Category Archives: EC&I 830

Who is Responsible for Our Student’s Digital Citizenship?

This week I decided to draw a bit of attention to each of the prompts we were given. To begin, I wanted to fully understand and define ‘digital citizenship’. MediaSmarts define it as the,

“ability to navigate our digital environments in a way that’s safe and responsible and to actively and respectfully engage in these spaces.”

I feel that since children nowadays are exposed to technology at such a young age and don’t really know a world without it, they aren’t fully aware of all the negative aspects and danger that can come with it. Technology has provided us with incredible opportunities and advanced ways of interaction and learning, but it comes with a lot of responsibility. Responsibility that has to be learned at a young age in order for students to not take advantage of it or use it in a negative way. 

In Kristen Mattson’s book, Digital Citizenship in Action, she does an excellent job of bringing awareness to how students can learn how to positively and appropriately interact in online communities. Her book guides educators through the process of supporting students to creating a safe space, acknowledging their online voices, becoming aware of their roles in these online communities, participate in a responsible and respectful manner, how to make connections and engagement, along with using the internet in a meaningful way. Helping our students to better understand their role within a digital community holds great value, especially for educators who are new to implementing this into their classroom.

Although I think this book has great resources and there are many things I will put into my own teaching practice. I do think digital citizenship should be having a stronger influence from the parenting side of things, rather than the classroom setting. Reminders of how to interact online and what is acceptable and appropriate should come from the parents. In a way, it is like reminding your child to be respectful and kind citizens in the real world. Of course it is good to be discussed and addressed in the classroom, especially when technology is being used as a tool in our education. However, I personally believe the way your child behaves on the internet is a direct reflection on what the parent has educated them on, including their own approach of how they interact on these online communities. All of us adults are influencing our younger generations, so let’s all make sure we are being the best examples for them & their learning!


There’s an app for that…. Wait! Don’t Click!

Since class last week I’ve been left wondering a few questions about my student’s online presence and my own kids for the matter.

  1. How much time do you spend online in a day?
  2. What activities are you spending your time on?

tablets and smartphonesSo I polled my students.  Was I shocked by their answers when asked in class, not really, but I was a little taken back at the sheer amount of time some of them were spending online.  Some students were spending upwards of 5-6 hours when they got home, being “online.” For the most part, it was all entertainment related.  Youtube, Netflix, watching reels (who hasn’t got sucked into losing an hour of their life for no reason at all?), and gaming were at the top of the list.  Then came different social media channels such as Snapchat and Instagram.  A few were continuing to work on coding projects they had been building during coding club at school.

So What?  They spend time online.

My question from all of this would be then, at what age is it appropriate for children to start developing an online presence?  I think of my own two kids and when they were handed over their own technology for the first time.  At the time, iPads were all the rage but come on, I’m not about to give my children something worth that much money (they tend to break things), and there it was, the Amazon Fire Tablets.  They were ages 4 and 7 at the time.  Soon they wanted things like Messenger Kids, so they could connect to their friends, and apps downloaded to play games on.  Was it worth it?  The car rides with no fighting, being able to call distant family members with video chats and making them be responsible for something of their own, were all benefits.  A couple months in we had to intervene and put down more clear rules about use of the tech, hours of use, and so on.  Fast forward 4 ½ years and three new replacement Fires and we are back at square one again, this time with cell phones.

Since moving from a K-12 school to an Elementary setting they way I look at digital citizenship and teaching it in my classroom has drastically changed.  The students I’m teaching are quite like my own two children.  So, what do they need to be made aware of as they continue to develop their own online presence?

First thing we always discuss is online safety.  What information should they be sharing and with who.  What sites and apps are safe to use, and how to properly navigate them.

be real, humble, kind denSecondly, we need to educate them on being a responsible citizen online as well as in the classroom and community.  As an educator, it is important to teach students that having online presence also carries responsibility and accountability for what is said and posted online.  Being kind online with comments, liking and celebrating others posts, shows an ability to foster and build relationships with one another.  Creating an online community can help students build their self-esteem and allow them to connect with other people who share similar interests.

Lastly, I always remind my students to treat one another how they would like to be treated.  In a small community, relationships don’t always come easy for all students.  Your actions and words used can either have a positive or negative impact on others.  Once it is posted online, it’s only one screenshot away from being permanent.

A great resource to use in your classrooms to teach digital safety is a Google program called Be Internet Awesome.

It has a full curriculum to follow with appropriately level graded content and an interactive game for students to play called Interland.  The game takes the students through a series levels: Kind Kingdom, Tower of Treasure, Mindful Mountain, and Reality River.

Screenshot of Game.

What tools have you found to be beneficial in your classrooms when teaching Digital Citizenship to your students?

Grade 10_11 BC Curriculum

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AI Technology: Cheating tool or my new personal assistant?

One day last month my husband was playing around with ChatGPT and he asked me to enter a prompt. I didn’t know a whole lot about this technology, other than what he had explained to me at that moment, and I wasn’t sure what to ask it to do; however, knowing I would be taking EC&I 830 in a few weeks, I asked it to write a 1000 word essay on the contemporary issues in Educational Technology. In literal seconds, ChatGPT produced a five-paragraph essay with compelling information about the topic. Strangely enough, the essay didn’t make any mention of the impact AI would have on the future of education. For as good as ChatGPT was at creating a well-written essay, it may have missed a fairly key point related to current issues in this field. I was honestly blown away by the AI tools Alec shared with us last week. My initial reaction to this technology was pure and utter amazement. Again, I knew very little about ChatGPT and AI technologies before starting this course but after seeing them in action, I was intrigued to learn more. After realizing the possibilities, I immediately signed up for a few accounts and started trying them out.  The first AI technology I attempted to use was Tome. I prompted it to create a slideshow to promote the Balfour Arts Collective to incoming students. This task was on my to-do list for an upcoming Information Night we are hosting in February, so I thought Tome could save me a few hours of work. For whatever naive reason, I didn’t think this tool would know anything about the topic I selected, but in a matter of seconds it produced a totally usable slideshow with a pretty convincing sales pitch. I mean, after reading it, even I was convinced I would be a great fit for the program. Of course, the product needed a few edits, but overall Tome completed this task in record time. Check out the rough version of the slideshow here. Not too shabby for 20 seconds of work. The next thing I played around with was ChatGPT. I am a dance educator and I wondered how this tool might be used by my students (or myself) to create dance choreography. Knowing that ChatGPT wouldn’t be able to create a visual representation of movement, I wondered if it could provide a description of a dance, similar to how I write out my choreography when I want to remember it (i.e. step touch R/L x2, pose for 4 counts arms in a v, walk forward for 4 counts R/L/R/L, walk back for 4 counts R/L/R/L). Here is my initial prompt and the response I got: Not exactly what I was hoping for. So after talking to my colleagues and trying their suggestions, I tried again prompting ChatGPT to use a form of dance notation called Labanotation. This yielded an interesting response. Check it out: So, although this AI-generated “choreography” is not super innovative (maybe even a bit cheesy), ChatGPT did a fairly decent job of describing a dance phrase that could be followed and performed by someone with a basic understanding of dance. Pretty cool if you ask me. But more importantly, this got me thinking…a dance choreography AI tool could be my claim to fame and my next million-dollar idea. Now I just need to find someone with the tech skills to make that happen.  After testing out a variety of prompts in ChatGPT, I have to admit I LOVE IT. Initially, I viewed AI tools as something students would use to cheat on essays (this article provides an interesting overview of these challenges), but I never thought of them as tools I could use to make my job as an educator easier. Over the past few years, I have struggled to find a work-life balance; new tasks are often added to teachers’ plates with no additional time to complete them. But the idea that these AI tools could save me time with prep and marking is pretty amazing. Of course, as teachers, we will need to learn to navigate this technology and understand the impact it will have on the subject areas we teach. We will also have a responsibility to teach our students how to use these tools in appropriate ways. But for right now, I’m just going to enjoy having a few more minutes of free time thanks to this amazing new technology. 

Artificial Intelligence, Actually Indisposed

Listing to Dr. Couros talk and walk us through a variety of online Artificial Intelligence tools was a trip. I felt like a bobble head, just nodding my head from side to side in a range of emotions – wonder, awe, disbelief, amazement, even a little bit of fear. When exploring ChatGPT, I was amazed

Continue reading Artificial Intelligence, Actually Indisposed

To AI and Beyond!

This whole use of AI truly is mind boggling to me.  The different sites and apps shared last week, was pretty eye-opening to what new technologies exist out there.  Type ChatGPT into a search engine and it feels like there are articles being released hourly on the benefits and negative of it.  USA Today, released an article today with just that.  As with all new technology or learning materials for that matter, there’s always going to be an initial learning curve that has to happen.  How can we properly use the AI productively and to our advantages as educators?  Where will this training take place?  What would it look like?  Let’s face it, it’s here now and students are already using it, so why fight it.  Embrace it for its many uses and find a way to educate teachers on how to use it first.

Screenshot of Van Gogh’s “Self-Portrait with Grey Felt Hat” 1887

As a visual artist and art teacher, I think the use of Dall-e will be a powerful tool for students to plan with.  I remember the first time I visited a virtual online art gallery, such as the Van Gogh collection.  The ability to zoom in and out of paintings for detail, truly allowed you to appreciate the different brush strokes and intricacies of artworks closeup.

Often times I incorporate art into my other subjects and students get frustrated with it.  “I’m not creative,” or “I can only draw stick people,” are often complaints I hear.  This would be a perfect resource for them to harness.  Search for ideas that relate to the topic and have some fun with it.

I am looking forward to continuing to sample these different AI websites and see how I can adapt them for my classroom needs.  The possibilities are endless, yes it is scary how it could be used and manipulated by students, but I would hope that it becomes more beneficial than harmful to the educational community.

 

 

 

You Mean We’re in The Future?

To put it simply, I was absolutely speechless & mind blown. I honestly hadn’t heard about ChatGPT or AI before last class and it definitely came as a shock. After I was finally able to process what I was being told, I was quite intrigued. I wanted to know more! I definitely enjoyed the class and all that Alec shared with us, it was more than I had imagined. 

That was my initial reaction, but now I’m trying to sort through my reaction and decide how I feel about it. I’m happy to come to the conclusion that I wasn’t completely terrified for our future. Technology seems to have that impact on me, especially when it is something new & exciting and I can’t keep up with learning all the ins and outs. I was still intimidated by it and a little scared of the negative impact it could potentially leave on our society and all our future learners. 

On that note, I was relieved to feel something more than just fear. A side of excitement, wonder, and curiosity. A side I rarely experience when it comes to technology. I was intrigued by everything being shared with us and the way this could also have positive impacts on our classroom and our student’s learning. I honestly believe it can help to push us to new levels of learning and understanding. I think this can help our students to learn and explore on their own and has potential to be helpful in areas of inquiry based learning as well . 

This excitement is not something I thought I would feel this quickly in the course. I imagined it being a struggle of pushing away my fears and doubts. Yet here I am, being told there is this new, fancy aspect of technology that can create anything you could possibly think of (and more) and here I am excited for its potential. I hope I’m not jumping the gun and it ends up back firing. I hope this excitement sticks around and I’m able to properly and professionally implement this into the classroom; and as quoted from Star Wars, “You can’t stop change any more than you can stop the suns from setting”, isn’t that the truth!