Activity 1: Assess your mindset when adopting a new digital tool

Activity 1: Examining your current approach to adopting educational tools

Let’s begin by examining just how we approach new technology and closely analyze how we feel while learning a new educational tool. We will uncover any biases that we can later harness or let go of to allow us to become more open and welcoming to new educational tools. When we adopt this new mindset towards new technologies, we become more digitally literate because we become more open to discovery and exploration and less critical with minor setbacks.

Instructions

Step 1

Select an educational tool that you are unfamiliar with from our Recommend an educational technology to this FLO community Padlet in the Start Here section, or from the list below . Remember, you do not have to present any of your content, you are just asked to reflect on the process by noting down your thoughts in Step 2.

Possible educational tools that you can choose from: 

• Canva (i.e. present an assignment instruction using Canva)
• Mentimeter (i.e., create two activities in slides, such as a word cloud and a Likert scale poll)
• Lumi (H5P) (i.e. Make a fill-in-the-blank activity)

Familiar with the above or looking for a challenge? Try one of these:

• peerScholar https://app.peerscholar.com/Login
• WeVu https://www.wevu.video/free-signup/
• Canvas LMS (Instructure) https://canvas.instructure.com/login/canvas

The objective is to set up a learning activity. For example, in Canva, present a weekly overview in a visual Canva rather than in plain text; with peerScholar, set up a self and peer assessment for students to submit a research assignment. For WeVu, set up an item where students can upload a short presentation so their peers can comment on them. 

Step 2

Write down your learning process as you complete Step 1. Use these questions to guide your reflective process, or review more questions in this reflective toolbox.

1. Questions to ask yourself BEFORE you begin using the app above. 
1. What do I hope to achieve?
2. What do I know that might help me achieve this?
3. How will I know if I’m not achieving this?
4. What am I feeling?
5. How might these feelings influence my practice?
   
   
2. Questions to ask yourself AFTER you set up your learning activity. 
1. What did I learn?
2. How, specifically, did I learn it?
3. Why does this learning matter, why is it important?
4. Were there other ways I could have reacted/thought/felt?

Step 3

Log your reflective answers in the class journal “Reflective journal for Activity 1”.

Does this experience remind you of a similar time you tried a new digital tool for learning? Did this experience reinforce your bias to using digital tools in the classroom? For example, if the past experience was positive then did this experience reinforce your bias that adopted digital tools for learning is exciting, not stressful?

In Day 2, we will connect your reflections with some common cognitive biases. Bringing these biases to the forefront can help you better understand how you can improve your digital literacy by adopting new educational tools into your classroom.