Vision For The Future: Learner Considerations

I'm going to backtrack a bit here, as it seems that I misunderstood the point of the first blog post. I re-read the entire assignment and modules and am going to include some more of my thinking from last week as well as the learner considerations for this week.

Using the format of a comic strip, I am going to share my Vision for the Future as a 21st Century Classroom Teacher. My trusty sidekick B.O.T. (Binary Online Teacher) will help explain the key elements that I hope to see in my own classroom or library someday. These elements include:

• Collaboration, both online and in person (genius hour, multi-aged learning)
• Using portable technology fluently (laptops, tablets, phones)
• Classrooms without walls (both online and IRL - outdoor classrooms/fieldtrips/in the community)
• Encouraging problem solving skills and ethical thinking
• Being a role model for life-long learning by learning new technologies alongside my students

My goals are to:

• Create content that is easy to read/understand/visualize
• Use humour to identify what my 21st Century classroom will look like
• Learn how to use comic making tools to create an artifact for this project and beyond

I have been trying to find a book that I read shortly before I graduated from my BEd called The Third Teacher: 79 Ways You Can Use Design to Transform Teaching and Learning. It is in a box somewhere, I just haven't been able to find it, but I found it highly influential as I finished up my teaching degree. I have found PDF that links each of the "79 ways," which are amazing tidbits to start ideas flowing. The full book has interviews and excerpts from educators like Sir Ken Robinson and David Suzuki that I was really hoping to grab some wonderful quotes! I still have time, so hopefully it will turn up. Even if I don't end up using it for this project, it is a book that I highly recommend.

In terms of "learner considerations" for this project, I am making this with the audience of teachers in mind. I am hoping to use the platform of the comic to simplify ideas and make them readable, relatable, and understandable. I will upload my comic as a new blog post and will create a separate "resources" page on my blog that will act as a sharable list of resources that I have found to help make my vision become a reality.

I am hoping that students will enjoy reading it too. That they will see a cute comic to read and then learn something. I want my students to know that I am advocating for change, that I am advocating for their futures. My vision of the future is their reality. In seeing this, students will know that teachers aren't just sitting back and staying the course. We are upgrading our own learning to match theirs, and hopefully they will have some faith restored in their education.

These past couple of weeks I have been writing and re-writing my script to make my ideas more concise. I have always enjoyed writing, but have never really tried writing a comic before. It is definitely a different set of skills! I am enjoying the process, but am used to trying to "beef up" my writing instead of trying to say more with less - although I guess Twitter is good practice for that!

I am trying out a couple of apps to see which I like best. The Canva App offers free templates for infographics, brochures, and even has photo specs for various social media pics (Instagram's square VS Facebook's cover photo). I'm enjoying playing with this app, but don't quite think it is the right fit.

Story Board That has been really fun to play with! You choose from pre-made backgrounds and characters, but get to add your own flair. You get to edit facial expressions, poses, and clothing. There are characters from Medieval times and Ancient Egypt; monsters and mermaids; and even silhouettes for showing people in the background. I haven't found anything that lets you draw your own character, but it seems like a great tool to use for a project that is more about the writing than the art. Here is a screenshot that I took of just some of the ways you can alter your character from panel to panel.

I have also been playing around with the Seedling Comic Studio app for iPhone. This app is super fun! There aren't as many backgrounds or editing of the characters like Story Board That, but you can add in your own photos! It would probably be easier to work with on an iPad with a bigger screen, especially the editing feature of cutting out people from your photo to add them to the comic, but the phone worked pretty well. I am excited to try this one out more.

I hope this helps to outline my vision a little further than I had previously. I am looking forward to continuing on with this project and to see where this idea takes me.