As ETEC 500 – Module 1 begins to close, I find myself thinking ahead to my master’s project and have posted an update to my research journal. I also appreciate how this course has been organized to help the process along. There seems to be a lot to do but each task leads me further to the development of a good research proposal. I have opened a page to post some of my responses to the modules in ETEC 500.
I started my Research Journal today as suggested in the course outline for ETEC 500. I’ll start with my original post on the topic of Research Questions. I am also going to try developing a chain of images or links to document the course of my project. I would like to show the changes that occur in my planning, goal setting, and reflection by posting each “finished” draft of my project proposal.
Posted Date: Wednesday, January 9, 2013 8:34:02 PM PST
Subject: mPortfolios Research Questions
I am interested in conducting research on the topic of: Mobile Electronic Portfolios (mPortfolios) for Primary Students. Thanks Emma, for opening a thread on the topic of electronic portfolios and for providing a good description of them.
Specifically, I am interested in knowing more about how the process and product of mPortfolios impacts the ability of young children to set learning goals and to reflect on their performance. I am also interested in the relationship between mPortfolio use and student performance. And finally, I would like to investigate factors that may positively and negatively impact the use of mPortfolios as an alternate to traditional written report cards.
Lots of interests…so I’ll attempt to focus…
1. What attitudes and beliefs do educational stakeholders have about replacing traditional written report cards with mPortfolios?
I am poised to begin using mPortfolios with my students. I have sent samples home to parents for their feedback and will make a presentation to the school board sometime this term. I thought a survey of attitudes and beliefs of students, parents, teachers, and administrators might identify issues I need to address.
2. What is the relationship between the attitude and beliefs teachers hold about mPortfolios and their willingness to use them with students?
When I started my research on mPortfolios I thought mostly about the product. The more I learned about the powerful processes involved in developing them, the more willing I became to use them with my students. How are this understanding and willingness correlated?
3. What impact does viewing a movie of themselves reading have on students’ ability to reflect on their performance and to set goals for improvement. What relationship exists between this process and students’ performance in reading.
I think is the most interesting topic. It was my work with students that encouraged me to push the boundaries of assessment. I am continually impressed by the ability of young children to think and to take control of their learning. I’d like to know, however, if I am just seeing what I want to see. I thought that narrowing the academic focus to reading and the mPortfolio focus to watching a movie of themselves reading would facilitate my research. I also thought that using a recognized reading assessment that incorporates reflection, like Fountas and Pinnell’s reading assessment, would collect more objective, reliable, and valid data on reflection and reading performance.
Pretty wordy, but I really benefited from reading through the previous postings and the responses they generated. Thanks to everyone who jumped in early and got the discussions going.
I started my second class in the MET Program on January 2, 2013. I am really looking forward to ETEC 500 – Research Methodology in Education and its final outcome of producing a proposal for my master’s project. I will continue on the theme of mPortfolios and anticipate a real challenge in defining a workable, valuable, and applicable project.
The process of building the habit of reflection continues in my Kindergarten classroom. My student do enjoy the show n’ tell aspect of sharing their quality projects and our new Quality Centre is very popular. Every day, I meet with three or four students to discuss their Quality Time presentations. We talk about what they have done and how it can be improved. Once revised, it is presented to the class which prompts another round of discussion with peers.
I now realize how much practice I need to ask good questions – questions that promote reflection and encourage my students. On the flip side, as I ask more of my students they ask more of me. Sometimes they ask about the decisions I make and encourage me to try new things. Reflecting on pedagogy is always good – I just didn’t think the challenge would come from five year-olds!
I have finished ETEC 511 – The Foundations of Educational Technology and will submit my term paper in a few minutes.
Mobile ePortfolios: A Tool for Reflection, Personal Growth, and Renewal
What a course of first this has been:
I really must acknowledge the great group of people I have worked with in this course: lots of great discussion, the support I needed, and just enough laughs and learning to keep things moving along. Thank you for helping me develop a plan for my project. I have so much work to do to fully understand and implement mPortfolios in my classroom, but I can already see the improvements in my teaching. Looking forward to ETEC 500 – Research Methodology in Education in January. I am in Section 65C and hope I can work with some of these fine folks again.
I also want to thank Lucy …most supportive partner…cheerleader…insightful critic…and loving wife!
We held our in-service on Mathletics in my classroom on November 23, 2012. About 10 teachers attended a very informative session led by Debbie Nordstrom. I was pleased that we could work out how to have her live from Calgary. Beam My Screen and a Skype connection helped – thanks to my principal and school tech. Lot’s of positive talk about the possibilities of Mathletics for our school. Most of the interest was around student motivation, program differentiation, and program management for teachers. We hope to set up a pilot in January to run for a month before we consider committing to the program. Lots of talk about teaching and learning….a pretty successful professional development activity!
I will be presenting “Exploring Technology for Primary Teachers”
Presented by Greater Victoria, Sooke and Saanich Teachers’ Associations
Tapestry is a Tri-District Professional Development Conference organized by Greater Victoria, Sooke and Saanich Teachers’ Associations. The committee endeavors to offer a variety of workshops that are relevant to educators of grade K-12.
Date: Friday, February 15, 2013
Location: Esquimalt Secondary School 847 Colville Road Victoria, BC V9A 4N9
Conference Schedule
8:00 Registration & Continental Breakfast
9:00 – 9:45 Keynote: Dr. Martin Brokenleg
10:00 – 11:45 Morning Session
11:45 – 12:45 Lunch
12:45 – 2:30 Afternoon Session
On November 23rd, I am hosting a session on Mathletics for my school. I plan to invite teachers, educational assistants, and parents. Click on the icon to see the brochure.
You can check out the company’s website at: http://www.mathletics.ca/
On November 5, I participated in a chat for our Discourse Leadership Group on the Psychology and Phenomenology of Educational Technology. Lot’s of humourous discussion – much of it “not” on topic. There was, however, a real need for people to connect, to share, to learn, and to enjoy themselves. We have committed to meeting again next Monday. Perhaps we didn’t discuss the topic but our behaviour and conversation sure did exemplify it.
As part of a ETEC 511, we were asked to create avatars. This became a family project and we had a great time! We made:
Don, Lucy, and Chip
I have updated the header for my blog to choose random photographs. All of the photos are mine. You can see the unedited version of each photo by following the links on the Photographs page. Enjoy!
