Posts

Part One: My Step-by-Step Guide for Addressing Ai in BC High Schools

This series of blog posts will act as a place to house my thinking around Ai and its place in our schools. Like most important issues in education, Ai is not black and white; it's utterly complicated, to say the least. Therefore, integrating Ai into our schools demands a methodical and careful approach and a comprehensive implementation plan. I would never claim any of the ideas and strategies from this blog series to be my own invention. Rather, I've synthesized the thinking of experts into a strategy that satisfies both the considerations outlined in the BC Ministry of Education's guiding document on Ai  and my own needs as a classroom teacher. I myself don't claim to be an expert on any of this; I'm just a classroom teacher who's always looking to help my students navigate this complicated world. I'll add links to the thinkers, documents, and articles which have evolved my thinking. This first post will explain only the initial three steps of my implement...

Fear and Learning in a World of Ai

When it comes to Ai, Pandora's Box has been opened. There's no going back. I do fear the implications Ai may have for humanity. I fear its omniprescence could both undermine our collective purpose and spell further environmental degradation. I fear it all. But beneath all that fear, we must too find hope. What choice do I have as an educator? I've struggled with the question of Ai for a long time. Like most educators, I stress about how Ai could hurt our students' learning and development. I'm weary that by integrating it into my teaching practice, I'll be accomplice to the existential risks. But, frankly, I'm just as worried about the alternative. What if I allow my own fears and questions to get in the way of my students' needs? Whether I like it or not, Ai is going to be part of our world. And, as an educator, I've committed myself to teaching students how to navigate the world that is and the world that will be. Therefore, I must teach them how t...

How QR Codes can Enhance Your Assessment!

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Only recently I discovered the immense potential QR codes have for my assessment practices. Full disclosure, It wasn't even until Covid-19 that QR codes entered my radar. Back then, I remember stressing about having to use such "futuristic" technology to conduct my daily health check. (Unbeknownst to me, QR codes were actually invented in 1994.) However, as I fiddled with my phone's camera, that little black and white checkered square's simplicity became apparent; my smartphone, like magic, quickly connected me from QR code to Excel spread sheet. From there, I began using QR codes in both my handouts and PowerPoints . For this blog post, I'd just like to discuss two ways I have implemented QR codes into my assessment practices. First of all, I have embedded them on my project handouts' rubric pages as a means of making exemplars readily available for my students. Next, I've learned how to incorporate QR codes in my rubrics as an accompaniment to feedba...