Hello all, my name is Johannes Wielenga and I am in my 5th and 6th MET courses this semester. I have taught for the past 6 years in Secondary education; I teach Social Studies and English Language Arts to grades 7-12. Before becoming a teacher I worked for Telus and then for their competitor, Shaw, in various departments for a few years. At the University of Alberta I was part of the core group that established the Learning Commons / Makerspace in the Dept. of Education, and I was the first student employee! I am excited for this course, as I expect it to be quite eye-opening. I have a penchant for Virtual Reality and have been formulating ideas that have to do with VR fieldtrips (museum exhibits, for instance) and though I don’t expect these ideas to ever be tangible, one never knows. Let’s see what this course has to offer!
Hi Johannes, great to see someone else with a technical background! Looking forward to learning with you!
Hi Johannes, great to see you in this course as well and learn more about your VR ideas and maybe figuring out how to make them reality. I have already learnt a lot from you in our previous course together.
Hi Johannes,
I too am interested in exploring cultural history through immersive media. We should chat. My exploration into those mediums demonstrate that they are much more viable then I first thought, and sooner or later I plan to make one of my ideas in that medium a reality.
Hello Johannes,
It is so neat that you helped start a Makerspace! I hope you stick with the VR fieldtrips — one of the most memorable learning experiences I ever had was a virtual tour of one of the old operating theaters in Edinburgh… though it was long before what VR is like today (the movement experience was more like the game Myst) but it was an adventure nonetheless!
Looking forward to learning with you!
Laura
Hello Johannes,
Your Learning Commons/Makerspace background is up my ally! For the past 3 years I have developed teacher workshops based on tinkering and making. However, this year I am finding it challenging to dive into the Makerspace world due to covid restrictions in my school board. For example, I use a lot of recycled materials or wood working in my programs but having loose parts (that are not washable) is making Makerspace activities less practical. If you have any insights or recommendations on how you are navigating the Makerspace world in these current times, I would love to hear your ideas!
Thanks,
Kathleen
Hi Johannes,
I like your idea bout the virtual museum visits. I always thought virtual reality would be great for language learning if a student could “teleport” to another country (National Geographic style) and use their language skills to learn and advance their journey.
Of all of the MET courses you have taken, what were most valuable to your learning? This is my first MET course, so I am trying to plan my program.