Author Archives: Sabrina Nijjar

 

What is technology?

To me, technology is all of the tools, techniques, knowledge, and resources that we find useful and that make our lives easier.

I agree with all of the definitions that were given but the one that appealed to me was Roblyer’s (2012) statement in which he describes technology “as technology is us -our tools, our methods, and our own creative attempts to solve problems in our environment.”

There is a big difference from when I was a kid and the age that we are living in today. With the advancements of technology, there is something new to discover every day. When we run into a problem we use whatever methods and techniques we can to solve that problem. For example, domestication of animals. Many people would not agree but the process and techniques used to domesticate animals is the technology; dogs have been cultivated to suit human needs through many centuries of selected breeding. It is our methods and processes that have turned vicious packs of wolves into our furry little best friends.

How would you design a technology-enhanced learning experience?

If I were to design an ideal pedagogical design of a technology-enhanced learning experience for math and/or science I would ensure it is a learning environment where collaborative work is emphasized. When different learners come together and share their knowledge about how they came to a conclusion about certain concepts and theories, there is an exchange of ideas and perspectives which is a great way for students to learn.

When students construct their own knowledge through hands-on work, students are able to understand it and apply that new knowledge in a real setting. An ideal TELE space would provide learners different types of technology to enhance their learning and have fun. The technology would be new and it would encourage all types of learners. There would be interactive educational technologies so learners would be able to show their thinking; so, they can investigate their questions, interact with it, and then comprehend it in their own way.

This space would be learner-centered where students feel safe to ask questions and take charge of their own learning; the teacher would act as a guide in case learners have issues/questions. There would be lots of manipulatives and materials available for each learner so learning is not hindered by lack of resources. These materials would allow students to experiment and build their own knowledge. In this environment, students would be able to go at their own pace; this is important so students can start from what they know and then build from there.

The following is an image that I found and if that was combined with what I said, it would be my version of a perfect TELE.

Source: https://qz.com/375894/this-is-what-the-ideal-learning-environment-looks-like-according-to-science/

 

Empowerment, Challenging, and Collaboration

Interview Abstract

 I conducted my interview with my school administrator (Zelda) on Friday, January 12th 2018 from 11:45 to 12:15. The interview took place at a school in British Columbia. Zelda has been teaching for 15 years and has been an administrator for 5 years. Three key words that caught my attention during the interview were empowerment, challenging, and collaboration.

Empowerment:

Zelda emphasized the power of technology and how it can empower students to take charge of their learning especially those students that are at-risk, those with fine motor issues, students with dyslexia, English Language Learners, and those who are blind/vision impaired. Zelda stated that those students with fine motor issues “the thought of a paper-pen task is daunting and that technology can motivate those students and help relieve stress.” Zelda stated that text-to-speech technology like Kurzweil “gives students the opportunity to have access to programs that are at their level.” Technology can inspire “those at-risk learners both in and out of the classroom as it enables them to comprehend and retain concepts, especially in math and helps them to break it down one piece at a time.”

Challenging:

According to my notes on Zelda, technology integration is and can be extremely challenging due to a number of reasons. The implementation of technology needs to be thoughtful; you cannot just throw technology at students. To really “utilize technology to meet the needs of students, there is a huge commitment piece for teachers and this is an immense challenge in itself.” Many educators do not want to use technology due to time constraints, accessibility, reliability, lack of skill-set, and a big reason is that technology can be intimidating. Zelda stated that “people do not want to look stupid in front of students or colleagues but they do not want to put the time in to learn and experiment.” One of the most challenging things is that although “there are six smartboards in the school, no one is using them” and “a lot of educators are overwhelmed that “their students know more about using technology than they do and they need to be okay with this.”

Collaboration:

“Technology can be a great way for colleagues to work together and can allow for a more tech-savvy educator to teach others how to integrate and use technology within their classrooms.” Zelda emphasizes that not only can technology enhance collaboration between student-student but between teacher-student and teacher-teacher. “Technology use and integration is a great way for teachers to learn together and promotes community within the school.” Zelda also emphasizes that the collaboration between students through technology is a great way for students to interact with students that they normally would not talk to and allows for an exchange of perspectives which enhances critical thinking.

 

 

Teacher A & Teacher D

As I reflect on my answer to ‘What is a good use of technology’ in the previous lesson, a lot of those thoughts/issues were raised in the videos that I watched for this week’s lesson. In my previous post, I had said that “good use of technology would encourage and motivate students to explore questions that they may have and use technology to enhance their understanding of those questions and answers. A good use of technology would also allow for collaboration with other learners and personalize learning.” My answer was reflected in the videos; I watched Teacher D (Science, Secondary Preservice Teacher Education) and Learning Environment with Teacher A. Teacher D stated that there “needs to be a support network of people who know more [about technology] and need to have access to those individuals.” Furthermore, he stated that “the district offers no support in terms of technology [how to use it, etc.] … and there is no financial or tech-support coordinator”; in other words, you are on your own.” This is one of the biggest challenges facing educators; even if they want to use technology in their classrooms, there is no or very little support; no training and no professional development workshops on how to correctly use technology in the classroom.

Teacher A stated that “[for him], what is most important is the transferable skills that his students take away when they are using technology.” The students learn to collaborate with individuals who are not their friends and how to integrate technology into everyday life. Teacher A also stated that 1/3 of his class he has not worked with prior and 2/3s he has; he uses the students he has worked with prior as “experts” to teach other students who have not been in this class about the technology. The experts act as a support system if and when help is needed.

Teacher D lacked a support system whereas Teacher A had no choice but to use previous students (because they knew how to use that technology) as a support system to ensure that new students had someone accessible to answer technology-related questions. In this scenario, Teacher A had students to act as experts and even though teacher D was using technology in his classroom, he and his students had to figure out any technology-related issues on their own. I wonder what happens in Teacher D’s class when they cannot figure out an answer due to lack of support. I wonder whether their administrator is supportive in their classrooms. I see how involved and supportive my own administrator is and I am fully cognizant that not every school has an administrator like that. I wonder if teacher D will get fed up of the lack of support and minimize the amount of technology he and his students use; I know how frustrated I get when I need to get an assignment done and my computer refuses to co-operate but in a room full of students where learning is taking place and then a big part of that learning shuts down is extremely challenging.

Unpacking Assumptions

In my opinion, good use of technology would encourage and motivate students to explore questions that they may have and use technology to enhance their understanding of those questions and answers. A good use of technology would also allow for collaboration with other learners and personalize learning; it would provide a means of differentiated instruction for students. For example, if Student A was ahead in math and Student B was having difficulties, the use of technology could help Student B to understand those math complexities that were not being understood before. There are many fantastic math apps and games that allow learners to go at their own pace and really breaks down the math problem into parts allowing learners to have a more thorough understanding.

This learning experience would give confidence to those students who may be lacking it and the learning environment would be a very comfortable one where students can ask questions without feeling like they are being judged by other students and in some cases, the teacher. When I was in college, I took a math course where we used a program called ALEKS (Assessment and Learning in Knowledge Spaces); this was a web-based, artificially intelligent assessment and learning system that used adaptive questions to determine what a student knows and what they do not know. ALEKS then instructs the student on the topics he/she is ready to learn. This type of program really helped me to take the time to understand the question and the best part was that I could go at my own pace. I was confident and really enjoyed math (for the first time!) and that is how the learning environment would look and feel like in the above situation.

This is a good use of digital technology because it is putting the learner first. I do not think this is a vision as many teachers have already started to implement different kinds of digital technologies into their classrooms to enhance student learning. However, with that being said, one of the challenges that I can see is the hesitation of some of the older generation of teachers. I have come across this in my own school. There seems to be a fear of using technology for some teachers because they do not understand how to use it; there needs to be training involved if we want to see everyone get on the same page and really use technology for all of its uses.

A world of misconceptions

One of the first things that caught my attention during this video was that recent graduates at Harvard University did not know why Earth has seasons. Harvard is known to be one of the best universities in the world and one would assume that its graduates would know the answer to why Earth has seasons; this shows that no one is exempt from misconceptions.

In the video, ‘A Private Universe,’ we are introduced to Heather who is in grade 9 and is described by her teacher as “someone who would know the correct answer(s),” however, the audience and her teacher are shown a student who has some interesting misunderstandings about the sun, moon, and the seasons. When Heather is asked about her theories about the orbit of the sun she replies she saw a diagram in her Earth Science textbook in 8th grade and she got confused. Many diagrams and drawings in textbooks cause misconceptions as they are perspective drawings and not completely accurate.

Heather’s teacher assumed that her students had the basic ideas when they arrived in her class and this probably led to more misconceptions as they kept piling on. It is important for educators to understand and find out what their students know and then build from there. Von Glaserfeld (2008) states that “The world we live in” can be understood also as the world of our experience, the world as we see, hear, and feel it.” We all have our own theories as we have all had unique and individual experiences that have led to those theories.

In this video, we see students sitting in their desks listening to their teacher; we see that is teacher-centered and not student-centered. Constructivist theory holds that knowledge cannot be passed down from teacher to student; students must create their own understanding by experimenting so they know how to use that information (Von Glaserfeld, 2008). Students need to be able to experiment and have hands-on education in order to fully understand the concepts (inquiry based learning). Fosnot (2005) states that students need to be “provided with opportunities to actively construct ideas by experimenting” instead of passively being given information. I remember a lot of my high school math and science classes involved students siting at their desks while the teacher lectured at them; there were no hands-on activities, little visual representations, and many confused students- I was one of them. Many students today are just as confused and digital technology can definitely help to ease that confusion. I have used Geogebra, which is an interactive math APP that allows students to “see” equations and math problems come to life. There are 3D models and diagrams that helps the student to understand all sides of the diagram. By using interactive applications and simulations, students are able to understand and comprehend what may not have been understood before.

 

Fosnot, Catherine. Constructivism: Theory, perspectives, and practice. Teachers College Press

Von Glasersfeld, E. (2008). Learning as a Constructive Activity. AntiMatters, 2(3), 33-49.

 

The memory of the dial up tone…

My earliest memory of using digital technology is the first time we got a computer. My dad brought home this big TV looking thing and I had so many questions about what it was and what it did. I remember the dial-up tone and how we were told that we could not use the computer and the phone at the same time; I remember asking “but what does the phone have to do with this computer”? It was such an exciting day, week, and month to be able to use the computer and find information and to “talk” with my friends even though we were in different places. This event raises so many questions about the future of technology and in what ways it is going to be evolve and what those moments may look like.

Hello:)

Hi everyone,

My name is Sabrina. Sorry for the late post; I just got back from India (after a very delayed flight). This term I am taking my 3rd, 4th, and 5th MET courses. Last term I took ETEC 511 and 512, both of which were fantastic! I am an LST teacher in Surrey, British Columbia; I have been teaching for 5 years. I hope to learn more about STEM and how to integrate technology within this sphere. I love traveling and being outdoors (but not in cold weather). Im looking forward to learning with everyone this term.