EDU 642 Reflection: A Look Back on the First Week

#EDU642 #Week1

The first week of the course focused primarily on building distinct forms of digital media to be utilized in an online learning environment with our own students. Upon doing a bit of research, and looking into the best practices to utilize while designing various instructional tools, several different items were created. These included, but were not limited to, a set of graphic images or digital slides, an instructional rubric, and a Bitmoji classroom. While constructing each of the items, I was very cognizant of how the pieces would be interpreted by their intended audience. The vast majority of students that I teach are sophomores in high school. They range in age from 15-16 years old and many of them are very technologically savvy. I wanted to create tools that would not only enhance their educational experience in one way or another, but also appeal to their preferences.

To elaborate, as part of Generation Z, my students have grown up in a world surrounded by technology. They are digital natives that thrive off of social media and its ability to connect them with others. In fact, many of these students actually feel more comfortable interacting with individuals online than they do in a traditional face-to-face setting. On the whole, it seems like many of these young adults prefer to have a streamlined digital experience; they don't need all the bells and whistles, but would rather opt for a clean user interface that allows them to get straight to the point of the task at hand and easily connect what they learn in the classroom to their everyday lives and personal experiences. I tried to keep such sentiments in mind as I was considering which pathways to take for each of our weekly EDU 642 assignments. I want the tools that I create throughout this course to be relevant to students and have a meaningful impact on their overall experience within my classroom, online or otherwise. It is for this reason I selected the educational tools that I did.

All in all, the resource that I am most excited to implement with my students is the Bitmoji classroom. I feel it is of the utmost importance to foster positive relationships in the classroom, which will in turn allow your students to feel comfortable to the point that their comprehension of the classroom content is their primary focus. The Bitmoji classroom allows students to get to know me better as an individual. This brings us one step closer to finding shared commonalities and forming worthwhile relationships. It also ties directly into building and maintaining a strong sense of social presence within the online classroom, which we have discussed extensively in previous MALDT courses. If we dive deeper into the social presence model, I believe the Bitmoji classroom not only allows educators to foster affective association, but also promote community cohesion and demonstrate a high level of instructor involvement. While the creation of the Bitmoji classroom took a little longer than I had originally anticipated, I believe the outcome was well work it. The tool is just one of the many aspects I look forward to incorporating into my classes this upcoming fall.