Final e-portfolio synthesis
My flight path throughout ETEC565, was more like a roller coaster ride; at times I would be on top of the world, and others I’d find myself right back down. Technology is like that, at times easy to use, and others it is laborious and an uphill battle. Often, I found it was not so much a matter of difficulty, but rather one of lack of time to process and comprehend the logic behind the various tools. Sporadically, technology also played up on me when I most needed it.
The biggest hill in my roller coaster ride was when I first started and realized, as Socrates would say, that I knew nothing. I felt like a kid with a new toy, only there were lots of toys and where was I to begin?. On many occasions in the forums I felt people were literally speaking another language. Then I remembered what I always advocate in my classes, and what I wrote about in my first ‘Flight Path’ text: the importance of approaching learning using an experiential and active learning process; John had warned it would be all about playing in the sand box, so I decided to jump in, play and have fun.
My experience while playing in the sandbox of technology, made me realize why it is that kids are so good at catching on how technology works; they approach their experience in a playful manner, free of worries or of making a fool of themselves. Kids and teenagers see things as they are, and therefore sometimes see things us adults miss, because we cannot believe it is that simple. When it is really not simple we can’t seem to think out of the box, our brain plasticity has gone stone hard for lack of use. Lack of use! I hear you say in shock. Yes, at least lack of use that challenges different areas of the brain, and that forces us to reorganize and adapt our connections. Technology provides a multisensory experience of the kind many adults have long left behind. Kids’ inquisitive and adaptable nature, help them find solutions to the problems; adults find problems to the solutions. Once aware of this, I took a new approach and became determined to find solutions; I learned to look at technology from different angles. I actually started to play and even got carried away. I did not accept ‘I can’t do this’, but rather, ‘I must find a way’. There’s got to be a way’. Like the “Castle in the Air”, I just needed to find another door.
Where do I go from here? My thirst for knowledge supersedes my time, and given the rapid growth of, and ever changing nature of technology, I have to plan and adapt. I have to play in the sandbox regardless of whether I am in a course or if I have the need to use a particular tool. Hence, I intend to set a certain period of time a month aside for the process of playing and discovering what else there is out there. In short, to say this course has been rewarding is an understatement. My brain plasticity, or lack of it, had not been challenged like this in a long time. If this is the high the ‘net generation’ get, no wonder they are hooked.
Thank you to everyone involved in this course for a great experience; tutors, fellow students and everyone behind the front lines. Thank you for shaking the spider webs my 48 year old brain had accumulated. Cheers!
SECTIONS Analysis of my e portfolio components
I will use a Likert scale of 4 options in order to force myself to truly assess my work. I will place the grade I give it as a teacher user in (…) when applicable.
1 strongly disagree; 2 disagree; 3 agree; 4 strongly agree, and N/A
S “Students: what is known about the students – or potential students – and the appropriateness of the technology for this particular group or range of students?
E Ease of use and reliability: how easy is it for both teachers and students to use? How reliable and well tested is the technology?
C Costs: what is the cost structure of each technology? What is the unit cost per learner?
T Teaching and learning: what kinds of learning are needed? What instructional approaches will best meet these needs? What are the best technologies for supporting this teaching and learning?
I Interactivity: what kind of interaction does this technology enable?
O Organizational issues: what are the organizational requirements and the barriers to be removed before this technology can be used successfully? What changes in organization need to be made?
N Novelty: how new is this technology?
S Speed: how quickly can courses be mounted with this technology? How quickly can materials be changed?”
(A.W. Bates and G. Poole, 2003: 79 – 80)
References
Bates, A.W., and Poole, G. (2003). Effective teaching with technology in higher education: Foundations for success. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers. 79 – 80.
Brown, J.D. (2001) Using Surveys in Language Programs. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Garrison, D. R., Anderson, T., & Archer, W. (2000). “Critical inquiry in a text-based environment: Computer conferencing in higher education”. The Internet and Higher Education, 2(2-3), 87-105.
Hoirand, E (n.d) Brain Plasticity. What is it?. John F. Kennedy Center for Research on Human Development at http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/plast.html . Retrieved 09/09/2006.
(“Castles in the Air”, © Fernando del Paso)