Literacy Narrative

 

Earlier on in the year I had the opportunity to workshop and create grade seven history and geography lessons using various technology tools. Two challenges were presented through this experience. For one, Canadian geography and history are two subjects I never took interest in as a student. As a student teacher, I was hesitant teaching these subjects as they were not topics I was genuinely interested in. Secondly, I wanted provide my students with an engaging learning experience of these two subjects by using various modes of technology. Not being familiar with some technologies in the current classroom, I was questioning whether or not this could be possible. 

 

Prior to teaching these lessons in the grade seven classroom, the Education department at York University offered SMART Board training for teacher candidates. I enrolled myself in one of the workshops in hopes to better understand this technological tool for education.  After spending eight hours learning the tips and tricks of the learning application, I was immediately inspired to create Canadian history lessons for my grade seven students.

 

The two pictures below are examples from one of the presentation I created using the SMART Board application. What I realized through the workshop and direct experience of using this educational tool was that student’s attentiveness, engagement and interest spiked due to their physical interaction with the lesson. Students were invited up to the board to uncover and manipulate new information with either their fingers or electronic pen.

 

The SMART Board application enabled me as an educator to enjoy the process of creating the lesson as its features were simple and allowed me to break down the content to it’s simplest and most important form. In addition, students we able to make predications and critically engage in dialogue before the ‘text-book’ content was revealed. 

 

Another tool I used with my grade seven students was a site called Padlet (Image on the left hand side). With a device such as a tablet, computer or phone, each student was able to access a web page where they were encouraged to post pictures and key words related to a single topic. After some time, students then presented their ideas and new understandings to the rest of the class.

 

Both learning applications included multiple media tools and forms of literacy. For me as a potential educator and learner of educational technology, this was a crucial and revolutionary moment for me as I observed and processed the impact that technology has on teaching and learning. Going forward, I am interested in exploring how past and current technologies enhance teachers and students learning experiences, and how and if technology, such as SMART Board and Padlet, can be developed specifically for educational purposes.