It is difficult to fathom the impact and our reliance on productivity tools in our classrooms and life in general. I often find myself wondering how we would have and could have fared in the face of COVID-19, not only in education but in society had it not been for the presence of and quick transition to our online platforms. Our relationship with productivity tools quickly expanded, allowing communities to remain connected and carry on with the need for human connection and collaboration. In many situations, masters classes for one, strategies and formats which came about as a result of Covid never went back to how they were pre-covid.

    There is something that excites me about philosophy and origins of thought, considering perspectives, and reflecting on how my own ideals and practice is represented in comparison. I remember a quiz that I took during one of my first masters classes, meant to determine which historic teaching philosophies best aligned with our own. It was apparent then and still accurate now, that I represent a dichotomy of philosophical theories in my planning, values, and application in my practice. 

    

       In the 16 years that I have spent teaching in the public school system, I would say that some of my beliefs have shifted slightly over time, but more so the theoretical application represented through my beliefs alters based on my students and their needs. Only since I have started taking masters classes have I realized that I certainly draw on and include aspects of behaviourism, cognitivism, and constructivism in my teaching practice and would say that the three areas are needed and are relatively balanced in my classroom but might fluctuate from year to year based on the students. I have always and continue today to teach 'old-school' drill and practice methods all the way to student driven inquiry projects. I firmly believe that there is importance in the inclusion of all areas and that practices centered in behaviourism and cognitivism provide essential skills and organizational tools necessary for finding success with constructivist models. This is at least true for the grade levels that I teach in middle elementary

    Behaviourism represents the innate human desire for reward, and regardless of your level of ambition and self-motivation, seeking external reinforcement is something that I don't think we ever entirely grow out of. Therefore, it can result in great success especially in terms of developing positive habits that will likely aid us as we journey through life. With growth and maturity, comes the realization that hard-work and 'doing the right thing' will increase your chances of success. While I believe these sorts of methods to be necessary building blocks for character development and work ethic, solely relying on behaviourist approaches negates the responsibility we have to personal well-being because we are constantly relying on an outside source for approval. In life, the expectation for reward is not a realistic expectation and people are taken out of the moment because they are continuously seeking an end point. This mindset has likely perpetuated a high degree of mental health problems in our society; not being able to access or live up to a unattainable prescription of 'what life should be'.

    Cognitivism provides us with the framework and organizational tools necessary to navigate and organize our thinking and our lives. In elementary school grades, using tools like graphic organizers is crucial to their learning. Ultimately the goal is that eventually those organizers just translate into a persons mental ability to organize information, emotions, data etc. resulting in our ability to problem solve and take steps to plan and take action. With the notions suggested in Bloom's hierarchy of learning the importance of delving into some higher order thinking, analyzing, and interpreting information aids us in our ability to handle and organize information and knowledge.

    While abilities born of the constructivist approaches are equally important to a person's learning and life experience, the tools, habits, and organization instilled by the aforementioned approaches are essential to finding success in this realm. There is opportunity here to reach one's highest potential, not only as a learner but in the freedom to pursue and live an enriched and fulfilled life. When students are given the opportunity to explore concepts from an inquiry standpoint, the learning and engagement which takes place is not comparable to anything learned through rote memorization or lecture. The self motivation and problem solving which they encounter through this process is the most accurate to the challenges confronted in life and provide the learner with a means to explore and get to know themselves as learners and develop self-motivation.

    Until now, my experiences have lead me to believe that not only does each learning theory inform the next, but that they are all essential to the learning process.

    On pondering 'what is technology' a common instinctual association is with the digital realm, even though technology spans the existence of humanity and digital technology is but a fragment of the human experience. Regardless of how we understand its' definition, our usage of and reliance on the tools designed to aid in our interactions with our worlds remains at the heart of our relationship with the world around us. In this sense, contemporary technology has not swayed much from it's origins, in that it continues to represent the tools designed and used by humanity to aid in day to day tasks. It just so happens that many of the tools designed and used over time are now accessible through a singular device: the smartphone.

     I remember well the introduction of the World Wide Web during my grade 12 year. Honestly, the piercing sound of the dial-up connection as my family desk top computer gained access to this new phenomenon actually creeped me out at the time. I come from a generation of kids that played in the streets until dark, didn't where bike helmets, and used rotary land lines to call up friends, and so there is a large part of my value system which is still greatly influenced by the reality that shaped me. As a result, I believe that kids nowadays (including my own) spend far to much time on devices and that developing a healthy media balance is beyond their scope of understanding, partially because we as adults don't even have a handle on our own.

    From an educational standpoint, I have witnessed the benefits of using digital technology in the classroom. I believe that using digital technology and teaching students about digital citizenship should be a priority in our schools simply because of it's inevitability in our lives. The social responsibility that we now have within the digital landscape is far reaching and requires new ways of responding to and interacting with the things around us because it is on record. Teaching students about their digital footprint and the ways that the decisions that they make online can have lasting effects on their identity is an overwhelming but necessary concept to explore.

    Like any tool, digital technology should be taught and used to aid in or enhance our awareness and understanding and as it continues to grow and evolve, so will our relationship with it. It is important that our ability to problem solve and think creatively is not lost, and thinking critically about the wealth of information that we are faced with is more important now than ever before. Digital technology is here to stay and our responsibility as educators to help students navigate their responsibility and place within their changing world does not come with a 'one size fits all' criteria. Students must be taught to consider their relationship with digital technology and the impact that it has on their relationship with themselves and others in the material world.