Mary L's Teacher Ed Portfolio

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Copyright Conundrums

September 24, 2019 / / 1 Comment

Photo by Umberto on Unsplash under creative commons CC BY-NC-ND

Where to begin?

I think many of us have had the experience of Googling for an image and just pulling it onto a desktop for use. Grab and go! I have done it. But I have felt weird about it. I have wondered about the most effective and ethical way to go forward with using other people’s images, or any other material, for that matter. This connects to teaching in that teachers are constantly shifting between creating content for teaching and using materials created by others, with varying degrees of adaptation.

The Age of Accountability

I have read that we are entering the “age of accountability” and I think it’s great. People who have abused power, people who have caused harm, and people who have avoided responsibility for their actions, are being held accountable. I would like to carry this spirit into being thoughtful about copyright, and respecting origin and authorship.

The main takeaway from our class today is to pay attention and to err on the side of being extra clear about origin and license.

For example, indicating that a material came from place X, created by person X, and falls under copyright license X.

I have tried to do this with the image above, though it comes from Unsplash and I understand that attribution is not required. Even as it is, I think I could probably improve the attribution by adding hyperlinks.

Open Education Sources

A few resources with open education materials were presented in class:

  1. OER Commons
  2. Curriki
  3. Siyavula

One key benefit is that we can use and adapt these materials without much worry about misstepping in terms of copyright.

Reality check

A classmate brought in a reality check that is on all of our minds, I suspect: With limited time to prepare for courses, how likely are we to spend hours hunting through these websites  in search of a useable lesson plan? Hmm. I would like to talk to teachers in practice and ask them questions about resources: Where did they get their current resources? Where do they usually go for something new? Is there anything they are lacking, or have trouble finding? Maybe this is a cool inquiry project in itself – which are the most generative technology resources teachers use for their curriculum? I imagine it would vary by subject. Interesting stuff!

Ooh, podcasts

September 24, 2019 / / 0 Comments

Photo by Mohammad Metri on Unsplash

Why podcasts?

As with choosing felting for my free inquiry,  choosing podcasts for my education/technology inquiry took some time. I was also interested in news sources in the classroom (how do students access news? do teachers use tech to introduce news items?) and how tech is used throughout the school in the youth climate strike movement (to make posters, to share information, etc.). Part of any creative or academic work, though, involves making choices, and specifically making choices around scope. I think that exploring podcasts in the secondary school classroom has the right amount of scope.

I listen to podcasts at least every week, for information or for pleasure, and I already have some questions brewing. Which brings me to…

What are my initial questions about podcasts in relation to education?

Drawing again on this resource from Pacific School of Inquiry and Innovation, here are some initial questions, based on my curiousity and interest:

  • How do we define ‘podcast’?
  • How are teachers already using podcasts in secondary school classrooms?
  • How are young people engaging with podcasts?
  • Where do I see possibilities for using podcasts to support students in line with the BC curriculum?

Where to next?

I think my first step is answering that first question. It will likely lead me down a little rabbit hole into the history of podcasts and the relationship of podcasts to radio. I welcome it all! I might also slip in questions to teachers and young people to start answering the next two questions, if I remember.

Bonus reflections on the process of inquiry-based learning and using an e-portfolio

  • Choosing topics has been really hard for me. I have a lot of ideas for possible inquiries, and questions about whether I should delve into them here or in other classes. I think I could have used more scaffolding, or more 1:1 support from my instructor. On the other hand, maybe the struggle is part of the process.
  • Getting started in intimidating, but once I do it, I feel good. Seriously. I feel much better with these first couple of posts done.
  • I think I need a page for resources. For example, Unsplash is awesome for free, no-attribution-required photos (so good that I included an attribution above anyway!) I’d like to put that resources somewhere. Ditto for the PSII inquiry-based learning fillable guide.
  • Digital stuff feels messy. Maybe it’s because I am getting old? Having instructors using Coursespaces, Google Classroom, AND websites, all in different places, feels a bit much. Having to hunt for resources or course outlines is annoying. Just finding my own website took a while this afternoon, before I remembered that I had saved the link in an email draft. Ugh. Transition, learning, figuring out systems. Plus, September, “the fragile season.”

Getting started with felting

September 24, 2019 / / 0 Comments

What am I inquiring into?

For my free inquiry project, or “passion project,” I’ve chosen felting – you know, the fuzzy fibre art. I struggled with committing. I was also curious about delving into the youth climate strikes, into gardening, or into textiles more generally. In the interests of getting started, though, I am choosing felting and moving forward, trusting that the process will lead me where I need to go.

Where did this come from?

A few years ago, I hitchhiked through the Kootenays and met an accomplished felt artist, Jennifer Cookson, of the website Felt Me Now. I looked her up more recently on Instagram, and became more and more engaged by her small felt creatures and creations. When I saw that she was offering an online course on felting, I decided to take the plunge! Well, I applied too late to receive her kit of materials, but she kindly provided the shopping list and access to the videos for the course.

Where am I going?

Ok, instead of figuring this out from scratch, why not use some pre-existing materials, right?

Our instruction in “Ed Tech” as we are calling it showed us this 4-page resource from the Pacific School of Inquiry and Innovation:

PSII-inquiry-guide-fillable-blank1

If I understand correctly, this guide is meant to help students develop their inquiry and learning plans. Here’s a screenshot of “Step 1” of the resource.

My initial questions, based on interest/curiousity around felting include:

  • What is the practice of felting like? – Is it easy? Hard? Frustrating? Fun? Quick? Time-consuming?
  • What is the historical and ongoing practice of felting among First Nations communities in the Pacific Northwest?
  • Would felting make for a good medium for the secondary school art classroom?

Sneak preview into next week

I’ve actually already visited a store in Victoria for materials, and it was great! So look forward to photos of the shop, and of my report out from actually digging in and starting to felt.

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