This week, in our initial break-out room session, my group had a meaningful talk about cell phones in the classroom, and how we all have varying views of the best way to set children up for success. To explain, for some, this could mean permitting devices and allowing complete autonomy over them, but for others this could mean banning or only welcoming them at certain times throughout the day. I feel that this a tricky balance as sometimes independence can lead to no-restraint and strict boundaries can lead to unhealthy usage later on. I am also aware that this is a fairly new domain for everyone, and so I will continue to explore and research in hopes of developing a better stance on the issue.

Later, one of the discussion points that peaked my interest included how social media can be used to build community, with teachers being the primary example. In fact, I myself have stumbled upon many education-related accounts on Instagram and Tik Tok, and love how these particular individuals are sharing their creative work as well as tips and tricks to help motivate and inspire others. I will for sure being keeping this array of resources in mind as I complete my practicum this spring.

In terms of technology, I definitely agree with the hypothesis that people learn more deeply from pictures and words than from words alone. When I think about what I’m drawn to, naturally it is something with bold or eye-catching, text, colour, and images. Thus, I appreciated how we dove into how to make presentations, specifically within PowerPoint, more exciting. Although I was quite familiar with this software, I did learn a few new things about utilizing artistic effects. Below I have upload a few examples of some graphics that I created in response to this lecture, made with SmartArt and the app Prisma.