We're Not In Kansas Anymore!

Wow, What a whirlwind it has been lately! Danika and I attended the BIT (Bring IT Together) conference last week and I feel like a house has landed on me!  There was so much great information and networking at this conference! I can't believe it is my first time ever attending BIT.  Danika is a seasoned veteran of the conference which was made evident by the many people we ran into and talked to throughout the conference.  I feel like this conference has really helped move our thinking forward in terms of what we would like the DIGI course to be.  This post will outline a few of the considerations that have been mulling around in my brain since the conference.

• De-emphasizing Grades - I believe that Danika and I both had the idea early on in this process that grades would be de-emphasized in our new course.  During BIT, I was fortunate enough to attend a session by Amy Szerminska on the Grade -"less" Science class. Her session, along with some follow up research I have been doing on Amy's blog and elsewhere, has really solidified some of the logistics around this process that I think will make our assessment much more rich and meaningful for students.  Grades are a necessary part of our educational system but we hope to challenge how those grades are achieved.  We want to make assessment less about the number on the page and more about the iterative process that allows students to learn from feedback provided by themselves, other students and their teachers.

• Project Based Learning - This course is going to be Project Based. We are hoping to have students tackle real world problems while still attaining the curriculum expectations of both ENG3U/C and BTA3O.   This is a scary realm to be in!  Letting go of the reigns of the classroom is going to be quite an adjustment for me.  Not that I'm a massive traditionalist when it comes to a classroom but much of my past teaching experience has been from a teacher-centered model.  I am looking forward to experimenting with this technique while we journey through the DIGI course with our students.

• Student Routine - Although this class will be more student-centered than most other classes, Danika and I both believe that it is important to establish a routine for students.  Two main elements of that routine are most likely going to be goal setting and reflection. We want students to have a plan, each and every day that they walk into the classroom.  Students should be setting individual goals on a regular basis and, when collaborating, they should be establishing goals for the group.  We also want student reflecting on their learning regularly.  It has become apparent to me, in my recent practice, that reflection and meta-cognition are an integral part of students learning and must be formally built in to the learning process in order to improve student engagement and achievement.  I feel like the combination of goal setting and reflection will definitely improve our student learning and productivity throughout the course.

• Getting Students Talking - I mean this both figuratively and literally.  We have been having some discussions around how students can reflect and how we can get students engaging with the digital world in a positive way.  The title of the course is Finding Your Digital Voice which makes it imperative that we explore ideas around getting students talking.  We would like to do this in a number of different ways throughout the course. By using podcasting, blogging, social media posts, vlogging and other digital tools we would like to help students gain a voice through non-traditional methods of expression.  We want to reduce the "writing barrier" that many students might be experiencing when trying to demonstrate their learning.  Not that writing won't be a part of the course, but we don't want it to be the only way that students demonstrate their knowledge of the curriculum expectations.

Well, there you have it, some of my ideas around what I would like to see for the course.  I think Danika agrees with me on most of this (hopefully!).  BIT was definitely inspiring and helped move my thinking further along the continuum of making this course a reality.  This course will certainly take us to new places in our educational journey and I hope we can improve on our pedagogy along the way.