Category: EDCI 336 Page 1 of 2
This is a category for the EdTech course. Please add this category in addition to the relevant edtech assignment category(ies).
My very unprepared, rambling voice memo reflection from November 12th (that got cut a little bit short for some reason):
Recorded on the Apple Voice Memo App
Photo by Casey Horner on Unsplash
30-minute Friday afternoon fun flow with my roommate 🙂
Well… I didn’t do any yoga this past week 🙁 I had 98273 assignments due this week (or so it felt), my birthday was on Friday, I had a birthday party/gathering on Saturday, and today (Sunday) it is my best friend Logan’s birthday.
I have been extremely busy and this just kind of reiterates what I wrote in my last post – that keeping a rigid and regular practice just isn’t a priority for me right now. I still am very happy that I’m building a good resource base for when I do have the time though. And I do still practice more than I would if I wasn’t completing this inquiry project. I’ve notice that I am more mindful about when and how often I move my body. I tend to really slow down (requiring more sleep, less socializing, less activity and exercising) in the fall so I am grateful that this project has helped me stay healthy and somewhat active.
Photo by Надя Кисільова on Unsplash
Inspire to Aspire, Aspire to Inspire
Today we had a guest lecturer that has been talked about lots in my other education classes, so I am very happy that I got the chance to hear him speak! One of my favourite sayings “Inspire to Aspire, Aspire to Inspire” fit my feelings and takeaways from his lecture quite perfectly. I think he is doing great work at Oak Bay High and through all his other work, but what really got me was his motivational speaking/presenting skills. I really enjoyed that he didn’t require us to answer questions or share thoughts out loud over Zoom. It actually kept me more engaged and felt like I was in some kind of reflective therapy session. I really dug deep into my brain to pull-out feelings and memories from my previous experiences and how my experiences have shaped my perspectives of education.
I actually have one of Trevor’s books right here beside me (which I checked out from the library), ‘Dive Into Inquiry’. I signed this book out for another class assignment and also out of curiosity because everyone keeps talking about it. I think his ideas around inquiry based learning align pretty much perfectly with my thoughts on it, and because he is a teacher at Oak Bay High, it is easier to see how his ideas and theories can be applied in the public school system (and to all types of schools).
I’m going to have to keep this reflection short (it is my birthday today and it is the busiest week of the semester so far, ah!) but I am going to keep this book signed out (hopefully over the xmas break) so I can “dive” into it fully!
(Photo taken by me of Trevor Mackenzie’s book ‘Dive Into Inquiry’)
Okay so I haven’t been following my plan (which I wrote out in my first reflection post on September 30th). I have been practicing yoga but a lot more inconsistently than I would have liked. But I think I’m beginning to realize that I should want to keep a regular practice, it shouldn’t be forced. I am extremely busy between 6 classes at school, work, recently moving into a new house, requiring more sleep than I usually need as the seasons change, and trying to maintain my social life. And I am borderline broke so I will not be paying for a membership at a yoga studio anytime soon.
In the past two weeks I have had two intentional yoga sessions (appx. 30-minutes) and many half-assed attempts that just result in me doing a ~10 minute stretch and then getting distracted. I still enjoy these mini stretching/yoga/meditation sessions, but I want to stop beating myself up that they’re so short and meaningless feeling. They are still meaningful. I am still moving my body and it feels good. I think that this inquiry project is going to have to surrender to my busy life a bit and just take what it can get. I am still practicing yoga more than I usually would so that is a plus! And I feel like I’ve learned a lot so far.
In the past two weeks:
October 17th – I did yoga for 45 mins with my friend Logan after complaining to him that I need to do more yoga for this project. It was a nice and simple flow that he mostly led. We have done a few classes/workshops in the past where you do yoga with a partner (I think its been called Thai Massage Yoga?), so I am comfortable moving body near or touching his. I am able to go into a much deeper stretch in many positions with the help of another person.
I’ve done quite a few (3-5 times a week) “mini” morning sessions of stretching/yoga/meditation as soon as I wake up. It has been helping me wake up and get out of bed (although I sometimes spend half the time stretching in bed – but I will eventually end up on the floor). I want to continue this.
Earlier today though, something really exciting happened. I was talking to one of my roommates about this inquiry project and she mentioned to me that she has a subscription to Alo Moves and that I can use it anytime I want! Alo Moves is an application with hundreds of videos to follow, that fall under the four headings: fitness, mindfulness, skills, and yoga. They are all different lengths and difficulties. I am so happy about this! I completed one this evening and really liked it – it was called ‘Evening Vinyasa’ (36-minutes). It didn’t feel like I was forcing myself to go something I didn’t want to do. I think from now on I will be practicing at home, either by myself or with the help of Alo Moves. I enjoy following a yoga instructor that isn’t in the room, at random times when I have time in my busy schedule. I don’t want to keep trying to keep an extremely rigid yoga schedule when it’s probably just not possible for me at the moment. I’m going to continue doing “intentional” yoga – whenever I feel like I need to or want to, and hopefully this helps me practice more.
Photo by Fabian Møller on Unsplash
This week we discussed learning design models and also took part in a super interesting ‘EdCamp’ session. The models we learnt about include:
- The SAMR Model
- The TPACK Framework
- Constructive Alignment
I find these models useful because of their visual aspect. It’s hard for me to judge though if I will ever actually use these models though. At this point, with the copious amount of new information and teaching techniques we have received, I unfortunately don’t see myself remembering the specificities of these models to integrate technology into my future classrooms. I guess when the time comes for me to do so, I will look back on my notes from this class and hopefully these models will be useful. Nonetheless, I still like both the SAMR model and constructive alignment and imagine they can be good tools/ prompt good ideas. SAMR stands for
Substitution –> Augmentation –> Modification –> Redefinition
and describes the transition from using no tech in a learning activity to a situation where tech allows for the creation of new tasks which were previously not possible. I agree that ultimately the integration of tech in classrooms should be progressive and utilized for deeper understanding/ learning. And I think/know it’s totally possible! An example I can think of that follows this model is learning about organism classification in Life Sciences 11. Most students (including myself) really struggle with memorizing all the different levels of classification amongst binomial nomenclature and remembering what organisms belonging in each kingdom, phylum, genus, etc. It could be useful to first introduce (“substitution” and “augmentation” stages) the use of interactive, virtual maps (mind maps, concept maps, lists, charts) to help students organize concepts. By the “redefinition” stage the students could be using tech (making their own diagrams or videos or using other programming) to explain what they have learnt about organism classification and be teaching their peers.
Feature Photo by Marvin Meyer on Unsplash
(Julia Bayne – CC BY)
This is a very brief timeline that I made on Microsoft Word after conducting tons of research and reading on the Westernization of yoga and the spread of yoga around the world.
Basavaraddi, I. (2015, April 23). Mea: Statements : In Focus Articles. Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India. Retrieved from https://mea.gov.in/in-focus-article.htm?25096%2FYoga%2BIts%2BOrigin%2BHistory%2Band%2BDevelopment.
Burgin, T. (n.d.). History of yoga. Yoga Basics. Retrieved from https://www.yogabasics.com/learn/history-of-yoga/
Google Arts & Culture. (n.d.). Explore the ancient roots of Yoga – Google Arts & Culture. Google. Retrieved from https://artsandculture.google.com/story/explore-the-ancient-roots-of-yoga/rAKCRDl92CPuJg.
Ratsamee, D. (2021). The westernization of yoga. University of Washington. Retrieved from https://thewholeu.uw.edu/2021/10/07/the-westernization-of-yoga/
Vinyasa Yoga School. (n.d.). The history of yoga (2020). Retrieved from https://vinyasayogatraining.com/resources/history-of-yoga
This week in 336 we explored the multimedia learning hypothesis, creating graphics and editing images. These are topics that have always excited me, for a few different reasons. The very first types of computer games I remember playing were design games that allowed the player to be creative and get in the zone of their artistic flow (for example I remember loving games that included creating characters/avatars, designing clothing, interior designing, building towns/cities, etc). This eventually turned into a knack for photo editing (and photography), some video editing, and experimenting with creating graphic art. I also strongly agree that people can learn more deeply from words and picture than from words alone. I often even feel like I can more easily explain my own thoughts/points/ideas with the use of pictures or visual diagrams, rather than just using words. In my opinion it is easy to include visuals in pretty much every aspect of my teaching, lessons, and in the classroom environment, and an excellent strategy to create deeper understanding in students’ learning. Below are some examples of graphics, visual aids, art, etc. that I have created.
I created this (fake) flyer during another class this semester using ‘Canva’.
This concept map, which might be a bit hard to read here without a “zoom” option, was one of my favourite images to make for my science curriculum class. I used the program ‘Coggle’ which was super easy to use and I will definitely be using again.
One program that we learnt about this week was ‘Wordle‘. I have always wondered how to create these word images that distill text into a graphic in a very visually appealing way. This Wordle was created using the text from “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” by Lewis Carroll.
For another class this semester I played around with editing open source images to include ‘fill-in-the-blanks’ for lesson plan PowerPoints or activities.
Lastly, this is just an example of the digital collages I used to enjoy making (and still do but lack the time). I used a photo of my friend (with her consent of course) and then cut-out, arranged and overlaid all these pretty landscapes and colourful images to create a surreal collage of a butterfly fairy sitting on her mushroom in a magical world. I used the app ‘Picsart’ and all of the images (other than my friend) were already download onto the app and available to use.
