Academic Content (What to Teach)

    "Every teacher is an instructional designer, responsible for organizing, delivering, and assessing learning activities with students in the classroom" (Maloy et al., 2021, p.373). As educators, it is our responsibility to teach and deliver the Ontario Curriculum to our students. Every teacher decides what learning goals, teaching methods and what instructional practices or pedagogical approaches they use within a lesson. 

    Using technology in our classrooms can motivate students to become more engaged in their own learning. Educators are able to make decisions on what to teach based on curriculum expectations and the learning needs and strengths of their students. By incorporating technology in their instruction and lessons, educators build on student's existing skills while using technology. Students are so advanced when it comes to technology these days.

                                                                                      

     Teachers are able to provide exciting learning opportunities within their classes by using multi media lessons and assignments, which achieve high impact and make a real difference for students. "Teachers seek to create experiences in which students use their natural creativity and curiosity to propel learning" (Maloy et al., 2021, p.374). I would like to provide an excellent example of an assignment that incorporated creativity and technology. My son Tiago, who is in grade 6, was given an assignment of creating an advertising commercial. This commercial would meet curriculum expectations under Drama and Media. The teacher explained the learning goals and tasks needed to complete this assignment. The teacher also provided a google slides template in order to organize his ideas. The Teacher provided a rubric for the students which assessed their advertisement commercial on product design, advertising planning, application of advertising techniques, and overall presentation of advertisement. Students were able to create a finished product using technology and based on their interest, all while enjoying the process. "Effective lesson development thus encompasses both teacher and student view of the classroom experience"(Maloy et al., 2021, p. 374).

      

    Ironically, one Wednesday evening, while I was in my Instructional Technology class, my son created his advertisement commercial all by himself. He created his commercial on what he was interested in, soccer trophies and medals. He recorded himself on his iPod touch and was able to use multimedia production tools and app called Cap Cut to edit his commercial. He incorporated images and special effects. I was impressed by the way he put together this project. It reminded me of an assignment I did when I was in grade 7. I had to create a commercial of a product and present it to my class. The difference was that I was using a bulky camcorder and had my mom recording, erasing and rerecording. It is amazing to see that some of the curriculum expectations remain the same after 20 years but technology has evolved so much.

Please enjoy the finished product starring Tiago Ramon.

 Check out Tiago's commercial assignment  

                      

    

Maloy, R. W., Verock, R.-E. A., Edwards, S. A., & Trust, T. (2021). Transforming learning with new

                      technologies (4th ed.). Pearson.