Elementary Years

I feel conflicted about multi-access and blended learning in the elementary years. I feel like students at this age have issues focusing on school online and benefit more from being in person. I think it is good to have resources and acitivities available online, but students really need classroom interaction. In the event that students cannot come to school, multi-access or blended learning is a great way to ensure they do not fall completely behind. However, when thinking of the best environment for young students, I think peer and teacher interaction is important to being successful. For flipped learning I liked the way that the teacher in the video did it. I think requiring students to learn content online at home would not work as they may not have computers, or internet, or be able to focus at home. I think having videos available for students to view in class to learn content and then having hands on or collaborative activities after seems ideal. However, this way is a lot more work for the teacher because they need to make videos and prepare activities for in person learning.

Two children, a boy and a girl, sitting on a couch together each reading a picture book.
Photo by Marta Wave from Pexels

Middle/High School Years

For high school I feel like having as many options as possible is best. In-person, synchronous online, asynchronous online, and open access can all be valuable ways to learn. By high school students are learning how they work best, and they are becoming able to work independently. When I was in school, I did my Physics 11 class online in an open access format. I was able to learn and complete my work at home, I only needed to go to the building to write tests. I also did an English class as asynchronous online which I enjoyed because I could do the work when it best worked for me, but I also had discussion forums where I could discuss the material with my peers. A high school flipped classroom seems like it would work great as the students can learn the content at home then do hands on activities, labs, or discussions in class. I think a flipped classroom would be more engaging as there is a lot of lecturing in high school and that content can be learnt at home, according to the student’s schedule.

For middle school students, it depends on the individual class or students. For some students, especially grade 6s, my thoughts on elementary would apply to them. However, other students may be able to be more independent so my high school thoughts would apply to them. I think a flipped classroom may be a good transition from the in-class focus of elementary into the more flexible, choice orientated style of high school.

3D Design Project

Here is a keychain of my name that I made as a 3D design project:

https://www.tinkercad.com/things/b1Z6GVV2N5c-amazing-juttuli-amur/edit?sharecode=C2XAhhGJ7dza2u2yQmqFm09NxGiZdKt8pB3kfxLMQN4