Sparking Interest in Coding

As educators, we are always looking for new and interesting ways to spark our students interest about learning. More recently, our goal has been to spark interest in learning while also utilizing technology in many of our lessons. As mentioned in my previous blog posts, technology is an ever evolving tool we can utilize in the classroom. One of the main topics buzzing around today is the aspect of coding in the classroom. Like myself, many of you are probably wondering "What is coding?". Dalling (2020) defined coding as "computer programming... the process of creating software". For many teachers and students, coding is a new concept. Therefore, it can develop feelings of fear or anxiety in many teachers and students who are learning the coding process. Brookhouser and Megnin (2016) explain, "Whether they are total code beginners or amateur hackers, all students feel some sort of performance anxiety" (p.62). As with many other new concepts, students may be apprehensive to participate in the coding process simply because it is something they are not familiar with. When we are not familiar with something, we put ourselves at risk of embarrassment and failure. Both of which can be very uncomfortable feelings, especially for our students. However, when learning the coding process, students must realize "all computer programmers-from preteen amateurs to full-time professionals-experience bugs, errors, and frustrations all of the time" (p.66). 

So why teach something that our children are uncomfortable with? Well because coding offers many learning opportunities, such as problem solving, for students and allows them to explore their own creative minds. For example, coding requires problem solving strategies and even mathematical knowledge. As educators, we often run into the phrase from students "I'm not good at math" or "I can't solve the problems". Coding is a great way to break those math barriers that students create for themselves. Brookhauser and Megnin (2016) state, "...the whole 'bad at math' myth is patently untrue. Research conclusively shows math performance is determined by attitude" (p.63). 

Therefore, how well a student will perform in math reflects directly on their attitude toward math. It is our job as educators to expose students to math related activities that will boost their morale and hopefully make their attitude for math more pleasant. We can do this by introducing the concept of coding to our students and allowing them to work together to problem solve. "As your students grow their skills...they'll naturally start using computer programs to solve real-life problems in school, at home, and in their community" (p.67). Coding gives students the tools they will need to help them work through real life problems of their own. This process allows students to experience the types of situations they may encounter as they get older, not just in the school setting, but also in the work setting as well.

I know many of you are probably wondering "when is the best time to start teaching coding". According to Dr. Kewalramani (2019), "Early childhood is the best time to introduce STEM based play". Beginning in kindergarten, we try to teach our children problem solving skills. What better way to do so then by learning these skills through coding! Even in the early childhood classroom, students can activate their scientific inquiry through the creating and programming of something as simple as a robot.

Now your probably wondering how we can teach such concepts as algorithms (which coding requires) to someone so young. Bonfiglio (2018) states, "As it turns out, we all use coding concepts on a regular basis without even thinking about it!" Something as simple brushing your teeth, baking a cake, and even cooking breakfast require algorithms in order to complete the task effectively. Whether you realize it or not, all of the above mentioned activities require a list of steps in order to achieve the task. Teachers can take everyday activities and help students understand coding through those activities.

It is important that we find coding activities that appeal to their interest. For example, my kindergarteners really love Minecraft (especially my boys). I could use a software that involves Minecraft and coding to get them interested in coding. However, this is not the only way to get spark younger students interest in coding. Brookhouser and Megnin (2016) mention incorporating activities such as guest speakers, field trips to see computer programming in action, visiting a local computer repair shop, visiting medical facilities, and even connecting fellow learners across their region and around the world into coding lessons (p. 68). I believe these activities are especially important for younger learners. Allowing students to connect with or even watch videos of students their age or near their age coding effectively could be a real game changer on their outlook of  the coding process. 

When we see others are able to complete something, we are more apt to believe that we too can complete that same task. It is our job to make our help our students become more comfortable with progressive struggle in order for them to not only be successful learners while they are in school, but to also equip them with strategies they can apply in real life as they get older. As with many other subjects we teach, confidence and motivation are imperative for our students to become more successful digital learners.

References

Brookhouser, K., & Megnin, R. (2016). Code in every class: How all educators can teach 

        programming. EdTechTeam Press, CA: Irvine.

Bonfiglio, C. (2018). Coding for kindergarten: 5 basic coding concepts 5 year olds can understand.

        Retrieved from https://teachyourkidscode.com/coding-for-kindergarten-5-basic-coding-  

        concepts-5-year-olds-can-understand/

Dalling, T.(2020). What is programming/coding. Retrieved from http://www.programming

        forbeginngersbook.com/blog/what_is_programming_coding/

Halleux, P. (2017). MakeCode for minecraft makes learning code super fun. Retrieved from

        https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/blog/code-minecraft/

Kewalramani, S. (2019). Why preschool is the best time to spark an interest in STEM. Retrieved from

        https://www.monash.edu/education/teachspace/articles/why-preschool-is-the-best-time-to-spark-

        an-interest-in-stem

TedxTalks. (2017). Coding: By a kid, for kids: Krish Mehra at TedxKentState. [Video]

        Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOsdfRbrNdk

Let's Be Social!

     Over the past several years, social media has become a tool many people utilize in their everyday activities. The advancement of technology allows users of all ages to access many different things ont he web. Hicks (2013) states, "Sharing status updates, photos, and links while playing games, instant messaging, or hanging out in a video-based chat room... it's all possible, whether from the smart phone in our palm or our desktop monitor" (p.137). Many of us use social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram on a daily basis. We post pictures of activities we are doing, family members, food, and even share photos of ourselves to our friends on those platforms. As we are doing so, we are giving others just a small peak into our everyday lives. 

     While most of us use social media as a recreational tool (i.e. scrolling through Facebook when we are bored or watching a cooking tutorial on Instagram), other users utilize these media sites to communicate with others around the world and share ideas that can be useful to others. Teachers, especially, find us in YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and other types of social media to not only enhance student learning but also to communicate with parents and other teachers from all over the world. When I was in school, students utilizing social media to create projects or even watch videos on YouTube to learn more about a topic was unheard of. The school I attended had the whole YouTube site, as well as Facebook and Twitter, blocked. We were not able to view any part of the websites, even if it was for educational purposes. Today, students can access some parts of these websites at school. However, it is our job as educators to make sure they are utilizing these social media platforms in a beneficial manner. "Depending on what youth aim to do online-and how they act as digital writers in doing it-they are constructing identities, building (or destroying) relationships, creating new opportunities for learning, and remixing various digital media to produce new compositions such as blogs, wikis, and videos" (Hicks, 2013, p.139). There are many different ways educators and students can use social media in the classroom. Utilizing social media can help drive instruction, as well as, further engage students in a lesson.

     There are many different social media platforms to utilize in the classroom. Twitter is a very popular option for teachers and students to utilize in the classroom. It is an easy to use platform that allows communication between users who share the same interest. "Even though Twitter has only a fraction of the number of users other social networks have, its impact on conversations between people around the world with common interest has been significant" (Hicks, 2013, p.141). Twitter allows students to share their thoughts and interest with people around the world. However, this can be tailored to suite each teacher's use of Twitter in the classroom. Many teachers shy away from using social media in the classroom because they are afraid for student privacy. "While social media can pose risks to student privacy, these risks can be managed with informed, intentional use" (Higgin, 2017).

   As with many aspects of teaching, it is important to allow students to learn about the use of social media through exposure of such sites. It is a great idea to teach students the ins and outs of social media platforms before allowing them to create their own projects. One way of doing so is to utilize a mentor text to allow them to see different ways they can create and respond to questions or videos on that particular platform. Teachers can utilize the Turner and Hicks MAPS heuristic to determine if a source to show students is a beneficial means to use in teaching different ways to utilize social media. Turner and Hicks (2017) break down the definition for MAPS as mode, media, audience, purpose, and situation (p.13-14). Below I have included a screenshot of a conversation on Twitter that could be used as a means for teaching students one way to utilize social media.

     The posts above were retrieved off of Twitter and the mode of this post was inforamtive. The tweet was posted by a teacher asking for advice on things other teachers have learned through the e-Learning/ distance learning process we have all asked to implement over the last several weeks and for the remainder of the school year. Therefore, the purpose of the post is seeking advice from other educators to enhance other teacher's instruction for online learning. The audience is educators and even parents who are trying to work through the ins and outs of distance learning. As you can see, other users are posting their own experiences, as well as, tips and tricks they or their child's teacher have utilized to enhance distance learning. Further down in the posts, users began posting links and videos of websites they have used to help them get through this teaching process. 

     After analyzing this post using MAPS, I believe this would be a good mentor text to use with students in older grades because it shows that Twitter can be utilized to help people solve a common problem through videos, texts, links, and personal experiences. It also allows students to see how easily it is to comment on a thread and become part of the conversation. For younger students, I would use something like Google Classroom because it is more private and easier to navigate but uses the same types of features as Twitter.
     Although there are many pros and cons to utilizing social media in the classroom, our students are exposed to social media daily. Whether they see their parents using Facebook or they are old enough to have their own accounts, they are aware of the many different types of social media. Some parents teach their children the correct ways to use social media but others simply do not have the time to sit down and explain the pros and cons of using social media. As educators, we could take this opportunity to teach our students more beneficial ways to utilize social media in order to help them become a more digitally literate individual.

References

Common Craft. Twitter in plain english. [Video]. YouTube. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com
     /watch?v=ddO9idmax0o&feature=emb_title

Hicks, T. (2013). Crafting digital writing: Composing texts across media and genres. Portsmouth,
     N.H.: Heinemann.

Higgins, T. (2017). Protecting students privacy on social media: Dos and donts for teachers.
     Retrieved from https://www.commonsense.org/education/articles/protecting-student-privacy-
     on-social-media-dos-and-donts-for-teachers

Turner, K. & Hicks, T. (2017). Argument in the real world: Teaching adolescents to read and write 
     digital texts. Portsmouth, N.H.: Heinemann.

Crafting Video Texts

Have you ever felt victimized by a video you made yourself? I know my hand is up in the air! Earlier this semester, I made a video introducing myself to my classmates and uploaded it to Facebook. I am not a fan of speaking on camera or being recorded. Give me a class full of kindergartners, and I can talk to them all day. However, I am not nearly as comfortable presenting myself to a room full of adults.

Before reading the chapter on crafting video texts, I was unware of just how much thought and work goes into creating a successful video. I realized it takes a lot of awareness of presentation in order to covey points and catch the viewers attention. I often hear my students talk about videos they have seen on YouTube or some other type of video source. "Today, many forms of media surround us and, in various ways invite us to read, listen, view, click, as well-with the advent of smart phones and tablets- tap and touch" (Hicks, 2013, p.104). With the rise of technological devices, we have to be warry of the types of media we are exposed to. As educators, it is our responsibility to make sure our students are able to decipher effective and ineffective media by realizing "anything they watch, purposefully or incidentally, can be a mentor text" (Hicks, 2013, p. 107). Everything they watch can pave the way for how they interpret and construct their own video texts.

It is important for students to "effectively create multimodal texts for different purposes and audiences, with accuracy, fluency, and imagination"(Creating Multimodal Texts). Next year, we have to implement web based standards into our teaching. These standards require our students to perform different activities on computers and also craft some of their own activities. Before we can fully implement those standards, it is crucial for students to be able to view really good mentor texts before creating things on the internet.

After reading the chapter on crafting video texts, I went back and reviewed my first introduction video based on MAPS. Troy Hicks (2017) describes MAPS as an acronym for "mode, media, audience, purpose, and situation" (p. 90). In the first video I created, I attempted to create a professional background by filming in my classroom after teaching that day. I did not realize how distracting the things behind me in the video could have been for viewers. I am extremely uncomfortable in front of the camera. My voice was shaking at times, and although I had scripted out the things I wanted to mention, I still managed to insert "um" a ton of times. I did not know it was possible to be nervous for a video that only I was present for. This is why I chose to create my new introduction video as the narrator, instead of videoing myself and speaking. I have always thought of a video as someone being visible, but Hicks (2013) mentions a video can only include a "narrator: who is speaking and transitions" (p.111). I chose this form of video because it is something I am more comfortable with producing. Check out my revised video!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbJhPCZ1lH8

References

Creating Multimodal Text. Retrieved from www.education.vic.gov.au./school/teachers/teachingresour
      sources/discipline/English/literacy/multimodal/Pages/createmultimodal.spx.

Hicks, T. (2013). Crafting digital writing: Composing text across media and genres. Portsmouth,
      N.H.: Heinemann.

Turner, K., & Hicks, T. (2017). Teaching adolescents to read and write digital texts: Argument in the 
      real world. Portsmouth, N.H.: Heinemann.

Pointless Power Points? Infographics Can Help!

Have you ever felt like the student in the picture above? I cannot count the amount of times I have had to sit through a PowerPoint presentation, either at the high school or college level, with this exact look on my face. The face of pure boredom! As a kindergarten teacher, I have been trying to find ways to get information across to my students in a way that would interest them. Infographics are a great way to present information to students in a more visually appealing and interactive way. Troy and Hicks(2017) rely on Wikapedia's description of infographics as "graphic visual representations of information , data, or knowledge intended to present complex information quickly and clearly"(p. 60). Infographics give students the opportunity to analyze data in a quick manner and then respond accordingly. There are many different reasons why utilizing infographics in the classroom can benefit not only the teachers' instruction but also the students' learning. You will find in the presentation below six different reasons why using infographics in the classroom and benefit students.

 There are many other reasons for educators to utilize infographics in the classroom. One of the hardest things for educators to accomplish, especially with my experience in elementary grades, is engagement during lessons. Many of the students I have encountered love to complete tasks on a Chromebook, iPad, or other form of technology. Analyzing infographics and constructing their own, plays to their interest. Students are able to draw many conclusions from these types of resources. "In addition, because infographics present data-numerical, written, and visual-they can be a powerful medium for making arguments" (Turner and Hicks,2017, pg.61). Students are engaged in not only constructing viable arguments, but they must also dive deeper into the research process in order to find information to back up their claims.

 Along with student engagement, Turner and Hicks (2017) believe "creating an infographic might allow students to expand the kind of inquiry they do in the classroom" (p.75). Most students are accustomed to traditional ways of receiving and gathering information and creating presentations to present their findings. Creating infographics requires students to not only use the traditional methods of research, but they also have to create a visual representation of those findings. Martrix and Hodson stated "Rather than present this position in a text-based format, students must design an information visualization to illustrate their argument" (para. 3). A deeper level of thinking is involved when creating a visualization of the information students are trying to convey. They must find information that supports their claims and then construct a visual that is "aesthetically pleasing and, from a technical sense, easy to distribute" (Tuner & Hickes, 2017, p.62).

Once students have created their visuals, their peer are given an opportunity to react or reply to the student's stance. Matrix and Hobson conducted a study where "students received between 5-10 commnts about their graphcis over a two week period, ranging from the bried but encouraging: 'good job, I love your use of color!' variety, to lengthy in-depth commentary and informed close questioning about both design process and subject matter" (para 15).  Therefore, students are using a deeper level of thinking and questioning when being exposed to their peers infographics. As educators, we are always trying to find ways to push our students to think deeper about subject matter. We should strive to help them perform at these deeper levels of thinking, and the use of infographics is just one of many ways to help prepare out students for higher education experiences.

References

Educational Technologies Infographic. (2018). Top six reasons why students prefer digital content.  

     Retrieved from  https://elearninginfographics.com/students-prefer-digital-content-reasons-

     infographic/

Gemba Academy. Bored kid [Photograph]. Retrieved from https://blog.gembaacademy.com/wp-  

     content/uploads/2017/04/bored-lid.jpg

Matrix, S., & Hodson, J. Teaching with infographics: Practicing new digital competencies and

     visual literacies. Retrieved from https://www.beds.ac.uk/jpd/volume-4-issue-2/teaching-with-

     infographics/

Turner, K., & Hicks, T. (2017). Argument in the real world: Teaching adolescents to read and write

     digital texts. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Digital Literacy Matters

In today's classrooms, many children are exposed to different types of technology, even at the elementary school age. Students are able to access a wide variety of information with the swift click of a button. Since we live in such an advanced digital age, we are surrounded by arguments daily, and it can be difficult to determine information found on the Internet to be fact or fiction. Children are also being flooded with a massive amount of information daily. It is important that students are taught how to distinguish between credible and untrustworthy sources they could encounter in the digital world. As educators, we need to think of literacy or being literate not only as reading and writing in the traditional sense, but also what being literate looks like in the digital sense.

Kristen Turner and Troy Hicks (2017) state, " We are inundated by information-and opinions and misinformation-on our devices, and our students face the same challenges" ( p.6). This is a very important statement that I relate to even as a kindergarten teacher. While my students are much too young to have Facebook, Twitter, or Snapchat, they are very familiar with these social media platforms. There have been many times I have heard conversations between students discussing something their parents had showed them on one of the aforementioned social media platforms. Even at a young age, these students are still trying to distinguish between fact and fiction. It is more difficult for them to sort through digital media and analyze what they are reading. This is why it is important for parents and educators to work together to teach students about digital media. According to Eileen Belastock (2019), "So early as kindergarten, digital literacy skills should be embedded in the everyday curriculum and instruction." Many would disagree that children already spend too much time on devices and not enough time in face to face interactions. However, it is important for us to develop digital literacy skills at a young age in order for them to become more responsible and aware of misinformation online as they get older.

Along with teaching digital literacy, it is important that we teach our students how to craft digital arguments. Students are being exposed to digital arguments daily, whether it is from the local news outlet or one of their favorite video games. "More and more often, our daily lives exists within digital spaces" (Turner & Hicks, 2017, p. 17). We are constructing arguments on a daily basis whether we realize it or not. Facebook posts, Twitter feeds, even pictures on Snapchat, send a message to the reader of the post or thread. Within the scope of the tons of friends on that particular social media platform, someone out their is analyzing what is being posted and constructing their own views or arguments of the posts. Being able to construct arguments whether they be face to face or in the digital sense, requires students to utilize their critical thinking skills in order to construct a viable argument. The utilization of such skills is not just crucial for the mastery of the College and Career Ready Standards but is rather a life long skill they can utilize throughout their lifetime, no matter where their career path takes them.

References

Belastock, E. (2019, Feb. 20). How to teach digital literacy skills at the right time. Edscoop.        

    Retrieved from https://edscoop.com/how-to-teach-digital-literacy-skills-at-the-right-time/

TEDx Talks. (2013, Feb. 19). Creating critical thinkers through media literacy. Retrieved from

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHAApvHZ6XE

Turner, K., & Hicks, T. (2017). Argument in the real world: Teaching adolescents to read and write         digital texts. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Webwise.ie. Digital literacy competencies. Retrieved from https://www.webwise.ie/teachers/digital          _literacy/