Weekly Reflection #1

Inquiry-based learning and “reimagining education” 

Inquiry-based education is certainly important and offers a unique opportunity and skills development that might not be offered through traditional education. I do think that all students should get to try at least once during a schoolyear. Guided Inquiry Design does a great job at defining inquiry-based learning and highlighting some of the pros to using this approach. According to them, “At its core, inquiry-based learning is a student-centered approach where learners actively engage in the process of discovery. Rather than passively absorbing information, students pose questions, gather data, and explore topics through hands-on activities and collaborative research. This method fosters deep understanding by encouraging learners to think critically, analyze information, and make informed decisions.” This contrasts to structured and traditional or teacher-based approach. 

When it comes to a “full reimaging of education,” I don’t think that it is necessary on that scale. However, I do think that there needs to be tweaks to education that allows for a more hybrid approach between the traditional methods of education and the newer inquiry-based methods of education. In our learning pod discussions of the video “Most Likely to Succeed,” which highlights High-Tech High in San Diego that uses inquiry or project based learning, we discussed the need to accommodate students that might not be taking to the traditional methods of education by giving them opportunities to take a more inquiry-based approach to education. This could look like an inquiry-based project option for students who wish to go that route when handing out assignments or evening out traditional work with inquiry-based work throughout the school year. We also discussed that if the pendulum were to swing too far in the direction of inquiry-based education then students that might prefer traditional modes of education would be struggling as that type of education might not be for them. Some sort of balance needs to be struck because there are benefits to both methods of education, and it usually depends on the student and their preferences. 

FIPPA, Consent, and inequities in education 

A topic that I found very interesting from today’s class was on the freedom of information act and the idea of consent when it comes to using specific online learning tools in the classroom. When I was in school, there weren’t as many online learning tools available and so I don’t recall ever having to take a consent form home to get my parents to sign before the class could proceed to use the tool. Now, it seems as if in order to use any online tool you need informed consent of each individual family in the form of a signed form. I think this is incredibly important to let families know of the potential implications that could come of their children using this technology. These implications could come in the form of data leaving Canada if the online tool is from outside the country, data harvesting, and others. So, there are definite pros of this idea of consent. However, there are also drawbacks when it comes to consent as not all families might allow their child to use the specific tools due to concerns over these potential implications. The main drawback is that it could lead to inequities in students’ education as certain students that don’t get consent won’t get the same experiences or opportunities as other students that do get consent to use the online tools. This could put them at a noticeable disadvantage. However, there are ways that a teacher can navigate around these potential inequities. One way would be to create a different assignment that would be equally as beneficial for the student or an assignment that uses a different online tool that might be more appealing to the particular family. The other way would be to partner a child who was not given consent to use the online tool with a child that was given consent, which allows that child to still experiment with the tool without giving their personal information. 

School District 61 in Victoria is very good at displaying which tools they have approved for classroom use. Below is a screen capture from their website highlighting all approved online tools and online tools that are pending approval: 

Citation: https://techforlearning.sd61.bc.ca/approved-digital-services/

Sources:

Guided Inquiry Design. (2024). Inquiry Based Teaching vs. Traditional Methods: A Comparative Analysis. https://guidedinquirydesign.com/blog/inquiry-based-teaching-vs-traditional-methods-a-comparative-analysis/

School District 61. (2025). Approved Digital Services. https://techforlearning.sd61.bc.ca/approved-digital-services/