Module 1 Questionnaire
1. What policies govern your uses of ICT in your school setting?
Our District has guidelines for technology use for students, teachers, support staff, admin. For example, our District Code of Conduct states that all members of the community will not bully, threaten, harass, intimidate, etc. any person in the community through electronic media.
I know our internet searching has limitations at school (blocked sites) and there are rules verbalized to students about appropriate on-line etiquette.
2. What digital technological resources do you have available for teaching and learning in your school setting?
I have a Mac (desktop), InFocus projector and document reader in my classroom. I have access to a computer lab with 30 Mac computers. Also, our school has several I-pads, I-touchs, and various video and photography equipment.
3. Please provide an example of an exemplary use of digital technologies for teaching and learning that you have observed or experienced personally.
My colleague recently assigned a “project” with very few criteria for the product. Essentially, students were expected to show their knowledge of the French grammar they had recently studied in class in their own, chosen way using technology. At the beginning students were a bit perplexed but soon the enthusiasm grew. And grew. Somehow grammar had become exciting. Eventually, once a plan was devised, students were on their way to showing what they knew. Some chose to make a video, some a powerpoint, some using stop-motion animation…various formats emerged.
Why was this an exemplary use of digital technologies?
When the students of my colleague’s grade 5 class presented their work to the whole school at an assembly I noticed a few things: the learning demonstrated by the students (yes, the grammar was there!), the engagement of the audience, the pride in the presenters showing their creativity and knowledge and an overall appreciation from everyone. In a way, the grammar had made it off the page and into life!
4. Please provide an example of a problematic use of digital technologies for teaching and learning that you have observed or experienced personally.
I struggle with limited instruction and experience with the tools available to me. For example, I have been given a projector and document reader for my class. These tools are useful but not always straightforward to use. (“Dongle!?”) It takes time for me to learn their uses and like any of the technological tools available to me, I have to teach myself how to use them. I can ask for advice but other teachers don’t always have the time to show me all the details. So I fiddle, read manuals, on-line tutorials but when you’re starting from scratch it can be a lot of time. (I’m sure I’ll learn some new skills in this class.)
5. Please provide a brief history of how you learned to use digital technologies (personally and professionally).
As I mentioned, in most cases, I have taught myself. I have had some assistance from colleagues and peers but mostly, I just experiment until I figure it out.
6. How would you rate your digital technological proficiency? 0 = low level of proficiency -> 10 = high level of proficiency? Why did you give yourself this rating?
5
I can get by and sometimes I find myself teaching my peers new things so it can’t be that bad. I definitely believe that I have to “catch up” with recent advances though and start using technologies in more creative ways, both personally and professionally.
7. What do you hope to accomplish in this course?
I hope that I will be exposed to ICT in a way that makes me feel comfortable with the future of education…I know using more technology is an important goal for my District. Overall, some new skills, some new knowledge would be good 🙂
Is your district helpful/ effective? What do you think the district could do to help support their goals around technology?
Our district helps pay for our new equipment (costs covered 50% by our school and 50% by our board), however, training? I haven’t heard much though it may exist and I haven’t accessed it yet. (With exception of some tech Pro-D on District days, though this is limited too.)
Similar to working with kids with Special Needs…if we don’t have some training in this area we may not be developing the best programs for these students. If my district is helping supply the tools we need to access technology, shouldn’t teachers have some instruction on how to use it in our classrooms? Other than teaching ourselves, some workshops, mentoring, experts in the school would be really helpful. Thanks for asking 🙂
Thanks for sharing, Jorden! It sounds like the focus at the district level has been on management rather than pedagogy. It also sounds like you have some resources at hand but need some support to figure out how they can contribute to students learning. The French grammar lesson sounds amazing. I like how you identified the perplexing beginnings to creative work. I don’t think that ever changes! Having the ability to self teach is a valuable asset! It might be a good idea to identify an ICT curriculum or ICT pedagogy that you would like to try when you get back to school. You could use next week’s inquiry and the final project to develop an instructional design to try implementing in the new school year. You could draw on your new network of online support to help negotiate the inevitable bumps in the road.