Coding in the Classroom

Youtube video by Brian Aspinall

Coding. I remember first being introduced to coding in a high school computer class. Throughout the class, the teacher introduced us to the codes behind creating a basic webpage, but not in the way one would think. Instead of presenting and discussing the codes with us, the teacher left it up to us to find them. In every class, we were presented with another piece of information to add to our webpage and then turned us loose to search for the codes to use on Google. This may seem fun, but to me, any interest that I had at the beginning was gone by the end. Instead of viewing the class as fun and exciting, I came to see the class as another grade.  I did not care to further explore coding on my own. Instead, I chose to only find the codes I needed to get the grade I wanted. So once the class was over, I forgot everything I "learned" in the class. I could not tell you how to get on the webpage I created or what I even had on it. Not once have I even considered using what I learned in that computer class outside of the class itself.

Sadly this is a problem that students in school face today, especially when it comes to coding. All students care about is how do I get the grade I need to pass. They do not pay much mind to how the information can help them outside the class.

Whether we like it or not, coding is becoming an even more prominent feature in our everyday lives. Practically everything we encounter runs using codes; everything from phones to TVs to cars to even a coffee machine uses codes to function correctly. As a result, more and more jobs are becoming available that require the workers to be knowledgable of basic coding. So what does this mean for our students?

Photo retrieved from Flickr
Photo by San Jose Public Library 

It means that as teachers, we can no longer present coding in a fashion that only has students learning the material long enough to pass. Instead, we must use the lesson to spark an interest in students to where they want to learn. We must get students to where they not only want to become proficient in coding but that they enjoy coding as well. This need to spark students' interest comes with a question; how? How do we, as educators, start the spark that leads to a lifetime of learning how to code in students?

The answer to this question is simple; we must try to spark their interest in coding at a young age by presenting coding in a way that is fun and meaningful to them. Chontelle Bonfiglio states that "they[sick] key to developing a love of problem solving, logic, number sense, and digital literacy is to incorporate these skills needed to code into activities your kids already love!" (par. 4) By presenting elementary students with a game that promotes coding in a fun way, we as educators are showing students coding in a way that is exciting to them. From there, the excitement can be built upon with each grade.

However, one must be careful to promote learning without the fear of failure. According to Brookhouser and Megnin, "When there's no room for failure, there's no room for growth" (p. 62). So often, students see failure as a loss when instead, they should see failure as a way to learn from their mistakes. Once students experience this loss, most often, they write off the content and do not find a need or want to learn it anymore. That is when the learning becomes only about getting a good grade. It is the fear of failure that keeps students from fostering their interest and turning it into careers that benefit society. As educators, we must be careful not to dwell on the failures and instead use those failures as a chance to learn, to improve.

Photo retrieved from Pixabay

Games that promote coding can help with this fight against the fear of failure. When learning to code through games and fun activities, students do not dwell on their failures for long. Instead, they are bound to see the failures as a challenge to improve, a chance to do better. This need to improve, in turn, can push the students to continue learning in order to be the best. Thus their interest is sparked, and their determination guarantees to make it last a lifetime.

Brookhouser and Megin state that it is "our responsibility to light within our students a steady flame of interest and confidence in technology and the skills it teaches" (p. 69). So the question remains. How are you going to promote interest in coding in your classroom without the fear of failure?

References

Aspinall, B. (2017, September 15) 10 Reasons kids should learn to code [video] Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S95o5icpDu4

Bonfiglio, C. (2019) How to make coding fun! [blog post]. Retrieved from https://teachyourkidscode.com/how-to-make-coding-fun/

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

Social Media in the Classroom

Image of Social Media Icons
by Flickr

According to Hicks (2013), "Social networks are becoming the way most people experience life online" (p. 137). Social media allows the user to connect with friends from across the world, keep up with global news, and share one's life with other users. Due to the constant use of social media platforms, most users can identify the various traps that it presents. As adults, we are more likely to notice scams, be mindful of what we post, identify false accounts, and understand that not everyone on social media has friendly intentions. However, what about students that are not as knowledgeable about social media? Sure, most social media sites require the user to be 13 or older, but younger users have found ways to get around this age requirement. Therefore, they are more likely to fall for the traps social media presents. Additionally, just by viewing social media, students are being exposed to content that may not be ideal. The content may contain misconceptions, promote only one side of the argument, or being completely false. The legitimacy of content is something to consider since students may be unknowingly soaking up the content and storing it for later use. So the question is, how exactly can we, as educators, use social media in a way that not only benefits students' learning academically but also informs students of the dangerous side of social media?

Video by Jessica Bizzle Verrett

As with learning about anything, the first step is exposure. As educators, the best way to teach students about social media and all of its traps is through exposure and later on hands-on experiences. Thus, we want to show students examples of productive uses of social media and the negative uses of social media. An excellent way to determine whether any social media content is beneficial is by utilizing Turner and Hicks' acronym "MAPS" (Turner & Hicks, 2017, p. 13-14). MAPS stands for mode, media, audience, purpose, and situation. Below are screenshots of a Facebook post, comments included, that I have analyzed utilizing the acronym MAPS.

Snapshots of Facebook post
Collage created using Canva

To start with, the media used to produce this post was Facebook, whereas the overall mode of the post was informative. The post was published in a Facebook group created for 1st-grade teachers around the world, making the members of this group the audience. This group is utilized by its members to share information on the different aspects of teaching. The reason behind the creation of this group creates the situation for this post, to receive helpful information. The owner of this post is inquiring about the best way to teach reading groups utilizing digital resources. Thus the post's purpose was to receive guidance on how to teach reading groups online, while the comments' purpose was to offer that guidance.  When looking at the comments, one can see how, with each new reply, the information given is helpful and builds off the previous comments. If the user was replying to a particular response or asking an additional question, the user tagged the person they were referring too. This kept the information flowing up until the last comment was given.

Looking back over this post and how it lines up with Turner and Hicks's acronym MAPS, as an educator, I would utilize this post as a mentor text for creating inquiry posts on a social media site. However, having students view a successful social media post is only half of the lesson. After students come to understand what a successful post looks like, they must be allowed to create one themselves. Therefore, as educators, we must look for opportunities to utilize social media in the classroom. With older grades, this may come through having students create a blog, post questions on Twitter, or publish a webpage of their own with desired content. But what about the younger grades? As a 1st grade teacher, I would not want my students to utilize unsafe social media in my classroom. However, if one were to utilize an educational form of social media, such as Edmodo, then one is still exposing students to social media in a safer environment. Thus, allowing younger students to practice creating social media post, without the risk of them being exposed to harmful content.

Despite one's feeling for the use of social media, we are living in the digital age. Social media is growing more popular every day. Therefore, as educators, we must start to integrate it into the classroom as well. According to Chloe West (2019), "integrating the use of these into the classroom is more natural than before, given how acclimated many students are to them" (West, 2019, pp. 3). There are many other ways to utilize social media in the classroom if one can be creative. So the question is, would you use social media with your class?

Resources

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

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

      read and write digital texts. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Verrett, J. B. (2017, August 30). Social media in the classroom [video]. Youtube. Retrieved
      from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76rWPnzrBl8
West, C. (2019, November 6). 12 Ways to use social media for education [Blog post]. Retrieved 

      from https://sproutsocial.com/insights/social-media-for-education

Promoting Positive Video Content in the Classroom

Video by: Common Sense Education

In this digital era, every student has watched at least one video online, frequently from YouTube. However, how often might students consider the content of the viewed video. In this day and era, one can never be sure what students are storing information while they are browsing the wide variety of videos offered online. Is the information correct or a misconception? Is it a fact or an opinion? Is it positive or negative? These are a few questions students are not considering when viewing online videos. As an educator, it is a scary thought to know that students are not paying attention to the content of the video, but instead are only interested in how "cool" it is. According to Hicks (2013), "we need to understand that anything they watch, purposefully or incidentally, can be a mentor text" (p. 107). This simple quote should make any educator stop and think about the videos they have shown to their students. As a teacher, I tend to preview any video I show beforehand. This is one way I monitor the information they are absorbing from online videos. I make a conscious effort only to promote positive content to my students, but what if we as educators take it a step further? After all, students should not merely watch a video; instead "they should also have something to say about it" (Higgin, 2018, par. 3). So, why not utilize the videos offered online to discuss how videos can construct a digital argument? Turner and Hicks(2017) state that "It is not that they are making a video; they are using the medium of video to make an argument" (p.84).  Perhaps if students understand that videos are a form of digital arguments, they may view each videos' content differently. Then students might move away from the mindset that a video's content should be "cool" and instead start to consider the overall message of the content. Once students realize that it is the message in the content that makes a video memorable, they will begin to contribute positively through their video productions. Of course, as educators, we must model this process ourselves.

Students watching videos on computers
By: Pxhere.com

At the beginning of this course, I recorded a short introduction video in my classroom containing information about myself. Before recording the video, I drafted out a few key points of information about myself that I wanted to include. However, I did not put the information in any particular order. In addition, the video was recorded during my break, which led me to rush the process of recording my video. Instead of allowing myself an unlimited amount of recordings, I only gave myself two chances to get the desired footage. When creating or viewing any digital argument, Hicks (2013) proposes using the acronym "MAPS"(p. 106). Hicks (2013) uses "MAPS" to stands for "mode, media, audience, purpose, and situation" (p. 106). Utilizing this acronym to review my video, I can say that there is room for improvement.

When recording the initial introductory video, I knew that the audience was going to be my classmates and the purpose was to introduce myself to them. Therefore I did not give much thought towards the professionalism displayed in the content past my appearance. While I was in my teacher's dress and recording in my classroom, the angle of the camera and how I presented the information I was providing about myself did not promote a professional appearance. For I was holding the camera myself at an awkward angle, and despite having an outline on what information I wanted to provide about myself, my thoughts were jumbled and led me to ramble throughout. Thus not making this video ideal to utilize to introduce myself to the parents of my students.

While the revision video displayed below is still not perfect, I do believe that it is a better model for how a digital argument should look. For this recording, I paid more attention to the overall quality of the video. I kept the audience in mind and created a better drawn out script as opposed to the notes I utilized in my initial introduction video. In addition, I provided myself with enough time to record the video as many times as needed to get the desired result. These small changes made a big difference in the overall appearance of the video. Thus, this experience has provided me with the background knowledge I need so that I can be of better service to my students when it comes to creating digital arguments with videos.

References

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

Higgin, T. (2018, August 16). Using video effectively in the classroom. Common Sense 
      Education. https://www.commonsense.org/education/articles/using-video-effectively-in-the-
      classroom

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

      read and write digital texts. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Infographics in the Classroom

Time, it seems that there are never enough hours in a day to complete everything that is required, especially for an educator. Yet, today, educators are required to cover all core subjects in addition to technology. Therein lies the dilemma, how to cover all the core subjects, work in technology, and keep the students’ attention the whole time. As educators, we have become talented at composing duel lessons for the sake of time. However, students’ attention span is still a sought out reward. Thus, the dilemma of an educator succeeding in creating digitally literate students does not come in covering how to be a good digital citizen, but how to gain the students’ interest in the matter. Yes, students may enjoy socializing on their favorite game or watching videos online, but that does not present a stable path for teaching digital literacy. However, infographics may offer the time-saving solution educators desperately desire. According to Turner and Hicks (2017), infographics are “a combination of words, numbers, and visual elements” (2017, p.62). Each created to draw the reader’s attention to a selected amount of information by utilizing design and color. As a teacher, one knows that students, particularly those in the early elementary grades, are drawn to bright colors and appealing pictures as opposed to plain text. So, as an educator, why not have students select a topic, conduct research, and utilize the information they find to create infographics. Utilizing infographics in any grade is doable in that infographics are “easy to make, and can also keep students engaged” (McGhee, 2016).

Video on using infographics in the classroom. 

(Meij, 2012)

By incorporating infographics in the classroom, educators can guide students in how to construct a digital argument and utilize different digital tools, while still allowing students to express themselves through creative means. Thus, keeping the students engaged throughout the lesson. As students craft their infographics, it is essential to remember that students need guidance on how the layout of the infographic can impact how the reader views the information. According to Hicks (2013), one must “think carefully about the overall message being delivered” (2013, p. 69). Thinking about the desired message is something that educators must be sure to have students continuously consider when they create digital arguments, no matter the platform. This is for two reasons. The first being that once published on the internet, what is published never goes away, no matter how many times we delete it. Thus, students must understand the impact their digital creation may have on those that read it.

The second being that as authors, one wants their word to be visually appealing so that it may draw in potential viewers. When creating anything visual, whether it be digital or physical, one always depends on the look to attract their viewers. This need for visual attraction is true for book covers, art, webpages, and tv ads. When confronted between two choices that fall in the same category, most times, people choose the more visually appealing option. Thus, as educators, we want students to understand how to create visually appealing items so that they may contribute to society when they are older. With the worldwide web expanding every day, digital objects are a great place to start.

In comparison, it is also essential for students to understand that one often needs to compare the information presented in such media before forming an opinion. To accomplish this, one may have students compare two real-life sources of information, each presenting opposite views on a specific subject or perhaps simply have students research the topic on their own.

No matter how one views it, the importance of teaching students to craft digital argument remains. In a world that is becoming more focused on the visual appeal of information, infographics may be one of the first steps to help guide students in the maze that is digital literacy. Whether it is utilizing infographics in a research project, having students create an infographic for an imaginary product, or comparing real-world infographics to determine what is more visually appealing, we as educators need to be utilizing them in the classroom creatively. As educators, we use any available sources to cover English Language Arts, Mathematics, Social Studies, and Science, so why not do the same with technology?

Below is a Prezi presentation that I may use in the classroom when having my students create their own infographics. It includes the steps I would have my students take, with some suggestions for topics I would use. Please keep in mind that this was made primarily in use for my 1st-grade classroom, therefore most of it is based on my students' abilities. However, please fill free to edit the steps to best suit your needs.

 References

Hicks, T. (2013). Crafting digital writing: Composing texts across media and genres. Portsmouth, 
      NH: Heinemann.
McGhee, S. (2016). Using infographics in the classroom. [blog post]. Retrieved from : 
      https://www.gpb.org/blogs/education-matters/2016/11/17/using-infographics-the-classroom

Meij, R. (2012, December 3) Infographics in education [Video]. Youtube. 

      Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8N8wUGwa1E

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

      read and write digital texts Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Teaching Digital Arguments and Literacy

Students utilizing computers.
(Pxhere, 2017)

In today's world of technology, the amount of information at people's fingertips is constantly expanding, and challenging them to distinguish fact from opinion and even deliberate misinformation because of the sheer volume of choices available. Adults are occasionally swayed by irrelevant or inaccurate information that influences personal views. While adult consumers of information know that much of the content discovered through search engines and social media holds no real, relevant meaning, the simplicity and accessibility with which the information is presented entices users to accept the easy offering and occasionally permit their own judgment to be altered. However, for children, this "ease of information" trap is easier to fall into. Children's minds are constantly absorbing and processing information, some of which is found through their own browsing of the digital web on platforms that they interact with daily. Students' ability to learn to process volumes of easy information mindfully- and better yet- how to conscientiously create this information, may very well make a critical difference in the choices they make in life.

Educators play an enormous role in guiding students to first identify what sources can be found reliable and then transfer that into creating a reliable source themselves. Students must understand that their digital footprint is just as important as the choices they make in everyday life. According to Kristen Turner and Troy Hicks, "Crafting arguments in a digital world could be one of our greatest opportunities to improve dialogue across cultures and continents, or it could contribute to creating or continuing bitter divides" (2017, p.7). This argument holds true in that, just like actual words, digital arguments can leave a lasting impact on those that read them. When done correctly, people can exchange thoughts and knowledge with others around the world, thus making connections that might, otherwise, never have been made. By the same token, a person's careless use of digital formats to create arguments, offer misinformation, or broadcast detrimental or hostile opinions precludes the opportunity to contribute in a positive way.

Anchor chart of digital literacy skills. 

(WebWise.ie, 2019)

Never has it been more important for educators to guide children in how to listen, interact, and contribute to any argument, through written expression (whether digital or traditional composition) and through speaking (including using discussion forums and any number of presentation formats). By doing this, we not only help guide students in becoming positive contributors to an ever-growing wealth of information, but help to guide them in organizing their thoughts in more meaningful ways. Kristen Turner and Troy Hicks state that “we need to engage them in critical and creative opportunities for composing digital writing” (2017, p15). It is crucial for students to participate in the composition of writing for them to fully understand how the content within can impact those that read it. Thus, comes the burden of finding activities that engage the students, but also offer a chance for students to interact appropriately and fully understand what a digital footprint is and how important it can be.

The digital realm is growing every day, pushing the importance of digital literacy to the forefront of education. “Instructing students on how to use technology is just the first step” (Turnitin, 2018). The steps after technology instruction make the difference on whether their digital footprint will be positive or another contributor to an ever-growing divide caused by misinformation and poor arguments.

References

Hobbs, R. (2019, July 13) What is digital literacy? [Video]. Youtube. 

      Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3tLZCXE2a0

Pxhere. (2017, March 14) [Photograph of students utilizing computers in a classroom]. Retrieved 

      from https://pxhere.com/en/photo/1132526

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

      read and write digital texts Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Turnitin. (2018, December 20). The growing need for digital literacy [blog 

      post]. Retrieved from https://www.turnitin.com/blog/the-growing-need-for-digital-literacy

Webwise.ie. (2019). Developing digital literacy skills [Clip art]. Retrieved 
      from https://www.webwise.ie/teachers/digital_literacy/