Bronson's Blog

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In the last few weeks of class we covered a variety of interesting topics. For example, we looked at bringing gaming into education and how it could serve as an alternative to more traditional methods of instruction. The consensus among researchers seems to be that more research is needed to determine how effective gameplay is as a learning medium and which design components are most advantageous. What does seem clear, however, is the potential games have to increase student engagement due to increased interaction, immediate feedback, and putting students in control of their learning. One thing I found particularly interesting from the pre-class reading was that students showed more effective learning when they played games with one another as opposed to playing alone. Their interest and enjoyment also increased when playing with other students.

Photo by Halacious on Unsplash

Another topic we covered was sketchnoting. This was a pretty fun concept, but that’s kind of the whole point. Sketchnoting is supposed to be a more fun and personalized way of taking notes. It essentially requires the note-taker to turn verbal information into visual information. The need to translate meaning into images can help improve understanding and provide additional cues to help remember. Luckily for me, you do not have to be an artist to create sketchnotes. A mixture of stick figures, rough shapes, and bullet points will work just fine as long as they represent the main points you are trying to take note of.

We were also lucky enough to have Trevor Mackenzie speak with us about inquiry-based learning practices in high school classrooms. There were a few main points to Trevor’s approach that I found particularly valuable. First, the idea that competencies should be co-created by the teacher and the students and the teacher should be explicit about how learning experiences connect to those competencies. I think it’s a good thing any time you can demonstrate that you value your students’ voices and input. Second, were his views on assessment. I like the idea of looking at assessment as ‘evidencing’. Having students curate evidence of their own learning while offering them continuous formative feedback seems like a more meaningful way of doing things. Finally, I like the classroom mentality he presented. This included creating a psychologically safe environment by emphasising a culture of learning over one of performance and valuing risk-taking without being penalized.

Throughout this class, for every theory and piece of technology I have come across, the key seems to be to match the right tools with the right students and tasks. And I think the key to doing that lies simply in thoughtful implementation. There is no doubt that technology can help create a more flexible leaning environment. However, taking a moment consider the SAMR framework or to ask question like, “is this engaging or distracting?” will help me create new ways of learning and collaborating in my future classrooms.

This week, we looked at alternative structures for delivering education. One new model was called Hyflex. Hyflex learning is similar to hybrid styles which blend online and on-site learning but with the added component of flexibility. Typical hybrid classes are designed to have certain parts of the course delivered online while others are designed to be delivered in-person and these components are the same for every student. With Hyflex, however, students are given the freedom to choose which method works best for them in each situation. In other words, all of the course content is available in multiple modes allowing students to choose how they participate. This seems like an empowering way to structure a course that would give students a feeling of ownership over their own learning. On the other hand, it would require that the teacher have access to more resources and probably more prep time, too. This video shows an example of how this system might work in a university setting using Microsoft Teams:

The other model we looked at was called flipped learning. This is where students do the instructional portion of the lesson at home using provided videos and materials and the face-to-face time is mostly dedicated to learning activities and exercises which build on the students’ pre-class work. In order to be effective, though, flipped learning needs to be more than simply swapping lectures with homework. The real emphasises has to be on creating an active learning environment with engaging hands-on class time activities. Having these during class time when the teacher is free to move around and check in with each student allows for a more individualized experience. Traditional methods can obviously incorporate these activities as well, but the flipped model frees up more in-person time for meaningful activities. It also has the potential to allows students starting with different levels of knowledge to move closer together before the class begins. While there are many advantages, the biggest pitfall I can see with this approach is the risk of alienating students whose home environments are not conducive to completing the pre-class work.

This week, we experienced putting flipped learning into practice with pre-class introductory activities leading into a 3D design and 3D print workshop during class. I have never interacted with any kind of CAD software before, so playing around in Tinkercad was like a fun little glimpse into another world. I was also blown away by how widely available 3D printing is now. When I first heard of this technology, which wasn’t too long ago, it seemed like cutting edge science fiction kind of stuff. Now, it seems like you are likely to find at least one 3D printer in most high schools across the country. This is the little snowman tree ornament I designed:

For proficient and creative users, however, the possibilities seem endless. These are some neat cross-curricular examples of printing projects I came across for blending art and science:

Perhaps an art teacher wants to teach students how to weave, why not have them create the loom itself. Retrieved from: levelupvillage.com/seven-practical-uses-schools-3d-printer/

This is a 3D printed trumpet made by MIT Media lab. Retrieved from: levelupvillage.com/seven-practical-uses-schools-3d-printer/

Photo by Mackenzie Marco on Unsplash

This week, we got a little taste of professional development in the form of a virtual EdCamp. EdCamps are participant-driven conferences which are often referred to as ‘unconferences’ because of the way in which they challenge the rigid structure of traditional models. These informal sessions focus on collaboration and group expertise and, although each EdCamp is unique, they are built around a set of common principles (sourced here):

• Free: EdCamps should be free to all attendees
• Non-commercial: EdCamps should be about learning, not selling
• Hosted by any organization or individual: Anyone should be able to host an EdCamp
• Sessions are determined on the day of the event: EdCamps should not have pre-scheduled presentations.
• Anyone can be a presenter: Anyone who attends an EdCamp is worthy of sharing their expertise and can be a presenter.
• Participants ‘vote with their feet’: EdCampers are encouraged to self-select the content that most interests them and should simply leave any session that does not meet their needs.

For our EdCamp, we distilled a wide-ranging list of proposed ideas down to four topics. They all seemed interesting, but I decided to go to the breakout room discussing ‘storytelling in education’. Perhaps it was because we were a group of people who chose to discuss this particular topic, but we were all in agreement that storytelling can be an extremely powerful educational tool.

It was fun to hear how people from other subject areas would integrate storytelling into their classrooms and I encountered a bunch of ideas that would be applicable to teaching social studies. Regardless of content, stories can be used to engage students and build connections within the classroom. They can also situate information within context, give it meaning, and make it easier to recall.

For social studies, specifically, stories can demonstrate cause and effect between actions and events, include actors, not

just simply facts, humanize historical events, and bring marginalized voices into discussions to challenge dominant social or cultural narratives.

Importantly, including this approach to communicating information also connects to Indigenous ways of knowing and education principles.

I really enjoyed our group’s thoughtful discussion and look forward to having the opportunity to participate in EdCamps in the future.

Abstract vector created by starline – www.freepik.com

This week, I was supposed to be treated to what I’m sure would have been a fascinating conversation with Jeff Hopkins, founder of the Pacific School of Innovation and Inquiry (PSII) located here in Victoria. The idea of inquiry-based learning is not something I was exposed to before entering this program, but now that I’m here, it seems to be everywhere I look. The whole inquiry process has definitely caught my attention as a new and exciting way to individualize learning. It would’ve been interesting to listen to somebody who interacts with high school students navigating that process on a daily basis. Unfortunately, mother nature had other plans and the high winds knocked out my internet for most of the day.

Even though I wasn’t able to able to connect during the discussion, I did go through the pre-class materials and found a lot of interesting stuff in there. One of the biggest drawbacks and concerns I have with an inquiry-based curriculum is the inherent openness and flexibility which has the potential to overwhelm some students. On the other hand, these exact qualities are what makes this kind of learning so exciting. I was interested to see what a practical application would look like and I was pleasantly surprised by the documents and assessment frameworks on the PSII website. These allowed for a flexible environment based on starting where the learner is at and embracing their individual interests while still providing some structure and outlining expectations.

One of the things I liked most about Jeff’s introduction video was the idea that learning is organized by competencies instead of courses. Everything is driven by questions, but those questions are not forced into a singular subject area. This principle is reflected in the fact that the evaluation and assessment of students’ work is not done by an individual, but by a team of teachers. This aligns nicely with the interdisciplinary nature of inquiry projects.

In my search to find out more about inquiry-based learning, I found this YouTube which I think is pretty helpful:

I like this video for a few reasons. First, it starts with a Harry Potter metaphor which is always an effective hook for me. Second, it clearly lays out phases of inquiry similar to those found on the PSII website. Third, it presents a ‘spectrum of inquiry’ with heavily structured, teacher-centered inquiry on one end. This is a kind of confirmation inquiry where the teacher teaches the concepts, creates the initial questions, models the process for students so they can essentially just learn how inquiry works. This seems like an ideal place to start with younger students or for those who struggle with more freedom.

On the other end of the spectrum is truly open, student-centered inquiry. This is where students formulate their own questions, design their own research, collect their own data, and report their findings. There are also various levels of structured or guided inquiry which fall somewhere between those two extremes which allow for flexibility.

In the end, if we want students to remain curious, something like inquiry-based learning is ideal because it teaches students how to ask great questions, find the answers, and share their results.