Alicia's Portfolio

"Develop a passion for learning. If you do, you will never cease to grow." - Anthony J. D'Angelo

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Open Education

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wow!

Today’s class on open resources was so helpful. Maybe I have been living under a rock, but I

actually had no idea that there was anything other than copyright. Not only did this class open up a world of resources that would be easily accessible and guilt-free to use, but it also showed me that we have to knowingly label our work as creative commons in order to contribute.

 

When I was teaching in Indonesia, I used a lot of internet resources to get information, inspiration or sometimes just to add a picture to my work. I would say I pulled at least two things of the internet per day. Teachers are always trying to rework and improve their lessons and one way to do that is by building on or taking from other sources. It is simply natural that teachers should have a network to freely share their work.

There were so many resources mentioned in class today and I don’t think I could possibly remember them all, so instead, here is a link back to the course website. I hope to be

able to explore some of these sources later. I have already made a point of changing my search settings on google to find pictures and information that can be freely used!

 

 

I would also suggest visiting Rich McCue’s website as he has some really interesting links related to open resources. One of the links is to a documentary called RIP a Remix Manifesto. It was made by a Vancouver Islander and is about copyright. It makes some really interesting points and is definitely worth a watch.

 

 

Free Inquiry Pondering

 

selective focus photo of baby playing activity cubetoddler holding assorted-color Crayola lotassorted-color alphabet cube toy lot

I have contemplated a multitude of ideas for the free inquiry project, including learning American Sign Language, learning how to knit, creating a community garden amongst others. However, with the amount of coursework that has begun to pile up in the Elementary PDPP, I have decided that I would prefer to pursue an inquiry that will allow me to spend purposeful time with my 11-month-old son, Noah. With that in mind, I have begun to play around with ideas related to providing sensory activities for Noah that are engaging and fun while also helping to foster his development. I would like to search out individual sensory activities or experiences that Noah and I can do together and then culminate what I learn into one final product. I plan to do some research before deciding what that final product might be, but at the moment I am considering a customized busy board for Noah based on the experiences that were most engaging or productive for him. Creating a busy board may also require me to seek help or information regarding the actual construction or building of the board.

 

Image result for busy board

 

Questions related to sensory activities and sensory or busy boards:

  • What colours or colour schemes encourage interaction?
  • What colours are typically used?
  • How many colours are ideal?
  • What textures are used on typical sensory or busy boards?
  • How many textures should be incorporated on a sensory board?
  • What is the optimal number?
  • Which textures interest Noah?How can sounds be incorporated?
  • What materials are generally used?
  • What materials are safe for a toddler?
  • What materials or items are educational or generally thought to foster development?
  • What might be the optimal size for a busy board?
  • Is there any way to incorporate taste into a sensory board?
  • How can I increase the longevity of my busy board so that Noah can use it for a number of months?

I’m going to use the diagram below from the Pacific School of Innovation and Inquiry as a guide for the process of my inquiry. At the moment I am at the ‘generate starting questions and quests.

Restructuring the Education System

The movies ‘Most Likely to Succeed’ and the TED talk by Jeff Hopkins reminded me of the animation of  Sir Ken Robinson’s TED talk on ‘Changing Education Paradigms’.

 

I was shown this video while taking part in an International Baccalaureate (IB) Middle Year Program (MYP) conference. IB is a program that aims to institutionalize  concept based teaching with a focus on student inquiry and interdisciplinary approaches to learning. The program also discourages standardized tests and conventional class set ups in favor of project based assessments. It’s not a perfect program, but it provided me with my first look at concept based teaching and this has been a big influence in the formation of my personal pedagogy.

Re-structuring the entire education system will not happen over night. Teachers. parents and students are all used to standardized classes and testing. We are used to going to class and being spoon-fed information. Change is uncomfortable, especially when that change must have a cascading effect. For instance, if we change how K-12 students learn and are assessed, universities will also have to restructure their admission procedures and potentially their own teaching set ups.

Scaling it down a bit though, the application of conceptual based teaching can be easily accomplished in today’s classrooms, especially with the new version of the BC curriculum which includes ‘Big Ideas’ and the skill sets categorized as ‘Core Competencies’.

Here is a video I found that gives a good idea of how conceptual based teaching and learning can be applied in the classroom.

 

Deciphering FIPPA

In our first lesson, we were introduced to BC’s Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA). I will be honest, this is the first time I have ever heard of FIPPA.  The idea of protecting people’s personal information and consulting with people before allowing any identifiable information to be publicized online or stored internationally  makes sense. However, at the school where I most recently worked in Indonesia, the principles behind FIPPA were not even on the radar. Many of the teachers communicated with parents or students through gmail accounts, the school posted videos and pictures of students and school community members on the school website, Facebook page and on YouTube. Teachers were also encouraged to make class communication groups using apps such as WhatsApp. So, while I understand the reasoning for FIPPA, I am also now feeling a bit bogged down with the responsibility it puts on my shoulders as a teacher.

I am also a little concerned that I don’t fully grasp all the finer details of FIPPA and how it will apply to my future classroom. In fact, after talking to my mother, a kindergarten teacher, and some of her colleagues, I found few teachers who were able to tell me much more beyond ‘don’t put children’s faces online’. I was shocked and a bit disappointed that teachers weren’t receiving more support and guidance in this area. So, in an effort to inform myself, I have read and re-read the ‘Cloud Computing Guidelines for Public Bodies’ document created by the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner but was still feeling a bit hazy on the details so I tried to find some other people’s interpretations of FIPPA to see if anything would resonate.  Here are three of the most helpful resources I found:

  1. This following link is a slide show that addresses why FIPPA is important in public schools. It highlights some key information and includes some good visuals that give you an idea of where information is being stored, and to what scope FIPPA applies: Privacy, FIPPA & Tech in Schools: What families & teachers need to know
  2.  The following picture and link were taken from the Vancouver Island University. The information is tailored to a university environment, but I think much of what is said could be easily adapted to a K-12 class. I also liked that they gave specific information related to specific tools or situations that come up in a classroom: Maintaining Privacy While Supporting Innovation
  3. Although it may not be the most invigorating video, I found the following YouTube video to be a good summary of how technology is seeping into classrooms and how FIPPA might affect which and how technologies are used. I also liked that it gave a bit of background and reasoning for FIPPA.

First Impressions

Image by Gordon Johnson from Pixabay

The first class of 336 was today and I can’t rightly say how I am feeling. I know that I am definitely a supporter of the use of technology in classrooms, but I am also painfully aware of how ridiculously behind I am in terms of modern tools and even how to apply older technology tools. Having just come back from living and working in Indonesia as a middle school teacher, a rather large majority of the platforms and programs mentioned in class today were completely new to me. In Indonesia I was considered one of the technologically savvy teachers simply for being able to add some animation and colours into my PowerPoint presentations. Knowing how to source and make use of images or resources online commanded the respect of some of my less computer literate colleagues but hardly stretched my knowledge of technology into the realm of what is currently possible. So, now I am left feeling like a messy cloud of excitement to learn and anxiety about how to organize and acquire this new knowledge. In an attempt to regain a feeling of control I am going to read through the course outline and assigned readings slowly and try to begin considering topics for the first two assignments. Hopefully this confusion will eventually lead me down a road from which I can gain a clearer picture of the technologies now available and how they can be used to jazz up my future classrooms!

 

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