Author: emmakailyn (Page 1 of 4)

07/23/25

Today I looked into a grade 7 unit on podcasting. This unit introduces students to what podcasting is, before delving into “how to speak,” or, the importance of tone, emphasis, pace, and volume. These are key elements of storytelling, especially from a digital standpoint. This unit helps students become not just great podcasters, but effective communicators too.

I think this unit would be super fun and engaging for grade seven students. Most kids at this age probably don’t listen to podcasts, so this is a great way to get them interested into this new form of media. Giving students a chance to make their own podcast taps into this interest in a hands-on way.

What works well in this unit is the structure. It begins with an informative look at what a podcast is, then explores the components of one, allows students to create their own, and ends with a student reflection. The process of learning, creating, and reflecting supports a full learning cycle, building students’ confidence with this technology. This is such a creative unit to help students build literacy skills in a fun way!

07/22/25

Today, I looked into a unit on Podcast Circles, written by an old teacher of mine, Nora Havelaar! While I didn’t have Ms Havelaar for English (and thus did not do this unit in high school), I did have her as my grade 11 French teacher and she was awesome! I think that this podcasting unit makes great use of digital features, bringing in elements like Google Slides and digital articles.

I think I would’ve loved doing this unit in school. I was big into podcasts like Misfits and The Storage Papers during high school, and would’ve loved to take my interests and dive into learning in this unit.

What works the best in this unit is the variety of tasks. Students work through a one-pager, character analysis, find quotes, and connect with articles to deepen their understanding. The flexibility and scaffolding in this unit is amazing!

07/21/25

Today, I looked into a unit plan on teaching friendship. This sixth grade unit plan on friendship includes great digital features that I believe students would thoroughly enjoy. Using engaging videos like Ron’s Gone Wrong and Partly Cloudy makes the lessons fun and relevant. The use of podcasts and online articles give student alternative ways to learn, instead of textbooks and lectures. My favourite part of this unit was probably the fact that students can create a Choose Your Own Adventure story using Google Slides!

I think this unit will work well because it connects with students via engaging videos and real stories. The mix of fiction and nonfiction, poetry, and media allows for every student to connect with something. Adding on class discussions about friendship really hammers these concepts in. The only change I would make to this unit is building in time for students to learn about Google Slides and how to use it, so the Choose Your Own Adventure is fun and not stressful.

07/18/25

Like many of my peers, my assessment story takes place upon the shift from high school to University. In high school, I achieved fantastic grades, consistent straight As, and I was even the Valedictorian of my class. When I moved on to University, I was aware that my grades would probably not be the 100s I was used to, and I was alright with that. However, what I did not expect was to no longer get As because professors “did not believe in giving As.” Within my first year at UVic, I had professor after professor mark my essays, my research papers, as high Bs with no critiques. When I asked what I could’ve improved upon to get an A, they would respond “Oh, nothing, I don’t give As.” If I were to get an A, maybe an 80%, the professor would tell me it was “perfect” but a perfect mark is a 100%, and they “just don’t give those.” I’ve had professors complain about this, that the University doesn’t want their grade average to be so high. So professors are forced to undercut students’ grades.

This is the most frustrating part of University, being told my work was strong but being penalized by arbitrary ceilings. The idea that perfect work is 80% contradicts the very nature of formative assessment. I wasn’t being assessed on clear criteria, but against a moving target. As a future educator, this displeases me. Students are shooting for a target that doesn’t exist, leading to frustration and academic burnout. If you have no critiques, no way to improve an assignment, it should be 100%.

In contrast, the BC Curriculum is taking a much more student-centred approach. Moving away from percentage grades and toward a proficiency-based assessment. This allows educators to provide constructive and actionable feedback so students can clearly see how to improve. Assessment is an opportunity to grow, rather than a final judgement.

On paper, the proficiency scale seems like a great way to make learning about learning, instead of grades. However, this scale is brand-new, and I, and many others, still have concerns about it. The proficiency scale doesn’t map neatly onto percentage or GPA scales. A “proficient” could be a B, A, or A+ depending on the person. “Extending” is reserved for great work, but some educators may argue that “great work” is still proficient, because that’s what students are aiming for. When applying to Universities (especially international ones), the proficiency scale may undervalue student achievements, as universities will see “Proficient” as average.

I have 3 little sisters, and we have discussed the proficiency scale greatly. No matter the label, students are still referring to grades with letters, except now, an “A” is unattainable. One of my sisters is in Grade 8, and she has voiced her frustration on this time after time. She gets 100% on every math worksheet, on every math test. She brought her report card home, and had received a “Proficient” in Math. She felt lost, confused, because how does she improve from 100%? The goal of “Extending” (or “A”) is gone. If she had gone through school at the same time I did, she would’ve received an A.

So, while BC is trying to become more student-centred, this is creating the same disparity I feel in University. Being perfect gets you the same mark as a 70%. Fully understanding (and being able to show your understanding) is no longer marked as “complete understanding.”

In sum, while the proficiency scale supports deep learning and can reduce anxiety around grades, it can cause great disadvantage for students going into post-secondary. Moving forward, the Ministry of Education should provide clear supporting documents which can be used to translate the proficiency scale to a regular percentage or GPA scale for post-secondary institutions.

07/17/25

Today I looked into a variety of digital tools that can be integrated into the classroom. I explored four tools: Padlet, BoomWriter, Epic! Books, and Edpuzzle. I’ve used Padlet in the past and I think it’s a great way to get students to share their ideas for brainstorming without being nervous to speak in front of the class. BoomWriter was new to me, and stands out as an awesome way to get students writing collaboratively. Epic! Books is a powerful tool for differentiated reading as it offers a vast library of literature. Lastly, Edpuzzle is a great tool for educators as it allows you to embed questions and voiceovers into videos, turning passive learning into active learning.

I am most excited to try Edpuzzle and BoomWriter with students. Edpuzzle seems like such a great resource to make video content more interactive. I can see it working well, especially for subjects like science that are information-heavy. BoomWriter too is a fantastic tool for building classroom culture and community, while strengthening writing confidence. It could be a fun and engaging way to create class stories or even integrate cross-curricular writing.

The only tool that fell short today is Epic! Books. Although it has a large library filled with excellent content, its use is limited to classrooms with consistent access to devices, which isn’t always the case.

07/16/25

Today I looked into Alvermann, Donna E., and Dennis Sumara. “Ideas that changed literacy practices: First person accounts from leading voices.” (2021): 1-325, specifically chapter 6. Literacy, English, and Video Games: Challenges and Continuities Through Change by Catherine Beavis. Reading through this chapter reminded me of a research paper I wrote a couple years ago about the social benefits of online gaming. I reread this paper, and I think it really connects to what we are learning in regards to how literacy, collaboration, and communication can be supported by digital technologies. So here’s my essay:

The Social Benefits of Online Gaming

Everyone who plays online video games has heard the same chastisement, time and time again: that playing violent video games is isolating and will cause antisocial behaviour in the real world. Every community of hobbyists faces criticism, and yet the online gaming community seems to face a large brunt of critiques, especially from parents and people whose only experience with online gaming is the endless levels of Candy Crush. Online gaming provides an easy ice breaker to meet new people with common interests, particularly in games where trust between players is the only way to achieve a win. However, online gaming helps to develop and enhance strong friendships between gamers, increasing social skills for those who may be deficient in socialization, and is still lacking evidence of a direct relationship between online gaming and real-world aggressive behaviour. 

Online gaming has long been painted with the brush of being lonely and isolating, when in reality, online gaming breeds communication and friendship between gamers (Anderton, 2018), with over 60% of all gamers choosing to actively play with others (Entertainment Software Association, 2018, as cited in Smith et al., 2020). A 2018 study completed by Qutee revealed that 66% of gamers included in the study had made up to five strong friendships through gaming, with an additional 37% of gamers claiming that they had made and maintained more than five friendships through online gaming (Anderton, 2018). Multiplayer games enhance social relations among gamers by the very way that multiplayer games are constructed. The majority of multiplayer games are built with relations between gamers in mind–in order to proceed and win the game, one must form trust in their teammates and socialize with them to achieve a common goal (Sahi et al., 2019). Online role-playing games (RPGs) are especially true to this statement, as RPGs are mainly played for the social element. Games centred around the role a gamer plays allow players to improve their socialization skills, learning who to trust and befriend in a group setting (Sahi et al., 2019). Online gaming is a hub for interpersonal connections, leading to strong friendships and loyalty within the gaming community, engendering happier, less stressed gamers. In a study executed by Qutee, gamers were asked how they believed online gaming was beneficial, and over 40% answered with the opinion that online gaming improved their mental well-being (Anderton, 2018). This statistic is important when considering just how many people struggle with their mental health in today’s world and how gaming can be used to unwind and relax, just like every other hobby.

Due to how online gaming helps improve gamers’ mental well-being, it may also be used as an outlet for those unhappy with their real-world lives. People, especially children, lacking social support in their offline lives may use online gaming as a social resource, motivating further use of video games to compensate for a deficiency in social contact (Mun et al., 2023). Deficient social skills are important to consider when evaluating the lack of societal rejection when faced with anonymous socialization–there is no fear of judgment for individuals with lower social skills. Children raised by parents with mental health issues are especially prone to turning to online gaming to compensate for a lack of socialization within their household (Mun et al., 2023). Parents with mental health issues are more likely to have less of a “hands-on” approach to raising children and thus fewer social interactions with their children, leading to a deficiency in their children’s developing social skills (Mun et al., 2023). Online gaming communities allow instant and gratifying sociability among gamers lacking in social experience in the real world, without fear of ostracization and face-to-face rejection. 

Along with anonymity in the online gaming world comes the ability to be rude through a screen, with the small number of people using this to their nefarious advantage overpowering the mass of people choosing not to be rude. These individuals perpetuating the stereotype of hostility in the gaming community transferring over into violent real-world behaviour is a large part of where the online gaming community gains its reputation for poor social skills among gamers in their offline lives (Gromada, 2022). Yet the social benefits of online gaming are evident for those with hostility issues, where social skills and relationships made through the online gaming community transfer over to relationships and emotional stability in real-world behaviour (Smith et al., 2020). Trash talk and “trolling” within the gaming community are often done with friends to antagonize opposing teams and are a part of the experience of gaming as a whole (Nakamura, 2012, as cited in Smith et al., 2020). Trolling is a popular antagonization tactic in online communities where an individual seeks attention for the sole reason of creating a controversy. While trash-talking and trolling can and have, in the past, been taken too far, there is no direct link to hostility and violence in online games seeping into real-world behaviour (Williams et al., 2005, as cited in Smith et al., 2020). Research surrounding cyber-aggression in the gaming community has grown, yet there is still a lack of evidence of direct causation between online gaming and real-world aggressive behaviour (Smith et al., 2020). People who struggle to control their emotions tend to turn to gaming as an outlet, instead of the stereotypical belief that gaming itself causes violence in real-world behaviour.

In sum, online gaming facilitates healthy socialization, communication, and friendships among gamers, especially those with deficiencies in their social skill set. The social benefits of online gaming are the direct antithesis of the long-standing stereotype of video gaming being a lonely and isolating hobby, which is a view that 93% of gamers see as incorrect (Anderton, 2018). The online gaming community is not anywhere near perfect, but it does not deserve the intense hate and blame received due to the stereotype of gaming causing loneliness and violence in real-world behaviour, though future studies should look into the role that gaming addiction and normative beliefs among gamers may play in hostility. Online gaming as a community will only continue to grow, and it is salient to see the positive effects stemming from this community, especially because it is a community filled with members of society who will one day be our future leaders.

References

Anderton, K. (2018). The impact of gaming: A benefit to society [infographic]. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/kevinanderton/2018/06/25/the-impact-of-gaming-a-benefit-to-society-infographic/?sh=2fd9acf4269d 

Hilvert-Bruce, Z., & Neill, J. T. (2020). I’m just trolling: The role of normative beliefs in aggressive behaviour in online gaming. Computers in Human Behavior, 102, 303–311. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2019.09.003 

Gromada, A. (2022). Moderate Gaming and Internet Use Show Positive Association with Online Reading of 10-Year-Olds in Europe. Computers and Education Open, 3, 100109-. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.caeo.2022.100109 

Mun, I. B., & Lee, S. (2023). The influence of parents’ depression on children’s online gaming addiction: testing the mediating effects of intrusive parenting and social motivation on children’s online gaming behavior. Current Psychology (New Brunswick, N.J.), 42(6), 4991–5000. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-01854-w 

Sahi, M. & Bhagat, G. (2019). Positive effects on online games: A review. Journal of Critical Reviews. 6(3). https://www.jcreview.com/admin/Uploads/Files/61a4723e6c4002.43511818.pdf 

Smith, C. M., Rauwolf, P., Intriligator, J., & Rogers, R. D. (2020). Hostility Is Associated with Self-Reported Cognitive and Social Benefits Across Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game Player Roles. Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking, 23(7), 487–494. https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2019.0349 

07/15/25

Today, I explored digital reading and writing through the lens of several “Would you rather?” questions. The answers surprised me… although I am very “for” technology, especially in the classroom, when faced with these questions, I seem to prefer print.

Would you rather read the book or watch the movie of a story?

I would choose reading the book every time, although I would love to watch the movie after I have completed the book. This is because movies cut out a large portion of the story in order to fit everything into a nice 1.5h-2h length. The book contains the whole story, and RARELY is the movie’s version ever better than the book’s.

Make a video or write a paper?

I would always rather write a paper. I tend to procrastinate, and making a video last-minute, at 2am, in the dark, is not usually the best way to showcase my knowledge. I can bang out a paper in a couple hours, fueled on pure adrenaline and a Yerba Mate.

Write a book or start a podcast?

Although I have tried both, I would 100% rather write a book. I have always loved creative writing and intend to publish novels in my future.

This definitely surprised me, although I grew up printing in school. I wondered if students who grew up with more technology would have different answers, so I decided to ask my 12 year-old and 9 year-old sisters for their opinions.

Rylee (9) would rather read the book, write a paragraph (She’s in grade 3 I don’t think she knows what a paper is), and write a book. Lexi (12) would rather watch the movie, write a paragraph, and write a book. Very interesting! Although we are siblings and grew up together, so these are probably skewed results.

07/14/25

Today, I looked into how the BC Curriculum Core Competencies connect and can be supported by digital technology and digital literacy. Creating a (beautiful) Venn diagram to show my findings allowed me to explore how important using digital technology, and teaching digital literacy, is to the curriculum. When used with intention, digital technology and literacy can amplify Communication, Personal and Social Awareness, and Critical and Reflective Thinking.

Digital literacy is more than just knowing how to use a computer. It’s about understanding how to be thoughtful, ethical, and critical when navigating the digital world. Core competencies like Communication and Critical and Reflective Thinking are greatly strengthened when students have the opportunity to use digital tools to evaluate information, research, and collaborate with others. By using these tools to respond to the world, students become confident learners with empowered voices.