Leveraging Tools, Text, and Talk in My Teaching Context

 This week I have learned a great deal about designing classroom activities across spaces. I have been thinking about how I can support classroom practices beyond the screen and I have come up with two new ideas. One which will enhance an activity that I have already used in the classroom and one that I am looking forward to assigning that could leverage both analog and digital learning experiences towards a complex learning goal. 

Digital technology is something that is present in the lives of today’s students. “The “e-generation” is strongly motivated by the integration of technology”, and Hsu & Wang suggest that blogging is a great way to, “enhance students’ learning motivation and diversify their language-learning experiences.” (Hsu & Wang, 2017, p.29) Following this same logic, I would love to incorporate an “unboxing” video into a reading activity. Most of my students are familiar with “unboxing” activities on Youtube where a content provider will talk the viewer through the opening and unveiling of a product. This would require students to read a text, and choose items that can be connected to the text to include in their box. They could then introduce the book, character from the story, or a setting that was included in the story. In this way they are engaging with written material, using online research, and creating a video that can be shared with the class in an inventive and engaging way. This type of project will :help students to build important 21st century skills while testing the full range of language skills (reading, writing, listening, and speaking). (Hsu & Wang, 2017, p.29) Some considerations while engaging in this sort of activity are that I have some students that do not have access to devices outside of the educational setting and I also have some students whose parents do not allow them on YouTube or other social media sites. In order to mediate this I would compile a collection of school appropriate unboxing videos so that all students involved can understand and connect with the assignment. 

The above activity is also the perfect way to continue the conversation on digital literacy and the need to consider the sources where they are finding their information as well as crediting those who provided the information for their research. Students need to be aware that, “search engines match us to certain results and hide us from others”, (Aguilera,2017) providing credible search engines and comparing the information that we find on non credible sites can be an eye opening experience. I myself was shocked when I  played the “ Fake it to Make It Game”, it is very easy to put false information into the online world. Additionally, when conducting research for this multimedia project, plagiarism must be top of mind. I use Google images daily for my rainbow planner and assign tasks for students to find online images. Moorman & Pennell posed a thought provoking question with regard to original content,  “At what point does a person’s unique idea evolve into common knowledge?” (Moorman & Pennell, 2017) When I take that photo or GIF should I be crediting the creator? 

The other activity that I would like to modify is when I teach a unit about ecosystems, pollination, and the anatomy of flowers. I was inspired by the article, “Reframing the Medium”. I currently discuss the pollination process, show videos of butterflies and bees in the natural environment, label diagrams of the insects as well as flowers, and bring in flowers for students to dissect and label. What I would like to incorporate in the future to make this a more multimedia activity. Although it is fictional,  showing The Bee Movie is  a way to engage students and encourage a conversation about what was factual and what was  not. I also plan on scheduling a trip to the farm that is run by my district. Here we have wild flowers that students could choose from for their dissection and we also have six hives of honey bees. Students can suit up and see the bees in their natural environment. 

Aguilera, E. (2017). MORE THAN BITS AND BYTES. Literacy Today, 3Aguilera, E. (2017)5(3), 12-13. https://sunyempire.idm.oclc.org/login?qurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.proquest.com%2Ftrade-journals%2Fmore-than-bits-bytes%2Fdocview%2F1966006470%2Fse-2%3Faccountid%3D8067 

Hsu, H., & Wang, S. (2017). RETHINKING LANGUAGE LEARNING. Literacy Today, 35(3), 28-29. https://sunyempire.idm.oclc.org/login?qurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.proquest.com%2Ftrade-journals%2Frethinking-language-learning%2Fdocview%2F1966005990%2Fse-2%3Faccountid%3D8067

Moorman, G., & Pennell, A. (2017). PLAGIARISM IN THE DIGITAL AGE. Literacy Today, 35(3), 14-15. https://sunyempire.idm.oclc.org/login?qurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.proquest.com%2Ftrade-journals%2Fplagiarism-digital-age%2Fdocview%2F1966007393%2Fse-2%3Faccountid%3D8067