EduTopia: Stay Informed

 

Jump-Starting Academic Learning With Movement and Dance The benefits of movement in the classroom aren’t limited to younger students. Pairing new words and concepts with gestures or dance moves locks in understanding—and active brain breaks prime students to learn even more.

Tips for Improving Vocabulary Instruction in Middle School These strategies go beyond flash cards to help students learn new terms and apply them in novel contexts.

We Drastically Underestimate the Importance of Brain Breaks When it comes to optimizing learning, we don’t value breaks enough, neuroscientists suggest in a new study.

The Benefits of Defining Inclusion With Your Students Teachers can facilitate conversations to ensure that students feel welcomed, heard, and valued in the classroom.

Designing Effective Microlessons This four-step framework allows teachers to engage students in a short, powerful lesson.

Centering Classroom Values in Peer Writing Workshops By structuring peer feedback processes with intention, teachers can help students develop reflection and communication skills.

Making Meaning of High School With Self-Reflection Building a tradition where high school seniors share a personal narrative has helped this school community honor each and every student experience.

3 Improv Exercises to Use as Guided Play These exercises allow young students to use their imaginations while reinforcing concepts taught in class. Brought to you by Thomas W. @NUO-2024

Who Gave Me Permission to Teach?

When thinking about becoming a teacher, starting placement, and eventually presenting in front of students every day, one thing I continually think about is confidence. As someone with limited experience in presentations and public speaking, I find myself wondering how I will develop the confidence to stand in front of a classroom and lead students everyday. I have always been very organized, and I know that preparation will help me feel more comfortable in the classroom. However, I wanted to discover how I can build my confidence and how much it can actually affect my presence in the classroom.

In the article, Projecting Confidence in the Classroom, it is discussed that a teacher's attitude and presence can actually set the tone for the class. When a teacher has confidence, it can influence the classroom environment and the engagement of both the teacher and students. A confident teacher may be more willing to try new teaching techniques, respond to different student needs, and adapt when necessary. Teachers may also feel more capable of encouraging students and guiding them toward thinking critically about the subject matter. As teachers and teacher candidates, we have the ability to create productive environments where students feel comfortable making mistakes, asking questions, learning in different ways, and exploring their own ideas and thought processes. One idea from this article that stood out to me was that nervousness can actually be useful. We can learn to channel that energy into positivity and enthusiasm. This made me think about my own nerves about entering a classroom. I have been viewing nervousness as something I need to overcome in order to become a confident teacher, but it can instead be something that motivates me to prepare, engage with my students, and genuinely care about creating a positive learning environment (Rutgers School of Graduate Studies, n.d.).

But how does this translate into the classroom, and how can teacher candidates actually work toward becoming more confident? I went searching for an answer in Jorge Valenzuela's article, Building Confident Educators. While reading this article, my main goal was to find my place in a classroom and feel confident taking on the opposite role I have been in for most of my life: the teacher. One idea that stood out to me was that self-confidence can be developed over time. Our interactions with our schools, co-teachers, students, and administrators can all contribute to developing confidence within our placement and future school communities. This was reassuring to me because it reminded me that I am not expected to enter my first classroom knowing everything or feeling completely confident. Experience itself can become part of the process of developing confidence. The article also discusses how teachers who feel more confident in their abilities may be more willing to use innovative teaching practices, such as flipped learning and gamification. This made me think about how confidence can influence more than simply how a teacher presents themselves. It may also affect the approaches they are willing to try and how comfortable they are adapting their teaching to their students. As a teacher candidate, I can begin building my confidence through small, manageable steps. For example, using lesson hooks can help get both the students and myself excited about a topic or activity. Learning goals and success criteria can also help ensure that everyone understands what they are working toward. Most importantly, practice and experience will play a role in developing my confidence. The more opportunities I have to interact with students, teach lessons, receive feedback, and reflect on what worked and what I can improve, the more comfortable I hope to become in my role as a teacher (Valenzuela, 2023). 

Teacher confidence is not about never being nervous or knowing everything like I maybe thought it was. It is about developing the confidence to create a supportive classroom, and recognizing that this confidence can grow through experience. As teachers, we are professional models for our students, and the way we approach learning, mistakes, challenges, and uncertainty can influence the classroom environment we create for them.

SierraN @ OTU

References

Rutgers School of Graduate Studies. (n.d.). Projecting confidence in the classroom. Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. https://grad.rutgers.edu/professional-development/teaching-skills-ta-project/teaching-resources/Projecting-Confidence-in-the-Classroom

Valenzuela, J. (2023, November 2). Building confident educators. Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/article/building-confident-educators

Does Text-to-Speech Reading Affect Everyone Equally?

During class, a peer asked a question regarding a text-to-speech technology (TTS): TumbleBooks. The question was along the lines of “If a student does not need this tool, but is using it, what should we do?” This was followed with the advice that: it’s okay for students to use TTS because it means their engaging with the content (it doesn’t matter how they do it). This conversation had me reflect on my personal beliefs on accommodations and I decided to research a little more.

Initially, this brought up the conflict of accommodation vs. “pushing through” reading challenges. Because the education system is now set up to help break down learning barriers for students, it can sometimes feel like typically developing students are not being challenged if given an accommodation they don't necessarily need. By constantly providing tools to make tasks more doable, do we instill a sense of helplessness if they are taken away? On the flip side, if we constantly tell students to “push through” challenges without needing accommodations, do we break their confidence rather than teaching persistence? 

Interestingly, Wood et al. 2019 found that for both interventional and compensational help, TTS improved reading comprehension for those with reading disabilities. This proves TTS a valuable tool for students struggling to decode large texts and allows them to still engage with the content. 

While Wood et al. 2019 is a positive study, Ching-Hsuan Chen et al. 2025 decided to look at the effect of TTS in students with ADHD, Dyslexia, and typically developing students (grade 7-9). They found that while TTS helped improve comprehension for students with ADHD and reduce the time it would take for students with dyslexia to read, it actually disrupted reading patterns of typically developing students. The TTS slowed typically developing students' reading pace down, forcing them to match the pace of the audio. Typically developing students can predict and skip words and don’t read at a linear pace (some words are read faster than others). For students that have quick and automatic decoding, they should be able to adjust audio to match their pace (1.5x or 2.0x speed) and teachers should use TTS as an optional tool for those who benefit from it. 

An overarching theme in the articles I read was: each student benefits differently from TTS. Some students with reading disabilities might prefer to read texts themselves and TTS might not improve their comprehension. Often TTS is used to reduce reading time, which can be problematic in an age where most people don’t have the patience to slow down and read large texts (myself included). While I don’t have a solution for everything, I hope to have sparked some curiosity in you while providing a few useful takeaways regarding TTS!

SamM@NUO

Community and reciprocal learning within the Classroom

My name is Isaac Vanderweyden and I am a student in the P/J program. My undergraduate degree is in Forest Resource Management with an integration in community and Indigenous Forestry. I hope to use my knowledge and employ indigenous understanding and concepts such as reciprocity between students. I also hope to foster a strong proclivity for being in nature and build upon students' own natural curiosity. I am looking forward to helping children transfer their knowledge from different subjects and utilize all aspects of learning to build a strong sense of community and responsibility within the classroom.      

IsaacV@OTU

Confidence: is this Blog Post Okay

There is some irony that our first blog post for class coincides with the confidence learning key; it’s an opportunity to put yourself out there. For that matter, it’s not just the first blog post: almost every group is debuting a different assessment this week. This offers opportunities to challenge myself, and model good attitudes and encouragement for my peers. As I fret about being the first group to post here this semester, I should take the opportunity to consciously undertake the lessons from our learning key and remember that taking a risk is part of learning. I will not be confident if I believe that blogging competence is inborn or gained “with minimal effort and persistence”. Real confidence is knowing you can learn to do anything well, regardless of the outcome of the first attempt.

As teacher candidates, we must confront the tendency to treat ability as fixed and instead foster a growth-oriented environment where feedback emphasizes effort, strategy, and perseverance. That starts with our own willingness to take risks. Making mistakes is uncomfortable but doing so without treating them as a verdict on our potential or qualifications allows us to model the kind of learning we want from students. Good teachers aren’t infallible. I’m learning quickly from my classes that it’s far more important to build relationships, listen, and connect with students. The last time I checked, “Care” is closer to the centre of the OCT professional standards graphic than being a blog expert.

In my future classroom, that could mean praising students for revising their thinking, asking for help, or trying a difficult strategy—not only for getting the right answer. If I want students to see confidence as something they can build, I need to make productive struggle visible and worthwhile. I can begin by setting an example: participating genuinely and curiously in class presentations and workshops this semester, and honouring the risks and challenges of colleagues at the front of the class. Confidence, then, is not pretending that public work feels easy; it is trusting that we can learn from doing it. I’m looking forward to hearing what my classmates have to say and to practicing what this first learning key has taught me.

SamH@OTU

Learning Beyond the Desk: The Importance of Movement in the Classroom

“How much longer do we have to sit?” is a question that many teachers have probably heard at some point. As students, we have all experienced those moments when we have been sitting for a long period of time and notice that our attention starts to disappear. We might still be looking at the teacher, but our minds are somewhere else. As a future teacher, this has made me think about how much we expect students to sit, listen, and concentrate throughout the school day. If we want students to be engaged in their learning, should we really expect them to remain seated for most of the day?

I believe movement should be a normal part of the classroom rather than something that only happens during physical education, recess, or lunch. Movement does not always have to mean running around the classroom or taking a long break from learning. It can be as simple as standing up, stretching, walking to another part of the room, participating in a short activity, or using movement as part of the lesson itself. Research suggests that classroom-based physical activity can increase students' on-task behaviour and reduce off-task behaviour (Watson et al., 2017). This is important because movement can be used not as a distraction from learning, but as a tool to support it.

There is also evidence that short movement breaks can have positive effects on students' attention and classroom behaviour. A systematic review of school-aged children found that classroom-based physical activity interventions generally showed beneficial effects on attention and on-task behaviour. However, the researchers also noted differences in the type, length, and intensity of the activities used (Ruhland & Lange, 2021). More recent research has continued to suggest that active breaks can improve classroom behaviour, although the evidence for academic achievement and some cognitive outcomes is less consistent (Reyes-Amigo et al., 2025).

This distinction matters for teachers. I would not want to use movement simply because I assume that every movement break will automatically make students smarter or improve their grades. Instead, I see movement as one strategy that can help create the conditions for learning. For example, instead of having students complete an entire lesson sitting at their desks, I could create stations around the classroom where students move between different tasks. In a science class, students could rotate through stations to analyze different examples or complete a short investigation. In a social sciences class, students could move around the room to respond to different questions or perspectives posted on the walls. 

At the same time, movement needs to be intentional. A movement break should have clear expectations, a purpose, and a smooth transition back to learning so that it does not become a distraction. Research has found positive effects of classroom movement breaks on physical activity and classroom behaviour, although the results for academic achievement and cognition are more mixed (Gori et al., 2019). This reminds me that movement is not a magic solution, but rather one tool teachers can use to support learning. As a future teacher, I want to create a structured classroom where students are not expected to sit completely still all day. Students should have opportunities to interact, collaborate, ask questions, and move when it supports their learning.

Ultimately, I believe that learning does not always have to happen from a desk. Students can learn while standing, walking, collaborating, creating, and interacting with their environment. Movement can support attention, classroom behaviour, and engagement while making learning more active and enjoyable. I want my classroom to recognize that students have different needs throughout the day and that appropriate movement can help them feel more engaged and ready to learn. I do not think every lesson needs a movement activity, but I see movement as an important strategy for creating an environment where students are active participants in their learning. Sometimes, the best way to help students focus is not to tell them to sit still for another ten minutes, but to give them a reason to get up and move.

Articles and Resources for Learning More

Classroom Movement Breaks and Physically Active Learning
Lynch, J., O'Donoghue, G., & Peiris, C. (2022). This systematic review examines how movement breaks and physically active learning can be incorporated into educational settings. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19137775

Active Breaks and Student Attention
Infantes-Paniagua et al. (2021). This systematic review and meta-analysis examines the relationship between active school breaks and students' attention. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci11060675

References:

Gori, D., et al. (2019). Evaluation of school-based interventions of active breaks in primary schools: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness.

Reyes-Amigo, T., et al. (2025). Effectiveness of school-based active breaks on classroom behavior, executive functions and physical fitness in children and adolescents: A systematic review. Frontiers in Public Health, 13. 

Ruhland, S., & Lange, K. W. (2021). Effect of classroom-based physical activity interventions on attention and on-task behavior in schoolchildren: A systematic review. Sports Medicine and Health Science, 3(3), 125–133. 

Watson, A., Timperio, A., Brown, H., Best, K., & Hesketh, K. D. (2017). Effect of classroom-based physical activity interventions on academic and physical activity outcomes: A systematic review and meta-analysis. International Journal of Behavioural Nutrition and Physical Activity.

NicolasP@NUO

Understanding the Whole Child: Why Human Development Matters in Teaching

When we reflect on teaching, we often think about preparing lesson plans, creating activities, assignments, and tests. I believe that teaching goes beyond delivering what we have planned for students to learn. At the essence of teaching are the children in our classroom, and every child is continuously changing, developing and growing. This relates to the topic of human development, which interests me within the teaching profession. 

As we saw in this week’s lecture, human development involves the cognitive, physical, social, and emotional growth that transpires throughout an individual’s life. I believe that understanding all these different areas is important because they can influence how students behave, interact with others, and approach learning.

One of the most important things I have learned about human development is that there is no linear timeline for every child. Students may be the same age, but have very different strengths, interests, personalities, experiences, and developmental needs. This is especially interesting to me when thinking about cognitive development during early and middle childhood. Between the ages of 2 and 11, children experience notable changes in how they communicate, think, learn, remember, solve problems, and understand the world around them. This reminds me that students may not always understand something simply because it has been explained to them. As teaching candidates,  we need to consider where students are developmentally and find ways to make learning meaningful and accessible to each and everyone of them.

I believe that technology is intertwined with supporting students at different grade levels. Since every child learns and develops differently, technology can provide them with different ways to engage with information and demonstrate their understanding of what they are learning. For example, videos, educational applications and digital storytelling can all be used to explore topics in ways that can support their learning needs. Technology can give students opportunities to ask questions, explore ideas, solve problems, create, and make connections between what they are learning and their own experiences. However, I also believe that technology should be used intentionally and should not replace meaningful relationships or interaction between teachers and students. Instead, it should be used as a tool to support students’ cognitive, social, and emotional development and make learning more accessible and engaging.

Learning about human development has also made me think about the importance of seeing students as whole individuals. A child's ability to learn is connected to their social and emotional well-being. For example, a student who is feeling anxious, excluded, or overwhelmed may have difficulty focusing in class. This does not necessarily mean that the student is uninterested or incapable of learning. There may be other factors affecting their ability to engage.

This is why building relationships with students is so important to me. When teachers take the time to get to know their students, they can better understand their needs, strengths, and experiences. Creating a classroom where students feel safe, respected, and supported can help them feel more comfortable taking risks in their learning.

One idea from the Understanding Learning reading that stood out to me was that learning is more than simply memorizing information. Learning involves making connections, developing new understandings, and experiencing continuous growth as a result. This made me reflect on the type of classroom I want to create as a future teacher. I want students to have opportunities to explore, ask questions, make mistakes, and connect what they are learning to their own experiences. I believe that when students are genuinely interested in what they are learning, they are more likely to engage with it and develop a deeper understanding.

Ultimately, human development has shown me that teaching is about more than educating students academically. It is about supporting their growth as individuals and helping them become confident, curious, and lifelong learners. Every child enters the classroom with their own experiences, strengths, and story. As a teacher candidate, I want to take the time to understand those differences and create a classroom where every student feels that they belong and have the opportunity to grow.

BiancaC@OTU

Prodigy and Operant Conditioning

This week's reading reminded me of a tech tool I used in elementary school, but had forgotten about for many many years. This tool is not commonly used for educational purposes, but can be very successfully utilized as such. The tool I am talking about is video games. Programs such as Prodigy were used to great degrees of success in Math programs because they embodied the “operant conditioning” method mentioned in this week's reading.

By utilizing a ‘levelling up’ system, educational video games can act as “reinforcement” while students work, filling the profile as the “operant.” Moreover, just as the reading mentions “cues” to prompt an operant response, video games encourage students to work harder by using specific cues. For example, if you are close to levelling up, Prodigy shows an Experience Bar. Once that bar was full, the student would be able to level up. This cued students that if they were close to having a full bar, they should focus and work extra hard to get where they wanted to be. Moreover, math battles in Prodigy were often indicated by entering new virtual territories. This cue of conflict made the game more exciting because using suspense as a cue as the student travels helps them stay focused and engaged, and anticipate the ‘reinforcement’ that they want and expect once the battle has been fought and overcome.

EdithW@OTU

Making Learning More Accessible with Diffit

     Working as an educational assistant in high school for the last ten years, I have helped students with several different types of technologies to empower their learning, but one program that I felt was extremely helpful for students who got frustrated with reading large articles and text is a program called Diffit. This was one of the first Ai powered tools that I have worked with, and still think it’s quite effective today for several reasons. 

Diffit is an AI-powered educational tool designed to help teachers quickly create differentiated learning materials for students of varying reading levels and abilities. It allows educators to take almost any piece of content and tailor it seamlessly to fit a mixed-ability classroom. Especially in regard to differentiated and ESL students, Diffit can translate materials into over 70 languages, making it incredibly useful for English Language Learners. I’ve observed many educators using Diffit  for worksheets, and to simplify articles for students at lower reading levels. 

I have used it myself in Teachers College to create resources from my slideshows.  What I found the most beneficial about using Diffit was that it helped my students who would be incredibly frustrated reading text, and sadly, let’s face it, many students these days are. When you copy and paste the text into Diffit, it not only simplifies the language, but it also has a small summary for the student to understand the main points. it was then much easier for the student to go into the article to find the answers they needed for their assignment. I noticed a shift in their behavior and attitude towards their work when they knew that they didn’t have to read the whole text, but could still learn what was needed without feeling so overwhelmed. Students began using Diffit independently and felt more confident and empowered in their learning. 

The best part about this feature is that it was not just a cognitive offload like many AI summaries are; the student still had to go into the article and find quotes and proof of their argument, and were able to comprehend the assignment. Diffit is free for students and educators with upgrading available. I would highly recommend Diffit for worksheets for teaching, ESL, and differentiated learning.

Christina@NUO

Using Technology to Foster a Growth Mindset in Students

“I’m just bad at this” is something almost every student has said at some point. It might be “I’m bad at math”, “I’m not a good reader”, or “I’m just not creative”. Once students start thinking this way, it becomes easy to stop trying. Why put effort into something if you have already decided that you are not good at it? As a future teacher, one of the most important things I can do is help students move away from this fixed way of thinking and develop a growth mindset. Instead of thinking “I can’t do this”, I want students to start thinking, “I can’t do this yet” and approach their learning with curiosity. 

Psychologist Carol Dweck, who introduced the concept of a growth mindset, explains that people with this mindset view their abilities as something that can be developed through learning, effort, and experience rather than something fixed (Morin, 2026). This idea matters in education because how students think about their abilities can shape how they respond when learning becomes difficult. A student with a fixed mindset may see a difficult task or a mistake as proof that they are “not good” at something, while a growth mindset encourages them to see that same challenge as an opportunity to learn and improve.

Having a growth mindset does not mean that everything will eventually become easy. It means being willing to try, make mistakes, ask questions, and continue when something is difficult. The classroom should be a place where students feel comfortable trying something even when they aren’t sure they will succeed. Sometimes a wrong answer can even lead to a better discussion because we can explore why it didn’t work and what we could try differently.

(Barlow, 2018)

Growth mindset also has to apply to the teacher, not just the students. Telling students to take risks and not fear mistakes means much more when the teacher models the same behaviour. Teachers don’t know everything, and we shouldn’t pretend that we do. If a student asks something and I don’t know the answer, I want to be comfortable saying, “I’m not sure, let’s figure it out”. If I make a mistake during a lesson, I can acknowledge it and correct it. Even when a lesson, activity, or new piece of technology doesn’t go as planned, I can model how to reflect, adjust, and try something different. If I want my students to be comfortable saying “I don’t know yet”, I have to be comfortable saying it too.

Technology can be a valuable way to put this mindset into practice. Platforms such as Kahoot!, Quizizz, Gimkit, and Padlet can create low-stakes opportunities for students to participate, test their understanding, and receive feedback without every response being attached to a formal grade. This can be especially helpful for a student who lacks confidence or is hesitant to raise their hand. Answering through a device gives them a chance to participate and make mistakes without feeling like the entire class is watching. Instead of being told to have a growth mindset, students get to experience what it feels like to struggle, practice, and improve. Over time, these small successes can build students’ confidence to attempt more challenging tasks and take risks outside the digital activity.

Embedding technology in this way also connects to assessment for, as, and of learning. A digital quiz, game, poll, or exit ticket can be used as assessment for learning, helping the teacher identify misconceptions and adjust instruction. It can support assessment as learning by allowing students to receive feedback, recognize what they need to work on, and try again. These low-stakes checkpoints help students build their understanding and confidence before an assessment of learning, when they are expected to demonstrate their learning independently.

 (“Growth Mindset vs. Fixed Mindset”, n.d.)

As a future teacher, I don’t want students to feel like they have to walk into my classroom already being good at something to succeed. I would much rather have a student who is willing to try, struggle, ask for help, and try again. Technology can help create the low-stakes opportunities students need to practice while gradually building confidence in their abilities. At the same time, teachers have to hold themselves to the same standard by trying new approaches, accepting feedback, and learning from mistakes. Growth mindset should not just be something written on a classroom poster. Students should experience it in how they are taught, assessed, and encouraged to learn.

Here are some articles that help us learn to foster growth mindset in the classroom: 

https://thirdspacelearning.com/us/blog/develop-growth-mindset-elementary-classroom/

https://www.thetambellinigroup.com/digital-tools-and-the-growth-mindset-fostering-lifelong-learners/

https://teachingcommons.stanford.edu/teaching-guides/foundations-course-design/learning-activities/growth-mindset-and-enhanced-learning

Here are some tools that assist student learning:

Kahoot: https://kahoot.com/en-GB/

Gimkit: https://www.gimkit.com

Blooket: https://www.blooket.com

Quizzizz: https://webflow-dev.quizizz.com/homepage-au?lng=en

Padlet: https://padlet.com

References

Barlow, T. (2018). Growth mindset: The Power of yet. Tom Barlow Online. https://tombarlowonline.com/growth-mindest-the-power-of-yet/ 

Growth Mindset vs. fixed mindset: Understanding the path to success. (n.d.). Explore Your Reality. https://www.exploreyourreality.com/growth-mindset-vs-fixed-mindset/ 

Morin, A. (2026). What is growth mindset?. Understood. https://www.understood.org/en/articles/growth-mindset 

OliviaL@NUO

Wikipedia Doesn’t Have to Be the Enemy

As a student, I constantly heard, “Don’t use Wikipedia.” Whenever we were given a research assignment, Wikipedia was one of the first websites teachers told us to avoid. It was treated as an unreliable source that had no place in academic research. Looking back, though, I wonder if we were missing an opportunity. After reading Chapter 5 of Transforming Learning with New Technologies, I started thinking about whether Wikipedia really is the enemy, or whether we have just been approaching it the wrong way.

We live in an age where information is everywhere. The chapter describes the Internet as a “library of unimaginable size,” giving students access to an overwhelming amount of information. While this access is valuable, it also creates a challenge: students need to know where to start, what information is relevant, which sources to trust, and how to determine whether what they find is accurate.

This is where I think Wikipedia can actually be useful.

I don't think Wikipedia should be the final source students rely on for a research assignment, but I do think it can be a great starting point. It provides a consolidated overview of a topic and introduces students to key people, events, concepts, and terminology. Instead of immediately navigating thousands of search results, students can use Wikipedia to develop a basic understanding of a topic and identify areas they want to explore further.

Wikipedia is collaboratively created and continually revised by contributors. While this allows information to be updated quickly, it also means students need to think critically about the information they are encountering. Rather than teaching students that Wikipedia is simply “bad,” I think it creates an opportunity to teach them how to evaluate information.

For example, students could use a Wikipedia article as the starting point for a research activity. They could identify a few key facts or claims, follow the citations at the bottom of the page, and investigate where the information originally came from. They could then ask: Who published this information? What evidence supports the claim? Is the source credible? Can I find another source that confirms or challenges it?

To me, this highlights an important distinction: finding information is not the same as knowing how to use information. Students may be comfortable searching Google and finding answers, but that doesn't necessarily mean they know how to determine whether those answers are accurate.

As a future teacher, I don't want to simply give students a list of websites they can and cannot use. I would rather teach them how to make those decisions for themselves. If students learn how to follow citations, investigate original sources, compare information, and question what they read, those skills can be applied far beyond Wikipedia.

Maybe the problem was never Wikipedia itself. Maybe the problem was treating it as the end of the research process instead of the beginning.

In an age where students have access to more information than ever before, our role as teachers is not necessarily to limit where students can look, but to help them become better at understanding what they find. Wikipedia doesn't have to be the answer. It can be the starting point that leads students to better questions, better sources, and deeper learning.

References: Robert W. Maloy, Ruth-Ellen A Verock Sharon A. Edwards, and Beverly P. Woolf (2021) Transforming Learning with New Technologies (Pearson, 2021, 2017. Allyn & Bacon, 2014, 2010). https://niagara.instructure.com/courses/42154/modules/items/1303280 

Taisa@NUO

Developing Brain Cells in Students

One slide from this week’s lecture that really stood out to me was the idea on brain cells in students and how they develop differently. It outlines the two sides of the brain and suggests that the school system will often focus primarily on the “left brain” skills such as math, science, and logic rather than the “right side” which holds the students' creative and expressive side. 

This topic really resonated with me as I never excelled in math or science but always had a strong pull and passion towards the arts. In art class, I felt the most comfortable, engaged and proud of my work. As I reflect and connect back to this now in the role of an educator, I find it so important to recognize the ways in which each student learns and provide options for students to excel in their learning. 

During my placement last spring, I used a technology tool called iNaturalist. In the Visual Arts class, I provided students with this tool so that they could research a species in their community by looking at photos, habitats, patterns, maps, and observations to then go and create their own detailed sketches and drawings. Learning about the brain today, this tool allows students to use both sides by combining both technology and science to research and also using an artistic lens to observe images. This was interesting to see students learning with their left side by researching the world around them, and then being able to express what they found through visual art. 

As a future educator in Visual Arts, I hope to provide students with opportunities to use their individual strengths towards their learning, and as professor mentioned I think it is so important to include student interests into their learning rather than being separate.  

JessicaH@NUO 

Rethinking AI in the Classroom

An assignment that changed how I think about AI in education was from a religion course I took in Fall 2024, called Holy Heroes: The Lives and Legacies of Christian Martyrs. The assignment was called Voice of a Relic. We researched a Christian martyr and their relic, then presented that research using an AI podcast tool. I chose St. Agnes, and built mine as an interview, using my own real voice to ask the questions, and the software to give voice to her skull.

This was at a time when AI use in coursework was considered an academic integrity issue across all my other courses, so I thought it was a little strange to be asked to use AI for an assignment. But once I started working with the AI, I got fully invested in the creative aspect of the assignment. I ended up really loving the final product. I liked getting to play around with the software and trying everything it could do, and I liked seeing how differently everyone approached the same assignment with the same tool.  The AI tool was engaging and gave us another way to present what we learned.

This made me think about how education could do more to build on right-brain skills, like creativity, intuition, and art, alongside the left-brain skills school tends to emphasize. As a teacher, I should be offering students ways to explore ideas and express what they’ve learned in more creative, less traditional ways, and digital and AI tools allow this easily. It also made me think about varied assessments. AI tools give students freedom in demonstrating their learning while making it more engaging. 

Overall, that assignment made me reflect on AI in the classroom not being about academic integrity or fear, but about teachers willingness to learn, fail, and try something new and to let their students do the same.

BriannaS@NUO