Month: October 2023

What education technology issue, topic, or theme are you most interested in?

I am most interested in Gamification in the classroom. On October 20th, 2023, I presented at the Innovate Ed, Education Technology Conference at Vernon Secondary School.

https://www.innovate-ed.ca/

Event Description:

“The 2023 event will mark the 4th year of hosting Innovate-ED, BC’s premier educational technology conference. We are proud to say that we have welcomed over 1500 participants from across the province and hope build on that success returning to where it all began in Vernon for Innovate-ED23. Our conference tagline remains “Students @ the Centre,” where we will continue our original vision of keeping everything we do focused around innovation and the learning environment’s core participants, our students.” (n.d.). Innovate-ed. Innovate Ed. Retrieved October 1, 2023, from https://www.innovate-ed.ca/

I began my presentation with asking all participants if it was okay that I film the session, and if they had any ethical concerns to please let me know prior, or privately once the session was complete. I then began with a land acknowledgement. We live on the ancestral, unceded territory of the Syilx Nation, an area of land that is plentiful and provides me with joy and appreciation every day. I then showed our agenda for the session. Next, I gave my fellow educators an opportunity to share the grade levels they teach, their subject areas, and / or, any questions they have about Minecraft. Here are some responses:

• How hard is it to get Minecraft Education on old IPads?
• Can the students use Minecraft to show the learning in different subject areas?
• How can we unlock students’ creativity and trick them into learning – using this tool?
• How can I effectively use it in the classroom?
• What is its purpose?
• How do I use it in the classroom?

I was pleased with these questions, as I felt my presentation was setup in a way that would answer these queries.

Next, I embedded the S.A.M.R. Model into my Presentation to enhance understanding around technology use in the classroom. I also believe the definition of “Redefinition” stage of Technology use, contributes to the validity of Minecraft. As I stated in my presentation, I believe Minecraft resides in the “redefinition” category of the model, as I’ve seen students apply their content knowledge to create incredibly creative worlds. One example of this was in my Social Studies Grade 8 class, recently. Students learned about the social hierarchy of the “Feudalism System” during the Middle Ages. They applied their content knowledge to build the physical representation of the manorialism, including castles, manors, churches, homes for the peasants and serfs, as well as the outlying forests, and livestock spaces. Students created entire villages, in this example, students are using “technology to create novel tasks.”

Next, I integrated some important perspectives from a research paper, titled, “Investigating the role of Minecraft in educational learning environments” by Noelene Callaghan. The main point I hoped to convey was the increase in engagement and interaction of gamification in the classroom. She stated, “Interaction is considered one of the most important aspects related to optimal experience with computer games” (Callaghan, 2016, p. 246)

I went on to demonstrate how to use Minecraft Education and how to access the “Subject Kits” in the program. Educators asked questions and we navigated how to use the technology.

Reflecting, here are some things I would have done differently:

• Many teachers mentioned that they wanted to know HOW to “play” Minecraft themselves. I do not possess these skills – it was not the focus of my presentation. I wanted to teach them how to get their students using it; however, it would be helpful in the future.
• I would have taken them through a lesson from the start, and had them “play / build” for a small amount of time.

Overall, I am happy with how the presentation went. I had 23 participants, of all different grade levels and subject areas. Some teachers came from Vancouver for the conference and I appreciated the diversity of classroom teachers we had. Of 23 participants, only 7 completed my exit survey, but here are the results:

Gamification is something I’m interested in learning more about. I wonder about:

• Being able to quantify what I view as the most important part of gamification in the classroom: engagement. How would I measure engagement, if I were to use this as an area of research?
• How can I collaborate with other teachers / would they be willing to partake in an explorative approach to Minecraft Education in the classroom and measuring the subsequent success of it?

Home

Westcoast Women in Engineering, Science and Technology

Inclusion, Collaboration & Innovation

I’ve been fortunate to be working with WWEST for four years now. I was forwarded an email from my Principal in 2020 about this opportunity and it has been an excellent opportunity for growth for myself and my students.

The WWEST come into my classroom and help my students create STEM Projects. We’ve done: Circuit Boards, MakeyMakey, structural builds, parachute creations, Minecraft EDU, Tinkercad, 3-D Printing, and more.

The biggest takeaway I have from this collaboration is that students get excited about novelty and building things with their hands. They don’t need as much direction as I always want to give; sometimes students can just explore something.

From my students, I saw engagement and excitement at this opportunity to create and learn new technologies.

How are you organizing yourself to engage with research about educational technology?

As an educator, I believe in preparing my students for their future jobs and careers; including integrating digital literacy and skills around various technologies. My students create Digital Portfolio’s, allowing them to represent their authentic work through the term, reflect on it, and share it with parents and guardians. They work on the following platforms and applications:

• Google Drive: Google Documents, Google Drawing, and Google Slides.
• Google Drawing: imbedding links, pictures and videos
• Digital Editing Apps: Capcut and IMovie
• Tik Tok
• Minecraft EDU
• Roblox
• Tinkercad
• Gmail: how to properly format formal and informal emails, including imbedding hyperlinks

Communication:

My hope is that these skills will transfer over to create students who can effectively communicate with the public. If they have questions, they can advocate for themselves if they have the appropriate tools to reach out. I am always surprised at how few students know how to write a properly formatted email, embed a link, upload and download, and transfer files.

Troubleshooting:

Another skill that I’m hoping to address in my students it that of resiliency with regards to troubleshooting. I have noticed students are often quick to give up when they reach an obstacle when utilizing technology. For example, we use our iPhones to create videos. They do not easily transfer data to our school chromebooks; Ipads would be easier. However, the task is not impossible. It usually just requires a few extra steps to get a video from their phones, onto the school computers. I suggest students download Google Drive on their phones, and transfer the videos or content to their computers through Google Drive. I am again surprised by how often students face obstacles and want to give up on the task, without trying various ways to reach their goal. It’s my job to facilitate learning and give them options, so those I provide, but I would like to see them apply more critical thinking and make suggestions for their paths. In reality, I believe they just haven’t had enough exposure to these tasks. I’m curious about this. I hear other teachers discuss E Portfolio’s and they just don’t have the experience themselves to teach the steps; are we providing our teachers with enough support to implement digital literacy?

Teaching Careers Life Education gives me an opportunity to bring friends into my classroom to discuss their careers, as well as discuss how technology is utilized in various sectors. On October 11th, 2023, I asked my friend Brad Crawford, Captain of the Vernon Fire Department, to talk to my students about Career Firefighting.

I vividly remember using paper maps when navigating my journey to University from Vernon, and I was happy to hear that our firefighters have also upgraded their technology with regards to navigation. Brad referenced many ways in which technology has woven its way into his career. He too, remembers this time of using paper maps to navigate his way.

After this guest speaker, students were asked to upload media from the presentation, and reflect on their learning experience. These students are in Grade 10, and I am always surprised at how many lack the ability to understand how to execute basic technology skills such as: uploading and downloading media, navigating trouble shooting, typing proficiency, screenshots, screen recordings, crop, edit, and post to their E Portfolio’s. I’m also proud to be helping them navigate these skills and help them grow their repertoire of digital skills.

On Tuesday, October 17th, my good friend Michelle Little came into my Careers classroom to share her experience as owner of Remax Vernon. I inquired as to how she utilizes technology in her job. One of the main ways she utilizes technology is to manage and organize her daily tasks. As managing broker, she has a wide range of responsibilities. Technology facilitates ease of managing these responsibilities on a daily basis.

Another way she utilizes technology is through digital marketing. That includes weekly updates for her staff, video creations, photos of homes, 360 walk throughs, and social media content creation. Michelle has created a vast collection of Tik Tok’s, which has created a stir in the real estate world. One of her videos went viral and she has maintained a strong social media presence to enhance the reach of her business.

On Wednesday, November 8, one of my Careers 10 students brought her Dad in for her “Mentor Interview”. Her Dad is a volunteer firefighter, and a full-time employee of Jealous Fruits and specializes in I.T.

My questions for Cory were:

“How do you use technology in your career?”

“Do you think digital literacy is important for our youth? How can they be better prepared for their workforce with regards to technology?”

Cory’s responses were interesting and we delved into the areas of importance for student learning of technology. One of the most interesting takeaways he left me with: students need to be able to hold conversations, in person, face-to-face. I enjoyed hearing this from someone who specializes in technology. Although we NEED technology proficiency, we also need youth who can hold conversations, maintain eye-contact, and ask questions when they need help. Empowering students to ask questions and have self-advocacy in a career will help our youth stay safe in their jobs and help them grow and learn.

What education technology issue, topic, or theme are you most interested in?

What does the literature say about the issue, topic, or theme identified?

“The Science Behind Change” – Katie Novak (Jeff Utecht, 2023).

One of my favourite education podcasts of all time is called, “Preparing Students For Their Future Not Our Past” by Jeff Utecht.  Listening to it two years ago, I found myself looking at the education system with a more critical lens.  I found myself wondering if collectively teachers were preparing students well enough for the rapidly changing social environment; specifically, with regards to technology integration in the classroom and preparing students for the workforce.  Jeff calls it the “fourth industrial revolution” in this Podcast, referring to the time we live in as the “knowledge-economy” (Jeff Utecht, 2020).  Essentially, he suggests that the way we used to learn is out-dated, suggesting that the education system was founded on a “just in case” model of learning, where we were taught everything… “just in case” we needed to know it (Jeff Utecht, 2020).  Now, information is everywhere and more easily accessible.  So we should, realistically, be changing the education system.  I’m curious about this concept of education reform and thus stems my interest in pursuing this topic more deeply.

Building on this curiosity, I recently listened to another Podcast in his series, called, “302: Honoring the complexities of what it means to be an educator with Dr. Novak and Dr. Rodriguez” (Jeff Utecht, 2023). In this Podcast, he interviews Dr. Katie Novak and Dr. Kristen Rodriguez about their new book, In Support of Students: A Leader’s Guide to Equitable MTSS. I had yet to hear of this term, MTSS. A Google search defined MTSS as, “A multi-tiered system of supports (MTSS) is a proactive and preventative framework that integrates data and instruction to maximize student achievement and support students social, emotional, and behavior needs from a strengths-based perspective” (MTSS Definition – Google Search, n.d.)

Many aspects of the Podcast resonated with me, which I will discuss, but what I want to talk about is more holistic. The entire approach the two Podcast guests were discussing made me recognize parallels in their research approach to what I am reading about in our textbook for 515, “Educational Research – Quantitative, Qualitative and Mixed Approaches” by R Burke Johnson and Larry Christensen.

In the textbook, they describe action research as being “focused on solving specific problems that local practitioners face in their schools and communities” (Johnson & Christensen, 2014, p. 116). Action research is a combination of research and action. It generates local knowledge, and it often results in changes in practices. Action research is used to try out new strategies and practices, and the researcher carefully measures and observes the outcomes and consequences of these actions” (Johnson & Christensen, 2014, p. 116).  As I’m listening to the podcast, and how the authors describe their work collectively with teachers, empathizing with them and working alongside them to enhance their teaching experience – it made me realize this might be what our textbook is describing.  They have helped create strategies, what they deem to be four simple guiding practices, that will create a more equitable experience for learners. These practices will also create ease and clarity for teachers.

In the Podcast, Kirsten Rodriguez describes this aspect of their research: “I think part of the work around systems change is identifying a few key levers that we can pull, a few recipes that we can make available to this particular district that is lacking, that with those few, we can make something really amazing that everyone will benefit from” (Jeff Utecht, 2023). She goes on to say, “Designing deeper learning experiences. We are providing high quality professional development. We are adopting high quality instructional resources.  We are using data authentically, and deliberately and meaningfully so that we can fast meet the students needs where they are and bring them to where they’re going. All of those actions are essentially the different ingredients, the things that we have to do, so that we can build a multi tiered system” (Jeff Utecht, 2023). This is describing actionable change, even changing the fundamental system itself, so that teachers and students can thrive. The message of their podcast sparked interest in me, that they are pursuing the very educative reform and adaptation that I had been searching for.

In our textbook, they describe critical action research as that which “emphasizes the empowerment of those with little power in their communities and society.” It further defines it as an “openly transparent form of ideology-driven research designed to emancipate and reduce oppression of disadvantaged groups in society” (Johnson & Christensen, 2014, p. 125) In comparison to the Podcast, Novak and Rodriguez say, “We cannot serve all students until we design learning that embraces the brilliance and loved experiences and identifies of our black and brown students, learners with disabilities, multi-lingual learners, students who are economically disadvantaged, LGBTQ students, students who experience trauma, and students who need more social, emotional and behavioural or academic support than we currently provide” (Novak & Rodriguez, 2023, p. 79).

Critical Action Research helps recognize marginalized individuals and groups of people, and makes actionable strategies and practices to create equity. I would then I would therefore classify Novak and Rodriguez’s work as both Participatory / Collaborative Action Research and Critical Action Research. 

Reference List:

Johnson, R.B., & Christensen, L. (2014). Educational Research: Quantitative, Qualitative and Mixed Approaches (5th ed., pg 125).

Novak, K., & Rodriguez, K. (2023). In Support of Students: A Leader’s Guide to Equitable MTSS (1st ed.). Jossey-Bass.

Utecht, J. [Shifting Schools Podcast]. (2023, September 23). Honoring the complexities of what it means to be an educator with Dr. Novak and Dr. Rodriguez[Podcast]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6KPqdvSgBo

Utecht, J. [Shifting Schools Podcast]. (2020, June 24). Preparing Students for Their Future Not Our Past [Podcast]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ithf3LmyAFs