Reflective Post #2 EDU 780

Reflective Post #2

By: Deanna Mulay

Image Source: https://www.globalfocusmagazine.com/tag/technology/ 

1. Now that you have finished the course, what is your stance on your role as an educator of Digital and Media Literacy? Has this changed from the beginning of the course?

    Now that I have completed the course, I have learned what digital and media literacy is and why it is important to have in our classrooms. At first, I thought that digital and media literacy was just having students use tools, such as social media or use different sites to research topics. Now that I have learned more about digital and media literacy, I know that it is a way for students to use critical thinking skills, be more engaged in lessons, and allow all students to participate. Digital and media literacy is also a great way for enhancing lessons. Technology is not suppose to replace lessons, only enhance them. In terms of my role as an educator of Digital and Media Literacy, I take more of a stand on different technology platforms for students to use and for me to advocate to enhance lessons for every classroom by  using technology. Technology may seem like a distraction, but educators need to find ways of using the tools to make more lessons engaging for all students. 

2. How can you continue growing as an educator of Digital and Media Literacy?

    I can continue growing as an educator of Digital and Media Literacy by taking risks with technology tools and continue looking into different tools to add in my technology toolbox. I can also create and attend different professional developments to help discover new tools to use for teachers and students as well. During this course, we were asked to find a new tool and also create a professional development. By repeating those assignments, I will be able to continue to grow and develop my skills as an educator of Digital and Media Literacy.  

3. Overall, what will you take away from this course?

    I will take away many ideas from this course. However, the one point that sticks with me is that technology is NOT meant to replace lessons. I think many educators, including myself, thought adding a technology tool at the end of the lesson was a way to incorporate more technology. In reality, technology should be included in every part of a project that students are working on. This course has given me a different take on technology and how I view it in the classroom. It is NOT a distraction or add-on to a lesson, rather an enhancement to the lessons to support all students. 

4. Any other feedback regarding this course (suggestions, questions, feedback etc.)

    I really enjoyed taking this course because I learned so much. I really enjoyed the Cool Tools Show-and-Tell. I think it was a great activity to learn more about different tools. It was also great to read about other educators' tools that they chose. I would like to do a similar activity in the future. I have really enjoyed this course and have learned so much!

Image Source: https://www.chieflearningofficer.com/2021/03/15/reflection-in-action-a-case-for-case-studies-amid-covid-19/

Kahoot!

 What is Kahoot!?

Kahoot! is an interactive game for students and even adults to use. Kahoot! is easy to create, share and play learning games or trivia quizzes in minutes. It is engaging for all players and it can be played on a computer, tablet, or smartphone. Kahoot! allows students to play at home during remote learning. While in the classroom, students are able to play on their Chromebooks or tablets.

Image Source: https://kahootinfo.weebly.com/  

Why did I choose Kahoot!?

Back when I was finishing up my general education courses in college as a sophomore, I was taking a Spanish class and did not follow one thing the teacher was saying. I can still remember the day she told us she was going to try something different...it was Kahoot! At first, I hated the idea of answering questions and everyone is going to see that I was getting the answers wrong. When I found out that the answers in the poll (like in the image below) were anonymous, I fell in love with this game! 

Image Source: https://digiteacher.wordpress.com/category/polling/ 

As time went on, no other teacher used Kahoot! so I just forgot about it, until this year. During remote learning, I was watching other teachers use Kahoot! with their students and I wanted to try it out, but I was so nervous that I would mess it up for the students. Sadly I did not do it with last year’s students, but recently I did try it with my coworkers. It was like I was in college again, having fun and super engaged with the content we were learning. At that moment I realized that I needed to bring Kahoot! into some of my lessons. I did try it out with my students online. They loved the game so much that they want to play every time we hop on Zoom. I could feel the engagement through a computer screen, so I cannot wait to feel the excitement about Kahoot! in person!

How can Kahoot! be accessed and what are the benefits of playing it?

In this brief narrated PowerPoint, you will learn how Kahoot! can be played and what the benefits are for teachers and students! 

How could Kahoot! be used in a lesson?

Kahoot! can be used in so many different ways in the classroom. For me, I generally use it as a review game at the end of a chapter or lesson. I like to use Kahoot! with older students reading a chapter book. At the end of each chapter, I can ask them five to ten questions to see how much the students remembered about that chapter (i.e. characters, plots, etc.). Since Kahoot! can also be played with adults, it is great for a brain break game of trivia or a review of the meeting. Whether you use the Classic mode or the Team Mode, Kahoot! is able to engage its players and make learning fun! 

Extra Resources: 

This video provides information on how to use Kahoot! reports to assess learning outcomes.

This article discusses the pros and cons of Kahoot! 

This is an article about Kahoot! being game-based learning. 

This is the Professional Development that Kahoot! has available.

This video walks you through the steps to create a quiz on Kahoot!  

This link provides more information on team mode of Kahoot!

How is Kahoot! game-based?

How can Kahoot! be used as a communication tool?