Online Learning and Digital Project Reflection
Good day! In this blog post, I will be answering questions on the role of technology in my learning this year.
1. What are your thoughts on hybrid learning (in person and at home) compared to when you are in your learning groups (at school for all classes). Which format do you prefer, and why?
I am usually pretty indifferent, but I prefer having the hybrid class be a more practice-heavy class, in the morning, and the class in a full learning group be the class where I have to learn new things/the afternoon class. The advantage of hybrid groups in the morning is that if I’m done whatever task I should be doing in the morning, I can study for something going on in my afternoon class if I want to take some weight off my shoulders in the evening. Hybrid groups for afternoon classes, however, are awful and inconvenient. My parents do not enjoy having to pick me up at 11, and I always get tired when I come home from school, so working independently in the afternoons is virtually impossible. I find I focus on the class that I’m in a learning group for more, and that I learn better when I have a teacher nearby to answer my endless questions. I like being in hybrid classes for classes with more practice time (Guitar, Band) so I can practice independently and pace myself.
2. How has technology benefitted you during the hybrid learning experience?
Technology has benefitted me in a number of obvious ways during the hybrid learning experience. I have been able to communicate with my peers and with my teachers, to ask for clarification, homework help, explanation and other kinds of support. Without the technology of Teams, handing in assignments during hybrid learning would probably be a nightmare of emailing links and remembering due dates and the like. It was also really nice to work with my classmates, like voice calling and discussing assignments or just sending them questions I didn’t need to ask the teacher.
3. How has technology impeded you during the hybrid learning experience?
Distraction. I have been plagued with issues of distraction this year, and it is a problem that is difficult to solve. I have been craving interaction so often this year that I will answer any text message right away, regardless of how important my work is, and it’s so hard to focus when the device you’re working on has unlimited access to music videos faster than it has access to your Teams home page (right, why does that take so long to load?). I feel like I can spend hours on a device nowadays, something that I did not feel the need to do before the pandemic. Homework is no longer a separate task from fun, and it is difficult to come up with strategies that do not make this needlessly complicated and difficult school year any worse.
4. Is there anything that you hope remains a part of school that was new because of hybrid learning after the pandemic is over and school returns to normal?
Most of the advantages of hybrid learning come from hybrid learning itself, so I’m not sure how it could be implemented in a regular school year. I quite liked the focus on just two subjects, because I like going very in-depth on things, and I liked the fact that there was more individual working time as opposed to teachers talking at you, so I hope I get to work more on my own and zoom in on different subjects when school returns to normal.
5. Link to 2 Projects in school /TALONS that used digital technology, and explain how the use of that digital technology enhanced your project. Ideas include In-Depth, Eminent, Zip, individual class projects in Talons or other subjects…
The school project I believe best shows my use of digital technology is my Eminent project. I used a Carrd site, which is like a one-page free website builder type deal, a Canva presentation, and YouTube to create an interactive digital experience. I went above and beyond what a simple poster or PowerPoint could do and made quizzes, videos, discussion boards and more to explain my learning. Without technology, this probably would not have been so cool. I am proud of the ways I used technology in this project, although it was a bit messy, I put a lot of effort into making it really fun no matter what level you decided to engage with it on.
Another example would be my In-Depth project. This project could not have been possible in these times without the internet, as I completed the meetings online, wrote all the blog posts digitally, composed my final project online, did research and learned about diverse music on the internet, and more. I met with my mentor over Zoom a few times a month, wrote a blog post every month, posted it to this blog, and made a series of YouTube videos for my final project. All of this was aided by digital technology and the process was enhanced by it. Especially in the COVID era where it is very difficult to safely meet or present in person, this project was enhanced by digital technology. It also made it a lot cooler!
I hope you enjoyed reading my blog post and absorbed a few of my opinions about learning this year. Have a good day!
• June 25, 2021