Flight Path Précis
At the beginning of the school term, I stated in my flight path that I think teaching and learning can be more efficient with the aid of technology and this motivated me to get into the MET. After being exposed to the discourse around educational technology and working with many passionate educators in the course, I learned that as a high school teacher, it is necessary for me to learn these tools. Technology is changing the world at a frightening pace, and digital literacy is becoming an essential skill in the world. With all the new authoring and social media tools that are readily available, we can express ourselves and communicate though different media like text, visuals, and/or audio. These tools are so convenient and accessible that I think people not able to use them are “silenced” in a way! I am glad to be in the MET because this program helps me to be competent in keeping my teachings relevant to my students and preparing them to be successful in the world they will be living in.
At first, I was daunted by the amount of authoring tools available for free on the internet. The good thing is that I also realized how easy it could be to learn these tools with the online help and apply them for my purpose right away! I had to admit that there were times when I was much overwhelmed by the assignments I had to complete for this course, and there is still much to learn. However, after being exposed to all these tools, I felt that I could learn new technology and leverage it to my advantage as long I put in the time and collaborate with people around me. This is a feeling I want to empower students with.
Looking Back: My ETEC565 Experience
I felt that the structure of ETEC565 including the readings and assignments, along with the eLearning toolkits gave me the flexibility to focus on topics that would benefit my learning the best.
The Moodle course site was the biggest project in ETEC 565. As I mentioned in the Flight Path, my experience with Moodle started last year. I have always found Moodle helpful in organizing and improving course material. In this course we have learnt to evaluate educational technology tools with Bates and Poole’s SECTIONS framework and I have begun to appreciate Moodle even more. Moodle is free, easy to use, and allows embedding of applications like Wiki and Hotpotatoe quizzes. As a teacher, I try my best to customize my teaching to the students, and Moodle helps me achieve this goal by accomplishing the following IMPACT(s):
I: get Instant feedback
M: learn from and express what they learned with Multimedia to suit different learning styles
P: allowing learners to learn at the own Pace
A: Assessment for, as, and of learning
C: Collaborate with other learners
T: Tailor learning experience!!!
ETEC565 and the MET program offered the valuable opportunity for me to engage in conversations about educational technology with other educators. I believe it is important to keep participating in these conversations, keep reflecting on the purpose and effectiveness of different tools, and be inspired by other educators even after I complete this program (which will be some time away from now).
After gaining exposure to the many new educational technologies through the readings and assignments in ETEC565, I have gained significant experience in applying them and am now better equipped to evaluate potential technologies.
Tools in the Toolbox
The e-Learning toolkit is a very valuable learning tool provided by ETEC565a. I found the summary and tips on each of the tools we used extremely helpful. Hands-on activities such as creating digital stories and blogging helped me think critically about how I might integrate them into my lessons. Reflection on my experience in using these tools is documented on this blog. I feel that working through the e-Learning toolkit has definitely added tools to my pedagogy toolbox.
Where to go from here?
This course is coming to an end, but it only marks the beginning of my exploration in the field of educational technology. I will keep reflecting on the purpose of integrating technology in my teaching and not be distracted by its whiz and bangs.
The Science 10 Preview course site that I built for ETEC 565 serves as a primer for me to explore affordances of Moodle in delivering online courses. Now that I have an understanding of the workflow involved in creating the learning module, I know how much time I am away from achieving my goal of building a complete course site. When working with science 10 students, I will think about what their needs are and what technology has to offer to make learning more accessible for them. The Moodle files I have created for this course can be transported to the server of my school board, and I will keep building my site there. I am happy to know that there is a Moodle workshop hosted by a fellow teaching at my school board every month and I hope to be able to contribute more to the upcoming workshops!
All in all, this course has given me a foundation to further my knowledge regarding the use of multimedia, both when teaching online and face-to-face. I am now not afraid to tap into the free resources that are available online such as tools to tell stories and edit videos. This blog will be a channel for me to reflect on the effectiveness of using technology in my teachings and communicate with fellow teachers!