The Last Melon

(GIF found at: http://giphy.com/search/the-last-melon ).

Alright, the final blog post for the ICT course. The last melon. So with this final post, I thought I would reflect back on the course as whole, and touch on a few of the main points of some of what we learned, and maybe mention a few of the resources and programs that were introduced to us that I feel I will actually make use of in the future.

So first off, I think that the whole idea behind becoming more fluent with technology and communicative aids is super important for teachers to understand and utilize in their practice. Technology makes life easier for everyone, so using it and teaching others how to effectively use it only seems like common sense. The use of technology is becoming more and more prevalent in our society, and instead of regressing back to Luddite mentalities, teaching students how to use it critically and effectively is the way to go. That way, they will be that much more proficient with it when they get older, having developed alongside the technology. It is great to be able to connect with so many others at the touch of a button, and the resources that exist now are actually quite unbelievable.

Some of the main apps and programs that I think I will take away from the course are the quiz and test making websites, such as Kahoot! and Socrative, as well as networking resource websites such as Blackboard. Apparently my upcoming CT really likes and uses Blackboard in her classroom, so after this student teaching placement I feel like I will become even more proficient in using the site. As for the quiz making ones, I plan on testing them out with my upcoming group of students. I feel like Kahoot! will go over great with the kids, since it helps to turn the learning and memorization process into a competitive game against their classmates. As a teacher, whenever you can make lessons more fun and engaging, students will take more out of it, and it will reflect back onto yourself in a better light. It also has the added bonus of providing the teacher with valuable information about the students, and helps with formative assessments of where the students current standing is with the material from the course.

Moving forward, I think that I will continue to keep my e-portfolio updated and current, since it would be a great resource to have at your disposal come job searching time. I have enjoyed reflecting on my thoughts and compiling them in this blog as well, but I am undecided how much additional blogging I would do following the completion of this course. Perhaps once I get into a classroom I could use it to keep students and parents informed of the daily or weekly events. Or perhaps I would use it if I ever do any extensive travelling, since that is still on my bucket list of what I would like to do before I get myself settled down and working. We will see what lies on the horizon, but something I know to be true is that I will continue to make use of technology and ICT in the future.

To those of you reading this who will be moving out to their student placements next week, I wish you all the best, and hope to hear back from you in the summer. If not, enjoy the summer, and I will see you all again come September. Cheers!

How can and will you address digital citizenship and literacy in your classroom?

Alright, this week in ICT we were given the following question to answer: How can and will you address digital citizenship and literacy in your classroom?

For me, with my two main teachable courses being Science and History, I feel like digital literacy and digital citizenship are both really important aspects that need to be addressed and utilized if you want to make the most out of your lessons. For those of you reading this post who might not be familiar or completely sure what these two terms refer to, "digital literacy is the set of competencies required for full participation in a knowledge society. It includes knowledge, skills, and behaviors involving the effective use of digital devices such as smartphones, tablets, laptops and desktop PCs for purposes of communication, expression, collaboration and advocacy." Digital citizenship refers to "a person who uses the Internet regularly and effectively," which is basically just being an appropriate online citizen. (Both of these definitions were provided courtesy of Wikipedia).
 
So, like I said, these are both interrelated concepts that are becoming increasingly more important in the classroom. Being able to get your students to make better use of the endless possibilities that are provided through the world wide web is a must. Teaching students how to effectively do research, and teaching them how to use their devices to engage with the world outside of the classroom are both really important skills to teach students now. No longer is the teacher and the textbook the only place that a student will get information from. Now, if the students (or anyone else) gets curious about something, they look up the answer on Google, like I just did when I needed to verify what exactly digital citizenship and digital literacy were actually about. Instead of having students simply finding the first hit on Google like I did with my Wikipedia definitions however, getting them to actually engage with the information and critically think about it is way more important. Teaching them that they can learn more using technology to get information and experience from people in an online community is also really important I think. Teaching students about the power that they have available to them in this modern society that we now live in is almost more important than making sure that they take away every single one of the required outcomes of a course. It sets them up to be more of a lifelong learner, who is able to critically respond to information and questions that they will discover. For me while teaching, something that I might try to do is ask the students to look quickly on their phones to look for the answer to a provocative question, and have them need to search out the answer. It would cause them to actually have to critically think about the topic, and read something online to make sure it is relevant and actually answering the question, while also making sure that it is from a reputable source. Students now pretty well all have smartphones with them at all times, so making the most of it instead of trying to police them all the time to keep them in their lockers or pockets just seems like the logical way to proceed. Plus, if you let them use their phones, they can capture cool moments like the moment captured by the GIF below, showing this science teacher spreading a fire under his students. That way you can become Internet famous. Because who wouldn't want that to happen, right?

(GIF found at: https://brightside.me/wonder-curiosities/15-amazing-gifs-that-will-make-you-fall-in-love-with-science-147355/)