Leadership Research: Vol 13, No 1. (2022)
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Item Implementing augmented reality in education(Electronic version published by Vancouver Island University, 2022) Hardy, Jacob A.W.; LaBonte, RandyWith mobile handheld devices becoming more readily available within classrooms, the once distant possibility of implementing augmented reality (AR) within the K-12 classroom is no longer. Augmented reality technology, when used as a tool to augment intentionally designed lessons, has the possibility to enhance peer-to-peer communication, collaboration, and student creativity. However, teachers are finding it increasingly difficult to implement augmented reality within their classrooms and research shows that K-12 educators are lacking the necessary support and information for augmented reality implementation. AREducation.ca was designed to raise awareness of the benefits of augmented reality as a teaching tool and provide supplementary lesson plans, materials, resources, and research that incorporates augmented reality technology to help guide digital media educators and other K-12 teachers toward determining the best approach to implement augmented reality into their classrooms.Item The role of drawing and artful engagement in early childhood education: co-constructing meaning as curriculum(Electronic version published by Vancouver Island University, 2022) Cameron, Cheryl M.The arts in early childhood education and care (ECEC) have in the past been treated as a separate subject understood simply as crafts or activities to occupy children. Through arts-based research with children in the field, this paper looks to expand upon notions of artful engagement as a social practice (Kind, 2014). Artful engagement in the early years is understood as a way of thinking with materials and artistic sensibilities in relationship with dynamic learning processes (Kind & Argent, 2020). The findings in this paper are based on a four-month qualitative research study in a licensed childcare center on Vancouver Island. Artful processes are considered through weekly engagement with drawing, movement, and photography with toddlers. Documentation is offered to illustrate the process of co-constructing knowledge (BC Ministry of Education, 2019, Berger, 2015). Narratives derived from the research offer considerations for the co-construction of meaning and curriculum, made possible through the work of pedagogical documentation (ECEBC, 2021). Dispositions of early childhood educators as co-learners with children are examined and offer alternate narratives of ECEC practice.Item Effective and individualized primary literacy programs through the use of blended learning(Electronic version published by Vancouver Island University, 2022) Wicks, Donna L.Personalizing student learning holds significance in the new British Columbia curriculum. Teachers are expected to meet individual student needs while also providing them with flexibility and choice. This is a challenging task and one that teachers have been striving to achieve for years. With the onset of the Covid-19 Pandemic, distance learning suddenly became much more mainstream, as schools all over the world were forced to teach their students online. This was a real challenge for teachers who were not familiar with online teaching and for students and families who were used to learning face-to-face in a brick-and-mortar school. In order to meet future online learning as well as to personalize student needs, it is important that teachers begin to consider adding digital learning to their teaching skills. This project is designed to support teachers who wish to continue to work with some online learning opportunities to meet individual student requirements while still participating in the face-to-face learning needs of lower primary students. This project addresses the Critical Challenge Question: How can educators use Blended Learning to contribute to effective and individualized literacy programs in the lower primary classroom? I have created a website that will support teachers who want to continue to utilize or learn about the Station Rotation model of Blended Learning to personalize their students’ academic programs and to meet their students’ individual needs.Item Creating a gamified learning environment focused on social emotional learning for adolescent students(Electronic version published by Vancouver Island University, 2022) Stuerle, Janessa C.With technology easily accessible, students are constantly immersed in a digital world. Gamification, which can be described as using game-based mechanics and game thinking to captivate audiences, inspire learning, entice action and solve problems, is a growing area of interest in educational settings. Adding gamification into the classroom requires thoughtful consideration and purpose to be effective in engaging and motivating students. Social Emotional Learning (SEL), which can be described as the ability to understand and control one’s emotions, solve problems in a constructive manner, and build positive relationships with others, is a skill all students should learn during their education. This project aims to offer a response to the critical challenge question, “In what ways can educators use gamification as a teaching strategy to provide adolescent-aged students with enhanced Social-Emotional Skills (SEL)?". This thesis applied gamification principles and game elements to a unit that followed SEL objectives from the British Columbia curriculum. Two websites were created in accordance with gamification design principles: a gamified SEL unit for students and a teacher toolkit. When building the student gamified unit, the most relevant gamification elements were included, such as quests, experience points (XP), and badges. The gamified SEL unit includes a series of Social and Emotional quests enabling students to earn points and rewards upon completion. The learning outcome is to equip adolescent students to gain Social Emotional skills by utilizing gamification elements. The teacher toolkit explains how to use the gamified SEL unit with students. This project provides recommendations and guidance for the use of gamification and SEL in BC classrooms, such as the exploration of various gamification element combinations to create unique learning environments.Item Phenomenological explication as teaching: an examination of lived experience notes taken while teaching secondary English language arts(Electronic version published by Vancouver Island University, 2022) Cameron, ColinHow one teaches English language arts depends on one's experiences. My tenure teaching English was predicated on the model of how I was taught when I was in high school, teaching methods I learned during my professional year in education in university, and the language and literature theories I was exposed to in my undergraduate degree. It is the latter that had the most impact on my teaching practice. For this thesis I took the opportunity to review my 11-year proactive teaching secondary English language arts to examine the degree to which my understanding of post-structuralism and phenomenology underpins the practice I established. This thesis is also my effort to engage in a phenomenological research method. I conclude that teaching with a mind to phenomenology greatly influenced the way taught, what I taught, and the way I assessed student learning, and that it had a positive effect of their learning.