Category: EDCI 336 (Page 1 of 2)

I was great to have the opportunity to learn from the guest speakers Kaori Lau and Tracy Humphreys from BCEdAccess today.

Tracy outlined the reality that technology can act as a powerful support to students with disabilities. This guest lecture helped me to realize the extent of which disability support technology has evolved. It also helped me to realize that it is an ethical responsibility of educators be aware of how technology can support disabled students. After listening to Tracy’s lecture, I feel that as an educator it will be my duty to be in-the-know about the various technologies that can support my students who have disabilities. Sometimes these technologies are freely accessible online, and sometimes they are more expensive, like in the case of sound fields, for example. I think that in cases where the technology is expensive, awareness about the importance of how it can help students would be an important tool in advocating for the implementation of such supports. One important aspect of this is professional development opportunities around technology. It is very helpful for teachers to be taught by technology professionals about technology and specific applications in schools, and this is a worthwhile professional development topic to continue to pursue and fund even after we are finished studying teaching at university.

Some specific and helpful technologies to keep in mind are screen readers, voice recognition software, 3D printers for braile, and customizable text displays. As mentioned before, sound field devices are another helpful technology that I have seen being used in SD62. In the case of sound fields, support is provided both to the teacher and to students who are hard or hearing or have attention issues; the teacher can speak at a comfortable volume, rather than raising their voice to be heard. This might help support teachers with disabilities as well. This converse application of technology is another important thing to consider; how can technology help support teachers with disabilities? This is an intriguing question, because teachers who are better supported will deliver better instruction to their students, and be able to do an all-around better job!

Overall, I feel really lucky to be going into teaching in a time where so many more technological supports exist for students with disabilities. Creating an inclusive environment in my classroom is one of my primary goals as an aspiring educator, and I know that continued learning about inclusive technology will play a key role in this!

This week’s topic is Multimedia and Learning Design.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to attend the lecture due to illness, but I still was able to take some valuable information and teaching strategies away from the lesson materials. In particular, I explored Jennifer Gonzales’ “The Big List of Class Discussion Strategies.” This resource stood out to me because previous to exploring it, I didn’t have a good understanding of the breadth of different Class Discussion Strategies that can be employed. I was especially interested in Jennifer’s “low prep” category. I think it would be great to have some of these on-the-fly strategies under my belt as a teacher, in case free time during a block arises, or we have to change the lesson plan for the day due to something unexpected arising. I’d recommend that my fellow students check out Jennifer’s list linked above. To add on from there, I’ve provided a reflection on the pros and cons of each of the “low-prep” discussion strategies Jennifer lists in her article. I used ChatGTP to edit the following pros and cons reflection to make it flow nicely and avoid redundant wording.

LOW-PREP DISCUSSION STRATEGIES

Affinity Mapping (Affinity Diagramming)
Pros: This strategy is highly effective for generating a wide variety of ideas and encouraging creativity. Students visually organize their thoughts, which can help make abstract concepts more tangible. Grouping ideas fosters collaboration and critical thinking as students analyze relationships and create connections. The silent variation can ensure that quieter students contribute without fear of interruption.
Cons: It may be time-consuming, especially if students struggle to categorize their ideas or reach consensus. Some students might find the lack of initial structure overwhelming, and group dynamics can sometimes lead to unequal participation.

Concentric Circles (Speed Dating)
Pros: This strategy is fast-paced and allows students to interact with many peers, promoting diverse perspectives and preventing conversations from becoming repetitive. The rotation ensures every student has a chance to speak and be heard, which is great for building confidence in quieter students.
Cons: Limited time for each discussion can restrict deeper analysis of the topic. The physical setup of circles or lines may be challenging in smaller or crowded classrooms. Additionally, the constant rotation can be disruptive for students who need more time to process their thoughts.

Conver-Stations
Pros: This method combines the depth of small-group discussions with the breadth of hearing multiple viewpoints, avoiding stagnation in group dynamics. Students also practice synthesizing ideas and sharing key points, which reinforces their understanding.
Cons: Rotations may interrupt the flow of conversation, and some students may struggle to adapt to new groups or quickly integrate into ongoing discussions. Keeping track of evolving ideas may become confusing without clear documentation.

Fishbowl
Pros: The fishbowl format encourages active listening and focused dialogue, as participants in the outer circle observe and evaluate the central conversation. This strategy is particularly effective for teaching specific discussion skills or modeling productive conversation techniques.
Cons: Students in the outer circle may feel disengaged or excluded if they are not actively involved. For those in the fishbowl, the spotlight can be intimidating, especially if they are less confident in their speaking abilities.

Hot Seat
Pros: This interactive format encourages students to dive deeply into a character or concept, fostering creativity and possibly empathy. It works well for building understanding of diverse perspectives and practicing critical thinking.
Cons: Students may feel pressured to perform, especially if they are unsure about their role. Without strong preparation or guidance, the discussion can lack depth or veer off-topic.

Snowball Discussion (Pyramid Discussion)
Pros: This strategy starts with intimate discussions and gradually builds to a full-class exchange, allowing students to refine their ideas before presenting them on a larger scale. It promotes consensus-building and ensures every voice is heard.
Cons: The structure requires a lot of time, which might not always be available. The process of merging groups can feel repetitive, and some students may dominate conversations as groups grow larger.

Clearly, each of these strategies offers unique benefits and challenges, making them adaptable to different classroom goals and dynamics. Choosing the right one depends on the desired outcomes, class size, and the students’ comfort with discussion-based activities. The great thing about having this list available to you as a teacher is you can experiment with different formats, hybridizations, or pairings regarding these strategies, to see what works best for you and your group.

Today’s EDCamp was such a rewarding experience. The slideshow image for the event showed people sitting around a campfire, which was ironically fitting given that many of us were eager to discuss ways to incorporate Outdoor Education (Outdoor Ed) into core subject classrooms.

We had an in-depth conversation about the value of integrating outdoor time into our classrooms. While some wondered if being outside could be a distraction that makes it hard for students to refocus when they return indoors, we agreed that the benefits of outdoor time far outweigh the challenges. Getting outside for fresh air, play, and a mental reset can be invaluable. Not every moment in the classroom needs to be focused on maximizing academic productivity; supporting students’ mental and physical well-being is essential, too. Ensuring that my students can spend time outdoors during their long school day is one way I aim to look out for them.

Practical Considerations for Taking The Class Outside

Our group also discussed the practicalities of outdoor time. For example, is it reasonable to expect students to go outside for movement breaks or outdoor learning even in cold or rainy weather? We agreed that having a regular schedule for outdoor breaks can help students prepare accordingly. An idea like “Wednesday Walks” could help create a routine so students know what to expect. Also, depending on the grade level, teachers might have the flexibility to let some students stay indoors if they aren’t prepared for or comfortable with being outside.

Integrating Outdoor Learning into Lessons

Beyond “outdoor breaks,” we explored ways to integrate outdoor settings directly into our lesson plans. This way, students don’t face the added challenge of having to refocus after a break but instead can stay engaged with the material throughout their time outside. For instance, we could teach a lesson outdoors or incorporate natural materials into the activity. Another option is to give students a reflective prompt to think about during outdoor time that connects with an upcoming lesson or activity. Remembering to let students know what will happen when they return to the classroom is an important component of this.

As a side note, one takeaway from today’s lecture was the advice not to save documents as PDFs if you might need to edit them later. I had always saved my documents as PDFs, so this was a valuable tip that I’ll definitely adopt to save time in the future!

I loved listening to Jeff talk about his inquiry school. One of the things that stuck with me the most was his emphasis on the difference it makes when students are motivated by their own driving questions for inquiry. Jeff said that in their school, students get down to task and stay on task practically on their own. He said this is possible because they create their own projects and they are studying things that interest them, and that they want to study. In my mind, this represents an all-around win that educators could consider more when designing lessons and units. Forcing students to study content that doesn’t interest them and that they don’t see the point in learning can be a painful process for everyone involved. I think that options exist for allowing autonomy in the direction that students take their learning, even in small applications. Where the opportunity for a completely inquiry-based approach doesn’t feel accessible for an educator, little alterations can be made to give students more say. Maybe instead of creating an assignment from one question, students can choose from three, with an added option to create their own question. Maybe medium is open-ended. Maybe work can be individual or group. Maybe students can choose whether they work in the classroom or the library during workblocks. These are things to think about when integrating inquiry into a teaching practice by steps.

On a note of practical tools, I checked out the “Trello” tool that Jeff mentioned they use at PSII. It seems like a great tool for helping students organize an inquiry load. It allows for the organization of different project elements like to-do lists and outlines. It’s a useful organization tool that allows you to lay out several projects in one screen. It also has a chat feature, so students could communicate with peers or teachers through it. They could ask questions about a specific aspect of a project using this feature. Here is a link for a short tutorial on it:

Today’s guest lecture by Trevor Mackenzie got me inspired to start thinking about ways I could integrate inquiry projects into my English classroom.

I’ll start with some key takeaways from Trevor’s talk. Firstly, I think his idea of conference-style feedback is a must-integrate for humanities teachers. I know that most students don’t read written feedback, especially when it is accompanied by a grade. It is essentially a waste of our time, then, to give written feedback on English assignments. It is intensely laborious to give written feedback on assignments, as well! This makes it even more of a shame to waste that work done on our side. Most traditional English classes are structured in such a way that once your grade is assigned for a project, it isn’t going to change, and so there isn’t much point in looking at the feedback. When a class is broken up into summative assessments at the end of each unit which are not tied to a greater year-end learning goal, there is even less point in reading feedback. I think the solution is to avoid giving grades for as long as possible, and treat the year-end assessment and accompanying grading conference as your main end goal that the students are consistently working towards. If you have to assign and publish grades throughout the semester, you can deal with this by making them amendable in relation to your final project and progress, as discussed in your year-end conference. This year end assessment could be an inquiry project, and the students’ grade for the class would assess their progress throughout the semester and their work on their inquiry project. This grade could be decided upon in conference, with preparation on the side of the student. In order to make sure the inquiry is on task regarding English curriculum, there could exist a set of curricular topics that the projects must integrate. Alternatively, there could be a set of three mini inquiries, with a culminative assessment and reflection of them at the end, where course themes are parsed and expanded upon across the three projects, making connections between them and reflecting on points of divergence or similarity. Each mini-inquiry project would be connected to an ascribed learning theme relevant to the English teacher’s chosen focus curriculum.

One specific idea I had regarding expanding English curriculum to a host of different learning styles and interests is poetry studies based on the physicality and shapes of poetry. I think it would be interesting and fun to play with experimental poetry like poetry that is written into shapes, or block poetry, or found poetry, or poetry analysis that focuses on the shapes of words rather than the meanings the represent. This unit might offset a unit of conventional close readings and analysis. There are all sorts of fun experimental poetry sources to draw upon- a favourite of mine is Decomp by Stephen Collis Jordan Scott. These poets took copies of Darwin’s Origins of Species and let them decompose in nature, in varying ecosystems. They then treated the product as poetry. Here, the art lies in the transformation and the creative engagement with the text and environment- the poetry is the process rather more than the end product, though the end product is a testament and symbol of the process. This is a resonant metaphor for our discussions of inquiry-based learning.

It was a valuable experience to hear Jesse Miller speak about “Privacy, Safety, Bullying, and Consent” in Tuesday’s class. Principally, his speech offered me the opportunity to hear opinions on social media and adolescent screen and social media use that differ profoundly from my own views on the matter. Jesse’s speech made it especially clear to me that individuals hold very different understandings and values regarding the integration of technology into schooling, as well as everyday life, especially in regards to adolescents. 

Observing a different approach to my own on the matters of social media addiction has given me the opportunity to question the integrity of my opinions on the matter. The aspect of the talk that surprised me the most was I perceived an attitude that the addictive aspects of social media were not at the forefront of consideration regarding adolescent phone use in learning environments, and general lifestyle screen-use. 

The reason why smartphone use quickly became such a source of interference with learning has largely to do with their addictive nature. Students were too often tempted to use their phones in school, even when it was not objectively in their best interest to do so. Whether this is because it poses a clear interference with their learning, or because they would have to do more homework since they missed class lessons or work-time, casual social media scrolling in the classroom did not serve students. It is often argued that when adolescents are behaving in ways that are not in their own best interest, it is ethically imperative that mentors or caretakers should intervene in order to support the wellbeing of that youth. 

Of course, this qualitative and subjective reasoning does not constitute the sole support for the fact that social media is addictive and detrimental to mental health, especially in adolescents. Many studies have demonstrated that social media is addictive, and harmful for mental health. The American Psychological Association states, “Studies have linked Instagram to depression, body image concerns, self-esteem issues, social anxiety, and other problems. By design, the app capitalizes on users’ biological drive for social belonging—and nudges them to keep on scrolling” (How can we minimize Instagram’s harmful effects?). Further, a recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association revealed that teens who use social media more than three hours per day may be at heightened risk for mental health problems (Associations Between Time Spent Using Social Media and Internalizing and Externalizing Problems Among US Youth). Another recent study published in The National Library of Medicine found that “habitual social media use may lead to addiction and negatively affect adolescents’ school performance, social behavior, and interpersonal relationships” (Research trends in social media addiction and problematic social media use: A bibliometric analysis). These are just a few brief examples amidst a body of extensive research attributing social media to addiction and mental health concerns. 

Clearly, the addictive nature of social media is a pervasive issue that should not be taken lightly, especially by education professionals who have a responsibility to the wellbeing of adolescent students. Topics of addiction are indisputably essential to discussions of social media. In my mind, this constitutes a profound moral imperative for educators to consider the topics of addiction at the forefront of discussions and policy-making regarding social media and adolescents. Young people whose brains are still developing deserve to have helpful guidance around the dangers of addition; this applies to social media as much as any other addictive substance or habit. Because of this, it is appropriate for educators to diminish the development of social media addiction while the students are at school. The cell phone ban is one obvious way to do that. Of course, we can’t control student’s social media use at home. 

I think the cell phone ban is most effective where it is paired with clearly stated reasoning, and lessons on social media literacy. The rules which limit students’ behaviors should be explained; in this case, it should be made known that educators are trying to prioritize learning, and decrease daily exposure to addictive apps. Additionally, I strongly believe students should be taught about the industry behind social media, and made aware of the marketing techniques that are constantly targeting their psyches. Learning to interpret the messaging and content on social media in a critical way is a skill of immeasurable importance in today’s world. 

One great resource I would recommend on this topic is the documentary The Social Dilemma by Jeff Orlowski. This documentary helped start me on my social media literacy journey when I was in grade twelve. This film is from before the era of AI, so it is missing that aspect of things, but it offers valuable insights on the addictive qualities of social media.

I found the documentary “Most Likely to Succeed” to be very enriching, because it expanded my idea of how education can be ideated and structured. Firstly, I found in interesting to learn that our current education system is the descendent of a Prussian system that aimed to produce a more effective and better organized army. Because of my upbringing in conventional education, I always took the systemized division of learning and lesson by subject for granted. For someone with my educational background, appreciating the  “interdisciplinary” nature of curricular subjects is as far out of the box as our thinking was allowed to go, while still being tethered to the idea of division by subject. It’s quite an ideological shift to be presented with a system like the one at High Tech High, where the term “interdisciplinary” is rendered arbitrary- the interrelatedness of subjects is assumed, and the lessons start from a point of cross-curricularity and procede within this assumed relationship. 

An essentially cross curricular approach seems valuable for elementary and middle school education, because it encourages intellectual applications that might otherwise be hindered at the border between subjects. There exist potential issues, however, with reconciling this type of learning with higher level  instruction from experts, however. In the world of academic specialty in higher education, the teachers are often experts in a specific topic. It would follow that students who are used to a cross curricular or subject integration approach would be unaccustomed to subject-specific lessons, and have trouble approaching their integration and interpretation. 



The nature of academic specialization is artificial in that it does not reflect the processes of living and learning in the world. The integration of information across topics, subjects, and perspectives in a receptive and accepting manner is an important life skill that improves wellbeing on individual and interpersonal levels. Academic specialization at the expert level is also a practically necessitated fact: human intelligence, cognition, and lifespan often limit experts to narrower and fewer topics of expertise. Furthermore, the value of broad learning across topics that was favoured in the scholarly world of Ancient Greece and the European Renaissance has been replaced with an academic culture of specialization.

Ultimately, I believe that the merits of cross-curricular learning that is not limited by subject categories outweighs any re-orientation former students of this type of schooling might need in a post-secondary environment of academic specialization. It would be helpful if post-secondary institutions recognized and supported this transition through instruction designed for transitioning from cross-curricular learning to specific topics at the course level.