PODS Checkpoint Observations

It was interesting seeing what everyone else was doing for their PODs projected. I liked how our cohort has honed in on a lot of safety aspects, like creating secure passwords, monitoring your own digital footprint, safe internet usage, protecting your browser with a vpn, the dangers of excessive gaming, social stigma/ cyber bullying, responsible screentime, and safe ai usage. It was almost funny for me looking at all the different presentations and seeing just how much information it is POSSIBLE for us to teach students about the internet.

It feels almost shameful to say, but I honestly consider my phone an extension of myself and my window to the world and widespread culture. it’s like a central hub for my life. I use it to communicate and track my friends, keep up with updates on my classes, find information, and more. For better or worse (probably worse) it is the last thing I touch when I go to bed and the first thing I touch when I get up in the morning. So all that in mind, it is mindboggling to consider I never learned about these things as a kid, I just got a phone and learned as I went along. My passwords my entire childhood were all the same and quite simple, and yes, I have been hacked before. I almost lost the instagram page that stores memories from the past 10 years of my life just a couple months ago because I got scammed thinking I was helping a friend get back into their account. Turns out, I was helping someone break into mine. If I had been educated on scams like that, the less obvious ones, maybe that would not have happened. Regardless, I am certain if they could fool me they could fool a younger child. My generation has been the first one to grow up with these rapidly progressing personal devices. Where I had a tablet when I was 7 that I played Talking Tom on, 7 year olds today are watching Tiktok. Thats a little different, and a lot scarier. All that to say, there is SO much our students need to know about the internet and the technology they have access to so they do not learn the hard way.

SAMR Activity

I liked the SAMR Model. We talk a lot in our classes about scaffolding our lessons and having levels for different learners, constantly adapting, etc. This is a good example of putting that into practice. I also appreciate it encourages us to explore different tools and think outside the box.

Classroom Screen

I did not like the tool of the week. It is mostly personal preference and being picky, but nonetheless I have thoughts. I think that while it undoubtedly works for some classrooms, there on concerns about it being distracting, especially for children attention deficits. Similarly, I personally found having multiple widgets on the screen with movements and sound effects to overwhelming and a bit overstimulating, as I have sensitivities with sound. Therefore, my mind immediately goes to how a student with similar struggles to me might react to that. I imagine there are ways to mute the sound effects, but also worthwhile for teachers to be aware of the needs of their learners when choosing tools in the classroom!