TRB 8

The evidence piece I have chosen to illustrate my ability to fulfill the requirements of TRB STANDARD 8 is the website I designed to support my workshop for EdExpo 2019, titled Building Visual Literacy: Google Draw. I designed and presented this workshop to educators and fellow students in the post Baccalaureate Education Degree Program as part of the VIU 2019 EdExpo. For an interesting visual overview of EdExpo 2019, please view the linked video created by Forage Media to showcase the event.

The 2019 EdExpo, which took place on February 19 at Ballenas Secondary School in Qualicum, BC, was a joint Professional Development venture between Vancouver Island University (VIU Bachelor of Education Students & Year 5 Post Baccalaureate Education Students), the Mount Arrowsmith Teachers’ Association, and School District 69. This was the first time the VIU EdExpo was developed as a professional development event that included professional teachers. I learned a great deal through taking this opportunity to create and present a workshop on the basics of Google Draw, and how the lesser known Google Classroom program might be used as both an educational tool and a way to teach visual literacy.

Feedback from teachers during the planning phase of EdExpo 2019 indicated an interest and need for training and information regarding the use of technology—specifically with respect to the Google Classroom applications, which had been recently made available to educators in the district. I felt that in addition to gaining experience preparing and presenting content in the classroom as a pre-service teacher through this process, my skills and training in digital media and visual art would be well suited to this opportunity to support the professional development of other educators.  

As a result, my participation in this event clearly demonstrates my ability to meet the requirements set out in TRB 8, because through sharing my expertise with colleagues and professional teachers during this EdExpo workshop, I was able to demonstrate my ability and willingness to “support, mentor or encourage other educators” as well as contribute my “expertise to activities offered by...schools, districts, professional organizations, post-secondary institutions”.

Designing the website in order to support my workshop presentation was inspired by my positive experience as a student with respect to the implementation of technology in the EDPB 530 Instructional Design: Application of Educational Technologies Course offered as part of the Post Baccalaureate Year 5 program at VIU. I found having the ability to return to content posted on the course website very helpful for the purposes of both solidifying my understanding of the content covered during class and offering expanded opportunities for learning through links to additional materials. Likewise, creating a website to house content for my session allowed me to provide the participants with a resource to use both during the workshop as well as in the future. In order to give participants easy access to the site I created printed takeaway magnets and business cards with both the URL and QR code for the site.

In my opinion, creating a resource like this is especially helpful for students when you are teaching digital skills because note taking may not be practical during a demonstration where the students are following along in real time. Through creating the website I was able to show the work the participants made during the session as well as provide them with opportunities to extend their learning through linking to other content, projects and resources via the website. As an educator, I also found the website to be a very convenient and useful way to organize content and create a lasting resource which I will be able to build on for future lessons.

Please visit the website in order to take a closer look at the content which includes: a general description of the workshop content and topics; links to the shared mind map created during the session; links to examples of educational support materials created using Google Draw; links to resources on the various applications of visual literacy concepts; links to technical support for the Google Draw application; several links to content on the protocols related to proper image use; and a few inspiring examples of more advanced projects using Google Drawings.

As an educator, I feel my teaching specialties—visual art and digital media—are particularly well suited to certain learning theories such as project based and experiential learning. Kolb’s “Experiential Learning Cycle” was especially relevant to my approach to teaching the Google Draw content during the Workshop. 

“Kolb's experiential learning style theory is typically represented by a four-stage learning cycle in which the learner 'touches all the bases': (McLeod, 2017)

1. Concrete Experience - a new experience or situation is encountered, or a reinterpretation of existing experience.

2. Reflective Observation of the New Experience - of particular importance are any inconsistencies between experience and understanding.

3. Abstract Conceptualization - reflection gives rise to a new idea, or a modification of an existing abstract concept (the person has learned from their experience).

4. Active Experimentation - the learner applies their idea(s) to the world around them to see what happens. (McLeod, 2017)

In terms of the learning cycle developed by Kolb, my Google Draw workshop followed the Steps in the following way:

Stage 1. Concrete Experience: Shared Google Drawing mind map project, projected on screen at the front of the classroom and worked on in real time throughout the demonstration.

Stage 2. Reflective Observation of the New Experience: Students have a chance to view the map on screen during class as well as on the website later.

Stage 3. Abstract Conceptualization: Students are able to explore the program through linked content to examples and advanced applications on the website both during and after class.

Stage 4. Active Experimentation: Students create their own documents using the skills they learned during the class and have an opportunity to ask questions and receive technical support. Participants also have access to the online program to use on their own time.

The central project during the workshop involved using Google Draw to create a shared mind map showing the participants’ favourite foods, while at the same time exploring the tools available for creating imagery using the program. The shared Google Draw document allowed everyone to work simultaneously on the same project. In addition to seeing the progress on their own monitor the participants could view the document projected on the screen at the front of the classroom. This aspect of the project allowed me to demonstrate the potential of working with a shared document as a collaborative class activity in the context of learning new visual literacy skills through the Google Draw program. The resulting process was both chaotic and fun! The resulting mind map is posted on the EXAMPLES page of the website.

In addition to a collaborative mind map project, the group also discussed and viewed examples of other projects and ways teachers could make use of Google Draw to create custom resources for their own classrooms. Examples of these potential applications were available to view on the website. I also printed out some hard copy samples of these resources for the participants to look at before and after the workshop. Participants used the remaining workshop time to create new documents, experiment with the Google Draw tools, as well as ask questions. As previously mentioned, the participants were encouraged to take home the printed magnets or business cards with the URL and QR codes for the website on them for easy access to the resource in the future.

Overall, I found the entire process very rewarding and feel Kolb sums up the dual edged experience of being a teacher/learner particularly well:

“Learning is most often considered a process of getting rather than giving. This is most evident in conceptions of student/teacher roles: Teachers give and students get. Yet, in adult learning both giving and getting are critical.” (Kolb,D.A.)

The twofold benefits of adult learning as described by Kolb, support the value of “educators contributing to the profession” as expressed in TRB8. When “Educators contribute their expertise to activities offered by their schools, districts, professional organizations, post-secondary institutions...”, they benefit themselves as well as others. I experienced the twofold benefits of sharing my expertise and knowledge through presenting my workshop, Building Visual Literacy: Google Draw, to colleagues and professional teachers at EdExpo 2019. Firstly, the much appreciated feedback I received from participants indicated that my contribution to the profession was valued and secondly, the teaching experience I gained through the entire process from start to finish, greatly expanded my capabilities as a teacher. In my opinion TRB8 describes a “win, win” situation for educators who commit to the concept that teaching and learning are intrinsically linked. 

Works Cited

Kolb, D. A. (n.d.). AZQuotes.com. Retrieved September 06, 2019, from AZQuotes.com: https://www.azquotes.com/quote/1116235

McLeod, S. (2017). Kolb's Learning Styles and Experiential Learning Cycle. Retrieved 09 6, 2019, from Simply Psychology/Learning Styles: https://www.simplypsychology.org/learning-kolb.html