Tech Ed AQ and ABQ Courses – Fall 2023

Course: Communications Technology Grades 9/10 (Queen’s)
URL: https://www.otffeo.on.ca/en/learning/pd-calendar/events/communications-technology-grades-910-abq-queens-fall-online/

Course: Honour Specialist Technological Education (Queen’s)
URL: https://www.otffeo.on.ca/en/learning/pd-calendar/events/honour-specialist-technological-education-aq-queens-fall-online/

Course: Technological Design Grades 9/10 (Queen’s)
URL: https://www.otffeo.on.ca/en/learning/pd-calendar/events/technological-design-grades-9-10-abq-queens-fall-online/

Course: ABQ Communications Technology, Grades 11 and 12 (Windsor)
URL: https://www.otffeo.on.ca/en/learning/pd-calendar/events/abq-communications-technology-grades-11-and-12-windsor-fall-online/

Course: ABQ Communications Technology, Grades 9 and 10 (Windsor)
URL: https://www.otffeo.on.ca/en/learning/pd-calendar/events/abq-communications-technology-grades-9-and-10-windsor-fall-online/

Course: ABQ Green Industries, Grades 11 and 12 (Windsor)
URL: https://www.otffeo.on.ca/en/learning/pd-calendar/events/abq-green-industries-grades-11-and-12-windsor-fall-online/

Course: ABQ Green Industries, Grades 9 and 10 (Windsor)
URL: https://www.otffeo.on.ca/en/learning/pd-calendar/events/abq-green-industries-grades-9-and-10-windsor-fall-online/

Am I missing any? If so, please let me know in the comments below or at the site formerly know as Twitter at @pbeens or Mastodon at mstdn.ca/@pbeens. Thanks!

Why AI Won’t Be Replacing Teachers Anytime Soon

Read the original article here.

While AI has made significant progress in recent years, it is unlikely to replace teachers anytime soon. One reason for this is that AI lacks the ability to understand human emotions and social cues, which are essential for effective teaching. Additionally, AI is not capable of providing the same level of personalized attention that human teachers can provide.

Another reason why AI is unlikely to replace teachers is that education is not just about imparting knowledge but also about developing critical thinking skills and creativity. These skills are difficult to teach using AI, which relies on pre-programmed algorithms and lacks the ability to think outside the box. Furthermore, AI cannot provide the same level of feedback and guidance that human teachers can provide.

Despite these limitations, AI can still play a valuable role in education. For example, it can be used to automate administrative tasks such as grading and record-keeping, freeing up teachers’ time to focus on teaching. Additionally, AI can be used to provide students with personalized learning experiences by adapting to their individual needs and learning styles.

In conclusion, while AI has made significant progress in recent years, it is unlikely to replace human teachers anytime soon. While it can be used to automate administrative tasks and provide personalized learning experiences, it lacks the ability to understand human emotions and social cues and cannot provide the same level of feedback and guidance that human teachers can provide.

(Article has been summarized using Bing Chat)

Ethics and Learning Technology

It’s great to hear from Dr. Chuck Severance again. I took many of his Python courses on Coursera and find him to be an excellent instructor.

In this short video he addresses privacy and LMSes and how schools pay little attention to privacy issues regarding their LMSes. He mentions how the vendors control all the data, and we have been pushing the priority of ethics and privacy concerns back.

I admit that in my classroom I didn’t know how private my students’ personal data truly was. I just trusted in the companies that hosted the LMSes (D2L, Google) that they would not abuse the information nor use it in unethical ways.

Did your school board address student privacy when it considered which LMS to use? Is its privacy policy or privacy study public? Please share!

OTIP Teaching Awards 2020: Nominations are open

OTIP Teaching AwardsFor many years, these awards have recognized the excellence of our teachers in publicly funded education. There are three categories of awards: elementary school teacher, secondary school teacher and beginning teacher in the first five years of teaching. A teacher may be nominated by anyone – professional colleagues, students, parents, or the general public.

Nominations are now open for the 2020 awards. The deadline for receipt of nominations is March 31, 2020. Further information is provided on the attached PDF and is also available at www.teachingawards.ca. If you have any questions, please contact Jason Healey at OTF: Jason.healey@otffeo.on.ca.

It would be appreciated if you would highlight and promote these awards within your organization. We are proud of the excellence of teachers throughout the province. These awards allow us to recognize and celebrate outstanding contributions that our members make to their students’ education, to their schools, and within their communities.

Thank you for your cooperation and assistance in promoting the OTIP Teaching Awards program!

 

Please Help Me with the Collaborative AQ Providers Resource for Ontario Teachers!

Ontario has a large number of really great AQ providers, but sometimes it’s difficult finding information from them such as registration deadlines, who to contact, etc.

GitHub LogoTo help with this, I’ve created a resource which can be accessed and edited by anyone, provided you have a login account. I’ve decided to put this resource on GitHub, which is an excellent (and free) website for sharing resources and collaboration that I’m trying to teach other educators  about.
Continue reading “Please Help Me with the Collaborative AQ Providers Resource for Ontario Teachers!”