GOAL #2

Goal #2: Our Voices Conference - Using Technology to Understand Equity

            Pointing ahead, as Shaw suggests, I realized that the aesthetic appreciation that Rosenblatt discusses is not only found in literature, but can be translated into the lives of 21^st century learners.  During EU530: Integration of Technology into the Classroom, I developed a lesson around digital storytelling.  I then used this digital storytelling project as the culminating activity in my classroom as part of a collaborative project called The Harmony Movement.  The Harmony Movement is an organization that provides educational programs to promote diversity, equity and inclusion.  There were many components to this learning that aided me in achieving goal #2 in the Masters of Education program.  My grade 11 class participated in set lessons with Harmony Movement facilitators, we also visited the Woodland’s Cultural Centre as an experiential learning trip, and then, my colleague and I, shared our experiences at a staff meeting and at the Our Voices Conference which is an event showcasing the integration of FNMI teachings into the classroom for Halton District School Board teachers.

The Harmony Movement is an organization that provides educational programs to promote diversity, equity and inclusion.  I integrated the concepts of the learning that students participated in with the Harmony Movement into the classroom through the culminating task of digital storytelling.  As part of our learning with the Harmony Movement, the students concentrated on learning about First Nations, Metis and Inuit (FNMI) issues around equity and inclusion.  The class traveled to Woodland’s Cultural Centre where we learned about the oppression and degradation of Six Nations people at the residential school.  We learned valuable teachings about the Indigenous traditions which included oral storytelling. One student even made a video documenting our journey. This is where theory meets practice; Rosenblatt’s (1994) transactional theory suggests that students must interact with the text in order to fully gain an appreciation of the aesthetic and integrate the learning into their understanding of the world.  Through this field trip, students were able to interact with the traditions and teachings of the indigenous community and further their understanding and appreciation of diversity and equity. 

Pointing ahead of myself and the students, I combined my understanding of transactional theory with the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) model and theSubstitution, Augmentation, Modification, Redefinition (SAMR) model of technology integration (Puentaduna, 2003).  I was able to use my knowledge of the curriculum as well as my pedagogical knowledge to develop a meaningful and authentic task that honoured the learning we had done with the Harmony Movement, and the understanding students gained on our experiential trip to Woodland’s Cultural Centre.  It was clear through conversations and reflections that students recognized the importance of sharing stories so that the level of equity and inclusion could be raised in our community. 

To culminate this understanding, students completed a digital storytelling assignment wherein they were able to share their learning around FNMI, equity and inclusion issues while embracing technology.  Each student created a video that told a story of how equity and inclusion related to their lives.  By moving oral storytelling traditions into the digital age, this project, not only appealed to the 21^st century learners, but also utilized the SAMR model by moving the storytelling into the Modification realm, and for some learners, into the area of Redefinition since they were no longer strictly discussing their understanding of equity and inclusion, but sharing it in a meaningful way that they understood through technology.

The digital storytelling task was an incredible tool for students to tell their stories and share their learning.  After The Harmony Movement programming was complete, I was able to share my knowledge about digital storytelling in the classroom with my colleagues at a staff meeting.  I shared my successes to demonstrate the importance of developing authentic learning tasks and showcase the use of education-related research in meaningful ways.  I was then able to disseminate this information further at the Our Voices Conference. By sharing my gained knowledge about the use of digital storytelling to enhance student learning, I was able to continue to travel with students and colleagues on their learning journey and point ahead of myself and my students to a more innovative integration of theory and practice.