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Final ePortfolio Synthesis Reflection- Putting the Pieces Together
At the outset of ETEC565A, I was more than halfway through the MET program. Therefore, I felt that I was aware of many forms of digital media and ways to incorporate technology in my classroom to enhance the learning experience for my students. However, I was also aware that learning technologies are constantly changing and that selecting the right one for my teaching environment, a primary classroom, would take careful consideration. I wanted to gain practical experience using learning platforms to support student learning. A blended learning environment was what I envisioned. However, I was also wary of Learning Management Systems (LMS). I had personal experience using them in the MET program. Because I had done a cursory exploration of LMS sites such as Moodle and Edmodo, I was doubtful about their practical application within a grade 1 classroom. My goal was to incorporate technology into my teaching to support student learning. I feel that technology presents a wonderful opportunity for students to share and present their learning. For example, I can see the pride in students’ faces when they show their parents their work displayed on bulletin boards. I believe that technology presents a promising avenue for students to share their learning with a wider audience. More importantly, children can share their learning at home with their parents on a regular basis. Parents that cannot pick up their children at school can still take an active role in their child’s learning. Moreover, technology can also preserve those artifacts to be revisited later. Parents or peers can comment on student work, which students can revisit and reread at a later date. Although group discussions in a face- to- face environment often fade from memory, discussions can be revisited and added to in an asynchronous environment. This provides all students with the opportunity to process information and to contribute to discussions.
In my initial flight path posting, one goal was to adapt social software or multimedia in order to create a three- way discourse between students, parents and the educator. I think that my experience with Moodle has presented me with many methods of including students in the discourse of their learning. Through student discussion forums and at- home activities, students can communicate about their learning. Furthermore, if parents are aware of what students are investigating at school, they can extend that learning into their real life experiences so that school and home have a cohesive approach.
The challenge was using the LMS Moodle to accomplish these goals with a grade 1 class. Initially, I had to wrestle with the decision whether to simply create a course for an older age group rather than applying it to my primary classroom. It would be easier to create a course site for older students because I could rely more heavily on text- based resources to convey instructions, directions and some of the content. However, I decided to really explore how Moodle could be used effectively in a grade 1 classroom. The first challenge was familiarizing myself with Moodle and its features.
The elearning toolkit was a good beginning point for exploring some of the applications we were exploring in ETEC 565A. However, these resources were limited in scope and did not necessarily provide enough information when one attempted to use the applications. Instead, I found myself using YouTube extensively. I would sift through one video and find that it did not work or was discussing an older version of the software. I became aware of the need to Google and quickly peruse a document to determine whether to put it aside or whether it held useful tips. This experience highlighted how my own students might begin to use the Internet to engage in project based or student- centred learning. Rather than giving them the information outright, students will begin to critically assess resources and determine their value or validity. As well, rather than telling students how to do something, students can begin to explore and discover how to accomplish something on their own. This revealed to me that as a teacher, one of the most important things I can do is to instill critical thinking skills and foundational skills such as reading and writing. In subjects such as science or social studies, encouraging students to be curious and to investigate avenues of information to answer their own questions may be the new direction for teaching and learning.
Overall, I have learned a lot about myself, as well as optimal conditions within which I learn. I have learned that the resources that are available may not always be enough. Rather, trial and error are often the way that I learn best. At times, the frustration can be intense, but the reward of discovering the solution is equally intense. According to Bleakley and Mangin (2013), educators that engage in personal experiences with technology come to value its role in the educational setting because they have learned through situated practice. Hands on experiences allows educators to gain an in depth understanding of new methods of content delivery through questioning and experimentation. This in turn develops teacher confidence with technology. The experiences within ETEC565A have provided me with these situated learning experiences and I certainly gained a better understanding of Moodle and its affordances through trial and error. Also through this course, I also became aware of the importance of documenting the sources for images. Teachers, particularly in the primary grades, don’t begin to discuss these issues of plagiarism or copyright. However, it is important to ensure that I follow and model these rules for image use.
What I have learned throughout this journey is that technology is not always easy. Often, teachers are reluctant to incorporate technology because of the time constraints of exploring new media. (Janson & Janson, 2009). No workshop or Pro-D day will be an adequate substitute for experiential learning when it comes to teaching with technology. Reading the e-learning toolkit or watching the YouTube videos could be replace the knowledge I gained by creating lessons, videos, or quizzes using a LMS. Determining how and why I was incorporating certain elements was really valuable. I think the overwhelming learning curve associated with technology is the main reason many teachers balk at incorporating technology in a blended classroom environment. In the future, I believe that helping reluctant colleagues or collaborating with fellow teachers will enable me to continue to discover emerging technologies that may be useful in the primary classroom. I will continue to use Bates and Poole’s (2003) SECTIONS framework for selecting technology to consciously consider the choices I am making when I chose certain technologies for inclusion in the classroom. Likewise, I hope to create a cohesive Moodle site for launch with my new class in the fall. I think that utilizing the site with a group of parents and students will be another layer of professional learning. The feedback from parents will guide any modifications I make to the site. Although we explored social media such as Twitter, I don’t believe that these will be appropriate for Grade Ones. Similarly, I would limit the lines of communication between parents and myself to Moodle forums, emails or face- to- face conversations. However, I believe the multimedia possibilities presented through iMovie are very promising. In particular, my digital story project helped me understand how I might approach a movie- making project with young children.
Just as I learned through hands on learning and the authentic task of creating a usable Moodle site or creating a digital story that I could use with a class, I believe that students can engage in learning with technology in the similar ways. In fact, Ertmer and Ottenbreirt- Leftwich’s (2013) review of recent literature echoes this idea. More specifically, they note that teachers need to embrace student centred learning in a bid to empower students to learn through the use of technology. They also found that students should learn through the completion of authentic tasks. Thus, I think that creating movies and multi-media presentations or using a LMS to complete tasks provides a meaningful way for students to begin to use technology for learning tasks. Rather than simply learning about technology, students will begin to learn using technology to complete these authentic tasks.
In the end, this course provided me with practical frameworks for selecting technology for my classroom. Although there are a plethora of technologies available, not all are suitable for the Grade One age group. I also found the various projects very relevant. Rather than simply reading about or discussing affordances of various technologies, we were able to delve in and really explore the features available in Moodle and iMovie. The digital storytelling project provided me with a practical opportunity to explore video applications such as Vimeo, YouTube, Animoto, Storybird, Tikatok, just to name a few. I became aware of the necessity to keep the learning objectives in the forefront so that whatever platform or technology I choose, supporting student learning remains the primary goal of integrating technology. As I continue on my journey of exploring how to integrate technology into classroom learning, I am aware that there is no true finish line or end destination. As technology continues to evolve, so too will my classroom practice.
References
Bates, A.W., & Poole, G. (2003). A framework for selecting and using technology. In A.W. Bate & G. Poole, Effective teaching with technology in higher education (pp. 75-108). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Bleakley, D. & Mangin, M. (2013). Easier said than done: Leading technology integration. Journal of Cases in Educational Leadership. 14-26.
Ertmer, P.A. & Ottenbreit- Leftwich, A.T. (2013). Removing obstacles to the pedagogical changes required by Jonassen’s vision of authentic technology- enabled learning. Computers and Education, 64, 175-182.
Janson, A. & Janson, R. (2009). Integrating digital learning objects in the classroom: A need for educational leadership. Innovate: Journal of Online Education, 5 (3). Retrieved from http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.186.6228&rep=rep1&type=pdf