My name is Liz Hood and I am a media specialist in Rock Hill, SC,  USA.  (I believe we are called teacher-librarians in Canada). I currently serve in an IB-MYP school.While I am currently involved in K-12 education, my goal with the MET program is to move to training educators in the best implementation of technology within their specific curriculum area. I have completed 6 MET classes thus far and plan to graduate in May 2010.

Throughout my educational career, I have been fascinated by the dichotomy which exists between the business world and the educational arena. This course will provide business perspectives on education. I am in hopes that the education as an industry will incorporate some of the best practices evidenced in successful business ventures, though I myself struggle with the implementation.

My educational background is quite eclectic. I hold a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs, a Master’s degree in Spanish and a Master’s degree in Library and Information Science.  I have worked as a K-12 educator for 20 years, evenly split between teaching Spanish and being a media specialist. I hold National Board Certification as a library media specialist, a rigorous process  in the USA, which greatly influenced my teaching.

I fell in love with Canada virtually and have spent the last two summers travelling throughout BC, this past summer with my two boys. All 3 of us loved it. Our goal is to emigrate to the west coast of Canada.

Canada Day 2009 @ Prince George Park

Ammar Al-Attiyat

Hi Everyone,

My name is Ammar Al-Attiyat, I live and work in Cairo, Egypt (but my home country is Jordan), with ETEC 512 I’m taking my 3rd and 4th courses this semester.

I work for a technology company offering e-Learning products and services to clients from the Higher Education and Corporate markets. I manage a courseware development team (mainly instructional designers, multimedia specialists, content developers …etc). Also part of my job is to carry all Pre-Sales activities and support our sales team in the Middle East region (verrrrrrrrry busy traveling schedule most of the time 🙁 !!

It’s now 21 years since I earned my college degree (BSc, Computer Science), I spent the last 12 years of my career working directly with educational technology products and solutions.

My objective is to complement the practitioner/technologist experience I have with the business/theory behind it, I’ve never practiced teaching or training (though I’ve been coaching my subordinates, good or bad coach that’s another story 🙂 … coming from workplace environment, I have personal interest in Adult and Informal Learning (Web 2.0/eLearning 2.0  related technologies).

I’m father of two boys (11G & 7G) they attend an Off-Shore BC school here in Egypt.

I look forward to interact and learn from all of you.

Cheers,
Ammar

I have completed 4 courses in the MET program and am now taking 3 more.  I am finding the journey a steep up hill climb, but extremely rewarding.  I am not sure what to expect from this course, but am excited to get into it.

I am currently on leave from  my job as a jr-sr high math teacher in a small rural school in Southern Alberta.  I have no role as a tech advisor in my school, but am very interested in technology integration in education.  Having lived and taught in Africa for several years, I am interested in exploring the possibilities of ed. tech in developing areas.

I am looking forward to working with you all.