Weeks 3&4

In class on week 3, we had a guest speaker talk about AI usage in School District 63, and what they’re doing to implement AI and technology use correctly in the classroom. We also looked at the Focused ED AI Curriculum and digital literacy resources surrounding AI from the BC Ministry of Education. Something that I noticed from the Ministry of Education that I liked was that in the resources for younger grades, the AI usage was teacher-led, and there were discussion prompts for what AI did right and wrong. The BC resources for teachers also included competencies, content, and FPPL links from the curriculum.

We also looked at a presentation on the Perils and Promise of Generative AI, and then watched an AI-made video about the presentation afterwards. This use of AI felt better to me, as the work and research was done by a human, but a video of the presentation being read with visuals was made by AI. Of course, the best way to present the slideshow would have been a human-made video, narrated and designed by a human, but AI can be used if there is not enough time to create something like that.

In class on week 4, many of my classmates went on a tour of the Pacific School of Innovation and Inquiry. I wasn’t able to make it as I work in out-of-school care in the mornings, but in class, we had another guest speaker tell us about technology used in School District 61 classrooms and give us some info about getting connected to the SD61 networks on our practicum.

We also watched some videos about PSII, and reflected on things we saw that interested us. The founder of PSII, John Hopkins, talked a lot about the competencies they were focused on rather than general subjects, which I thought was interesting. There were a lot of quiet rooms with cubicles and tables that students could work in, any many rooms that were dedicated art spaces, music spaces, tech spaces, etc. which was cool to see. They also had “lecture” style rooms for group instruction on sessional topics such as physics that students could join in person or remotely. I loved how the school had such an open-ended approach to education. Their space was so non-typical of a school, which was refreshing to see. The students had so many options for places they chose to work, and being able to research their own questions and create projects is such an interesting way to conduct school, but I love it!