EdTech

This page will include posts about the EDCI 336 class and course work associated with it.

3D Printing

/ Kaitlyn Schafer / Leave a comment

3D printing seems to me like this new exciting technology that has a lot of potential uses but generally is just too expensive and experimental right now to really be useful. I have recently learned how incorrect I am! 3D printing is more accessible, affordable, and practical than I thought it was right now. Thank you to my wonderful classmate Amy, I learned all about 3D printing last class, including how I could use it right now and as a teacher some day soon.

Amy was able to do some 3D printing using the resources at Uvic. It is a bit of a process, but with some introduction and planning you can create any plastic item using their 3D printer. I was also surprised that the price, at least at UVic for students, was very reasonable, at only ten cents per gram. It takes some practice to get really good at designing your own 3D items, but you can print scans of things or pre-designed items as well. Amy created a cookie cutter, and then used it to make cookies for the class which was very cool and also delicious. She also brought in some samples from the 3D printing shop, including a little Pokemon figurine, an animal skull, and some other samples that showed different types of 3D printing options.

Here are a few of the samples, all of which have been 3D printed at UVic

This seems very fun, but how could you use this for education? 3D printing is rapidly becoming more advanced and accessible, and it is being used for many real-world situations, so it is important that students are taught about it. For example, scientists are designing 3D printed human tissue that can be made from someone’s own stem cells so that they can get transplants using an actual exact copy of the organ they need. People also have 3D printers that use cement and can print out buildings, which would be very useful for building up war-torn villages and cities all over the world. There are so many possibilities with this new technology and we are only just getting started with it!

You can also use it in education by printing off items that would be of use for lessons. For example, many animal skulls would be too fragile for children to touch and pass around, but you can print from a 3D scan, and then the students have a plastic version of the skull that they can really investigate. You can create any kind of math manipulatives that you could think of. You can also print out buildings and historical artifacts, which would be very cool for some social studies units. This is also a great way to bring in differentiation in your class for visually impaired students. For example, you could print a model of The Colusseum, and the visually impaired students could experience it through touch.

There is a very interesting website called www.thingiverse.com that has an education section full of lesson plans that have 3D print designs to go along with them. I recommend you browse this site to get a better idea of the vast possibilities for 3D printing in education. Even if you don’t have access to a 3D printer, sites like thingiverse and sketchfab.com have scans of many historical artifacts and other items to explore that could be a very useful resource for many lessons and units.

I am excited at the possibility for using 3D printing both personally and as a teacher. I hope that we see continual advancement and accessibility of 3D printing in the future. Maybe there will be a day where every school has a 3D printer to explore and create with!

Minecraft for Education

/ Kaitlyn Schafer / 1 Comment
Eight Awesome Features Mojang Should Add to Minecraft
Image from: https://www.flickr.com/photos/bagogames/12844824643

Most people have heard of Minecraft and millions of people have played it for years. I personally have never played it, but I know many people who really enjoy it. As with any video game, it can be a fun way to pass the time and connect with friends through play. Honestly, I have never given much thought to Minecraft. What I didn’t know until today is that Minecraft can be an incredibly useful educational tool. When I was first told this, I was skeptical, but today in class we had an opportunity to try it for ourselves and I was pleasantly surprised with the possibilities Minecraft provides for student learning!

There are many open servers that people can play Minecraft on, and anyone in the world could join those servers. This is concerning for many parents and teachers when it comes to any online game, but there is a way around this. Anyone can create their own private server so they can choose who is allowed in. They create their own rules and control most aspects of that game. In an educational setting (Minecraft EDU), teachers can create their own server and choose the “teacher” role. The teacher can do many things to make the experience best for their class’ needs. They can go into spectate mode, where they fly around and see how everyone is doing. They can bring any character to them self and can transport anywhere. So, for example, if a student is having trouble finding something, the teacher can go to that point and bring the student to them. Teachers can also disable the chat option for any student if they are not using it appropriately, or they can freeze any particular student, which will make it so they are unable to play. This is useful if any student is getting frustrated, using the technology inappropriately, or if the teacher needs to get their attention or speak to them for any other reason. They can also freeze the entire class or stop the server whenever they want to pause or end the game. There are many different modes that the teacher can choose, such as tutorial mode, creative mode, or survival mode.

The differences between the modes are where it starts getting very interesting, because each mode has different implications for learning. In creative mode, students have access to anything and everything in the game in their inventory, so they can build and create whatever they want with no limitations on materials. This is great when doing an activity such as a “build battle,” where a teacher may get students into small groups and say something such as “build a haunted house for Halloween in twelve minutes.” The survival mode is interesting because it adds the concept of needing to eat regularly, not get sick, and survive possible attacks from monsters and other creatures. This can have very interesting Social Studies implications, for example when teaching about ancient civilizations.

The ancient civilizations example was my favourite that we learned about today. You first teach students the basics about any ancient civilization, and then have the class nominate who should be the leaders of groups. The class would then get into small groups and be placed in, for example, a desert biome. They would be given barely any resources and would be required to survive and build their own civilization from the ground up. different monsters can represent different types of death that were realities at the time, for example accidents, starvation, or death by animal.

There are even math possibilities, particularly with using Cartesian plane coordinates, which are available in the game. students can find each other or specific locations using x and y coordinates that they are shown. This exceeds expectations for this curricular competency, as they are required to navigate through a 3D world using these coordinates.

The core competencies are easily assessed through many Minecraft activities, especially communication through team activities (like the examples above), creative, and critical thinking. When we played as a class it was exciting to hear the buzz in the room, with everyone sharing what they are doing, asking for help, and giving help to one another, very clearly highlighting the communication competency.

The only problem I personally had with Minecraft is that I started feeling a bit nauseous playing it, so I am concerned that I may have trouble running a server and really getting comfortable with the software. I would still love to try using Minecraft in a classroom however, and to look further into all of the possibilities!

PSII Field Trip

/ Kaitlyn Schafer / Leave a comment

Alpha Stock Images – http://alphastockimages.com/

In class this week, we went on a field trip to The Pacific School of Innovation and Inquiry (PSII). This is an independent school here in Victoria, with 85 students from grades 9-12. This school does not run like a typical high school with subjects and classes, but instead the students choose topics they are passionate about to do inquiries on, and they learn through that inquiry, exploring their interests and passions. There are six staff members at the school who help guide the students through their learning journeys, help them as they need it, and ensure that they are meeting the criteria they need to graduate at the end of grade twelve. I am very intrigued by this kind of a school system, and based on my short time there, I believe this is a great way for students to really learn and I hope more schools like this are created now that PSII is paving the way.

When you walk into PSII, it does not look like a typical school. It is right in the middle of downtown Victoria, and the front room looked like it may be more of an office work space than a high school. Once we started our tour, we learned that large room was the collaborative work space. There were several tables set up with students sitting around them working together, and some working on their own, on their school-provided laptops. As we moved through the building, there were many small conference rooms where lectures and group meetings take place. There is also a small library area in a large quiet study space, a music studio with instruments and recording equipment, a workshop with a kitchen for cooking, sewing machines, a weaving loom, woodworking tools, and other hands-on activities, and finally a science lab with many materials for experiments. Each student also has a pass to the YMCA which is only a couple of blocks away, and a card for the public library which is just down the street as well. The students are free to choose where they want to work and what they would like to work on throughout each day, depending on what they are doing for their inquiries. There is a schedule posted online that everyone in the school has access to, and they can choose if they would like to take part in any of the lectures or activities for the day. There may be lectures on certain topics based on student interest, or there could be a yoga class at the YMCA, or maybe an outing to the UVic library to gather resources, for example.

The general atmosphere of the school reminds me more of study spaces in a small university, where everyone is working on their own projects, sometimes alone and sometimes collaboratively, and there is a strong community feeling. I spoke to one student who said it is really easy to make friends there, and there is much less drama and bullying than there was in the middle school she went to. There is also a larger level of trust and responsibility placed on the learners, which I feel is valuable for students in high school as it prepares them for life after graduation. Each teacher has a number of students they are responsible for keeping track of and making sure they have everything they need to be successful, but other than that the learners are able to be independent, moving from place to place and learning at their own pace.

I know many people in my life who would have really benefited from going to a high school like PSII. Students aren’t forced to learn everything the exact same way and at the exact same time as everyone else, allowing them to place more importance on school and enjoy it more. It also reduces anxiety, and we learned during our tour that there are a relatively high number of students with anxiety at PSII, as this is a preferable learning environment for them. It is also great for students with other responsibilities or commitments outside of school, as they are able to work on their own schedule. For example, some students are in a pre-professional ballet program outside of school that requires them to be away for half of the day, but they are still able to finish their schooling without missing out on anything essential, as they would in a typical high school. Many of these students would probably have to be home schooled, but this way they are still able to be in a school with their peers. After the tour was finished, I found myself wishing I had an opportunity to go to a high school like this. If I was taught how to navigate life and learn independently the way those students have, I think the transition into “the real world” of adulthood, choosing a career, and understanding what to do after graduation would have been much less daunting. Some of the learners at PSII have even started businesses before they graduate, many steps ahead of so many people that age.

I left this trip feeling inspired and excited about education. Although I will likely not be teaching at a school anything like PSII (at least not for a while), I have seen what real inquiry and innovative learning looks like, and I will be able to bring some of these ideas into my own teaching. Inquiry is something being greatly encouraged by the new BC curriculum, and I think this is a challenging concept for many people to understand, including myself. I have had to do a number of inquiry projects throughout my degree already, all of which have been different and feel more like research projects than inquiries. This is mostly because it is a relatively new concept that we need to change and adapt as we understand what it really means. The learners at PSII seem to truly understand what it means, and I am grateful that I got to witness it.

I encourage you to check out the PSII website at https://learningstorm.org/ and to watch this TED Talk from the founder of PSII, Jeff Hopkins:

Video Conferencing

/ Kaitlyn Schafer / Leave a comment

This week in our EDCI 336 class, we got to have a video conference with Ian Landy, who is a principal in Powell River, and has so much great information to share about technology in education, particularly in regards to assessment and e-portfolios. I found what he said about assessment very interesting and inspiring, and it makes me more eager to get into a classroom and use tools such as FreshGrade to provide ongoing, formative assessment to my students and their parents. I could go on to discuss more about this, but this post will be primarily focused on video conferencing as an educational tool.

For this class, we were not in our usual room, but a room that was built specifically for video conferencing, with two screens, cameras, and microphones permanently set up. It was a bit intimidating at first having the camera zoom in on me whenever I spoke, but it was a very intriguing setup.

Being able to have a guest speaker in our class who was hours away from us was really great, and it got me thinking about the possibilities for when I am teaching. I am sure that we would not have been able to hear from Ian Landy if it weren’t for video conferencing, but the convenience of speaking to a class from work or home made it possible. Thinking of who to invite as a guest speaker for a class becomes a much bigger question when you don’t have to consider the limits of how far a person might be, what their schedule allows for, or what it could cost to have them travel to where your class is. There are experts all over the world who could have a discussion with a class on what they’re learning. As a teacher, I will keep this in mind and consider what might be possible for the units and lessons I am teaching. There are many great YouTube videos of experts doing lessons for students, but it is a different experience when it is in real time and the students are able to have a discussion with the expert and ask them questions.

I don’t imagine I will ever have a classroom with the same setup as the video conference room at UVic, but even a webcam for a Skype call would work well. I have to admit, I was distracted a lot of the time by the screen showing the class, so I think I would even prefer not have that screen for a class of my own, to limit that distraction. No matter the type of classroom I have, or what equipment may be in the school for video conferencing, I will do my best to bring this technology into the classroom, as I believe it is an engaging way to enhance student learning.

EdCamp, an “Un-Conference”

/ Kaitlyn Schafer / Leave a comment

This word cloud was created by the campers at EdCamp Columbus 2012.
Embedded From: https://edcampcolumbus.wordpress.com/

For a large portion of today’s EDCI 336 class we learned about EdCamps, and as a class we did a mini EdCamp of our own. I am really excited about this concept, and hope to participate in more EdCamps, as well as facilitate activities like this in my future classroom.

To start the process, blank sheets of paper were placed on the board, and everyone was invited to write a topic of interest related to education on a sheet of paper, until all of the papers were filled. We were each given three small dot stickers, which we placed on the three topics we were most interested in. The three papers with the most stickers on them were the chosen topics for our un-conference. The class split into groups based on which of the three topics they were most interested in discussing. Once in a group, we got into a circle and discussed the topic for about 15 minutes. This was a short amount of time, but was all the time we had during class. Often EdCamps will take an entire day, and there can be multiple sessions, each with enough time to really get into the topics chosen.

The group I was in discussed the topic “discussions with parents,” which is something that many of us in the cohort are anxious about once we get into teaching. Despite the fact that everyone in the group is at the same level in the education program and none of us are teachers yet, we all brought different experiences and knowledge to the discussion, making it a very valuable experience. It was unstructured, there was no expert, and yet even in fifteen minutes, I feel that I have gained knowledge on the subject and I feel more confident that when I become a teacher, I will be more equipped to handle challenging situations I may have with parents, or any conflicts that may arise.

I have been to academic conferences before, and while I enjoyed them, I feel the best, most engaging and enriching moments were the ones that felt like a more natural discussion about the topics at hand. The informal and non-hierarchical nature of these discussions allowed for them to be more open and collaborative, which made it much easier to remain engaged and be more invested in the conversation. This is what EdCamp is like throughout the entire process, and because of this, I think I can learn a lot from it. There is a time and place for experts to share their knowledge while others listen, and I completely see the value in that, but I think conferences are so stuck in this format that there isn’t enough value placed on collaboration and open discussion.

I will be keeping my eyes open for EdCamp events in my area throughout my career so that I can keep learning from and with my fellow educators. In addition to this, I am going to do my best to incorporate this style of activity into my future classroom. This is a great way to begin an inquiry project about any subject, and it can help students get ideas about what they are interested in. It will also be helpful as a teacher to see what the students are interested in and what they may need help with once they start their projects. With the younger grades, it may need to be a bit more structured, but generally I think it could follow the same format. I am looking forward to trying this in a classroom, and I am hoping an EdCamp event may be held in Victoria sometime soon!

Documentary: Most Likely To Succeed

/ Kaitlyn Schafer / Leave a comment
Embedded From: http://eduhome.tugg.com/blog/most-likely-to-succed-education-in-the-21st-century/

This week in our class, we watched Most Likely To Succeed, which was quite an inspiring film. It follows the story of a handful of students at High Tech High in The United States, which is an innovative school designed to challenge our current traditional educational model. In 1893, a school system was built to serve the industry and military needs of that era, but over 100 years later things have changed, and our education system needs to start following along with those changes. Rather than teaching students the same information as everyone else in the country, at the same pace and in a competitive fashion, we should be teaching students to collaborate, inquire, and challenge themselves as individuals.

I found the ideas in the film intriguing and exciting. As a soon-to-be teacher, I hope I will get to experience many moments like the ones shown at High Tech High, where the students are working together productively, and are genuinely very interested in their projects. The energy emitted by the students in the film appeared to be that of a pure love of learning that I think all teachers hope for in their students.

Unfortunately, I see problems with this system as well, mostly because of the current traditional system we are in. These students are not taught a standard curriculum, they don’t take standardized tests, and they aren’t graded in the same way that most students are. While these are all positive aspects of these students’ education, it is still cause for concern once they graduate and many of them are thrown into the world of university where they are expected to write tests, memorize facts, and build off of knowledge that is part of the standardized high school curriculum. This is even more of an issue in The States where students have to do well on the SATs if they want to be accepted into most colleges and universites.

We are living through a time where things are changing in education, with new curricula, innovative teaching methods, and a greater understanding of how to teach in a changing world full of diverse individuals, which is great. Until these changes happen on a larger scale however, I believe some students may be at a disadvantage for not being taught using a system that the majority of society still places the most value on–the traditional system from 1893.

I wish I could think of a solution to this problem, but it is quite the complex issue to tackle. Hopefully during my career as a teacher I will see a greater shift to this new collaborative and individual model for education, and until then I will promote these values in my own teaching the best I can with the boundaries I am given.