Assignment 1: Flight Path
Mr. Danny Tulk
University of British Columbia
ETEC 565A
September 18, 16
About Me:
I must admit, discussing myself in this format is a little strange for me. I am more accustomed to doing this part of a class in the first week intro post. However, let’s give it a try and get going and delve into what feels to be a slightly narcissistic rant. I have what some would call a hectic life.
I have a wonderful family and my daughter Abigail has just begun her first year at School. This is a little odd to me to be on the other side of Meet the teacher table, and if I’m to be honest, I’m having a hard time not acting like an administrator and teacher when I am in her school.
As for my professional (I use that term loosely) side, I have been a teacher for 9 years, with 8 of those years at Westwoood Community High School in Fort McMurray, Alberta (you’ll forgive me if I don’t get into the recent fire, kind of done with that). During my time here I have held multiple roles as guitar/social studies teacher, First Nations liaison, guidance councilor, tech manager, and vice principal. My current role seems to encompass all of these. I am a part time VP and teach guitar and social studies in the afternoon. I still take care of the First Nations students and the school’s tech, social media, website, etc… This keeps me rather busy in a school with around 700 students.
I am also a professional musician and spend my weekends on the road to different venues to perform. I released my debut album out of Nashville a year ago this month and have just been nominated for a music arts award in the city.
Last but not least, in the times when most people sleep and eat, I find time to complete my MET classes. This is currently my 8th course and I am very much enjoying this program, this class (ETEC 565s) in particular is really peaking my interest and seems to be exactly what I was looking for in the MET program.
My Experience with Tech and why MET:
I have always been a techie person. I am an early adopter and enthusiastic about new devices and programs. This personal trait was something that followed me into my pedagogical profession and continues to be central in my practice. I have always been intrigued with what technology can bring to the classroom to enhance lessons and get students intrigued in learning. This is precisely why I picked the MET program when exploring what grad program to undertake. I contemplated a masters in leadership and curriculum, all of which would have been beneficial, but wanted to focus on a personal passion and ensure that I was developing skills and learning material that I would use, a not simply to add letters to my business cards.
Goals I would like to get from the MET program and ETEC 565A:
My teaching practice, as many of yours, has been witness to the rise of personal smart devices, social media, and affordable tech. At the onset of it’s emergence, I was intrigued and a proponent on how this new tech would change our schools, students, and lessons. Initially, I was excited to bring this tech in as the rosette stone of pedagogy that would enable all students to interact and understand. I did see some of this, but was also shown the negative side of tech. Students with smart devices (tablets, phones, laptops,etc…) weren’t more engaged, but adversely were becoming disconnected and distracted from the class and general school environment. I also noticed that the addition of tech to a lessons added considerable planning time for teachers, were subject to tech failures and malfunctions, and plagued by lack of tech and students access to tech. I guess this where we come to what I’d like to take from the MET program and ETEC 565A. As a broad goal, in the ETEC 565A and the greater MET program, I’d like to be able to find methods, tech and programs that allow me to evaluate and implement technology in the school in a way that highlights the benefits and enhances both my teachers practice and students learning experience, while also limiting the distracting and negative aspects that are emerging with tech.
In my readings and research for the different course I’ve taken during my MET progress I’ve come across multiple perspective on tech and how it should be used in the class, as well as different platforms that can be utilized to assist in our pedagogical pursuits. It seems that a common thread emerges, tech is beneficial for the class, but not without certain parameters. It must be used in a planned manner with direct and clear instruction as to not make it is not a distraction, it must be tried and testing to ensure that the tech will function properly when utilized, teachers need district support in the from of technical requirements and PD to ensure they are comfortable, and finally you need a school culture that assist in this.
It is my hope and plan to use this ETEC 565A and the experience of my classmates to explore new technologies and programs, such as social media and learning management system, that can be utilized in the school as well as working with the reading and their collective knowledge to determine best practices for implementing and evaluating that technology in a way that becomes effective for education, is assessable by the students and staff, does not create a burden for teachers or students.
I am aware that this is a broad undertaking so to break it down into manageable points. I would like to:
- Create or find a simple framework that can be applied to tech and social media to evaluate their effectiveness in the class.
- Develop, or find, best practices for using tech in the classroom and what steps need to be taken by a teacher or school to use it effectively.
- Gain two-three new tech tools (apps, software, hardware, etc…) that will enhance my own pedagogy and that of teachers in my school.
- Gain personal insight on how tech works for them and share how it works for me to translate pedagogical academia to functional practice.
- Finally, this ties into the first one, find a way to enhance the positive learning aspects of technology in the schools and limit the negative social and distractive elements.
I fully intend to spend considerable time reading your posts and ideas. During my MET experiences, I have found a wealth of knowledge, most of which has come from my interactions with classmates and how they have interpreted readings, media, and technology in the class. I look forward to gleaning a much as I can from both the course material and my cohort.
References:
Abe, P., & N. A., Jordan. (2013, March). Integrating Social Media Into the Classroom Curriculum. Retrieved September 11, 2016, from https://blogs.ubc.ca/georginamartin/files/2014/10/Integrating-Social-Media-Into-the-Classroom-Curriculum.pdf
Bates, A. (n.d.). Teaching in a Digital Age. Retrieved September 10, 2016, from https://opentextbc.ca/teachinginadigitalage/part/9-pedagogical-differences-between-media/
Bulloch, S. (2013) An Examination of the Hybrid Implementation of Customized Smartphone and Tablet Applications with Traditional Classroom Instruction. International Journal of Computer Applications. Volume 75 (2) – August 2013.
Frey, G. (2013) Research on In-Class Use of Laptops and Other Devices: Effects on Students’ Learning and Attention. The Teaching Centre Journal. April 23, 2013.