Developing my own ICT skills and networks has been a goal of mine that was just set in motion this September. It began when in a couple main ways. First I was hassled a bit by my family members, for being “technologically inept.” Initially this did not bother me, until I felt I was missing out on certain opportunities and luxuries such as Apple T.V., iPhone possibilities, and the list goes on. Secondly, I felt the shift in education, towards technology, and I realised with a sinking worry that it was vital for my teaching practice to adapt. With these feelings as a backdrop for creating my own support system and developing my skills, I have simply jumped right into every tech related opportunity that presents itself.
Opportunities at school I have involved myself in include an upcoming coding group, where we will be teaching ourselves to code, alongside the students. I have not the slightest clue about where to start with coding, but one teacher managed to teach his 4 year old daughter how to code, so I am pretty sure I will be able to develop somewhat of a skill set. move the turtle and hopscotch are apps that teach kids (and adults) how to code, in an interactive and fun way. If you want more information about the benefits of coding just click the linked word for a (U.S.) site that promotes the benefits of learning computer sciences.
Secondly, I have joined the Fresh Grade group, where we are experimenting with Fresh Grade in our classrooms, and hoping to implement this program as a main source of assessment next term. We meet every Friday and troubleshoot, share experiences and grievances, and just explore the program. If you aren’t familiar with Fresh Grade, you can use this program through an App on your iPad/iPhone, or you can access it through the website: https://www.freshgrade.com
Thirdly, I have been learning from the 1.0 T.L. at my school, who as I have mentioned, is a wealth of information when it comes to ICT. She inspires me because she too decided to take this jump into technology on her own accord, and has successfully and whole-heartedly embraced it.
A goal of mine is to understand and use Twitter in education; so far I have discovered hashtags to begin exploring librarian tweets within the province and district. Here are a few from the Surrey School district. Perhaps you have some recommendations for me?
To summarize, I am opening doors I used to shy away from, in fear of not knowing how, or not wanting to rely on technology, when I have had difficulties in the past. Encouragement for me comes in the form of the students I teach, who explore the unknown and conquer challenges everyday. I just realised that why should I expect them to take chances, and not expect myself to do the same! This course has challenged me to improve my technology skills, and through the process I am really enjoying it. I think the enjoyment I am experiencing will encourage me to continue developing my skills when the course is over.
REFERENCES
Move the Turtle. https://www.movetheturtle.com: 2015. Web. 10 Oct. 2015.
Hopscotch. https://www.gethopscotch.com. Web. 13 Oct. 2015.
Code. https://code.org: Code.org, 2015. Web. 16 Oct. 2015.
Fresh Grade. https://www.freshgrade.com: Web. 16 Oct. 2015.
Watson, Jessica. Grandma Holding iPad. https://www.sheknows.com: 2013. Web. 16 Oct. 2015.
Really good to read about your passion for exploring new technology and jumping in head first! You have collected a few examples of good reasons and others in your school who are role-modeling their own explorations and evolutions. Some more discussion and evaluation of the importance of developing a ‘network’ of help, using social media would be a great way to keep moving forward, using #hashtags like you mentioned, and other tools/resources to connect with professionals beyond your school and district. Overall, a good post!
It’s interesting going through all the Bears’ blog posts and seeing our similar thoughts on Twitter/not knowing how to use it! Haha. I appreciate you listing those hashtags to check out. Armee had a great list of accounts to follow as well. I started following @edsurge today after reading an article on their site and I saw that they seem to regularly do “Twitter chats” on a specific day, time, and topic. This seems like a cool way to connect with a new PLCommunity. On the 20th, they’re chatting about blended learning which is a huge buzz word in my online school community but might be that interesting to yourself. But I bet there will be more Twitter chats. I’m going to check it out and try to figure out this Twitter thing. 😉
As for FreshGrade – I just checked it out this summer as I was trying to figure out a new way for my students to keep an online portfolio though I ended up not using it for this year, HOWEVER, a lot of my homeschoolers take a face-to-face class once per week and THAT teacher uses FreshGrade which is so awesome because not only can parents log in to see what their child was working on but I can too! Seems very user friendly.
I’m impressed with your two-foot jump into coding! So cool. You’ll have to keep us updated as I have had a number of students take coding classes and I totally do not understand what they’re showing me when they demonstrate what they’ve learned! 🙂
Great post! Thanks, Bronaugh.
I am also impressed with your jump into coding! Like Makerspaces, I feel very inexperienced with it. I am hoping to attend a session on coding at the BCTLA conference on Friday to get my feet wet. It is certainly scary to experiment with technology we haven’t used before but I think you’re right- taking that chance alongside our students not only gets us into it but also really promotes that collaborative spirit that we so want to have in our learning commons.
Thank you for the suggested apps to learn about coding. I definitely do need that! I know nothing about coding, and now at least I have a place to start. I really enjoy reading our Bears group blog post, I learn new ideas, apps or ICT tools from every post. I would like to try FreshGrade this year as well. However, as a music teacher, I have to wait for the classroom teachers to add me as a “collaborator” to his/her class in order for me to have the access to the class list or particular student’s profiles. I believe that TL would be in the same situation as well.
I, too, am very intrigued by coding. I once played around a little with copying and pasting code in an early website builder years ago, but very minimally—that website effort died out as my old Library job cut (sniffle).
Several CBC Radio shows I’ve heard over the last few years really got me intrigued about coding.
I used to play around with MARC record fields in cataloging, which is a related form of coding.
It’s the kind of stuff you can really geek out on in the best possible way.
Seems kind of fun…like Lego building somehow.
Maybe I should take a workshop, too…
You’re off to a great start! Tackling coding is a big step, good for you! I’ve been so intimidated with coding so maybe you could keep sharing your thoughts on your journey and the process as you go along. I know the iPad app scratch and scratch Jr are pretty decent I hear from some of our colleagues, maybe check that one out? When it comes to hashtags, I didn’t know much either and I thought it was a teen-dominated thing. I quickly realized that you can basically make a hashtag for any thought you’ve ever had! When it comes to our professional development, your list is a great start. I try to keep it simple. I like books so I use anything with the word reading, books, lovetoread, and so forth. Clearly, I feel the same as you and I am very much a newbie to twitter as well! Keep playing with it, hopefully you’ll connect with lots of other people! You’re doing great!