Tag: weekly reflection

This week’s topic was gamification and coding. This topic is very important for teachers to recognize and integrate into their classrooms. Games are very strong motivators for many students. Roblox and Minecraft are two games that could be linked to the curriculum and motivate students to learn. Similar to integrating social media into the classroom, the pros of bringing in games that students are already likely using helps to get students excited about learning. Even when creating assignments, a teacher could integrate in some Roblox or Minecraft themes and ideas to excite students. A teacher could also gamify an activity by incorporating rewards, visually appealing aspects, progression of difficulty, feedback, and limitations (all aspects of gamification). Games like Roblox and Minecraft are also a great way to help students make friends and connect with others, as students are given something they can connect with others about. The downside to gamification is that students might get used to playing games to learn (which is highly engaging), and so learning in a different way may become boring to them. This might be an issue if a lot of classroom activities are gamified, but not all.

Coding is also something that students can explore. Coding not only helps students develop computational thinking skill and problem solving, but it is also fun. It also helps students to understand technology, which is basically everywhere around them! CS Unplugged and CodeBC are two great resources to get teachers started with using coding in the classroom.

Although this week focused more on the idea of gamifying curriculum and learning standards, games are also a great way to strengthen the classroom culture of a class. This is important because in order for students to participate in curriculum-linked games, students need to feel supported and safe in their classroom community (especially if those games are to be played with other students). Below is a video that explains a few great community building games to use throughout the year with students.

What other games would be good to bring into the classroom? Let me know in the comments!

Photo created by Craiyon by inputting artificial intelligence in the classroom

AI is a topic that I am a little wary of, but am also interested in. There are so many pros and cons, but I think that at the end of the day, it is a valuable tool when used properly. In the context of teaching, I think AI is better used as an aid to help teachers edit and extend their resources, rather than as a replacement for teachers’ ideas and plans. In other words, I think that teachers should use AI after they’ve already made at least a draft of a lesson plan, and then use AI to enhance/perfect it. I don’t think it is a tool that can/should make lesson plans all by itself without much teacher input. Teachers need to be content curators, and part of being a content curator is being very deliberate in the resources and information that is chosen and used. When a teacher has AI come up with a lesson plan for them, the teacher is no longer being a good content curator!

One other point that was especially memorable to me in class was that AI has an inherent bias. It is trained off of specific data, and we need to think about this when asking it to produce things. On a more positive note, I loved using craiyon. It was easy, free, and very fun to use! I’m not sure exactly when it would be useful, but I am sure I will use it in the future.

I signed up and tried ChatGPT for the first time this week. I wanted to see what it would have to say about itself. I told ChatGPT to “write a short paragraph on why AI is helpful”. This is what it came up with…
“Artificial Intelligence (AI) is immensely helpful because it has the potential to transform industries, streamline processes, and improve decision-making. Through machine learning algorithms, AI can analyze vast amounts of data to identify patterns and trends that humans might overlook. This capability is particularly valuable in healthcare, where AI can assist in diagnosing diseases, predicting patient outcomes, and personalizing treatment plans. In business, AI can optimize supply chains, enhance customer service, and automate repetitive tasks, freeing up human workers to focus on more complex and creative endeavors. Additionally, AI-powered technologies like natural language processing and computer vision are revolutionizing how we interact with computers and devices, making them more intuitive and accessible. Overall, AI has the power to make our lives easier, more efficient, and more productive.”

The response is pretty good! It is crazy what AI can do.

I am curious to know what you all think about artificial intelligence in classrooms! Are you as teachers planning on integrating AI into your classrooms? If so, how? When do you think it is appropriate to use AI as teachers, and when do you think it is not? Please let me know in the comments!