Category: edci337 feedback

Hi Yiran,

It’s incredible how much things can change in such a short amount of time! My parents were similar to yours in that they did not love the idea of my brother and I playing video games. They saw it the same as watching tv – a mindless activity that was just for fun. And now here we find ourselves today, purposefully incorporating games into learning!
I love the point you bring up about games and communication. Besides the learning that can stem from the game itself, there can be a strong social aspect to many games. Whether cooperative or simply communicative, these are additional strengths and skills that can make the games more appealing for learners and boost the benefits of incorporating them mindfully into lessons.

Hi Leann,

Thanks so much for sharing about your experience of being in a state of flow! It was so interesting reading about how incredibly focused, but in a way disorientating, this experience was for you. I found it completely relatable when you mentioned that you couldn’t “feel the existence of time”, because for me this is my same experience when I get into the “flow” of what I’m doing too. Sitting down to complete a task mid-day, then noticing (what feels like only an hour or two later) that it’s dark out is weirdly fulfilling, but confusing experience!
Thank you, as well, for sharing Diane Allen’s TEDx – I had never seen it before and really enjoyed it!

Hi Carla,

Thank you so much for sharing great additional resources on video editing. This article about creating videos in the classroom was especially helpful. Getting students involved with making and editing videos can seem like a bit of a daunting task, but this article has got me inspired. The rationales made perfect sense, the sample activities were doable but still fun, and the outlined difficulties offered important tidbits to think about.

Hi Jason,

I completely agree with you, that AR in the classroom seemed idealistic due to accessibility issues. Seeing that it can be achieved with the tools that in many schools, like the shared tablets you mentioned, was a hopeful realization that these kinds of in-class experiences can be available to all.
I do really appreciate you bringing the point up in your blog and in our pod meeting of teacher know-how and prep, though. You say that your “pessimist mind” was weighing the usefulness of AR tech in the classroom in comparison to the effort that goes into planning it, and that our pod meeting shifted this for you – I’m so glad we chatted about this aspect of it, because our group’s discussion had the opposite, but still positive, effect on me. My “optimist, but often not realistic” mind kept trying to come up with ways to incorporate more neat AR experiences into lessons, while completely downplaying the teacher prep side of things. This point was a useful reminder to not over-do it, for our and our students sake!

Hi Chloe,
You mentioned a few different ideas in you blog post this week that stuck out to me as being both relatable and reflective (seemingly for both you and me!). Like you, I remember using PowerPoint in middle school, or even high school, and playing around with the animations, word art, graphs, etc. that could jazz up my presentation to make them more exciting. While I remember having fun trying all of these features out, I, like you, don’t have a memory of being taught any sort of strategies to make the most of these presentations. It wasn’t until my first time in university that I really became aware that there were any guidelines/suggestions surrounding this topic at all!

Your quote about having PowerPoint be a resource as opposed to being the resource really forced me to think. In terms of speaking to a presentation topic, this a a fabulous point to bring up. I am absolutely guilty of using my slides as a crutch, expecting the info and visuals on them to support me through my presentation.

As far as your blog itself goes, I loved the additional photo you added – it definitely screams “Death by PowerPoint” to me. Both visuals supported the written content, without distracting from it. I also appreciate that you referenced and included hyperlinks to the sources you used.