Tag: Social Media

Module 4 Supporting the Digital Learner

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I work for a K – Grade 8 school board, therefore I see educational networking for educators using social media. I do know that many of the students use social media to communicate, especially now during the global pandemic when we are restricted to only “socializing within our own households”. Educators DLE can benefit from the use of social media as social media has no geographical boundaries. Educators can learn from educators in other provinces, countries or continents using social media platforms.
The Ministry of Education in Ontario is moving towards providing educators with more digital resources. The new Mathematics curriculum that came out in 2020 is all digital and interactive with hyperlinks and resources. However, this is Ontario’s perspective on mathematics instruction. It is interesting to view how other countries promote mathematics instruction. I know during my learning in teachers’ college, I learned how China promotes mathematics in their classrooms. I also learned the “Dutch Algorithm” for division. Networking with educators outside of one’s school can promote a diversified and informed approach to education for our students.

I do find that there is more work to do in my local educational environment to promote the use of social media as a learning tool. Educators have not been sold yet on the value of using social media to network and support new ideas in their practice. This will be discussed in the web guide that I develop, as I see it as a gap in the system I work in. Educators don’t have a professional digital footprint, they use social media for personal purposes but not professional. I think once educators understand what it means to be a responsible digital citizen, they will expand their use of social media into their professional practice.

I was excited to review the technology policies and procedures for the school board I work for. The policies and procedures were recently updated in February 2021 to reflect the new learning and teaching environment since remote learning started in April 2020. There are two areas of digital citizenship I noticed that were not reflected in the policies and procedures, promoting the positive aspects of digital citizenship – creating a positive digital footprint and collaborating through professional learning networks. The current governance documents seem to be a list of thou shalt not…..rather than foster the idea of being positive contributors to the digital learning environment. I look forward to promoting these ideas through the digital and interactive web guide I create for assessment 1.

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

 

Assessment 4 Part C Critical Reflection

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Current and emerging trends in digital literature are supporting students learning and engagement through social media platforms with features that support the needs of all learners and integrates curriculum using technology. Literature in digital environments has increased access to books and the ability to collaborate and interact with authors. Social media platforms facilitate users sharing and creation of text. Interactive features beyond the pages of a traditional book have enriched the reader’s experience through engaging graphics, music, narration, gamification and accessibility functions to support the needs of all learners (Combes, 2016). The growth and expansion of digital text have transformed the way educators engage with the curriculum and implement effective pedagogy into the classroom. These trends support digital natives learning in the classroom and beyond the school through interactions on Web 2.0. As technology continues to evolve, reading and creating open-source literature will support student’s storytelling experiences.

Social media platforms facilitate how students are able to share and organize a story. Platforms such as Twitter, YouTube and Snapchat can be used to communicate to a real-world authentic audience. Social media enables online discussion between students and educators from all over the world (Clowes, 2019).  Students have the power to share their perspectives and to collaborate, building on others’ ideas. Students are able to communicate with authors through author websites to share ideas for future books, write comments and recommend alternative endings (Clowes, 2019). Social media platforms enable students to connect with authors and comment on stories. However, teachers must educate students on how to interact online with Web 2.0 and practice responsible digital citizenship. Educators need to be diligent to teach students how to responsibly engage using social media (Clowes, 2019). Students must learn through explicit instruction and practice how to engage online using social media platforms.

Digital literature increases access to text that supports all learners. Digital literature includes additional features that amplify content (James & De Kock, 2013). Students have options such as narration, hyperlinks, music, bookmark, highlight, annotation, word tagging, changing font and backlighting. These options allow readers to tailor their reading experience to meet their individual needs (Clowes, 2019). All these interactive features allow the reader to adopt the text to suit their individual needs. According to Prensky (2001) students today are called digital natives and have grown up with technology in their hands, as a result, their learning style and needs align with the use of technology. There are many reading applications that engage students through graphics, animation and variable multimedia (Clowes, 2019). Students in classrooms today learn differently, technology meets their learning needs and motivates them (Prensky, 2001). Beyond technology, digital literacy creates equity through universal design, each student gets what they need to learn (Ministry of Education, 2013). Students can demonstrate their learning beyond pencil and paper using digital literacy creation tools. Students are able to deeply construct meaning from a text, by tailoring their digital literacy reading experience according to their needs. The functionality, accessibility options and multimedia features support the learning needs of all students.

Digital literature can be introduced into the classroom through online reading apps and programs such as Sora, Raz Kids and Bookflix to support instruction across the curriculum. There are a variety of e-books, interactive and enhanced books to support student learning for all content areas. Additionally, students can create digital stories to demonstrate their learning. Programs such as WeVideo, Stop Motion Animation, DoInk and Book Creator are tools that have been used to support the creation of digital literacy in the classroom (Clowes, 2019). Students are engaged in their learning while using and creating digital literature. The Ontario curriculum has not evolved to include the use of digital tools as a recommended method for students to demonstrate learning. Students are engaged and excited about using technology (Clowes, 2019). Students can demonstrate their learning for drama, oral language and social studies curriculum through the creation of a stop motion animation video. Many curriculum connections can be integrated to effectively and efficiently cover curriculum content. Educators are encouraged to teach the curriculum, through the use of digital literacy and technology.

This critical reflection is evidence of the value of social media, integrating digital literacy in the classroom to support all learners and a method to deliver the curriculum using engaging resources. Student collaboration through online social media platforms allows students to learn from others across the globe expanding their perspectives. Prensky’s (2001) research informs educators to utilize technology to support students. Digital literacy is a method for educators to deliver curriculum and engage learners.

References

Clowes, S. (2019, July 26). Assessment task 1 – blog task [Online blog post]. Retrieved from Charles Sturt University Thinkspace website: https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/sclowe01/2019/07/26/assessment-task-1-blog-task/

Clowes, S. (2019, August 16). Module 1 trends and developments [Online blog post]. Retrieved from Charles Sturt University Thinkspace website: https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/sclowe01/2019/08/16/module-1-trends-and-developments/ 

Clowes, S. (2019, August 16). Module 2 learning and teaching [Online blog post]. Retrieved from Charles Sturt University Thinkspace website: https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/sclowe01/2019/08/16/module-2-learning-and-teaching/

Clowes, S. (2019, September 7). Module 3 interactive text and interfaces [Online blog post]. Retrieved from Charles Sturt University Thinkspace website: https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/sclowe01/2019/09/07/module-3-interactive-text-and-interfaces/

Clowes, S. (2019, September 15). Module 4 digital storytelling [Online blog post]. Retrieved from Charles Sturt University Thinkspace website: https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/sclowe01/2019/09/15/module-4-digital-storytelling/

Clowes, S. (2019, September 25). Module 5 interactive authoring tools [Online blog post]. Retrieved from Charles Sturt University Thinkspace website: https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/sclowe01/wp-admin/post.php?post=580&action=edit

James, R. & De Kock, L. (2013). The digital David and the Gutenberg Goliath: the rise of the ‘enhanced’ e-book. English Academy Review, 30(1), pp. 107-123. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10131752.2013.783394

Ontario Ministry of Education. (2013). Learning for All: A Guide for Effective Assessment and Instruction for all students from Kindergarten to Grade 12. Queens’ Printer for Ontario. Retrieved from http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/general/elemsec/speced/learningforall2013.pdf

Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants. On the Horizon. 9(5), Retrieved from http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky%20-%20Digital%20Natives,%20Digital%20Immigrants%20-%20Part1.pdf

Module 5 Interactive Authoring Tools

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Storytelling can be achieved using a multitude of platforms. Social media, video editing and creation software, writing a letter or orally sharing an experience. These are all methods of authoring or sharing a story. Stories primarily share an experience or tell a perspective of an event to convey knowledge of the author. Stories and narratives function as a communication tool when digitizing stories, they can live on and be shared quickly and easily with others.

When stories are shared on Web 2.0, the audience has the ability to comment, add or question the authors content. This feedback cycle can continue the conversation and communication between author and reader. The interaction between the two deeps and engages both participants.

One of my favourite methods to engage students in creating a story is through stop motion animation. Students deepen their understanding and comprehension of the characters, setting and the sequence of events when they participate in recreating the story using stop motion. I have had students reenact the three little pigs and different Ojibway Legends. Students start by creating the character using plasticine and the background setting either by choosing backgrounds and using a green screen or a diorama styled backdrop. Students really need to consider the physical features of character and setting. Learners critically think about the sequence of events. When the story is complete, students have an artifact that can be shared on Youtube or the class website with parents. Students as storytellers have a strong sense of accomplishment and love to share their work with others.

The curriculum has not yet evolved to include digital tools as a method for demonstrating learning, however, we know that students as digital natives are engaged and excited about using technology. As educators, we need to ensure that students have the opportunity to use digital tools, but we must be mindful of the learning students will require to use them effectively. The concepts of digital citizenship and digital footprint need to underpin the use of all digital tools. Classroom teachers must also model and demonstrate by performing a think-aloud to explain to students how to use digital tools.