In completing this assignment, I was able to think a little more critically about some of the decisions that seem “automatic” in my job every day. I teach Grade 4 for the Calgary Catholic School District, and we are currently in the process of implementing Google Classroom. We have used the Google suite of tools (Docs, Slides, Sheets, etc.) for a while, but when I asked about Classroom, I was told that “the district is going in a different direction.” This year, Google Classroom is what we’re using as a district and I haven’t seen a lot of reasoning behind the decision. Granted, I’m not in a role where I would be privy to that decision-making process, but often we receive an explanation of the rationale behind these decisions.
The SECTIONS model seems quite relevant to upper elementary. Student access and ease of use issues are paramount. Students need almost immediate feedback from their teachers and benefit tremendously from a constructivist-style collaborative process with their peers. Technical support and networking infrastructure issues are something that our district struggles with on a regular basis. Schools seem to be “testing the waters” to see how these technologies fit with provincial FOIP laws around student privacy.
I enjoyed the chance to grapple with some of these issues in a hypothetical scenario, because it was interesting to see how they would apply to the Calgary Catholic School District.
I also lucked out with my group assignment. Lisa, Mike, Amanda and Jamie are fantastic to work with.
Our group rubric assignment: