If you observed a class of Kindergarteners, you’ve noticed how they rely on one another and work collaboratively. Kindergarteners build knowledge by asking and seeking answers from those in their learning environment, teachers, parents, classmates, siblings, etc. My problem of practice arose in this very environment. As a parent of a Kindergartener I have noticed the confusion that arises from varied fonts in my son’s reading environment. At his age, the problem arises most often from children books.
This problem of practice is not only mine, my son’s Kindergarten teacher wishes there was a font created just for Kindergartens to make learning to read and write that much more clear. She hasn’t found a single font that accurately represents every letter and number.
One of the principles of Universal Design for Learning is providing accurate representation of content and give students multiples ways to express themselves with the content - The real problem of practice is that Kindergartners do not have accurate representation of their content (letters and numbers). This misrepresentation gets in the way of learning. The solution is the creation of a font designed for Kindergarteners.
Thankfully we are in an age of apps and new web-based technologies. There are apps available for the iPhone and iPad that allow the user to custom design their own font. I chose a technology that is compatible with the iPhone, Android, Samsung, and Windows8. The application is called MyRealFont and it is free.
MyRealFont allows you to create personalized fonts that can be uploaded to your computer’s font book. The personalized font is then accessible on any word processing application on your computer (PowerPoint, Microsoft Office, etc.)
Once I had created The Kindergarten Font I shared the solution with a Kindergarten teacher to test it out. I chose for the technology to be implemented through collaborative learning as my pedagogy. I wanted students to interact with the font collaboratively and rely on their peers for knowledge; “to give knowledge is to get knowledge” (Scardamalia 2003). Using MyRealFont (as my technology) and collaborative learning allowed students to interact with their writing in a meaningful and authentic way.
After the activity was finished, I had the teacher complete a survey to gather feedback and results. The teacher answered “yes” to every question and provided the following feedback: “Worked awesome on my home mac. Unfortunately, the district computers do not allow us to download things.” In the future I plan to distribute the font to my school district and offer a PD tutorial on how to creat your own font. When I see evidence of teachers and students creating their own font I will feel that I have succeeded in solving my problem of practice.
My problem of practice was that Kindergartners did not have an accurate representation of content (letters and numbers). My solution was the creation of The Kindergarten Font. According to a study at the University of Toronto, technology should not dominate a Kindergarten curriculum. Instead, integration of new technologies should be a flexible discourse that complements the grade level objectives. Kindergartners work collaboratively with one another to create a Knowledge Building community (Lopez 2012). Within this network, it is recommended that Kindergarten teachers “[capture] the human capacity for inventiveness and help convert that inventiveness into something of social value” (Scardamalia 2003). The technology, MyRealFont, prompts both students and teachers to be inventive and use it in an authentic social environment while maintaining a flexible discourse of technological pedagogy that complements Kindergarten objectives. Font creation, via MyRealFont, is a great example of using technology to enhance the content without creating a computer environment that is overly prescriptive.
If I were to do another project of this type I would contact the district IT department and see how we could get passed the firewalls to allow teachers to download fonts onto their school computers. If I were to give some advice to others who may be considering doing a similar project, I would remind them to be sensitive and respectful of those teachers who are not fluent with smart devices or new technologies. Some teachers just don't have access to technology outside of the school setting, and probably won't pursue it any further without actually seeing and experiencing what they are missing out on. I plan to create another font and keep adapting and editing it until I am 100% happy with it. I have learned that it is very easy to create a personalized font and I am excited about how using my font will make the letters and handouts I create more personal and authentic.
Resources:
Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST). Transforming Education through Universal Design for Learning. © CAST, 2012. Web. 8 Nov. 2012.
Lopez, O., Espinosa, A., Cruz, A., & Gomez, A. (2012). Knowledge Building Pedagogy in Kindergarten: An Exploratory Study. OISE. University of Toronto. ON, Canada. http://ikit.org/SummerInstitute2012/Papers/3012-Hernandez.pdf
Scardamalia, M., & Bereiter, C. (2003). Knowledge building environments:
Extending the limits of the possible in education and knowledge work. In A.
DiStefano, K.E. Rudestam, & R. Silverman (Eds.), Encyclopedia of distributed
learning. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
