Hi again,

Today we learned about various online resources and how these can be useful to help students succeed both in the classroom and at home. With the use of internet and the rise of online educational resources in schools, online educational resources play a huge part.  An OER is known as open educational resources; these help students be able to learn effective searching strategies as they provide people with direct access to information. Some may say that OER’s have their purpose and are effective resources, while others may believe that they took away some aspects of creativity and critical thinking; while others may believe that they help push these ideas as it provides access to learning and worldwide views and situations. Even though we are moving towards everyone having a computer and internet including school, we still need to consider opportunity and how some may not have access to these resources; therefore schools can help provide these experiences to provide an equal access. With the use of internet people today are informed about situations happening all over the world as they have access to the internet.The following article addresses the pros and cons of free open educational resources https://opensource.com/article/18/2/open-educational-resources-drive-teaching-renaissance. 

As children, I know I can say I used Wikipedia which is a website that anyone can modify. However moving through elementary, we start to learn that the effectiveness and reliability of various resources and how some may not always share realistic information. As such, if this is taught in the early years of a child’s development, this can lead to a very important lesson as students start to evaluate and learn while approaching things with a critical lens (being not everything is valid on the internet). Resources like Khan Academy, for example can help students learn at their own pace as well as learn from another teacher who may have a different teaching strategy. As such, allowing children to learn from various sources can serve as an asset if it is properly framed about all aspects of the internet, so children can explore and think rather than just find one thing.

This idea of online resources is also key when it comes to the idea of inquiry based education as children are able to search a subject of their choosing through various interphases. However students should also experience using physical books and physical resources as it allows them to learn different searching and critical thinking strategies. Here is a link to a website that addressed the use of OER’s  towards inquiry and personalized education https://practices.learningaccelerator.org/problem-of-practice/how-can-i-leverage-open-educational-resources-when-planning-lessons-and-assessments-to-meet-my-students-needs-in-my-personalized-learning-classroom

In relation to the use of online resources, there is also the need to teach about copyright. As stated in the video RIP -A Remix Manifesto, is that even though it is online and commonly known such as the Happy Birthday song, you need to be aware of who made this and give them credits. This made me think about all the covers and creativity behind people and artists who want to make remixes which can be considered copyright. Someone may accidentally copyright something as everything comes from something, therefore this is an important conversation.

Here is a video that sums up the idea of why open educational resources matters

Figure 10.2.1 © Giulia Forsyth, 2012

10.2 Open educational resources (OER)

Just an update on learning and lesson planning in relation to inquiry!

Today in Technology we had the opportunity to learn how to set up Trello! Trello is interesting because it creates a list of boards with links to your research and learning journey. As someone who is beginning their inquiry project (stay tuned for more on this subject!), this software can benefit my learning because it allows me to sort and group various sources in one place while creating a checklist of my progress.  In relation to both lesson planning and a learning plan, there are significant distinctions. A learning plan can be more personalized and inquiry based, whereas a lesson plan is more to do with the whole classroom and tends to be more structured and teacher driven. Both of which, have strengths and weaknesses in various settings. An inquiry based approach allows students to feel empowered as they have the opportunity to explore and learn at their own pace and within their own interests. In the video Most Likely to Succeed, students were involved in an inquiry based approach to learning by presenting their discoveries through an exhibit based model. However, some challenges that may arise in younger classrooms (K and 1) is that, yes, we can provide students with choice,  but, it may be difficult to fully meet the curriculum by following each individuals learning plans as children may still need to learn how to regulate and work consistently through a specific plan. As such, I think it is important to find a balance and support children with choices and allowing them to experience both styles of learning (learning plans: inquiry based model and lesson plans: curriculum focused). Therefore, cross connecting these two approaches can be beneficial in the classroom.

Changing how I teach, seeing great results! Thanks for inspiration @KatieMTLC @gcouros @kara_welty @burgessdave @BradyVenables #tlap #immooc pic.twitter.com/xf29rF4vFL

— Melissa LaShure (@mmlashure) October 12, 2016

Hi everyone!

Welcome to Day 1 of my journey to becoming a Elementary school teacher through blogging about my learning journey.  Today is the first day of technology class and we learned how to make a website, what a learning journey that was. Though I have never blogged or made a website before, this was lots of fun and I learned so many new things. I cannot wait to bring these to my future classroom and learn from others. Looking forward to a blogging journey were you can share and follow my learning journey and ever evolving experiences as an emerging teacher in the education program.

Anyways to give you a little context and a little bit about me! I am in my second year of the elementary education program. I enjoy gymnastics and dance and would like to incorporate these elements in my future classroom!

Learning to make a website and blog today was a little challenging but I think these can be useful tools that may provide students with the opportunity to communicate various aspects in a modern format, which can be shared to others worldwide if so desired. Something in an elementary classroom that may be challenging is that not all students may have access to internet and a computer as well as they or their family members may not feel comfortable with the idea of an online and public blog. Therefore as an educator, I believe that it is important to evaluate the needs and respect your students and their families and work around the idea that not everyone will be open to this idea. As a result, providing various options for families and students can be beneficial to putting the child at the centre of their education and valuing their ideas and opinions in all aspects of their learning. This idea of having students be the centre of their learning can be paired with the idea of an inquiry based focus on education and as described below in the video by Jeff Hopkins.

Today was a new step into the online world of blogging, stay tuned for my future blogs!!

flicker@morbergCCBYNC2.0

P.S Learning to blog!! Nothing is impossible, it’s the learning journey that makes things possible, you just have to try!

Check out this video which talks about an inquiry based to education!