The dystopian hellscape came and went; after the data collection, mass surveillance and social engineering a benevolent section of the populace hacked the technological global systems of power. The restart began in 2035, after the hysteria of neoliberal capitalism collapsed. Creating a more equitable education system and distribution of resources was facilitated by a complete overhaul of global power systems. Â Shifting the educational paradigm to focus on solutions to the climate crisis and global inequality came naturally as exploitative hyper nationalism fell apart. A new utopian vision of the human family was widely embraced. Global educational collaboration became more common with students learning from each other through video conferencing and projects designed to find solutions to common problems. With increased global interaction through education and tangible solutions to the climate crisis and migration the human family harmonized. The educational system shifted to honour creativity in the arts as research revealed that personal artistic expression facilitated solutions to global issues. The focus on expression has allowed people to share their understandings of the world and communicate effectively with each other. Over time, global systems of power were altered by the majority to reflect the power of collaboration and the collective power of people. Digital literacy and screen time rationing have also encouraged healthy habits around technology. The first contact with extra-terrestrial life has solidified the progress the human family has made, with contact occurring after banning weapons of mass destruction and war. With the just distribution of resources occurring and the legacies of colonial and capitalist exploitation being addressed people let go of greed and embraced heart centered approaches to bring people together.
I really appreciated the tech inquiries presented by my classmates over these past few weeks. The discussion around social media monitoring and data storage was great to have as a class. It is so important to engage with these issues in our tech saturated world and it is heartening to see that our cohort is engaged and aware of so many important issues. I also really enjoyed learning about the various technology and tools for learners with disabilities and exceptionalities. It is amazing and life changing when technology can be utilized as a force of good in the world. The ability to bring people in through technology that bridges gaps for inclusion and allows people to interact with the world around them is amazing. It is wonderful to see all the free and relatively cheap technology available for various applications. I love the idea of open source technology that is rooted in caring intention for others learning. Hearing how engaged people were with their projects was inspiring to see. I also enjoyed the presentations and explorations around mindfulness that people presented, shared and talked about in the Edcamp we had in class. I am so happy to see a breadth of engagement in various areas and how we can all use tech to enrich classrooms and learning.
Throughout the semester it has been nice to have the digital platform of Pixlr on my phone to explore digital art through. I feel I have become more proficient, comfortable and fast on the program over the semester. By developing skills on the program I feel that I would now be able to share learnings and techniques with students in a classroom and develop a short unit around Pixlr to complement Photoshop. Having the portability of Pixlr on a smartphone allows for explorations anywhere when inspiration strikes. I feel that this program will be really valuable for students because it is easy to use, intuitive, fun and free. I look forward to sharing this program with students and seeing their creative results.
I find the tactile feel of drawing so grounding and healing. After some weeks of exploring photography and digital alterations I feel that it is time to integrate some hand drawn images. Drawing is so fun and can take so many forms, it is possible to do in many environments with music or the natural world complementing the process greatly. I feel that for students and teachers it can offer opportunity for reflection, play with many focused tangible outcomes. This week I am sharing some playful explorations that felt good to do while at work or in nature.
  I recently read a news article about a bullying incident at a Vancouver school that centered around racist death threats via social media. The article highlights the essential need for increased education on anti-racism and digital technology for school communities. The lack of preparation and appropriate response from the school reflects the systemic structural racism embedded in Canadian culture. The lack of adequate response from the school administration after a student posted death threats with racial slurs to social media is extremely upsetting for me as future educator. When the affected student told the principal and school police liaison officer she did not feel safe she was told “Well, you’re going to have to deal with it”[1]. This terrible administrative approach is shocking; the article also reveals how the affected student had the additional emotional labour of helping the administration deal with the situation. She was pulled out of class regularly for consultation, negatively affecting her grades and well-being. Sadly, this incident was not isolated as students at the same school wore KKK costumes at Halloween, used racial slurs and continued bullying black students via social media after the incident.
           This incident is indicative of how there must be increased multiliteracies for all teachers and students. Awareness about the history of racism in Canada is essential for dismantling continuing structural racism. Digital literacy must be cultivated so that individuals can interact with social media to help destroy racism, bullying and emotional violence. This article also reflects how the First People’s Principles of Learning must be strongly integrated into educational environments. If educators and students truly embraced how “learning ultimately supports the well-being of the self, the family, ancestors, the land, the spirits, and the ancestors”[2] and that “learning involves recognizing the consequences of one’s actions”[3] this incident may not have happened and would have been handled differently.
      Almost a year later a district anti-racism mentor has been reinstated in Vancouver because of grassroots community pressure. However, it should not be up to the affected groups to take anti-racist action, there must be initiative from privileged settler communities that recognize their responsibility to be allies. Other perspectives to consider in this story would be how this incident would have been treated if the student had not been from a white middle-upper class background? How is bullying dealt with when the bully is a person of colour, new immigrant or from a marginalized community? An intersectional analysis of ethnicity, class and gender must be utilized when we cultivate solutions for dealing with bullying and violence. I have attached anti-racist teaching resources and lesson plans so our teaching community has tools to help us integrate anti-racist education into our classrooms.
[1] “How a Black Student Paid the Price for Racism at a Vancouver School,” www.thetyee.ca, last modified September 11, 2019.
https://thetyee.ca/News/2019/09/11/Vancouver-School-Racist-Video/
[2]  “SD61 Indigenous Education: First Peoples’ Principles of Learning,” www.learn.sd61.bc.ca, last modified 2019.
[3]Â Ibid.
Here is the original article I read about the incident that was published on September 11th 2019 on the Tyee.
https://thetyee.ca/News/2019/09/11/Vancouver-School-Racist-Video/
 CBC did not run an article about the situation until September 18th.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/racist-video-school-parents-1.5287414
The Tyee also followed up with another article on September 18th after the community initiated meeting with the administration.
https://thetyee.ca/News/2019/09/18/Racist-Video-Mishandled-VSB/
 Here are some resources that will be useful to all of us in the cohort as we engage with classrooms and develop lesson plans to integrate anti-racist education.
https://bctf.ca/SocialJustice.aspx?id=21354
https://bctf.ca/socialjustice.aspx?id=21346
https://www.crrf-fcrr.ca/images/Clearinghouse/ePubFaShRacScho.pdf
http://teach4diversity.ca/resources/
http://www.aclrc.com/resources-for-teachers
https://www.osstf.on.ca/teachingresources
https://www.safeatschool.ca/resources/resources-on-equity-and-inclusion/racism/resources-for-youth
Our time in class spent exploring the democratic and flexible nature of Edcamp organizational frameworks was heartening to witness. I really appreciate this model for providing options for learners and teachers to share knowledge with each other in an open source way that encourages movement and discussion. The ability to initiate sessions, travel between sessions and share experiences with fellow learners is a wonderful way to build community and knowledge. It was great to practice the model in class and experience the fluid growth process in sharing circles. I appreciated the open ended nature of discussion and the Edcamp framework also encouraged listening and collaboration amongst everyone in the group. It would be great to implement this process in a classroom or school districts for teachers to share knowledge and practices with each other. I look forward to participating in more Edcamps and hope that they become a more frequent feature in educational spaces.
The fusion of nature and digital processes fascinates me, I thought it would be useful to share both the natural base images and the end result of digital explorations within Pixlr. When teaching students about the creative possibilities of Pixlr or Photoshop it is helpful to provide references and the gradual process of image development. This process can include conceptual frameworks, intention, references to the elements and principles of design or just pure playful exploration. Encouraging students to explore the many facets of creation and the various manifestations it reflects, allows for increased engagement with practice grounded both in theory and intuition. Here are some process photos showing original and end result to provide reference.
After a few weeks exploring digital photo alteration, layering and filtering of natural images to make something new I felt that it was time to focus on unaltered shots of nature. To create the digital explorations I have had nature photos as the foundational images. However, I thought it would be useful to rethink composition and capture some stand alone photos of nature. I feel that a combination of both natural and digitally enhanced photos can be fun for students to explore. Having the compositional understanding and applying it to digital exploration is very useful. It is so important for students to have a sense of perspective and colour when developing images. Here are some photos from this week.
I really appreciated the succinct overview of the SAMR model in class today. It is so important to have learning intentions and the goal in mind when integrating technology. This class has been great for thinking about new ways to integrate technology that move beyond mere substitution. It is important to use technology in its full potential to create new tasks that have been impossible before. I really appreciate the idea of having multiple classes across the world create networks and check in/video conference one or two times a month. International collaboration has the potential to open students up to diversity of culture and thought which is essential in an increasingly globalized world. I think it can also be really fun for students to witness others around the world to gain new perspectives through dialogue and project based learning together. Utilizing the SAMR model to help students with learning exceptionalities allows them to thrive as well, speech to text and digital community sharing allows students to express themselves to their classmates especially through sharing projects together in digital spaces. It was heartening to see a reflective approach to technology that does not simply use technology just because it is there but sets out learning outcomes and intentions before integrating. The approach of this model is increasingly beneficial as our world and youth become more integrated with technology by the day.
I have been enjoying exploring digital photo layering and altering of images on Pixlr. The program is great to explore on the bus, waiting in line for a coffee and those quick in between moments. Layering multiple photos from nature with double exposure and exploring the various editing tools and filters is a lot of fun. Pixlr is a very intuitive program to explore and has even produced some artwork for some future music releases. I think this program would be very accessible and fun for students in various classroom setting especially to create their own designs and backdrops for projects. Here are this weeks explorations.
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