people view AI as cheating or being lazy, but I think using AI to your advantage is smart and efficient if it’s being used responsibly. One of my biggest worries going into the teaching profession is teacher burnout. Teaching is not an easy job and it involves a lot of planning, marking, assessing, and more. I feel very fortunate to have AI as a tool I can use to help me in teaching and hopefully save myself some time here and there to help prevent burnout. Students are likely not going learn best from a burnout teacher, so not only could AI help me, but it could also help my students as they would have a teacher who feels good and engaged!

Here are some sites I found that give you access to some AI tools:

• Brisk’s AI tools for Teachers
• AiPPT
• MagicSlides