Wanda’s ETEC 565- Learning Technologies Blog

Step 1. Assess yourself according to the competencies listed in the NETS 2008 document

When I first read the NETS 2008 my immediate response was, ahhhh, do I do any of this?  So then I analyzed it a little more closely, and I found that yes, I do have some competencies (my administrators will be happy to know), but there is also a nice roomy space for improvement.

In your own teaching, in what ways do you:

facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity;

• Must connect before taking off, relationship building is key – orientations at the beginning of the school year, approx. 6 face to face optional get togethers during the year
• Relationships, encouragement, being approachable (friendly, not too formal, welcome questions, make sure to really listen to questions)
• Allow flexibility – same outcome different paths.  Some students will ask about and then complete a different product to show their learning – alternative assignments
• I could improve here by providing more opportunities for student collaboration – most times our students work on their own (this still needs to be an option, but not the only option)
• I also need to increase the number of authentic assignments, instead of the cookie-cutter assignments – this is happening, but can feel overwhelming when you have 13 courses…. Have to set goals – one section of a course at a time….

design and develop digital-age learning experiences and assessments;

• Online labs, demonstrations, applets
• Assessments for learning – self checks – can make these in Moodle and they are self-marking quizzes with as much feedback as you add (can send students to different areas depending on which questions they do not get)
• Overall, I feel that I do not do enough here – (hit the birds in the flight path)  and this is a place where I could do so much more since our students have access to computers and Internet (high speed and dial-up) all day.

model digital-age work and learning;

• A bit of turbulence here….  could do more
• Provide student examples from previous years (or from students who are further ahead in the same year)
• Embed examples from TeacherTube (or YouTube) about related math processes

promote and model digital citizenship and responsibility;

• We model netiquette (e-mail with subject lines, can express frustration but must still remain polite –important to remember that non-verbal cues are missing, so must re-read messages before sending them to reduce potential misunderstandings)
• Referencing online sources – interesting how text information referencing is enforced, however I find that I do not do a good job with requiring references for images – I am guilty of this myself – I will find a great picture or animation related to our course information and add it in…..
• I could do more with the digital global citizenship, for example, connecting with a class in another country and looking at the same issue in Science, maybe an environmental issue, or a societal issue (genetic cloning)…. This would be very interesting, however not exactly sure how to set it up – our students work at their own pace, so it would need to have asynchronous flexibility

engage in professional growth and leadership

• Full Speed ahead
• Conferences – Distributed Learning Conference – our staff provided a panel discussion session about our district’s project that has online teachers providing support / resources for classroom teachers
• MoodleMoot – provided 3 sessions (a basic “how to” in Moodle, information about Teacher Collaboration and how our division is using our Teacher Collaboration Moodle site. And a fun/short session on Moodle communication ideas – Discussion forums, VoiceThreads, GoAnimate
• District in-services regarding the Elluminate program
• Continue to learn from staff members, students and conference presenters\participants

Step 2. – How can ETEC 565 help you to become a digital-age teaching professional?  What are the key skills and approaches that you feel you need to develop to meet your goals?

In 565, I would like to reflect on my goals – what am I trying to do with these new learning technologies?  Why and I going to examine certain technologies over others?  Then, once those questions have been answered (or at least examined), then focus on a few new learning technologies (maximum 3) and really explore them in depth.  Explore their affordances and limitations; hear how other people would use them, or if they have used them, what were their experiences with these applications.  I find time is the largest obstacle.  There are interesting technologies and ideas out there, but then the time to really do a good job integrating the technology, pedagogy, and curriculum within our own specific context usually seems to get rushed.

My Goals:

1. Examine why I would like to include additional learning technologies

• Student engagement, motivation
• Allow flexibility in terms of time, location, learning style, interest

2. Examine how to choose one application over another

• Our division already has our LMS chosen (Moodle), so here I am referring more to the additional applications that can be included in Moodle (although additional Moodle experience is always welcomed)

3. Choose a few learning technologies and dive in…..

Thanks for reading!