• EDU510 Units 4 & 5 Reflection

    In the classroom environment, I often see children intrinsically motivated by simple games, the accomplishment of completing a task, becoming successful at an activity or newly learned idea that they have mastered. Looking back on my career as an educator, it is noticeable that in the older grades children do start to become more extrinsically motivated; they expect to be rewarded for their tasks with token boards or visuals that result in a tangible reward, for example prize boxes.
        Students emotion often impact their ability to learn, their ability to respond to motivators and their own self regulation abilities. If students are having positive emotions such as happiness or excitement they are more likely to be engaged in their learning and more apt to respond to motivators. If a student is having more negative emotions such as sadness, depression, fear, they are more likely to have limited engagement and have difficulty responding positively to motivators in the classroom. To make learning more accessible I find it is best to layer the information, present it in ”chunks” to build up to a larger picture of information. This allows for students to feel successful and have a more positive outlook and understanding of what they are learning and their abilities to achieve it.

    Meulleur, C. (2019). The Importance of emotions in learning. Knowledge One.

    Perkins, D. N. (2009). Making learning whole: How seven principles of teaching can transform education. Jossey-Bass.

  • EDU510 Blog Post Unit 7

    Units six and seven of EDU510 were very eye opening units of education as a teacher. There are so many varying factors to consider when looking at the cognitive sciences of education. As an early childhood educator, I have always made sure that my students social and emotional wellbeing comes first. With out a healthy, positive and comfortable space students have a less successful learning environment. We learn from each other in all elements of socialization throughout our development from childhood through adulthood. Students are observing us as educators; our interactions with other educators, students, staff, etc. We model the social expectation in new and old environments and students are learning from that. Having these experiences creates relevance for students. Personal experiences change and influences our perceptions and learning by being the relevant foundation to new information. We base our perception of new information on what we already know, and that new information then fits in with preexisting information. When learning, we want information that is relevant, engaging and we will gain from.

    Perkins, D. N. (2009). Making learning whole: How seven principles of teaching can transform education. Jossey-Bass

  • EDU510 Blog Units 1-4

    When reflecting on my own teaching practices as an educator after these units, I believe that I will be more thoughtful about the motivators in the way new learning is presented to my students. I have a better understanding of why my students are more apt to be interested and engaged in some activities over others. I believe that in some aspects of my teaching I may not have been as successful because I ignored the cognitive sides of why and how students are learning. As a preschool teacher, I am always looking for fun and engaging things for my students to really get into the learning. Traditionally I have always done an “ABC Countdown” to the end of the year. This is where we focus on one letter of the alphabet a day in which there is a specific theme and fun activities. Specifically my students have always been super excited for “G for Games” day; and after unit four I have a better understanding why. These games are always relevant to my students, engaging and the motivator of the win is all they need to stay engaged in the activity. These games were never anything fancy or digital, simple Bingo games or chutes and ladders; however the learning piece is what was so important to me and I now know how important it was for my students in the way I presented the learning. I have begun to dive deeper into game based learning and how to successfully integrate it more often into my teaching; what it looks like being appropriately used in the classroom and the best practices for doing so. The video linked below is one that I found particularly interesting about the ways to effectively use game based learning in the classroom.

  • EDU520 Blog Post 2

    Digital citizenship references the responsible use of digital media that is made up of nine specific elements. Access, commerce, literacy, etiquette, law, wellness, security, commerce, rights and responsibility are all part of what it means to be a digital citizen. We are connected daily with computers, cellphones, tablets and assisted living devices. 

    Teaching these elements and what it means to be a responsible digital citizen to students is very important in todays daily life as most of our lives are well connected digitally. As a society we now pay our bills online, we work online, we grocery shop online and even communicate with family online. None of which can be done responsibly with out having the digital literacy to do so. We take for granted our abilities to be so freely digitally social connected we are; and with that comes the responsibility to be a good digital citizen. We must remain cognizant of our digital communications and how that can effect our personal security and privacy. 

    When speaking about digital privacy it is worth noting that there is generational, social-economic and even gender that effects ones stance on what privacy means to them (Regan, P. M., FitzGerald, G., & Balint, P. (2013)). Millennials are the first always connected generation; therefor my own ideas on digital privacy may be skewed according to the influences that technology has had in my life. In the digital world, there is not much privacy anymore; we are connected daily with social media, utility bills, and even checking out at a physical store, we are giving up information that is being put in to the digital world. As a millennial it is not something that has worried me much before but has just become part of the understanding that this is the way of the world now. It has also become part of what it means in a professional capacity. While knowing that there is limited privacy anymore, we become more conscious about the way we present ourselves on social media as it has a direct impact on how we are viewed in the professional world. I have found myself being more cautious and having more professional etiquette in the digital world; being more mindful of the way I communicate and the content I may post or share across multimedia. 

                As an educator; I find that I must be a role model and example for students when it comes to digital citizenship. Recognizing my own digital literacy skills, further growing them and being a good digital citizen. Supporting students in any of the nine elements that are comprised to create a good digital citizen. Leustig (2019) complies a list of what it means for students to be a good digital citizen. One element she points out I found that stands out as important is for students to acknowledge a good and bad digital citizen. “Not all digital citizenship is good, so it is important to emphasize the difference between the good and bad, ensuring that students are held accountable when they are engaging in harmful online activity.” By awknowledging a bad digital citizen we can best emphasis what it means to be a good digital citizen and abide by the nine elements.

    Leustig, T. (2019) “What is Digital Citizenship?” https://www.dyknow.com/blog/what-is-digital-citizenship/

    Tuscano, F. “Why Digital Citizenship Matters?” https://francisjimtuscano.com/2017/10/19/why-digital-citizenship-matters/

    Regan, P. M., FitzGerald, G., & Balint, P. (2013). Generational views of information privacy?. Innovation: The European Journal Of Social Sciences, 26(1/2), 81-99. doi:10.1080/13511610.2013.747650

  • EDU520 Blog Post 1

    Reading and learning about our digital identities and the marks it leaves on our professional careers has been eye opening. How conscious of our digital footprint we must be as professionals and how even our personal social media identities can impact our professional lives. The most impactful topic that I have been diving into is why managing a professional personality online is so important to our careers.

     It is no longer enough as a professional to network in person; we need to be ever evolving with the digital word we live in. Heick (2013) notes that digital literacy happens through “meaning and sustainable consumption and curation patterns that improve an individuals potential to contribute to an authentic community”. This statement packed a punch in the realization that our digital footprint and our ability to be digitally literal has weight on our professional careers; the digital world is now considered our community. It has sparked the ever growing thought that as a professional educator that I should start building my positive reputation in the digital community as this is the way colleagues, future employers and other community members will, in part, see me as an educator.

     I used to believe digital literacy meant that one was more digitally fluent than just being able to open Microsoft Word and type; this eye opening unit of study has forced me to realize digital literacy is much bigger than that. Digital literacy and digital identity go hand-in-hand, Kayo (2019) describes it as, “Managing your professional digital identity means being aware of context collapse, and making decisions about how much (or how little) you would like these boundaries to become blurred.” How much do we want those personal identities to intertwine? How sensitive is the line between the two in keeping a professional identity? With out digital literacy and understanding how to do this, our digital identity is impacted. Kayo (2019) breaks down how to strategize managing our digital identity in a professional manner in the graphic below, which echos the “6 Keys to a Positive Online Presence” (Zwilling, M. 2015). Zwilling states “Live the Reputation you want to see online”, this quote rings true in that we as professionals and educators need to be mindful of how we are perceived in the online community and only put forth content that presenting us in a positive manner, true to ourselves.

    Heick T. (2013)  https://www.teachthought.com/literacy/digital-literacy/

    Kayo. (2019) https://www.linkinglearning.com.au/managing-a-professional-digital-identity-a-challenge-for-connected-professionals/

    Zwilling M. (2015) https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/249053