Summary of Learning EC&I 831

Well, here is my summary of learning for our course this semester. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about social media and open education alongside my fellow classmates and Katia. I find these Edtech courses very important in education. Technology is changing and developing every day. I want to be an educator who is aware of these changes in order to better support the needs of learners now and in the future. I used one of my favourite educational tools, Canva to create my video. It is free for educators! I challenged myself to be on camera this time as it is still not something I feel very comfortable with. I want to be the educator who gives my students the ok to take risks in learning and not be afraid to try something new and step out of their comfort zone!

Wishing everyone a great summer ahead!

-Kendra

Summary of Learning

Final Thoughts, Updates and Future Plans

If someone had told me 2 months ago that I would be able to independently use a power saw, I would have thought no way and asked my husband to help me. Fast forward 2 months and I now feel confident using it on my own, especially for straight cuts. However, the process to creating my project is what I am most reflective of in this final post.

As someone who lives in rural Saskatchewan, I am forever grateful that the University of Regina has such a great selection of online classes for me to be able to complete my Masters of Education remotely from the community I live and work in. Online videos and open resources have made it possible for me to learn a new skill online. The videos and articles I read throughout my learning process guided me to gain knowledge of how to use tools, purchase materials, build my raised bed, and fill it with the appropriate soil and plants.

I often seek out information and learning online but have never tried to learn a new skill. Our topic of open education that was shared by guest speaker, Alan Levine really opened my eyes to how learning should be free and accessible to all. All of the information at my fingertips, allowed me to access free content to learn a new skill. However, I know this is because I have privileges that not all people in the world are able to access.

I found many benefits to online learning when completing my project and a few challenges. This chapter in the open access book “Student Success” by Mary Shier shares a great list of the pros and cons of online learning. Here is my reflection of how my learning online went over the course of this term. I prefer to think of them as Strengths and Challenges as I did not see any cons in learning a new skill online just some challenges to be aware of:

Strengths:

Flexibility of learning-I could spend time researching and building around my work and home schedule
Accessing information easily-I was able to access a vast amount of information to support my learning using articles, videos and blogs from professionals.
Choice and Interest-tailoring my interest and allowing me to pick what I wanted to learn about made this project highly engaging and increased my self-motivation to work on it.
Learning style-I am a visual learner so I appreciated the opportunity to watch videos and spend time working with my husband to complete my projects. I would have had a difficult time if I was only allowed to read articles about the skill I was trying to develop.
Cost Effective-being able to learn a new skill for free was something I have never pursued. There was no fee to join a class or access a webinar online which I appreciated.

Challenges:

Limited resources-Something I discovered throughout my project was that although I could access great information online regarding materials and the soil I needed, it was not readily available to me in my rural community. This did add up in costs from my initial plans
Self-Motivation-I really had to push through and commit to completing this project as a new Principal this Spring.
Knowledge does not equal Skill-I realized very quickly that although I could read all about how to build a raised garden bed and watch videos to learn new information about the skill I was trying to develop, this did not equal me being able to easily apply my learning ie. using a drill and being able to cut precise angles.
Revising my learning-I had to be prepared to revise my initial plans and ideas to make it fit better with my environment and personal needs.

As I reflected on my learning process to complete my learning project, all of these strengths and challenges could be easily part of a students’ learning. Learning doesn’t always need to occur within the four walls of the brick building structure known as a “school”. Students can learn in different environments based on their learning needs and interests. This process made me recognize that we would like students to develop new skills but we need to be aware that there will be challenges along the way. I think the most important piece I take from this whole process is that knowledge does not mean you will be skilled in an area. In order to develop a new skill, you need many opportunities to practice and apply the knew knowledge you have gained. Only then will you see the growth and development of learning. This is a critical takeaway that I will be reminded of when asking students to complete independent projects. They will need time to gather their knowledge but I must also make sure they have the opportunity to practice and and apply what they have learned.

In closing, I am grateful that I have tried something new and am developing a new skill. I feel more confident to tackle another project in the future (maybe next summer). I am pledging to no longer be just the board holder/helper but also an active participant in future household projects! My little garden bed is growing and developing just like my own skills this term. I leave you with a final look (and my first Tik Tok) of my raised garden bed project as I added mulch for extra moisture and some solar lights for a little aesthetic appeal.

Final Raised Garden Bed Reveal

Thanks for reading!

-Kendra

Replacing the Saskatoon berry bush. Plus, an addition

As mentioned in my previous blog post, we suffered a loss in our garden: one of our three Saskatoon berry bushes succumbed to the voracious eating habits of an ant colony. The solution I used, the borax/sugar mixture, seems to have worked well! I guess the idea with this mixture is the borax does the heavy lifting, but ants aren’t inherently attracted to it, so this is where the sugar comes into play. In observing the area we discovered the garden ants, there are no longer the high number that was found earlier, though there still are some individuals bandying about, so I’ll continue with the mixture for the time being. It doesn’t harm the plants or produce, so that’s good.

Here are a couple sources I found that support the use of borax in dealing with ants:

Terminix: Borax for Ants: An Effective DIY Treatment?

Ant Killer with Borax: Yes, It Really Works!

It’s all well and good that we seem to have the ant problem figured out, but this didn’t solve that we are down a berry plant. Our hope when we planted them was to have yielding plants within three years or so, and maintain long-term growth and harvest at that point. During the summer, we camp up in Meadow Lake Provincial Park, and one of our pastimes is to go Saskatoon berry picking. We’re hopeful that these berry plants will provide us some additional yield, but not if the ants keep killing the bushes!

It’s a good thing that Costco exists. We purchased our original bushes from there, and it’s where I got our new replacement. But I didn’t leave with just the one. For whatever reason, I figured we could supplement the Saskatoon berries with a traditional blueberry bush. I just wish I had learned a little more about blueberry bushes beforehand? Why? It turns out that blueberry bushes are not self-pollinating (such as raspberries, of which we have a bush in our backyard), and therefore, like the Saskatoon berry bushes, will heavily benefit from several of the same plant in the vicinity. So… hopefully the bees are active!

Here’s an article from everyone’s favourite channel, HGTV, about how to effectively plant blueberry bushes. I sure wish I thought about this first…

I went ahead and planted the new blueberry bush anyways. The Saskatoon bush will likely grow more successfully as it has two other established buddies in its midst.

Planting was straightforward: dig holes deep enough for the bush transfers, move the bushes into their new locations, fill in with soil, and provide plenty of water.

With these planted, hopefully they will grow into healthy, berry-yielding bushes.

Weeds and ants

The garden has been planted for a couple weeks, and by this point I am beginning to notice that the clean, pristine soil space that had been tilled, lined, and planted, isn’t looking quite the same. Namely, this seems to be the point that weeds and other inconvenient growths are starting to emerge, even after the soil was initially cleared and tilled. We aren’t going to chance using any sort of chemical product, so manual labour it is!

There hasn’t been much to research about this, just a matter of getting into the garden and cleaning out weeds. I focused on making sure the aisles between different rows were cleaned up. The pictures below will illustrate that.

The pictures here help showcase the kinds of growth being found, and my efforts to basically pluck the root systems out of the soil.

A more difficult problem was also discovered: ants.

We’ve had ants before, but they’ve typically been found around the concrete perimeter of our house, and I’ve easily managed them with the aid of chemical product. But this week we discovered the presence of a sizable colony in the backyard. Rather than say hello to us, they decided to strike first. We’d been wondering for awhile now why one of our three Saskatoon berry bushes hadn’t appeared to grow this season, compared to the other two beside it. Unfortunately, the bush had been taken over by ants. When I dug up the bush (we accepted that it wasn’t going to grow), we found a large presence of ants below.

My first solution was to boil water in a kettle and unleash sweet justice upon them. After creating a boiling wet soil soup, and hoping that my work flooded some part of their network, I had to figure out a more effective solution. Typically, I just go with a Google search. In the spirit of this course, however, I tried to relegate my answers to those found through social media sites.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I’m not entirely sure what the purpose of Instagram is. It doesn’t seem to be much of a source of discussion or comparison, and it wasn’t much help in this regard. When I search “ant garden control” what popped up was mostly business advertisements and varieties of basic infographics, but nothing in the way of video exemplars or demonstrations. Moving on to Twitter, I used Tweetdeck to search for garden ant management, but again, not much came up. Is gardening not something very popular on social media?

Still determined to avoid YouTube, I tried Reddit. I’ve used Reddit for years, but not for anything related to gardening. A quick search for ant garden management helped me find this page. I’ve heard of using a borax/sugar mixture for dealing with ants, so this is what I went with. I made the mix and applied it around the region where the ants have been most active. Hopefully this helps!

As far as lessons to be learned through this period of the course, I would say I still struggle with maximizing the effectiveness of Instagram and Twitter, but this could also be due to gardening not necessarily being a hot topic of the platforms. As new questions pop up throughout my gardening experience, I’ll keep this in mind as I continue to try exploring these platforms in greater detail.

Summary of Final Learning Project

Welcome to my final baking learning project! Throughout this project. I delved deep into the science and art of baking, covering key methods, components, and recipes that helped lay a solid foundation. I looked at the fundamentals of baking, including how ingredients work, how crucial precise measures are, and how the chemistry of baking reactions works. I was able to successfully manage various doughs, and batters, after becoming proficient in fundamental procedures like creaming, folding, and kneading. I had the chance to try a variety of baked delicious foods, including cookies, cakes, and pancakes. Along the way, I developed my problem-solving abilities, discovered how to solve typical baking problems, and fell in love with the satisfaction of giving each item a special touch. This initiative has sparked my interest in baking and given me the knowledge and abilities to become a skilled baker. Each session offered detailed directions, advice, and tweaks for making delicious goodies. I gained troubleshooting abilities, learned how to solve typical baking problems, and fell in love with the satisfaction of giving each item a special touch along the road. My love for baking has been sparked by this initiative, which has also given me the knowledge and abilities to become a skilled baker. So let’s take a look back at this fun baking adventure I had, cherishing the memories I made and the delectable cookies I made with love and dedication.

I found Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube to be incredibly helpful resources during my culinary endeavors of cooking pancakes, cakes, cupcakes, and cookies. Instagram gave me access to a visually stimulating platform that let me discover different tasty recipes, inventive displays, and cutting-edge flavor combinations. I was inspired to experiment with different pancake shapes, cake decorations, and cookie flavors by the colorful food photographs and videos on Instagram.

I also started gathering and organizing a tonne of recipes, advice, and recommendations on Pinterest. For the purpose of saving and reviewing recipes, I made boards for cookies, cakes, pancakes, and cupcakes. I was able to alter my creations and give each dish a unique flair by using the wide variety of concepts and methods I found on Pinterest.

With its comprehensive step-by-step instructions, YouTube has proven to be a valuable educational resource. I was able to improve my understanding and culinary abilities in the kitchen thanks to the extensive visual instructions on YouTube, which covered everything from perfecting pancake flipping techniques to complex cake decorating techniques. When watching the instructional films, I found it especially helpful to be able to pause, rewind, and replay them to make sure I was following each step correctly.

The first week, I baked cupcakes without eggs. It was a fun and worthwhile experience. I carefully measured and combined the ingredients in accordance with a straightforward cupcake recipe to get a nice batter. The most thrilling aspect was giving each cupcake a unique touch by decorating it with strawberries and blueberries. I encountered various challenges. It was difficult to get the batter to the appropriate consistency because the texture would change whether it was over or under-mixed. It was challenging to measure the materials precisely because the proper quantities depended on it. I discovered the value of accuracy, repetition, and patience in baking, which helped me to develop my abilities and my understanding of the craft.

Making an eggless cake was one of the great moments of the second learning project. Exploring different components and methods to make a wonderful cake without eggs was an interesting and rewarding experience. I carefully replaced eggs with components like yogurt, applesauce, or flaxseed meal to offer moisture and structure, adhering to a specific eggless cake recipe. But Getting the ideal texture was one challenge I faced. Due to overmixing or overbaking, my cakes occasionally came out dense or dry. However, I was able to overcome this difficulty by persevering and learning from my mistakes.

I decided to take on the challenge of baking eggless cookies during the third week of the project. I experimented with different ingredients and baking methods to replace eggs, which was an exciting and creative baking experience. Finding the ideal ratio of moisture to the structure without using eggs was one of my challenges, which is why I was unable to give the cookies the necessary shape. This experiment helped me increase the variety of baked goods I can make and inspired me to try more eggless recipes in the future.

I made the decision to take on the challenge of cooking eggless pancakes for my fourth-week project. It was fun and creative to experiment with different ingredients and methods to make fluffy, delicious pancakes without using eggs. Making eggless pancakes was the start of a delicious and inventive culinary journey. I carefully gathered my components and made the batter according to a specific eggless pancake recipe. I produced a smooth consistency by combining the dry and wet ingredients. I watched the pancakes with excitement as they began to bubble, then gently turned them over to reveal a golden-brown color.

I’m glad I decided to make baking my major learning project. I think this was an excellent opportunity for me to investigate something I’ve always thought about trying. I enjoyed the opportunity to challenge myself to try something new that was still connected to my passion for baking. I gained a lot of knowledge, including how to make pancakes, cookies, and cakes. I’m hoping to find the time to keep improving various baking skills.

The growing and learning continue…

It is time to wrap up my Major project for #eci831. My garden has grown, and I have grown in my gardening knowledge and in the way I can navigate the internet, apps and a variety of platforms to learn new things.

Final garden tour complete with real bird sounds!

Before and After photos sum up the work that has been done. The part that I am most proud of is the vegetable garden. It was planted with thought, research and intention. The plants have been paired with others that will encourage growth, the proper seeding directions were followed and the placement of the plants was carefully considered according to my research. I can’t wait to see what the final product is! Regardless, I love watching the garden grow as there are noticeable changes every week.

After- I have now identified all the plants and know how to care for them.

Final mystery plant bloomed this week- Blanketflower (Thanks to Virtual Look Up on my iPhone.)

My favourite sources for this assignment have been: Feedly, TikTok, Youtube and Twitter.

Thanks for following along!

Now what? Learning Summary.

Video created on Canva.

Summary of Learning

My Journey with Social Media and Mastery in Skill

I want to share my post on my general social media experience. Most of the time, I avoid using social media. Despite this, compared to the other master’s-level courses I’ve taken, the social media and online education course have a different impact on how I learn about social media and how it affects both my professional and personal lives. Despite this, the first week was quite intriguing and I learned a lot. Although I had heard of vlogging, I was unaware about blogging and how we could share our blogs with others through our websites. This seems to be a completely new experience for me. Despite the fact that I must share my webpage with my friends and Family.

In the first week of my finished networked learning project, I discussed my relationship with social media and its effects on both my personal and professional lives, both positively and negatively. I shared more about my personal trip to Vancouver and how I use my favorite social media, like Whatsapp, to share my memories with loved ones. I also talked about how professional social media, like Linkedin, helped me obtain a position as an educator in Regina. As a result, it had a tremendously beneficial impact on my personality and I learned the role of social media in my daily life. On the other hand, I start my first week of major learning project by learning Martial Arts. When I was a teenager, I was highly interested in learning that skill, but social media and online courses gave me the chance to learn and share my martial arts experiences. Through my post, I’ve shared the basic procedures I used to practice with my directors’ daughter.

I have a chance to learn about Twitter during the second week of my networked learning post. Despite not using Twitter, I created an account there and learned about hastags, sharing quotes, and retweeting. Even so, I have discussed my own personal and professional experiences with Twitter, including both its advantages and disadvantages. On the other side, my second week of talent mastery seems to be a lot of fun for me. I advanced by taking intermediate steps after taking beginner ones. I’ve gained knowledge about postures, balance, and power maintenance through jogging, exercise, and continued practice.

Video on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyDxha9KZWA

The third week of my experience with social media taught me the value and advantages of social media activism. Even though this word is new to me, I have told friends about how one might use social media to seek redress from any unfair practice’s. On the other side, learning new skills with the aid of YouTube videos teaches me how to use my strengths and limitations for the body’s optimization’s.

video on https://www.youtube.com/embed/qhhBgU_2m2c?feature=oembed

The final week of my networked learning post discusses open education and sharing cultures. I’ve discovered via this issue that open education benefits not only students but also teachers in the classroom. The previous week, on the other hand, was frantic but nonetheless followed by mastery of postures, power, and balance, learning about body optimization’s, and control. I had studied many martial arts and learned how to position myself before kicking an opponent. This week has been both a busy and enjoyable one.

Finally, I’d like to express my gratitude to everyone for their comments on my post and for continuing to encourage my talent. Sharing my personal stories through posts has been a lot of fun for me. The importance of social media and fitness in our daily lives was made clear by this fantastic experience.

However, using the Discord community software also teaches us the importance of discussing important resources with our classmates.

Thanks for reading.

Open Education and Culture of sharing

Open Education is centered around reducing barriers to education for students including access, financial costs, accessibility, and spaces. Open Education supports social justice, sustainability, equity, diversity, and inclusion. The global pandemic has altered the way we think. As the world becomes smaller and more connected, so does education. Digital assets are becoming more crucial than ever. This is an opportunity to shift education towards more inclusive, open-minded ideas. Open learning has the potential to stimulate innovation. In a broad sense, open education refers to pedagogical strategies, academic practices, teaching methods, and open educational resources (OER) that support flexible, collaborative learning. This may entail collaborating on the development of learning experiences with students and teachers, taking part in online peer communities, using, producing, and disseminating open educational resources (OER) and open knowledge, and exchanging professional experiences.

Benefits of open education

Access is one of the main advantages of open education. It gives people in impoverished regions, developing countries, and marginalized groups the power to go over obstacles that might otherwise prevent them from pursuing an education. Moreover, Open education lowers financial barriers and levels the playing field by providing free or inexpensive alternatives to conventional textbooks, promoting a more fair society. Open Education - Creative Commons A Fantastic video on open education was produced by Blink Tower. The video “Why Open Education Matters” emphasizes the value of open education in ensuring that all people have equitable access to high-quality learning resources. It emphasizes how open educational resources (OER) can break down economic and geographic barriers, enabling students all around the world to access free resources. The collaborative character of open education and its capacity to promote customization and creativity in teaching and learning are both highlighted in the video. Customization and adaptation in learning materials are also encouraged by open education. Teachers are free to alter and customize OER to fit their own teaching philosophies and the unique needs of their students. For their students, educators can design compelling and pertinent learning experiences by embracing a variety of perspectives and cultural contexts. Innovative teaching methods and learning experiments are supported by open education. In order to encourage creativity and participation in the classroom, educators are given the freedom to experiment with novel teaching strategies, technology, and techniques. This innovative culture advances educational methods and improves the quality of the learning process as a whole.

My experience with open education and resources

I used educational resources for the first time when I was a 6 to 8-year-old teacher in India during COVID-19. My experience with open education in the classroom was very revolutionary. I was able to give my students an exciting and inclusive learning environment by embracing open educational resources (OER). Increased accessibility was one of open education’s biggest benefits. I removed the obstacles caused by pricey textbooks by incorporating OER into my instruction. High-quality educational materials were available to all students, regardless of their financial situation. My students were inspired to develop their own learning styles through open education. They had the chance to research subjects outside the scope of the curriculum and pursue their own areas of interest because there were so many open educational resources available. Moreover, My teaching style has been completely transformed by the flexibility of open educational resources. OER made it simple for me to adapt the curriculum to my student’s individual needs and interests. Because of this personalization, I was able to develop lessons that were more relevant to my students’ varied backgrounds and learning preferences. Benefits of online education for the students - Careerguide

Challenges I faced with open education

When using open education during the COVID-19 outbreak, I faced a number of difficulties. Access to technology and dependable internet connectivity was one of the biggest challenges during COVID-19. To fully interact with open educational resources, many students faced obstacles because they lacked access to laptops, computers, or reliable internet connections. I also had a tough time immediately adjusting pedagogical methods to the online learning setting. It was necessary to modify courses, assessments, and activities in order to successfully use open educational materials when moving from conventional face-to-face instruction to remote learning. I had trouble coming up with new lesson ideas, delivering notes to the students, and creating assignments that were appropriate for the student’s levels.

In conclusion, Open education is an innovation because it increases accessibility, lowers prices, and fosters cooperation. It emphasizes lifelong learning, empowers students from all backgrounds, and supports creative teaching methods. Embracing open education, in my opinion, prepares the path for a society that is diverse and knowledge-driven in the future.

Sunset Photography: How it Started, How it’s Going, and Where it’s Going!

Welcome to my final update on my photography journey this semester. However, my newfound hobby will not be ending here. I am going to continue to post to my photography Instagram account, so feel free to give me a follow if you would like to see more!

https://www.instagram.com/landscapesofjoy/

This learning project really challenged me in ways I was not expecting. I started out with the broad idea of taking landscape photos, to realizing I really only like sunset photos. This then proved to be very difficult to do, because sunset happens at a very specific time and happens quite quickly. I finally managed to talk my husband into videoing my ‘process’ (click the video below to get a snapshot).

Here is how it went for me most nights:

FIRST I would sit on my couch in the evening, watching the sky from my window, checking the sunset time on my phone
IF I saw the sky turning nice colors I would run to grab my gear, jump in my car, and drive as fast as legally possible to Douglas park hill
THEN I would run up the hill (if the gates were locked, which was every time except for when we shot this video *luckily*), swatting a million mosquitoes
AFTER finding the perfect spot I would begin to get my Manual setting set up just right to capture the photo (these settings were changed constantly as the light shifted throughout the sunset)
FINALLY, after taking at least 30 photos, and the sun had set, I would drive home, sift through them all, and choose my favorites

Needless to say, my husband HATED this part of my learning project. But now that I am in the habit of chasing the sunset, I hate to miss one. It really is one of the most beautiful, unexpected, parts of the day. Each night brings new colors, new obstacles, and new beams of light. Here is one of my favorite shots from my latest sunset chase.

Measuring my Progress

How it Started	How it’s Going	Where it’s Going
– Just a girl & a camera	– Still a girl & a camera – An Instagram Account to connect & create – A Feedly Channel to find content –Twitter Photography Accounts – Pinterest Inspiration – Youtube Channels to follow – Photography Blogs and websites to learn from	– Girl & Camera – Online content to consume – Online space to create – Share a photo to Creative Commons slightly terrified to do this but also excited! – Take some in-person photography classes

Learning Online: Pros/Cons

Pros	Cons
– Resources at my fingertips – Influences from around the world – Space to share and create with a wider audience – Endless information for whatever you need – Free	– Isolating – Endless scrolling – Tough to ‘weed’ out the good from the bad resources – Increased personal screen-time

Overall, I found learning online to be very ‘user-friendly’. However, I sometimes struggled to get personalized information. I would be outside, taking photos, and realize that I needed an opinion on how to emphasize certain angles or light features. But I had no one to ask. So I would look it up on my phone or trial and error it. But it was hard to find specific-in-the-moment answers. I think to continue my journey I would love to take an in-person photography class to balance out my learning experience. I see the benefits of learning a new skill online, but I also think I learn best through a combination of online and in-person. I have learned so much in these last 7 weeks through online resources and I am so grateful that this project re-inspired me to try photography again. I can honestly say that this is a skill I will continue to build upon and learn about both online and hopefully in person!

In conclusion, if you would like to learn more about the specific digital tools I used along my journey, feel free to scroll through my other posts. And don’t forget to give me a follow if you would like to continue with me on my photography journey!

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EC&I 831 Blog Hub

Collective Voices of Our Community

Summary of Learning EC&I 831

Final Thoughts, Updates and Future Plans

Replacing the Saskatoon berry bush. Plus, an addition

Ant Killer with Borax: Yes, It Really Works!

Weeds and ants

Summary of Final Learning Project

The growing and learning continue…

Now what? Learning Summary.

Summary of Learning

My Journey with Social Media and Mastery in Skill

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Open Education and Culture of sharing

Sunset Photography: How it Started, How it’s Going, and Where it’s Going!

Measuring my Progress

Learning Online: Pros/Cons