Can you hear me now? Think Different. Because you’re worth it. I’m lovin it. Just Do It.
Hi everyone… this blog starts off another Ed Tech course, the fourth course in my Masters of Curriculum and Instruction journey. In the past year, I have taken two Ed Tech courses and have gained much confidence in employing educational technology in my classroom. Last semester, I began teaching my students about digital citizenship using the Common Sense Education series of lessons and curriculum. I’m not only looking forward to our upcoming series of Great Ed Tech Debates, but I am excited to see my classmates debate both sides of the assigned controversial Ed Tech topics.
I started off this blog differently than usual. I usually begin by reading the prompt and start structuring my thoughts. This time, I was compelled to think of a REALLY catchy blog title first. One that would grab your attention and make you want to read my blog. I began by thinking about some famous company taglines. Just Do It. Think Different. I’m Lovin It. Can you hear me now? And, Because you’re worth it. Strangely, as I read the taglines, I immediately began making connections to my tech life and my Ed Tech life. More on the taglines and my reflections in a bit…
These days…
These days, the ways I use technology are personal, as I am on maternity leave. I use my iPhone to check the news, check the weather, check my email, connect with family, friends, and classmates through text messaging, FaceTime and Discord. I take photos – way too many photos of my kiddos. I use technology to learn online. I watch TV and stream shows. I listen to music. I dabble in some online shopping. And finally, I occasionally check my new Twitter and Instagram accounts. I have become more engaged on these two platforms as part of these masters courses. I’m sure there are other ways I am using technology too.
Photo by Content Pixie: https://www.pexels.com/photo/yellow-mug-besides-laptop-2967810/
Tech and Taglines
As I thought about the taglines that stood out to me, I began to make some connections to my past tech life and my current tech life.
Verizon Wireless – Can you hear me now?
This tagline brings back memories of past technologies that have shaped my life. From the first computer my family owned that I used a joystick to play games on, to the new and colourful iMac’s in my elementary schools computer lab, to the trendy baby blue peanut phones my friends and I had, and finally to the first wireless home phone whose battery would die after a couple of hours chatting with my friends. Oh how far technology has come in my lifetime… good times.
Apple – Think Different
The apple craze. Oh yes. As I finished high school and began university, Apple began its rise in popularity. From iPods (RIP), to iMac’s, MacBooks and iPhones. I, along with my friends, were hooked. We could listen to music, research, and begin to connect on a whole new level. Apple products were the epitome of cool. I spent my hard-earned part-time job money buying Apple products.
McDonald’s – I’m Lovin It.
Who doesn’t love a McDonald’s meal once in a while? This tagline has served throughout my life, but has the most meaning right now. My master’s journey has coincided with me being a new mom and navigating being a new’ish teacher, having moved schools and teaching assignments each year. Although life is crazy and moving way too fast, I am loving every minute. ‘I’m Lovin It’ is the perfect tagline to describe my crazy tech-enhanced life. I love the conveniences that technology affords me. I also recognize my privilege in having access to technology and being able to enjoy how it serves me.
Nike – Just Do It
This is one motto that sticks. Just Do It. As a busy wife, mom and teacher, I often put things on hold or say “I’ll do that later.” This tag line reminds me to prioritize spending time with my family and make memories. Technology makes it possible to do things, but it can also get in the way. I have to check myself when I am on my phone and my toddler son tugs at me for attention. Whether it means heading out for a walk, going to play at the park, or planning a summer vacation to visit some ballparks, life is short and this tagline reminds me to put down my phone, break away from reading the news and connect with the people I love.
L’Oreal Paris – Because you’re worth it.
This tagline reminds me to take care of myself by both using technology and putting it away. Many of us are guilty of putting our needs on hold, students included. Social media and other technologies can sometimes pull people into a negative world of being sedentary, binge-watching, scrolling, and comparing ourselves to others. Self care is essential. You are worth it. We need to make an effort each day to exercise, go for a walk, and take the time to take some deep mindful breaths. I encourage you, the one reading my blog, to do some self care today.
My Personal Tagline – Digitally Lit
In slang terms, when something is “lit” it means it is awesome, cool, or exciting. Lit is also the abbreviation for the terms literate and literacy. Through the Ed Tech courses I have taken this year, I am learning ways to become more digitally literate myself, and ways I can encourage my students to become digitally literate. Circling back, I have also come to realize that I am not as cool or awesome in the digital world, as I once thought. I have fallen behind. I was once cool, Apple-loving and pretty tech savvy. Now, my iMac is old and slow, my iPod rests in peace in the bottom of my nightstand, and I sport a Dell laptop (whomp whomp). MacBooks aren’t in the budget for teachers.
As someone who is not an overly active participant on social media, this reflection of taglines has me realizing that I am in need of an update… or regular updates. Staying up to date with technology is important for the sake of my teaching and my students. I’m looking forward to learning, critically examining, and honing my Ed Tech skills in this class.
Let me know what you think…
Do any famous taglines resonate with your use of technology (past or present)?
Do you connect with any of the taglines I mentioned?
For my major project, I chose Option 2 – Personal Journey into Social Media. As I have mentioned before, in my past, I have not been an overly active user of common social media. I have never been up on the latest social networking apps. I have never had Facebook, I have not been on TikTok and I do not use SnapChat. Prior to this course, my social media experience was limited to Pinterest and a bit of Instagram.
Intention
For this project, I chose to dive into two apps, Seesaw and Instagram, as well as review Common Sense Educations Grade 2 and Grade 3 Digital Citizenship Curriculum. I originally thought about exploring the application Edmodo, as I was excited to try something new. When I began planning my project, I started to think about the logistics of introducing a new app to my students and families. I also began to think about the other requirements that I would need to check off, like seeking permission from my administrators, exploring the app personally and then signing my students/families up on the app. I began to question whether this was the right app for me to explore. Additionally, knowing that I was about to go on maternity leave added another element of uncertainty. I made the decision to stick with using Seesaw, an app that I have used for a couple of years, but hadn’t really explored its full potential. Lastly, my students and families were already familiar with Seesaw.
SEESAW/Common Sense Education Research
Introduction
My previous experience with Seesaw was using the app to communicate with families, posting photos and videos of student learning (process and product), and also posting learning activities while my classroom was learning online due to COVID. Like all teachers during online learning, I quickly learned how to add lessons and activities for students, search for lessons and ideas and communicate through the app. I had no formal training. It was just learn as you go.
Privacy/Terms of Use
This is a shortened version of Seesaw’s Terms of Service. Please refer to the website for the full terms and conditions.
Seesaw Terms of Service
1. Seesaw
The terms of service are for all users including those who are underage. Seesaw may update the Terms from time to time at their sole discretion.
2. Privacy
Seesaw takes protecting security and privacy seriously and they have put a number of measures in place to protect the integrity of users information. For more information, see Seesaw’s Privacy Policy.
3. Consent Requirements for Children
Online service providers provide notice and obtain parental consent before they knowingly collect personally identifiable information online from children younger than 13. Seesaw requires teachers, schools, or districts to obtain advance consent from parents or guardians whose children under 13 will be using the app.
Teachers, schools, or districts can satisfy this requirement by getting consent as part of a school-wide technology consent process they already have in place. Additionally, they can use Seesaw’s sample consent form.
4. Creating a Teacher Account or Class
Teachers or school administrators are the only ones permitted to create a class. Once the class is created, teachers can invite students, additional faculty, parents, and guardians to the class. Teachers control who can upload, view, comment on, and share student work and they can change these permissions at any time. As a teacher, when you create a Seesaw class, you must ensure that:
any students you add to your class are current students in your class
any additional teachers you add to your class are authorized by your school to access student data
you will use Seesaw only for lawful purposes and you will abide by applicable laws and school and school district policies
you will treat Seesaw as an extension of the classroom and take reasonable steps to confirm that students are using Seesaw appropriately
you will take reasonable measures to protect access to student data
you will only invite parents or guardians (collectively, family members) to view student journals and upload their contact information only with their prior consent.
you will protect your class QR code so that access to student journals and class journals is limited only to invited students and family members.
5. Creating a Family Member Account
Teachers can authorize family members to view information in their child’s journal. Family members will ensure that while using Seesaw, they agree that they are the parent or legal guardian of the student and are permitted to have contact with the student. If they are not the parent or legal guardian, they agree that they have explicit consent from the parent or legal guardian of the student to create a family account and access the student journal.
Family members will only be able to access journal entries in which their student has been tagged. They may see other students’ journals if their child is tagged with another student, as in a group project.
6. Creating a Student Account
Students may use Seesaw only if their parent or legal guardian has given permission to the teacher or school. Students agree to use the app only if they have been given a join code or have otherwise been invited to use Seesaw by their teacher.
Seesaw is an extension of the classroom. As such, students agree to use the app in a manner that is appropriate to the classroom and only for lawful purposes.
7. Submissions to the Activity Library
Activities teachers create are private to their accounts by default, however, teachers may choose to publish activities they create to the public Community Activity Library or an Activity Library managed by their school or district.
Student responses to activities are not shared in the Activity Library.
8. Consent to Receive Communications
By signing up for the Seesaw, you agree to receive communications from Seesaw, including text (SMS), email, and/or push notifications. You can opt out of notifications.
9. Your Intellectual Property
Seesaw allows you to store or share content such as texts, files, documents, graphics, images, music, software, audio, and video. Students and their schools own all student data added to the app including personal information, metadata, or content directly attributable to a student user.
10. Seesaw’s Intellectual Property
All content on Seesaw like logos, trademarks, copyrights, domain names, or other distinctive brand features is protected by copyright, trademark, and other intellectual property laws and is the exclusive property of Seesaw and its licensors. Users are granted a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable license to view, copy, and display Seesaw content.
11. Copyright Policy
Seesaw respects copyright law and expects its users to do the same. To learn more please review the Copyright Policy.
12. Third Party Service Providers
Seesaw may allow you to access third-party websites or other resources, for example when a teacher includes a link to an instructional YouTube video in an activity. They provide access only as a convenience and are not responsible for the content, products, or services on or available from those resources or links displayed on such websites. Users acknowledge sole responsibility for and assume all risk arising from use of any third-party resources.
13. Prohibited Activities
Seesaw takes measures to monitor, log, and block content that violates their policies. They are not obligated to monitor access to or use of the Seesaw or to review or edit any content. See the website for a list of prohibited activities.
14. Account Suspension and Termination
Seesaw reserves the right to suspend or terminate accounts associated with users who engage in any of the prohibited activities described.
15. Account Transfer
If you’ve signed up as a teacher with a school-provided email address, and your school later signs up for a Seesaw school account, we may transfer your account to be under the management and control of your school.
16. Abandoned Accounts
Seesaw reserves the right to permanently delete accounts that have not been accessed by the account holder for a period of more than one year..
17. Subscriptions
Teachers have the option of purchasing a subscription to use the Seesaw.
18. Warranty Disclosure
Users agree to use Seesaw at their own risk.
19. Indemnity
You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Seesaw from any and all claims, suits, actions, losses, costs, damages, and any other liabilities, including attorneys’ fees.
20. Limitation of Liability
Seesaw will not be liable to users for incidental or intangible losses, along with a long list of other reasons listed on the website.
21. Governing Law and Disputes
These Terms and any action related thereto will be governed by the laws of the State of California.
22. Informal Dispute Resolution
Seesaw wants to address your concerns without litigation or other formal proceedings.
23. We Both Agree To Arbitrate
This section applies to United States users. See website.
24. Feedback
Seesaw welcomes feedback and suggestions. Users can email them at help@seesaw.me at any time.
25. Entire Agreement
These terms make up the entire agreement between users and Seesaw Learning, Inc., and supersede any prior agreement.
26. Contact Information
Seesaw Learning, Inc.
180 Montgomery St, Suite 750
San Francisco, CA 94104
help@seesaw.me
Seesaw’s Usefulness in Education
In my opinion, Seesaw is a powerful tool teachers, students and families can use to enhance their learning. The app has many user-friendly features that appeal to young learners, their teachers and their families. Seesaw is a safe place where students can share their learning, all while being moderated by the teacher.
Usage
I started the major project by creating lessons on Seesaw surrounding digital citizenship using the content from Common Sense. Lesson 1 – We the Digital Citizens was a Grade 2 introductory video and song to introduce my students to being good digital citizens. Along with the digital, Seesaw lesson, I used the slides in class to teach and reinforce the concept of digital citizenship. Overall, the learning on this topic spanned over about one week during my literacy group rotations. Below is a look at the first lesson I created in Seesaw, as well as some of my students’ responses.
Lesson 1 – We the Digital Citizens
Screenshot of Seesaw Lesson #1
Student Response #1
Student Response #2
As I began creating the lessons, I learned about the Seesaw Icon Shortcuts that teachers can use in the Student Instructions. In order to insert a shortcut, you type the text shortcut with the colons on either side. These shortcuts are super helpful for students who are visual learners, as they see the icon and immediately know what button to press.
In addition to the shortcuts, I also learned that I could add teacher notes. These notes are not visible to students or families, but are visible to other teachers. If a teacher finds my lesson in the Activity Library, they can read the notes. This is where I linked my sources for the lesson, Common Sense Education. This is important to give credit to Common Sense and direct teachers to find additional lesson content.
Lesson 1a – Digital Citizenship Family Activity
Common Sense has a number of Family Resources available, so I decided to make that connection in my Seesaw lessons. Seesaw connects students, teachers and families, so it was only natural to create a family lesson! Bringing learning into the home is an important part of education. We learned from Dr. Mike Ribble that students need to become digitally literate in all forms of technology, and family engagement is a key component of learning about digital citizenship. We, as teachers, can’t assume that parents and families are doing the work of teaching about digital citizenship. This activity will allow families to see what we are learning in the classroom and students can take this opportunity to show their learning to their families.
Screenshot of Seesaw Lesson #1a
Lesson 2: Digital Citizenship Pledge
In this lesson, students will make a digital citizenship pledge and learn that a pledge is like a promise. Through the Saskatchewan Social Studies and Treaty Education curriculum, my students already learn about promises. They learn that the treaties made in different areas of our country are like promises. We Are All Treaty People and we have made a promise to honour the treaties. Lessons like this one on digital citizenship are a good way to reinforce the idea of promises and pledges.
Screenshot of Seesaw Lesson #2
Lesson 3: Digital Tracks
In this lesson, students learn about the digital citizen characters Heart and Arms. Heart and Arms have posted some information about themselves online. Students play the role of detective and view the information on the cards. They answer the questions about the information shared by Heart and Arms. In closure, students learn that even seemingly innocent and harmless posts online with information about pets, hobbies and even secrets are not OK to share, as it leaves a digital trail that cannot be erased.
Screenshot of Seesaw Lesson #3
Lesson 4: Digital Trail
In this lesson that extends on the previous lesson, students learn about digital footprints. They watch the video about digital trails and write about what is OK to share online and what is NOT OK to share online. This lesson aims to get students thinking about their online activities.
Screenshot of Seesaw Lesson #4
Lesson 5: Introducing. Me! A Lesson on Selfies
In this final activity and lesson, students will learn about appearances, assumptions and about what makes them unique. This lesson will also tie in the concept of digital footprints and what is OK to share online. There are two parts to this lesson. In Part 1, students will create a selfie image of themselves that they would like to share online. They are encouraged to think about the way they want others to see them. In Part 2, students will brainstorm the most unique aspects of themselves. What are the things they like, do, or are talented at, that make them unique? Students then redo their first selfie to make it more representative of the things they brainstormed.
Screenshot of Seesaw Lesson #5
Future Pursuits
Unfortunately, I was unable to execute this entire group of lessons in my class, as I left on maternity leave nearly one month ago. Additionally, the last few weeks that I was teaching were consumed with report cards, Student Led Conference preparations and having the incoming teacher shadow in my classroom during my final week. Hence, the experiential learning portion alongside my students with this project was a bit shorter than I anticipated. I am, however, still grateful for the learnings that I have had through using the app and creating my own lessons based on digital citizenship.
Aha! The Blogging Connection…Seesaw Blogs for my Students!
Personally, in this course, I have quite enjoyed stepping out of my comfort zone to write about and share my thoughts in each of the weekly blogs. Along with reading and commenting on my peers blogs, I have found this portion of the class to provide insights and new perspectives as I learned about digital citizenship through the course material, weekly meetings and lessons with Alec Couros and special guest presenters, Dr. Mike Ribble and Steve Boots. I had an Aha moment while thinking about how to wrap up this mini unit on Digital Citizenship using Seesaw. Just like blogging in this graduate studies course, learning to blog through a safe and moderated environment such as Seesaw Blogs would offer my students the opportunity to connect authentically with their classmates and their families.
Seesaw Blogs can be public online or password-protected. Teachers can ensure that student names or class folders are kept private, and last names are always hidden. Teachers moderate all student posts and comments before they go live on the blog. Teachers can also enable or disable blog comments and all comments do require teacher approval.
Source: Seesaw
So, in the future, as a follow up to my final lesson, Lesson 5 – Introducing… Me! A Lesson on Selfies, I am excited to pilot Seesaw Blogs with this lesson and have students share their final selfie with a peer. The students would then write out some assumptions (what the person’s hobbies are, what do they like, etc.) about their classmate based on their selfie. I would be able to moderate comments and if a student posts something that is too critical of their peer, I would be able to address it with them before it is shared. This would be a great way to start off the school year. Successful blogging could also be one of the badges I create (thanks to Durston, for the idea!).
New! – Seesaw Messaging – Coming Summer 2022
While researching and rooting around on Seesaw’s website, I noticed that Seesaw will be getting a new service, Seesaw Messaging in Summer 2022. It appears to be like other “messaging” apps, where students can directly message teachers, or other students that they have permission to message. As an elementary educator, I do see value in this tool, but I would also want to limit its use. I foresee my students sending too many messages, or not using it for educational purposes, but rather for “social” purposes. It could be useful to quickly answer questions, but it could also be time consuming for the teacher to moderate messages being sent amongst students or having young students frequently send non-pertinent messages. I can just imagine the flood of feel-good “You’re the best teacher ever!” messages. My kiddos are the sweetest.
Common Sense Education Review
Overall, I am impressed with the quality of digital citizenship curriculum content provided by Common Sense Education. Here are some of my key takeaways:
It is easy to find the content that is applicable to your grade level.
While the lessons are brief and simple, they are rich with information and are a great starting point for educators looking to teach about digital citizenship.
The content is engaging. My students liked the digital citizen characters.
The curriculum is free for educators.
There are great family resources (more to come on this shortly).
Digital Passport is a series of games aimed at students in Grade 3 to 5. Once students complete the games, they will earn a passport. I did not get to try this out with my class, but knowing that nearly all of my students love games, I am certain this would be a hit!
Workshops from Common Sense Education
One really awesome resource Common Sense provides access to are workshops for parents and caregivers on children’s media use. These six workshops are for families with children up to 8 years old. Teachers and school administrators can facilitate the workshops as learning opportunities for parents and caregivers. All of the resources are provided online including slideshows, videos and tips for hosting any of the workshops.
These six workshops give families tips and tools for nurturing young children’s healthy development in the digital age.
1 – Raising Healthy Kids in a Digital World
In this workshop, families will reflect on how technology has changed in our lifetimes, and discuss the benefits and challenges of raising kids in today’s online world.
2 – Finding Balance with Media and Tech Use at Home
This workshop explores how to establish a healthy balance of activities for children, with and without media and tech.
3 – Choosing High-Quality Media for Your Kids
This workshop highlights the importance of choosing high-quality media content for kids, and provides resources to help families make informed decisions.
4 – How to Make Meaningful Family Connections Using Media and Tech
In this workshop families will learn about the benefits of co-using media with kids, and practice using questioning strategies to strengthen important early childhood skills.
5 – Introducing Online Safety to Young Kids
This workshop explores how to introduce digital citizenship and online safety to young children.
6 – How to Use Media and Tech to Build Life Skills in Young Kids
This workshop focuses on how media and technology can affect key areas of children’s development.
I am not going to list the entire terms of use here for Common Sense Media, but I wanted to highlight this point as it pertains to my use of the content on Seesaw.
2. MATERIALS ON THE SITE AND RELATED RIGHTS AND RESTRICTIONS
The information and materials provided through Common Sense are intended to educate and inform. The materials may be used solely to the extent necessary, as provided in these Terms of Use or as expressly authorized in writing. Content and materials may not be altered or modified in any way.
INSTAGRAM
Introduction
Instagram is a popular social media app where users share visuals surrounding their life. I signed up for Instagram within the last year because I wanted to follow content related to raising my baby. Off on maternity leave, I was a new mom looking for ideas to support my babe in meeting important milestones. My google searches on topics like “how can I help my baby roll over,” and “how do I start to feed my baby solids,” led me to follow two accounts in particular – Milestones and Motherhood and Solid Starts. I highly recommend both of these Instagram accounts if you are looking for tips in this area.
Purpose
When the opportunity arose to choose an app to explore personally, I thought it would be interesting to explore Instagram as a tool for education. Of course, being a Grade 2/3 teacher, I know that my students do not use Instagram. Instagram is a very visual application. Users post content like photos and videos that are highlights of their lives. Most users, I assumed, used Instagram for personal communication and entertainment purposes, and not as much for professional gains. Upon first thought, Instagram did not seem to be a place where I would find value as an educator.
Goal
My research into Instagram involved searching for rich and valuable education content. I wanted to find out if Instagram would be a good place to find resources, tips, and inspiration. As a person who is still very apprehensive about posting content online, especially photographs and videos, I had no intention of posting anything to my account, but wanted to see if I could find educational value in the content presented to me on the app.
Following… Where to Begin?
I began my journey into Instagram by searching for content that would provide me resources. When I searched in the search bar for educational content, I came up short. The app continued to show me content related to raising and feeding my baby. I also searched in the tags, profiles for accounts to follow, but I was disappointed that there weren’t many good accounts coming up.
I turned to Google to find accounts that were aimed at elementary educators. I specifically was looking to follow accounts that had:
Canadian content
Saskatchewan content
Treaty 4/Indigenous content
Inclusive education content
Grade 2/3 content
Resources
Many of the accounts I first found (with tens of thousands of followers) were educators who were broadcasting both themselves and their work, for financial gains through Teachers Pay Teachers. I found that the content being posted on many of the teacher accounts was about (in order of frequency seen by me):
The teacher themselves
The classroom
Lesson plans
Graphics
Students
I did find it very difficult to find accounts that fit my criteria listed above. After hours of searching, I had only found a few accounts from Canadian teachers, let alone those from Saskatchewan. It was like Instagrams algorithms needed time to process the accounts and content I was searching for. Furthermore, when I went to my feed, Instagram still wanted me to see baby and toddler content and not much else. It wasn’t until the next day that I was able to start seeing education content!
Some of the accounts I decided to follow, among many others, include:
Indigenous Educators
We Are Teachers
Bored Teachers
Madly Learning
Inclusive Inspirations
Get Techy With It
Kesler Science
Fully Booked Lesson Plans
The Hashtag… Duh!
I was disappointed initially in the content Instagram was showing me. I was checking the app daily to see what was popping up in my “verticals.” Quick shout out to Steve Boots for teaching me this and making the algorithms of social media more relatable for a newbie like me. So, I googled once again and this time I came across the article “Ways to Use Instagram to Enrich Your Classroom” by Janelle Cox. In it, I learned that you can extend your learning through educational hashtags. I hopped over to the Instagram app and typed in the search bar #edtech and saw the suggestion #edtechteachers come up. Aha! This was the missing piece. I clicked on it, and sure enough, I began seeing more relateable content in the feed. I hit the follow button. Then I searched #scienceofreading. And WHOA! Content, tips and resources surrounding literacy appeared in my feed. This was going to be way more valuable to me than photos of teachers posing in their cute dresses, fancy heels and in front of their curated, pretty classrooms! Again, I hit the follow button and have been happily connecting and finding new content daily.
Literary Research
I wanted to dive a bit deeper into the motivations of teachers using Instagram. As I mentioned before, I wanted to know if there was more value in Instagram than looking at pictures of colourful bulletin boards and links to fancy worksheets from teachers looking to profit by selling their work? So, why are teachers using Instagram?
In the article, “How and why are educators using Instagram?” Carpenter et. al. state that few studies have actually explored Instagram use by teachers for the purpose of learning, community, or teacherpreneurship, unlike many studies focused on teachers using Facebook and Twitter. Just like we discussed in class, the researchers also noted that educator professional identity is a factor when using social media sites. They acknowledged that some mixing of personal and professional identities can be necessary to develop online relationships between educators.
In an online survey, the researchers looked at finding out how and why teachers were using Instagram. Participants in the study noted that they began using Instagram for personal reasons. Nearly 88 percent of respondents stated that they used Instagram to find ideas and content posted by other educators. Only 35 percent of respondents claimed to share their own ideas or content on the app. Teachers also noted that they would comment on posts to help build a sense of community and encourage other educators.
In addition, some participants described ways in which their Instagram use served to combat professional isolation.
“For example, one teacher who did not feel much kinship with her building colleagues commented, “I have needed a dramatically larger pool of teachers in order to find people I have anything in common with.” A Latinx elementary school teacher wrote, “Educators of color oftentimes can be very isolated in their buildings and roles at school. Following other educators of color who are interested in the same areas of education as me helps ease that feeling somewhat.” Instagram thus served as a way for some teachers who can feel isolated to connect with other educators with whom they could identify.”
Carpenter, J. P., Morrison, S. A., Craft, M., & Lee, M. (2020). How and why are educators using Instagram?. Teaching and teacher education, 96, 103149. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2020.103149
This article highlighted some of the positive aspects of Instagram use by educators and helped me to shift my attitude and skepticism towards the app.
Terms of Use
Below is a condensed version of the Terms listed on Instagrams website.
Instagram is a reflection of our diverse community of cultures, ages, and beliefs. We’ve spent a lot of time thinking about the different points of view that create a safe and open environment for everyone.
We created the Community Guidelines so you can help us foster and protect this amazing community. By using Instagram, you agree to these guidelines and our Terms of Use. We’re committed to these guidelines and we hope you are too. Overstepping these boundaries may result in deleted content, disabled accounts, or other restrictions.
Data Policy
I. What kinds of information does Instagram collect?
To provide the Meta Products, Instagram processes information about users depending on how they use the product. They collect the content, communications and other information you provide when using the app like the location of a photo or the date a file was created.
information about the people, accounts, hashtags and pages you are connected to and how you interact with them
how you use Instagram, such as the types of content you view or engage with; the features you use; the actions you take; the people or accounts you interact with; and the time, frequency and duration of your activities. This includes payment information, such as your credit or debit card number and other card information; other account and authentication information; and billing, shipping and contact details.
Things others do and information they provide about you.
Instagram collects information from and about the computers, phones, connected TVs and other web-connected devices you use.
II. How do we use this information?
Instagram uses the information to provide, personalize and improve the app, to personalize content and make suggestions for you. They connect information across the Meta Products. They use it to track location information, provide analytics, promote safety and security, communicate with you, and finally, research and innovate for social good.
III. How is this information shared?
Your information is shared with others in the following ways:
Sharing on Meta Products
People and accounts you share and communicate with
You should consider who you choose to share with, because people who can see your activity on Instagram can choose to share it with others on and off our app.
Apps, websites, and third-party integrations on or using our Products.
Sharing with Third-Party Partners
Partners who use our analytics services.
Advertisers.
Measurement partners.
Partners offering goods and services in our Products.
Vendors and service providers.
Researchers and academics.
Law enforcement or legal requests.
V. How can I manage or delete information about me?
Instagram provides you with the ability to access, rectify, port and erase your data. They store data until it is no longer necessary to provide services and Meta Products, or until your account is deleted – whichever comes first.
VI. How do we respond to legal requests or prevent harm?
We access, preserve and share your information with regulators, law enforcement or others.
VIII. How will we notify you of changes to this policy?
We’ll notify you before we make changes to this policy and give you the opportunity to review the revised policy before you choose to continue using our Products.
Terms of Use
Who Can Use Instagram
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Reflection
Much to my surprise, I have learned a lot from using Instagram this semester. Although I am now on maternity leave, I still like looking through Instagram’s content in my spare time. I do believe Instagram can be a valuable tool for teachers to connect with other educators, find and share resources and have some laughs and fun along the way.
Some of my takeaways:
I am a visual learner, so I enjoy the aesthetics presentation of content on Instagram.
Now that I know how to search and find desired content, the app is easy to use.
You don’t have to post or share content to find value in the app.
The algorithms can get ya! Don’t linger too long looking at unwanted content. I once had a strange video of snakes in a commercial kitchen pop up and I was stunned as to what it was so I lingered on the video reel. The app then kept showing me that video for quite some time.
Well, here it is! Welcome to my Summary of Learning for EC&I 832 – Digital Citizenship and Media Literacy.
This was my first time using Canva Video and overall it was a great experience. I enjoyed exploring the tool and using the features of the program to create this video. If you are looking for an easy-to-use video making tool, I suggest you check it out. There are plenty of free options for you to explore to create engaging videos. And I had a lot of fun making it, so that is always a bonus! I hope you enjoy it.
This week’s class brought up several moral, legal and ethical issues teachers face. To recap this week, we discussed online platforms that are aimed at aiding students in completing assignments or textbook questions (namely Course Hero and Chegg), we also discussed Open Education Resources (online textbooks that are free to access) where Patricia shared that she currently uses an online book for one of her courses and lastly, we also discussed what it means to own your own resources and created content (ie: division right to ownership for those working as learning consultants and selling your personal content on sites like Teachers Pay Teachers).
Teachers in Saskatchewan must follow the Code of Professional Ethics set by the Saskatchewan Teachers Federation (STF). Teachers make ethical decisions in their classrooms everyday and there is not always an easy or straightforward answer. As such, I believe teachers need to consider how the decisions they make impact the functioning of the school, the well-being of their students, and how does the decision support student learning. I’m going to explore one such ethical dilemma in this post.
Chegg and Course Hero
The ethical dilemma I want to discuss surrounds the online platforms Course Hero and Chegg. As an early elementary teacher, this is not an issue that I foresee coming up with my students, but one that I wanted to talk about as it relates to my teaching philosophy. These platforms are certainly more of an issue in middle years, high school and post-secondary education. What piqued my interest on this topic was being reminded of my early university days, where students could search up old midterms and final exams in the U of R Students Union (URSU) online database. Students could get an idea of what a Biology 100 final might look like – what sorts of questions have been asked in the past? The tests could give them insight into how they could study and prepare. So, now, I ask myself this, is it cheating to look at previous course exams provided in this manner? The scanned copies were openly accessible to students online. Surely the professors and university knew these were being shared, so they must have rewritten and changed their exams accordingly.
Cheating versus Learning
As I searched up Chegg to learn more, the main page says “24/7 Homework Help – from test prep to expert explanations, to writing help.” Students can pay a minimum of $18.95/month to get access to this help. The claim on the site says 94% of students say they got better grades with the help of Chegg. Alec mentioned in class that students can ask a question and an expert will answer the question in real time. So the ethical question is – is using Course Hero or Chegg cheating?
The quick and short answer is yes. If you are using a platform like this to take answers (plagiarize) and present them as your own for a class or course, you are cheating and breaking academic integrity. If a student submits a question to this platform that they were assigned for homework, and gets and answer back and is graded on that answer, then yes, that is cheating. In the article titled, “Ethical Issues with Using Technology in the Classroom” posted by Shristy this week, the prevalence of plagiarism today is discussed. With the wide use of search engines and overall widespread availability of knowledge, plagiarism is a serious ethical concern. Thus, it is important that students learn how to validate information and sources and properly cite the intellectual property of others. On the flipside, I do think a platform like Chegg or Course Hero could be beneficial to student learning if used appropriately and acknowledged as a study aid.
The Goal of Student Learning
One of the main goals of educators is student learning. We want to raise confident, respectful and kind humans as well, but we are in the business of learning. So, when thinking about study platforms that could support student learning, we need to look a bit closer. If educators need to design their assessments in such a way that students learn the material, check their answers, can ask questions from a different source and learn an alternative way to solve problems, then that should be acceptable. If a student is willing to go to this length to use a service like this, or even hire a tutor, then the student should be assessed on what they have learned in the end. If the student winds up learning more or solidifying their learning by using a service like this, I consider that a win. I want my students to learn.
I want to be clear, I am not condoning cheating or plagiarism, but if this platform was used by students as a study aid to facilitate, compliment and enhance their learning, I would be ok with it. It would be pretty obvious if a student was crushing all of their homework and assignment questions and then failed when taking a test or summative assessment. I would also be able to gather additional learning evidence from in-class formative assessments to determine a students learning on the topic. Online courses would prove to be another challenge with platforms like Chegg and Course Hero, as students could potentially login and have questions answered in real time during a test, or for a “take-home” type of assignment.
Another example to support my thoughts is using a platform like this is comparable to providing students with exemplars and rubrics designed to guide them in their learning. If you design an assessment and provide students with an exemplar, or show a previous student’s work, the students are able to use those examples to guide their learning. Obviously, again, if they copied the work, it would be cheating. But, in many cases, providing exemplars enhances student work and output because students can see what it takes to do great work, and many will use it to create something even better!
Source: Photo by Andrea Piacquadio: https://www.pexels.com/photo/woman-in-yellow-shirt-writing-on-white-paper-3807755/
Redo, Resubmit, Be a Lifelong Learner
Lastly, I want to acknowledge that there will no doubt be challenges in students having access to platforms like Chegg and Course Hero. Educators will be tasked with assessing student learning in a manner that compliments these types of platforms, if they are to be used. Think of higher level Bloom’s taxonomy learning objectives like creating, evaluating, and analyzing material. Finally, in my undergraduate program, I took an inclusive education class where the professor allowed students to resubmit any and all work. If you had an assignment that you wanted to redo and resubmit for grading, you could. And yes, you could raise your grade in the process. The idea was, if you want to enhance your learning by correcting your mistakes, or further exploring a topic then great! That is what ongoing and lifelong learning is all about. This is what we want our students to do as well.
Please, share your thoughts…
1. What do you think of students having access to platforms like Chegg and Course Hero? Do you think they could be beneficial in supporting student learning?
2. If you are a middle years or high school teacher, have platforms like these been a challenge for you?
Well, I must admit a typical day of reading and making sense of news, information and media looks a lot different for me than it used to, now that I am a full-time teacher and mom. And also now that smartphones have come into our lives. I used to be a news junkie (heck, I still am) reading a printed newspaper each morning (yes, I am that old), and even reading obituaries (a bit weird, right?), and perusing through flyers that came with the paper. Today, living in a rural community, we don’t get printed newspapers anymore, so my news comes from the Apple News+ app (from a variety of sources – CBC News, CTV news, Global news, Reuters to name a few).
My Morning Scroll
Typically, in the morning I will check my emails and scroll through the news app to see what is happening in the world. This course and its weekly topics has me thinking more about how I process this information – what viewpoint is the News+ app algorithm presenting me with today? I am starting to piece together a lot of the course material, from thinking about the media bias chart from a few weeks ago, to thinking about how I critically evaluate the content I consume. I have also started to consider the news of the world at large – when I see information on the war on Ukraine, I am certainly checking the sources first as there is undoubtedly much misinformation and disinformation stemming from the events taking place. It’s not like I am sharing this information publicly, but I don’t want to be reading about mistruths only to find out the truth in due time. The news is really coming at us so quickly.
It chronicled the dangerous and daring work of Associated Press journalists in Mariupol, a city in ruins in Ukraine and their escape from Russians who were trying to stop them from photographing, filming and sharing images from the city. The images that they captured recently in the shelled city have been shared around the world. One that caught my attention was that of a pregnant woman being carried out of a maternity hospital on a stretcher. The journalists later learned that she and her baby died. Opposing information sources claimed that she was an actor and that the images were fake. It is concerning to think of the misinformation and disinformation that people are seeing around the world surrounding the war in Ukraine. If these journalists had not been in Mariupol to document the events taking place, the people being hurt, valuable information would not be reaching the world just yet. We would be left to look at the satellite images coming out of that city right now to prove what is happening. It really is a crazy and dark time to be analyzing such news information.
The article recommended by Cymone this week, Defining “Fake News”, highlights the fact that social media platforms as news sources add an element of popularity which can propagate unverified information quickly to the masses. For example, with each like, share, comment, scroll and article read, the apps push that information out to more people. Thus, non-critical viewers and unwary users, including some students, will be susceptible to information that is unverified and potentially harmful. We are all susceptible to this information and as such we must analyze and validate it to the best of our ability. I’m sure at times we all can be easily persuaded to believe something if we aren’t careful. I have noticed the news articles reporting on the war in Ukraine are using statements like “not yet verified” or “could not confirm,” which highlights the nature of how information is being gathered and shared in times like these.
What do you think?
How do you validate information from news sources, especially surrounding tough topics like the war in Ukraine?
Last week’s topic of literacy is a big one. To me, literacy is more than just being able to read and write to communicate. Today, there are multiple types of literacies including digital/media literacy, physical literacy, financial literacy, mathematical literacy, and even spatial literacy. I connected with Bart, Leah T, Patricia and Christine B’svideo presentation and readings this week. They touched on the importance of media literacy and the imperative we have as educators in teaching students the skills to be media literate like critical thinking, navigating fake news and even emotional literacy as it relates to creating content.
Physical Literacy
A couple of years ago I participated in a University of Regina study titled Preparing for Physical Literacy: Exploring Post-Internship Students’ Understanding of Physical Literacy and its Role in the Saskatchewan Physical Education Curriculum. Prior to participating in this study, I truly hadn’t thought about literacy as it related to physical education. The study wanted to know if recent teachers who had just finished internship felt confident in teaching physical literacy through the Saskatchewan Physical Education Curriculum. At the time, I didn’t recognize physical literacy as being separate from physical education. According to Physical and Health Education Canada, physical literacy is a journey upon which children and youth, and everyone, develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes they need to enable them to participate in a wide variety of activities. This is a life skill that can have immensely positive effects on students and people around them. Source: https://phecanada.ca/activate/physical-literacy. Thus, being physically literate, one is able to move and participate in a wide variety of physical ways and settings to enhance their overall well-being.
Just like simply being physically active does not make one physically literate, I recognize that conventional reading and writing does not make one literate and being active with or on digital platforms, does not make one digitally literate. Today, literacy extends in many directions and languages to address the diversity of our population. Students need to be literate in multiple spheres like I mentioned above in order to adapt to life’s changes and be prepared for a life of learning, gaining knowledge and skills and to essentially keep up with the demands of our world.
Bart’s article “What is media literacy and why does it matter?” states that media’s accessibility and popularity has American’s spending an average of 473 minutes each day consuming media including streaming content. And the daily social media usage worldwide is 145 minutes per day. I would be interested to know how this metric changes in each category including elementary students, middle years students and high school students? This reiterates the importance of needing to teach our students to critically evaluate the content they are consuming.
Algorithmic Literacy
I also found the information on algorithmic literacy an important one worth mentioning. Algorithmic literacy is a new concept stemming from the algorithms that websites and apps use to provide you with media that is specific to you and based on your previous activities and habits. I was thinking about this recently, as my journey with social media has continued over this course. I have been consuming content on Instagram and one day noticed a rather disturbing video of snakes being dropped on a stove in a commercial kitchen. It creeped me out and I wondered why on earth is Instagram showing me this!? I never watch creepy videos – all of the content being shown to me is educational content and parenting content. I wondered… How can I remove this video? I don’t want to see more of these types of videos. I Googled it. Google told me that I can’t remove it from the content feed, but that I need to skip over the undesired content and eventually more content that you do want will fill its place.
As educators, we need to acknowledge algorithmic literacy and teach students to critically evaluate the content being presented to them as these algorithms get smarter and target us with more and more content. Source: https://www.futurelearn.com/info/blog/what-is-media-literacy.
Let me know what you think about this topic:
Have you ever been caught off guard by algorithmic content targeting you?
Do you talk to your students about algorithmic content as it pertains to specific applications?
This week, after Durston, Gerry, Kelly and Gunpreesh’s articles, video and Alec’s presentation, I was left thinking about what type of digital citizen I am, and the one I should be as an educator in my community based on the article What kind of citizen? The Politics of Educating for Democracy by Joel Westheimer and Joseph Kahne. In it, Westheimer and Kahne outline three types of citizens needed to support an effective democratic society. They are the personally responsible citizen, the participatory citizen, and the justice oriented citizen.
The personally responsible citizenacts responsibly in the community and engages in activities like recycling, donating blood, and obeying the law. These citizens have good character, are honest and responsible members of the community (Westheimer & Kahne, 2004).
The participatory citizen is an active member in community events such as efforts to care for people in need, promote economic development and cleaning up the environment. Citizens here need to not only actively participate, butlead the community in organizing such events (Westheimer & Kahne, 2004).
The justice oriented citizen analyzes and understands the connection of social, economic, and political forces to see beyond the surface. This citizen actively seeks out areas of injustice and knows how to effect social change. Justice oriented citizens will improve society by questioning and changing the established structures and systemic issues facing citizens (Westheimer & Kahne, 2004).
When I look at this table and reflect as both an educator and average citizen, I would place myself mostly in the middle as a participatory citizen, with a healthy dose of justice oriented citizenship sprinkled in. I help to organize community events, sometimes I spearhead initiatives in my school and community, and I actively participate in the activities and events of my school and communities. However, when it comes to my online presence, I am not an active participant, nor am I a social activist looking to publicly promote or intervene in social, political, economic, or environmental reform.
A Perfect World
In a perfect world, I would love to be a social media activist, one who has the confidence and prowess to take on the world – the haters, commenters and trolls hiding behind their screens. But, my life as an elementary educator, momma, wife and friend keeps me more than busy enough. Maybe one day as I continue to educate myself through courses like ECI832 and others, I will have the time and opportunity to branch out and take on a more justice oriented role within my community. I recognize that the justice oriented role is one that educators strive to be and hope to instill in their students, however personally responsible and participatory citizens are likely more common. Lastly, I realize that I do not need to take on the WORLD. Even taking a bite out of my community and trying to effect change on a smaller, more personal scale is perfectly acceptable and a good starting point, especially as a person who is cautious and new to actively participating in social media. I think this message is a good one for teachers – start small and start now. Teach your students about digital citizenship. Some amazing resources have been noted in this course already including Common Sense and CIVIX.
In moving forward, I really connected with Durston’s article 3 Ways to Foster Digital Citizenship in Schools and his presentation on badge training for students. I think the idea of using and creating badges for my younger students will be a useful tool to introduce the topic of digital citizenship, but also provide an outline for their learning and behaviour. This would also be a great visual motivator for them – what kid doesn’t love stickers and badges!? This is something I plan to implement in my classroom and fits well with my Major Project. My initial idea is to create a passport of sorts, where students can keep their badge stickers. I am looking forward to seeing my students take ownership of their learning and am looking forward to adding in a little gamification into my teaching. If you are interested in pursuing something similar, check out this article and accompanying video – 5 steps to get started with digital badging. I will keep you posted on how it goes.
I want to hear what you think on these two topics.
And what do you think are some barriers to educators being justice oriented citizens?
In light of the events currently taking place in our world, the significance of digital identity and digital citizenship has become more apparent and significant to me. Here in Canada, the protests taking place over public health measures have divided people. Meanwhile, the threats and acts of war taking place right now in Eastern Europe are beyond terrifying to me. There is so much information being shared online about these events – people are posting, sharing, liking, clicking and consuming the information. I can’t help but wonder how these acts are shaping each of our identities online and how that may impact our futures. Will people be held accountable for the information they share, post and even consume? Will their families be impacted by their online decisions?
I have never been the type to post much of anything online. In fact, this blog is about as far as I have gone in actually posting and sharing information online. I simply do not want to share any of my political views publically, nor do I want any other posts or messages to be viewed politically by anyone online (friends, family, colleagues and those in my community). I have always been very content with not sharing online.
In addition, my introverted nature has made me disinterested in being on social media. I do not want, need or crave attention from others online. It simply does not fill my needs bucket. I do like to read and watch content online, but I do not pour my time and energy into posting or spending copious amounts of time scrolling online, looking at what other people are doing. I much prefer reading and spending time with my family and friends.
During this course, I have really been struggling to post and engage on Twitter and Instagram. I think it is because I struggle with the idea of having my views and opinions “out-there.” I think of the impact that I am having on my students and their families by not being present online. Does it matter to them? What example am I setting by being offline?
Furthermore, in general, access to media has provided children with so much information and content from an early age. My toddler has just clued in to the notion that my phone holds the power to connect with Grandma and Grandpa. He knows that phones play music and videos. He sees people pull out their phones to take pictures and videos and enjoys watching the recordings of himself. He is learning through new skills through technology, but he is also learning about technology. In the Digital Citizenship Education in Saskatchewan Schools document, Sir Ken Robinson is quoted saying that “children are living in the most stimulating period in the history of the earth” (p.3). Digital learning experiences are taking place in many places and by many people at any given time, although not all people have access to technology and there is a digital divide.
Building digital citizenship teaching into my practice is important because our children (and my own) need to become critical users of technology. I feel a responsibility to teach them the skills to be safe and responsible online, because I know not all of my students are not being taught these skills at home. Digital access and digital identity is “real life” for many people today, and we need to be teaching this from an early age.
This past week has been crazy busy! At school, I am preparing for upcoming report cards and benchmarking students. At home, my family and I are busy preparing for the arrival of our newest little addition set to arrive in just under two months. Oh and throw a snowstorm and some sketchy driving commutes in there as well – it was quite the week!
In addition, for this course, I have reflected on our presentation from Dr. Ribble and digital citizenship. In particular what that means for myself, my Grade 2/3 students and my own kids. To give you a quick recap, for my major project, I chose to look into both Edmodo as a tool that I would use in my classroom over the next two months before my maternity leave, as well as utilize and connect with other educators through Twitter.
I began the process of starting up an Edmodo account and adding my students to the platform, but I quickly realized that the program was not going to be a good fit for my students and I. First, I realized that the program would act much like Seesaw, a program that I have already set up in my classroom, but have not utilized much this year. Second, with so many student absences at this time with Covid, illnesses, the cold weather and buses not running, I felt introducing a “new” program to my students would be an added challenge to students and families. So… after much reflection I have decided to tweak the direction of my major project a bit and follow the adage “keep it simple and focus on what matters!”
Since I already have Seesaw set up and my students are familiar with it, I will be using Seesaw to teach my students about digital citizenship through learning activities, student reflections, student comments and collaboration. To get started, I am following the curriculum and video lessons on the Common Sense Education website – particularly the lessons and curriculum under the Digital Footprint and Identity section. Kara, Katherine, Jill and Leah B. mentioned this resource in their video this week and it has some really great information to get educators started in teaching digital citizenship. I found this curriculum outline particularly helpful. It also connects with Dr. Ribble’s Nine Elements of Digital Citizenship which I will touch on shortly.
Seesaw Learning
To start us off on our learning, I have created a lesson called “We the Digital Citizens.” Students watched the digital citizen video, recorded their reflection and also drew pictures to show their learning describing how they can be a good digital citizen. In future lessons, students will be taught to engage in learning with other students by commenting on their work, and collaborating on activities together. The commenting and collaboration part of Seesaw are both activities that I have never done before using the app, so I am excited to see where this project goes!
My project will touch on a number of the nine elements of digital citizenship outlined by Mike Ribble including Digital Etiquette, Digital Literacy, Communication, Security and Rights and Responsibilities.
The main goal of this project is to teach my students about digital citizenship and how we can learn, connect and interact together in a positive way. I am excited to learn alongside them as I navigate the settings and nuances of using Seesaw in this way.
Teachers are looking for ways to meaningfully teach digital citizenship and media literacy as the world is increasingly becoming inundated with technology. Teachers and parents know that students from Pre-K to grade 12 and beyond are influenced by technology. This rapid evolution of available technology is having both positive and negative impacts. And I must add that this is not the case for all students, as not all students have access to devices or the internet. Despite this, there is a certain push and need for education to adapt and change to this new reality of life driven by technology.
This week I have thought about the changes that will impact this generation, Gen Z, and future generations. I think about what life will be like for my toddler son and my second child. What will education look like for them? I imagine that it will be much the same as it is today when my son enters Kindergarten in a few short years, however, I imagine it may look very different by the time he graduates in 2038. How will his teachers be using technology in the classroom? What will learning look like for him?
The new skills as listed in “Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century” are important in helping students become active, informed, and confident participants in our society. They build the foundation not only of traditional literacy, but also research and technical skills, and critical thinking skills.
The new skills include:
Play — the capacity to experiment with one’s surroundings as a form of problem-solving
Performance — the ability to adopt alternative identities for the purpose of improvisation and discovery
Simulation — the ability to interpret and construct dynamic models of real-world processes
Appropriation — the ability to meaningfully sample and remix media content
Multitasking — the ability to scan one’s environment and shift focus as needed to salient details.
Distributed Cognition — the ability to interact meaningfully with tools that expand mental capacities
Collective Intelligence — the ability to pool knowledge and compare notes with others toward a common goal
Judgment — the ability to evaluate the reliability and credibility of different information sources
Transmedia Navigation — the ability to follow the flow of stories and information across multiple modalities
Networking — the ability to search for, synthesize, and disseminate information
Negotiation — the ability to travel across diverse communities, discerning and respecting multiple perspectives, and grasping and following alternative norms.
Jenkins White Paper – MacArthur Foundation. (n.d.). Retrieved January 28, 2022, from https://www.macfound.org/media/article_pdfs/jenkins_white_paper.pdf
Problem Solving and Instant Gratification
Out of these skills, one of the most important is “Play” as it relates to the capacity to problem solve. Teaching students how to solve problems on their own is crucial. I feel many students need to work at this skill. Our world is filled with instant gratification (shopping, watching content, downloading video games etc.) and this certainly has an impact on students. In my experience, some students have trouble with delayed gratification and even transitioning from one task to the next. They want to finish the entire activity or assignment in one swoop.
Furthermore, students speak about how quickly (or slowly) their parcels arrive when they order them online or how they have already watched the latest movie on Disney+. I have had students (and parents) tell me how late they have stayed up playing a game or watching content because they simply can’t put their devices down.
I think that an abundance of instant gratification impacts the ability for students to problem solve and persevere. They are rarely left alone to play, or to become purposefully bored. I look back at my own childhood and the summer days spent at my grandparents farm bored out of my mind. With that boredom came many adventures, engineering feats and fun. Some memorable experiences include gardening, baking, quadding, helping my Uncle’s in the shop, swinging for hours on the playset, engineering small ramps and traps, and even making my own “hot tub” out of a giant Rubbermaid container. These experiences were influential to fostering my interest in engineering and science and my love of nature.
I am certain many kids are having these same experiences today, but I would guess that far too many are spending more time consuming content rather than playing or building. I hear of students who just “watch” others play video games on YouTube, rather than actually playing it themselves. Are they actually gaining any skills by watching? I feel if they were actually playing the game, they would be using problem solving skills. So, what do you think? How would you assess the problem solving skills of your students or maybe your children? If you have been teaching for a while, have you seen a noticeable difference throughout the years?
