Tag: creativity

Module 2 Issues in Digital Citizenship

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The digital divide is new terminology to me. I understand the digital divide to be the limitations of bandwidth in rural, remote and lower socioeconomic places to connect, collaborate and create due to internet connectivity issues. I can empathize with this, as I live in a rural – remote location with a limited internet connection. The investment required to obtain internet is significant and cost-prohibitive for sure. I have recently been upgraded from 100 MB per month to unlimited. The highest download speed I have obtained with this service is 10 MB/s. I am able to create videos and communicate asynchronously to complete my studies, but synchronous learning via Zoom or Google Meet is happened by the download and upload speeds. During synchronous meetings, I generally have to keep my camera off and not share my screen.

A new Satellite option called Star Link high-speed option is now available, however, the setup cost is $800 CAD and then a monthly payment of $130. Lower-income families would not be able to afford the investment required to obtain download speeds greater than 50 MB/s.

The school board I work with has been working tirelessly to connect our students and educators. The school board has supported 1 to 1 device for students to ensure everyone is able to connect. The IT team and I support families, educators and students to ensure learners are engaged in DLE. I am proud of the school board I work with and the forward-thinking administration that is student-centred and strives to narrow the digital divide.

To support parents and students during learning at home the EdTech Team planned a Student Summit. It was a week-long event where students were engaged in digital literacy learning. Teachers learned alongside students through workshops and students created and communicated with “experts” with programs such as Google Draw, Google Earth and Google Slides. At the end of the week student work was showcased and celebrated. Additionally, parent communication and workshops are ongoing to ensure that parents have the support and knowledge to support their students throughout the pandemic.

I am excited to embark on the Digital Citizenship web guide assignment for the course. Digital Citizenship has not been a priority for the school board, for a number of reasons. The focus has been on engagement and promoting educator’s and students’ digital literacy skills. However, I believe that I am taking this course at the perfect time to support the system and educators consider and develop digital citizenship skills.

The first step that the board has taken is to create an awareness of Digital Citizenship. This past week the IT department has pushed out the Responsible Digital Citizenship Through the Lens of the Ontario Catholic School Graduate Expectations presentation. Each Monday a new slide will be the wallpaper on classroom interactive monitors and whiteboards. This will serve as the first step to create awareness for students and educators about digital citizenship skills. There is a plan to have students engage with the idea of digital citizenship for Catholic Edcuation Week. There will be a student poster contest whereby students will develop their own posters to share their learning and reflections on digital citizenship. Students’ work will then be posted on the desktop wallpaper of the interactive whiteboards in the classrooms.

Initially, my thinking around curation was that I don’t do it and it is not a focus for the school board, however, after reading through the articles I see bits of curation happening. Each portfolio lead within the board has curated digital resources to be shared with educators on an internet-type resource page. They took the time to vet resources based on pedagogical application (not privacy and cybersecurity, that is my project now) for classroom educators to implement into their programs. Another curation project that occurs at the board level is shared drives in Google Drive. Again each lead and superintendent uploads and shares resources, forms and documents through the shared drive. Again a repository that is searchable and has been sorted in a way that makes it accessible and can be added to. Finally, a student-centred curation project is students’ digital portfolio. Each student has been uploaded to D2L Brightspace Portfolio through the Student Information System and can access their digital portfolio. Each student’s portfolio is connected to their Ontario Education Number (OEN). It will follow them from Kindergarten to Grade 12. I was pleased to realize that I do support and actively participate in curation.

Educational Resources for Educators and Students

References

Jenkins, H., Clinton, K., Purushotma, R., Robison, A. J., & Weigel, M. (2006). Confronting the challenges of participatory culture: Media education for the 21 st century [White paper]. MacArthur Foundation Publication. https://www.macfound.org/media/ article_pdfs/JENKINS_WHITE_PAPER.PDF

Schradie, J. (2013, April 26). 7 myths of the digital divide [Blog post]. http://thesocietypages.org/cyborgology/ 2013/04/26/7-myths-of-the-digital-divide/

 

Module 2: Digital Futures, Digital Scholarship

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Digital Futures
Digital futures encompasses how technology is shaping the future of education. Technology has a large role to play in student learning and teacher practice in both physical and virtual classrooms. Digital resources, educational games, cloud-based computing, online textbooks are key components of digital futures. Reading, writing and arithmetic as the primary means of education has developed to reading comprehension, information literacy skills and develop critical thinking skills to challenge crowdsourcing.

Technological advancements has lead to the evolution of mobile learning. Mobile handheld devices that are connected to the internet through a wireless connection to Web 2.0. Devices now have GPS tracking, the ability to immediately share informaiton on Web 2.0 through social media and create videos and annotate photos. These affordances have changed how actors within the education field learn and teach (Wright & Pachoma, 2011).

To prepare students for the future, students need learning opportunities that foster collaboration, active learning through participation, developing their online identity through networking, social media and digital citizenship. According to Siemens (2005), chaos is a new reality it is then necessary for actors to recognize patterns, make meaning and connections between data sets and networks.

New learning structures where students design their own learning path through self-organized learning environments. The teacher becomes a facilitator, prompting students and supporting students’ inquiry. Wegner (2011) has termed this learning environment peerology. Students practicing petrology create their own knowledge, complete missions rather than assessments, ask each other questions and are self-motivated.

Web 2.0 has amplified how students learn, access resources, tools and participate through the learning medium. The internet offers educators and students the ability to learn in ways that in past were not possible. The expanded learning community removes geographic barriers, to allow interaction and collaboration beyond the physical classroom or school walls. The internet holds and retains information for learners, actors are not required to memorize content, we just Google it. This frees up brain space or higher-order thinking, creativity and innovation.

Teacher practice influences the learning culture within the classroom. It is essential for teachers to co-learn with students. They are no longer the knowledge holder, keeper and disseminator. According to John Seeley Brown, teachers must foster curiosity to motivate students to pull information for Web 2.0, rather than stuff students with knowledge.

The ability for educators to participate in creating content and share it online is through a posture of openness. Sharing within a community of practice or through creative commons licencing, educators have the power to be innovative creators. Through communities of practice, educators solve problems and share resources through social media, blogs, wikis within their network. Power is disseminated to educators who have a different perspective than those who work for large proprietary businesses.

For educators to move from traditional practices to the digital future, educators need to consciously and intentionally decide to commit to sharing in a connected and open environment. Establishing an online identity to connect to professional learning networks and develop a community of practice through digital tools. Educators can then confidently model to students how to create their own online identity (Corneli, Danoff, Pierce, Ricurate & MacDonald, 2016).

Digital Scholarship
Educators and students can deepen and share learning blogging online. Blog links can be commented on and shared through social media platforms. Learners can challenge each other’s thinking through commenting and questioning other’s posts. The learning and collaboration are expanded through a wider community having access to learning and sharing. Digital networks are open and democratize learning and study. Rather than sharing knowledge through the formal traditional publishing process, scholars can immediately “publish their thinking”.

Digital scholarship can be viewed through Boyer’s four core components – discovery, integration, application and teaching. Through these ideas, scholars can enhance their learning and knowledge creation using digital platforms. Digital scholars are active participants and shift to a model of open practice. New policy developments have lead institutions to open up learning environments through open education resources and massive open online courses. Digital scholars develop a network identity that supports sharing and collaboration. Finally, teaching through online blended platforms that support digital and face to face learning (Weller, 2018).

References

Corneli, J., Danoff, C. J., Pierce, C., Ricuarte, P., & Snow MacDonald, L., Eds. (2016). The Peeragogy Handbook (3rd ed.). Chicago, IL./Somerville, MA.: PubDomEd/Pierce Press. Retrieved from http://peeragogy.org

Siemens, G. (2005). Connectivism: A learning theory for the digital age. International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning, 2(10), 3-10. Retrieved from http://www.itdl.org/Journal/Jan_05/article01.htm

Weller, M. (2011). The digital scholar: How technology is transforming scholarly practice. A&C Black. Available under Creative Commons through Bloomsbury Open Access, as well as print and Kindle https://www.bloomsburycollections.com/book/the-digital-scholar-how-technology-is-transforming-scholarly-practice/ch1-digital-networked-and-open

Weller, M. (2018). The Digital Scholar Revisited. The Digital Scholar: Philosopher’s Lab, 1(2), 52-71. Retrieved from https://www.pdcnet.org/dspl/content/dspl_2018_0001_0002_0052_0071

Wenger, E. (2011). Communities of practice: A brief introduction. Retrieved from https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/xmlui/handle/1794/11736

Wright, S., Parchoma, G. (2011). Technologies for learning? An actor-network theory critique of ‘affordances’ in research on mobile learning. Research In Learning Technology, 19(3), 247-258. doi:10.1080/21567069.2011.624168

 

Module 3 The characteristics of effective digital game media

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Video games are so much more complex than I gave them credit for. I understood graphics and good gameplay were important features but didn’t notice how video games are an art form. Within video game design, rich meaning and parrels to literature and events occur. The player of the video game sees what they want to see from their prior knowledge and experiences – similar to an art piece. The game’s meaning and the player’s decisions are directed by the player’s view and connections to the game. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7S1SVkysIRw

Implementing gamification in the classroom can support students’ achievement and motivation. Changing the way grading is done, can provide students with an attitude of continuous improvement. Rather than starting with an A+ and losing points, if teachers started all students at 0 and gave them points for what they did achieve, it changes students’ work ethic. Providing students with agency in the class teaches students that they have control over their own learning journey. In games, there is a choice and result cycle, implement this cycle into the classroom provides students with immediate feedback and a safe environment to make mistakes and try again. To foster student engagement, teachers can implement games or challenges that will reward students with bonus opportunities for higher achievement. The extra credit challenges will provide students with the opportunity to complete self-directed learning outside of the school day. Challenges or problems will promote curiosity and contextual information to expand exposure to experiences and topic areas. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuDLw1zIc94&list=PLhyKYa0YJ_5BIUqSDPmfBuKjTN2QBv9wI

Teachers can take game-based learning to the next level by challenging students to be digital game creators. Creating a game is a much more robust activity, than playing a game. Students will need to determine what the goals of their game are while they consider the player’s experience through the game mechanics. The students will need to illustrate the game environment and develop characters. These skills are rooted in literacy and utilize digital tools. Students will have the opportunity through game development to learn coding languages, persistently debug their game Additionally, students will be refining 21st-century learning skills- creativity, collaboration, communication and problem-solving skills. Using games to explore social justice issues is a deep and inviting way for students to learn.

I have learned through this module that games are a rich, robust medium to engage and motivate students in their education. Student learn by doing and participating. Any teacher can implement games into their classroom – board games to coding. I love the question posed in Mindshift guide to digital games “what if engagement was an absolute critical condition for learning?”

References

‘Extra Credits: Gamifying Education’ (YouTube | 6:27 mins) | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuDLw1zIc94&list=PLhyKYa0YJ_5BIUqSDPmfBuKjTN2QBv9wI

‘Game Theory: Is Link Dead in Majora’s Mask?’ (YouTube | 12:41 mins) | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7S1SVkysIRw

Shapiro, J., SalenTekinbaş, K., Schwartz, K., & Darvasi, P. (2014). MindShift guide to digital games+ learning. Games and Learning Publishing Council. Retrieved from https://a.s.kqed.net/pdf/news/MindShift-GuidetoDigitalGamesandLearning.pdf

Module 1 Principles and Theories of Game-Based Learning

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Game-based learning is not a new idea for me, I have witnessed the benefits of students learning through games such as Reflex Math, Kahoot and Prodigy. However, the idea of students learning through video games is a new concept. Prior to engaging with the readings through this first module, I hadn’t considered that video games could be a medium for students to learn through. My perception is that video games are an entertainment piece that can become addictive and a waste of time.

I am not a gamer, most of my gaming experience occurred during the first fifteen years of my life. I was given the original Nintendo and enjoyed playing Mario Brothers, Duck Hunt and Tetris. I played these games with my family and friends. During high school, I either lost interests or didn’t have time to play due to school, work and sports occupying most of my time. I remember the sound effects of the games bringing great joy to my heart as I different sounds signalled a “win” or being awarded a number of points. The sounds let the players know that victory or failure is been achieved.

I see the value in students playing a game such as Minecraft to support collaboration, problem-solving, critical thinking, organization, creativity and spatial sense. Students seem to be engaged in playing the game. My children don’t play video games, but they do enjoy playing educational games. My children have not had the opportunity to play video games, so they may enjoy them if provided with the experience.

I can also see the connection to how a video game based on the written text can extend a story. Video games include character development, setting creation, plot and diverse conflict or tension. I see how students are intrinsically motivated to play video games, may students talk about the video games they play at home often during the school day. How can we as educators create that spark for our students to engage in their education? Are video games the answer to motivate and reach today’s students?