Précis of my Flight Path

I felt that our first project, the Flight Path, was ideal for me as I commenced my journey in the MET program. In my flight path I described how the addition of technology in the education setting could enhance learning engagement and opportunities for learners. My first hand experience with the Smartboard has led me to the MET program, in order to expand and develop my repertoire of educational technologies.

As I read through my Flight path, I realized that I still have many of the same goals and objectives as I did when I started this course. My main objective was to learn how to incorporate technology into my pedagogy. I certainly have a wider knowledge base of the kinds of educational technologies that are available in the current market after participating in this course. I anticipate that I will continue to discover and learn more as I continue on in this program. One goal that I have achieved, unexpectedly, was gaining experience and familiarity with different types of technology as well as discovering online communities that support technology in education.

 

eLearning Toolkit Experience

As I reflect on the eLearning toolkit, I realize that perhaps I did not gain the full benefits that it stands to offer. For the first few weeks of the course I did not know what it was or where I could find it. As I came to discover what it had to offer I realized that it provided important information as well as factors to consider when using technology in the educational setting.

Learning Management Systems

As a F2F teacher, this section of the toolkit really helped me to understand what constitutes an LMS and why and when one should be created. Also, what benefits would an online course site offer F2F learning? How could I use this with young children? I found that this section helped introduce me to questions that I might consider when choosing an LMS platform for my teaching. This section, coupled with my recent experience using Moodle, has opened my eyes to the thought process necessary before an online course component is used in the classroom, in order for it to be successful.

Web Design and HTML Authoring

As I had very limited experience with HTML design before I enrolled in this course, I found this section of the toolkit to be a great resource. It served as a wonderful starting point as I embarked on the project of creating HTML pages for my Moodle course. I found the Web Design section useful because I had never heard of Dreamweaver before John mentioned it in his Wimba sessions. It was useful to become familiar with it and the other alternatives available. I eventually chose to use NVU simply because I used it in a previous Undergraduate course, and of course I liked the price tag!

An invaluable section in the toolkit is the design questions and issues portion. This section brought forward many issues that I never considered before reading it. The only problem I encountered was trying to achieve all of the recommendations with my limited knowledge of HTML. I found myself spending hours trying to fiddle with NVU to fix some visual annoyances.

Synchronous Communication Tools

Although I didn’t find this section very useful in relation to my teaching practice, it is an interesting section for browsing. I imagine it would be more useful to those who are teaching online. During this course I did use Skype to communicate with my fellow classmates but I didn’t need to reference this page from the toolkit as I already had Skype on my computer for personal uses.

Social Software

I didn’t explore this section of the toolkit in depth. At this time I do not see a use for social networking with my young students. I, on the other hand, use social network and social bookmarking sites to communicate with colleagues and share ideas. Social bookmarking is one of the most useful and enjoyable ways of sharing teaching ideas and I am perpetually browsing sites to find more ideas.

Weblogs

I used this section as a quick reference as I already use weblogs as a tool to communicate with my students and their parents. I am familiar with creating blogs and already have a preference for a blog-authoring site. I found a couple of useful tips in this section, as well as in our discussion “Public or Private?” which explained how to use blogs safely in the classroom.

Wikis

Before this course I had never heard of a Wiki  and subsequently had no idea what it was or how it was used. For this reason this section of the toolkit was particularly  useful to me, especially as we embarked on Module 4. I do not think Wikis are something that I will explore further as I found it difficult and time consuming to explore. I can see how it could be an excellent collaborative forum for higher level learning environments such as this one, but less useful in my field of work.

Accessibility

This is a very relevant topic that I find is often forgotten. Working with young children in a diverse classroom makes accessibility an integral part of my everyday planning. It is imperative to ensure that all my students have an equal opportunity to succeed. I love how technology can work to level the playing field amongst learners. I really enjoyed reading through the scenarios provided in this section and the tools that were suggested to gain accessibility for those individuals. I particularly liked the example of the student with dyslexia as I use similar strategies in my classroom.

mLearning

I browsed through this section and found it interesting but I didn’t go into it in great depth because presently I do not see the need to use mobile devices to access Moodle or WebCT. If I were to host a course on one of these sites I might be interested in searching for an app to assist with mobile use. I did try to access our course via my iphone one day but it was difficult to navigate and very frustrating.

 

Overall ETEC565A experience

 I view ETEC 565A as somewhat of a milestone in my journey through the MET program as it was my launch into the program. As I began, I was full of trepidation and unsure what to expect. I did not know what I would encounter or would be expected to accomplish, in terms of using technology. I can confidently say that I enjoyed taking this course, although at times I found it frustrating and time consuming. I have practical knowledge and experience that I can take away with me and use in another MET course. I will also be able to incorporate tools and ideas I have learned into my pedagogy.

One particular reading was incredibly helpful by shaping my simplified view of what is necessary to incorporate technology into  a teaching practice. It was through reading the article by Bates and Poole (2003) “A Framework for Selecting and Using Technology” that I gained a far greater sense of the multifaceted approach an educator needs to take in order to be successful in a technology based or even infused program. I believe this article will directly influence my learning in further courses in this program, as well as in my future planning.

The Bates and Poole article was easy to read and is a comprehensive framework that considers many important aspects when implementing technology into the educational setting. The E for “ease of use” really resonated with me as I work with young learners whose computer skills are still developing.  I want our time with the computers to be effective and rewarding for the students.  Another factor that Bates and Poole outlined in their framework that I can relate to was cost. Unless the tool is funded by a school district, we as teachers in the public sector have very little budget to spend on technology.

This course provided opportunities to explore and experience a wide selection of different scenarios and projects to account for the varied expertise of the learners. Since there were a variety of topics, not all the discussions or projects directly pertained to my current occupation. Nonetheless, I found them all to be interesting and engaging.

One of our first projects, after the Flight Plan, was the group LMS rubric. Before starting this project I was concerned whether working with people I had never met and would not meet could create a successful project. This fear quickly subsided as our group discussion forum opened and everyone made plans to meet via Skype and work together using Google Docs. I felt very privileged to be able to work with the dynamic and sharp individuals in my group. I really appreciated that this project was completed at the beginning of the course because it was a very social activity and allowed us to get to know one another.

Creating a proposal for an LMS was a difficult task for me. I did not fully grasp what an LMS was since I had never used one before and had just recently been introduced to them. I feel  I would have been much more successful had this project been introduced later on in the course. In addition to not being familiar with LMS, I had also never written a proposal previously. As I completed this project, I quickly realized that I would need to focus more on the quality of my writing if I was to succeed in this Masters program. This is a goal that I created for myself after this project and I am sure that I will continue to work on this as I continue with my Masters.

The most substantial project was creating an LMS site. I am very glad that John broke it down into several parts as such a large undertaking could be very overwhelming without previous experience. Building a LMS course seemed more like riding a rollercoaster then completing a project; there were times of excitement, frustration, confusion and then finally enlightenment in the end.

First, we looked at creating a quiz within an LMS site. This was a very positive experience for me as I found it fairly easy to create and it would be such a good asset in the classroom. As I created the quiz I began to see that there were many benefits to using Moodle quizzes: ease of use, accessibility for special needs and quick and effective assessment opportunities.

Second, we created HTML modules, among other tasks. I enjoyed creating the HTML pages; although they were finicky at times, the end product was so rewarding. The parts that I found difficult were transferring my pages to Moodle as well as fixing and formatting them to look attractive. Although it was a lot of work to create these pages, I think it would be worth all the struggles as students would really enjoy the visual interest.  They would be even more impressed when they found out that their teacher had created them. Talk about setting a good example for your students! I think that if I had to create another Moodle course site I would be able to create it more efficiently.

My favourite activity from this course was creating the digital story. This project fits in so well with my goals for this course because I am looking for ways that I can create interesting and fun learning opportunities for my students to use technology. This project fits seamlessly into my pedagogy and would be enjoyed by my students. I created a fractured fairy tale using Zooburst (see more details on my “digital story” page). I am very excited to complete this project with my grade three students this spring in our upcoming storybook unit.

The ongoing component of the course was our weekly discussions. I enjoyed participating in the discussions to discover my colleagues’ thoughts and insights on the wide variety of topics. I loved reading their posts as I felt it was a great way to get to know others. It was through these discussions that I learned information on a wide variety of topics, not all of which were relevant to my work but interesting even so. My favourite discussion was about blogging; this discussion was very intriguing and thought provoking for me. I personally love following colleagues’ blogs, writing in our classroom blog and writing in my own personal blogs, when I have time. I had never even considered the possibility of my students writing their own blogs

 

Next Steps in Educational Technology

My immediate next step in educational technology is to take some of the ideas that I have gained in ETEC 565A and implement them into my classroom teaching. I think the first thing I would like to try is creating digital stories with my students. I am also interested in having my students create a Prezi with information they learn in our upcoming unit on plants.

On a more philosophical level, I would like to transform my teaching from its current teacher centered model toward a learner-centered model. Fostering an environment where students  have an understanding how to learn and experience a joy of  learning is an imperative job for any teacher, no matter what age group they teach: primary, intermediate, adult or any other demographic. With that said, I will have to look into ways in which cooperative learning can be done with younger children, as I know it would look different than in a university course.

A longer-term goal for me is to encourage my school district or school to increases the student’s access to computers. Currently we have limited access to computers and extra time is simply not available because nobody wants to forgo their small amount of time. With increased access to computers I would like to be able to supplement my F2F classroom with Moodle or another LMS. I will probably not be able to achieve this goal until I have a permanent teaching position and successfully lobby for it.

 

Conclusion

Overall, my experience in ETEC 565A has been a superb jumping off point for my masters. I have really learned a great deal over the past three months and have many techniques to try out in my job.. I have grown as a learner and a teacher. I will continue to work on the goals I have set for myself throughout my masters although I  realize they will change and evolve over time. I anticipate that as I continue learn and work through the MET program goals will surface that I will strive to achieve.

Works  Cited

Bates, A.W. & Poole, G. (2003). Chapter 4: a Framework for Selecting and Using Technology. In Effective Teaching with Technology in Higher Education: Foundations for Success. (pp. 77-105). San Francisco: Jossey Bass Publishers.