The name of this assignment is quite relevant to me as I sit waiting for my return flight back from a vacation in Hawaii for the past two weeks. Yesterday we were greeted in the morning to an alarm sounding and a text message that read:
BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL.
With no real clue what to expect or do, I huddled with my wife and two year old son in a bathtub awaiting some impending explosion. Fortunately it was reported about 30 minutes later that it was a false alarm; that a button had been pressed accidentally by a worker at the end of shift. Needless to say, it was a moment in time that really makes you realize what is important in life. I never imagined a time where my family and I would be in any real threat or danger of war.
By mid afternoon everything was back to normal and people were enjoying the beaches and pools again, seemingly forgetting about the events of that same morning. It is a testament to the resilience of the human race. And now as I write this, I’m left pondering the changing world around us, and how this course fits into all of that. And what I’ve concluded is that it is those acts of normalcy that help get people through the most trying times. I’m glad to have something like this assignment to work on today to get my mind off of the what ifs and the can you imagines.
My goals for this course are to understand the range of Learning Management Systems that are present online and determine which specific ones would be relevant to my classroom teaching and my photography as I’ve been interested in designing and developing an online photography class. I’m also interested in learning more about how others use assessment online and the types of software that have benefited their students in terms of feedback and reinforcement. As Chickering and Ehrmann describe in their Seven Principles the ability to give prompt feedback is an area that I have seen benefit students and I would like to hone that skill more in my own practice.
One of my favourite aspects when working in any MET course has been the group activities and assignments. I really enjoy the opportunity to connect in a deeper way with the other students online whether it’s through face to face conversations on Google Hangouts or just more direct messages, it feels like you’re working towards a common goal. I hadn’t really thought of the theory behind why we work together in groups in the MET course, but after reading the Chickering and Ehrmann article it made it more clear for me. Good practice develops reciprocity and cooperation amongst students. I don’t feel like I am competing with others but that we are taking on the course together in a sense. I often get a lot more out of the course and the assignments that are generated are often of higher quality and relevant much longer after the conclusion of the course. Looking further into the modules it looks like we will have plenty of opportunities to connect with smaller groups.
Overall, with this course, as with all of the other MET courses I have taken, I am looking to pull practical ideas from the readings and discover new apps and software that others are using in their own classrooms and educational settings. I hope to stay relevant and on top of the trends in technology so that I can provide fresh and unique opportunities to my students and to other staff members that I interact with. The goal of my learning is to share it with others and spread the excitement of what technology is doing to change education in a positive way.
Chickering, A. W., & Ehrmann, S. C. (1996). Implementing the seven principles: Technology as lever. AAHE bulletin, 49, 3-6.