Category: Weekly Reflections

On January 31st, we talked about creating graphics and how this can be a useful tool to use as a teacher. It was discussed how powerpoint or google slides can be used to easily create worksheets, mood checkers, math sheets, and more for our classes. I think this is a good reminder that of how easy it is to create resources that meet your needs. You could also use Canva, I’ve used Canva before to make simple writing worksheets or word searches and have found it very easy to use.

We also learned that there are a lot of effects on powerpoint that you can use to edit photos or make collages like blurring photos, adding frames or borders, remove backgrounds or crop photos. We then got to make our own collages which was super fun. Here’s mine, super random but it was cool to make!

Some of my peers made collages with pictures of themselves and their interests to use for a first day introduction in their own class or practicum. I thought this was a really good idea and I think I will make one of my own as well!

On February 7th we had a guest speaker come in and go over more ways of editing, but instead of static pictures we went over editing videos or podcasts. This was super informative and we got to play around using Audacity and iMovie. I think this will be useful for our group assignment in this class as well as in EDCI 413.

Photo by ROMAN ODINTSOV: https://www.pexels.com/photo/young-boys-using-laptop-in-the-classroom-11025019/

This week we had guest speaker Jessie Miller come in and chat to us. Something that really stuck with me is the idea that we should be promoting digital and media literacy in our students because the internet & AI are not going anywhere. Instead of ignoring these topics within the classroom or forbidding their use within the classroom, teachers should be open and willing to have conversations with their students so that students can think critically about what they are seeing or hearing on the internet. For example, Jessie mentioned a story in which a teacher was mad at a principle and so he created an audio using AI to make it seem like the principle was saying racist comments about students. He also mentioned another story where someone was altering photos of classmates in inappropriate ways using AI. As more and more of these issues pop up, it becomes increasingly important that students can think critically about what they are seeing or hearing and consider wether or not it is real or AI generated before jumping to conclusions.

To help students become more digitally literate, Jessie spoke about the 4 C’s of digital literacy as a sort of guide on how teachers should/could engage with AI in the classroom.

The 4 C’s are:

1. critical thinking (showing students how to evaluate wether content is AI generated)
2. creativity (allowing students to use AI to generate and refine ideas)
3. communication (modelling and practicing effective interactions with AI)
4. collaboration (promoting group activities to explore AI use)

I appreciated him mentioning this because I think in the future I could use this as sort of a guideline on how I can promote digital literacy in my students. It is also a good reminder to not shy away from having conversations with our students about AI in the classroom and that AI can even be a beneficial teaching tool/point!

This TedTalk below reinforces how we need to adapt to the changing world with AI, that it is not going away, and not to shy away from it as both a tool for teaching our students and teaching point. Take a look if you’re interested!

Photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash

In class this week we learning about copyright and creative commons and why it is important to have an understanding of these topics as educators. I will be honest and say that my understanding of copyright previous to this weeks lecture went as far as: copyright = bad, don’t steal from others! and the phrase “creative commons” was not one that I had heard once in my life. In other words, my understanding on such topics was rudimentary at best.

I learned that copyright is automatic and assumed on anyone’s work no matter who or what it is, wether that be a video, a photo, etc. I also learned that if you see a “CC” underneath an image this essentially means the owner of the piece is allowing others to use their work for projects or assignments as long as they are attributed. I also learned that all the material on Wikipedia is under Creative Commons and can be used freely and that there are a wide range of websites that are full of photos under CC that you can use at anytime without risk of copyright.

This all may seem like very obvious information to some, but to me it was all new, and information that I have been meaning to learn more about for a while. Obviously as a teacher I am going to have to use pictures in lecture slides, or want to use resources online, and so knowing confidently about what I am legally allowed to use is very important. As well, modelling proper internet/technology use to my students is incredibly important. I plan to read up on Canada’s Copyright Act so I can learn more about these topics that we touched on during the lecture and become more informed.