Category — Mod01: Introductions

Hello everyone!

My name is Cari Wilson and I teach two classes of Grade 7 in West Vancouver. I am very fortunate to teach in a one-to-one laptop setting and have done so for the last 4 years. I teach LA, SS French and Visual Art and we use the laptops for all of them! I am taking my last two MET courses this term – this one and 590. I’ve never take two at the same time before, so I’m a little nervous about fitting everything in!

I recently made the very challenging decision not to go into administration. Instead, I’m going to focus on doing Pro-D workshops and maybe some consulting. So, I’m really looking forward to learning some more about business and elearning! I must admit that I’m not totally sure what to expect!

The photo is a picture of my two kids in front of the “dinosaur museum” in Drumheller, Alberta. The kids and I went on a three week road trip this summer and the museum was one of our favourite stops. We also loved Yellowstone Park and Lake Superior. I took all the pictures, so I have no photos of me.

I’m looking forward to meeting all of you!

Cari

One of the ways to track this blog, its posts and comments and have them delivered to you, rather you have to go and find them, is to use the RSS (really simple syndication) links for our entries (posts) and comments.

You’ll see the RSS links at the top of the left-side column of the ETEC522 blog.

A web-based RSS reader like Google Reader, or a dedicated software tool like NetNewsWire (Mac) or FeedDemon (PC) can be used to keep all the entries (posts) and comments coming to you automatically.

The YouTube video below explains the concept…

If you would like to suggest other RSS readers, please add them to the comments section below.

~d

Hi all,

My name is Ian Doktor, and I’m a high school science and math teacher, finally (after 3 years in Japan and Hong Kong) back in Vancouver. Its great to be back in Canada, but its been a huge amount of work. This is my 7th MET course and the only one I’m taking this semester (if I tried to take more I get the feeling my head would explode at this point).  I’m a bit pensive about the course to be perfectly honest.  I’m not much of an entrepreneur; the closest thing I have to private sector experience is a few private schools I worked for in Hong Kong and Mexico.  I’ve never really given any thought to Education as a business venture on any level, so this should be an eye opening course for me. 

Cheer,

Ian

Hello everyone.  My name is Michel Lacoursiere and this is my 6^th MET course.  For those interested you can visit my blog/portfolio at lacour.ca or my more info page at lacour.ca/about

I am a high school science teacher specializing in Chemistry and Biology.  Previously I was the lead Chemistry teacher at my own former high school in Peace River, Alberta.  I moved to New Westminster, BC last year with my fiancé who is pursuing orthotics and prosthetics at BCIT.

Here is a picture of us from last year’s Halloween outing, going through my pictures I thought it was fitting considering September is here and October is just around the corner.  People loved those uber-dorky costumes – maybe some ideas for others.

Halloween - 2008 Michel and Lucy

Since moving and starting my MET program I have been working as a researcher/consultant in immersive technologies and educational research.  My most important contract has me researching immersive technologies and learning environments used to train emergency personnel and firefighters.  To get me out of the house and keep sharp as an educator I also work as a teacher-on-call and work as a science facilitator and lead after-school programs at Science World.

Although I will probably return to the classroom someday I have enjoyed my experience as a consultant over the past year and would like to learn more about marketing educational technology.  I guess I could say I’ve always had ideas and skills to market but no idea how to market those skills.  I think this course will provide me with the opportunity to experience another side of education that I have always found interesting and I am sure I will pick up a lot along the way.

Thanks for reading and I am looking forward to learning and working with all of you!

~Michel

This is my fourth MET course and I am really looking forward to it. With any luck I will be half finished the programme by Christmas. This degree has been fascinating and rewarding so far. I have been able to use so much of what I have learned in my work already.

I am a former elementary teacher who is now working for a small company putting professional development for social workers online. I am not trained as an instructional designer so it has been all about the steep learning curve!

Me at a cottage this summer, gathering strength for the coming semester...

My background is in physical anthropology and human anatomy, so I have a very diverse background and set of interests. I have never ventured into business, but I would like to in the future. I hope this course will give me the opportunity to explore this area of eLearning, and possibly prepare me better for a future in which I branch out from what I am doing now.

I am very interested in immersive worlds, like Second Life, for play and recently for education. I am looking into ways in which the “virtual” worlds can be used for teaching, learning and commerce. If you are ever in world I am Elora Habilis – drop me a line!

Looking forward to working with you all!

Introduction

Hello METers! This journey in MET has definitely been quite a ride! There have been many courses and now the end in is in sight! My name is Iris Chan and I am currently the vice principal at Sino Bright International School. It is an offshore program offering a Canadian BC program halfway across the world. The international education market has grown exponentially in China with almost every member of the younger generation being thrown into learning English in some form or another. I came to China 3 years ago and currently have no plans to return to Vancouver unless it is to enjoy the nice summers during my holiday! I am currently teaching Language Arts courses at my school with a focus on Grade 10 ESL students.

I am looking forward to exploring the business perspectives of learning ventures and it will certainly give me a lot of food for thought amidst my own life here. Hopefully, the course is going to give me a wide range of perspectives and develop my own thoughts, feelings and opinions regarding this matter. I am looking forward to using a blog as means of completing a course. This will be a chance from the Vista learning platform and the routine that comes along with it.

Links About Me

Electronic Portfolio From ETEC 565 – https://blogs.ubc.ca/ichanetec565/

Website – http://sites.google.com/site/msirischan/Home

That’s all fellow METers! I am looking forward to learning with all of you!

My wife and I at a movie theatre in Hong Kong to watch Up in 3D.

Hi Everyone. My name is Sean McMinn. This is my 7th MET course, and I’m pretty excited to be (virtually) here.

I teach English at a university here in Hong Kong, and I love it. The job is great, the people are nice, and life is simply interesting and always adventurous. So far, I’ve been enjoying the MET programme — which has helped me advance in my career over the past year or so. In particular, I’ve been able to embed podcasts (http://campusbeat.ust.hk) and wikis into courses successfully thanks to what I’ve learned though the programme.

I’m looking forward to ETEC522 because I lack entrepreneurial skills and would like to explore business opportunities … some day. More immediately, I would like to enhance my intrapreneurial (new word for me) skills. As I learn more through the MET programme I see opportunities for developing or enhancing technologies to be used at our university. To do this, though, I need to apply for funding. If I can improve on my “pitches” or selling, I would be happy.

I’m looking forward to working with everyone. (I can’t believe the summer break went by so fast!)

Hello everyone, my name is Ashley Jones.

I completed a Biology degree and then went on to complete a year-long internship to obtain my teachers certificate. Soon after I took off to teach for a year in a small town in Costa Rica where I developed a passion for surfing and cooking with hot chili peppers!

Upon returning to Canada, I taught at a Secondary Distributive Learning School in Victoria, BC for three years. The courses I taught and developed were all online for the students to access, while I was available at the school for drop-in help, tutorials and to supervise test writing.

This year, my husband took a year-long job in Australia so I am fortunate to be able to complete my Masters while in beautiful Perth! I am very excited for this course, and although I don’t have any formal business education, I have always been an innovative thinker and I would love to start my own e-learning business one day.

I look forward to getting to know you all as we go through this course!

And hello from your other instructor – David Vogt.  You can reach me at david DOT vogt AT ubc DOT ca.  Please use a convention like that if you wish to reveal your email, because the WordPress platform we`ve chosen for the course is a public blog and you`ll need to be more aware of your postings than you might otherwise in an online course.

DavidV on NFLD's East Coast Trail last June.

Yes, you`ve got two Davids as instructors:  DavidP and DavidV.  Rather than create two sections of the course, we prefer to bring everyone together as a means of crowdsourcing the great collective wisdom this group represents.   This makes a big group, which is why making your introductions and building a presence for yourself through good posting is important.  DavidP will be marking the group and participation assignments (Assignments 2 & 4) and I`ll be marking the essay assignments (Assignments 1 & 3), but we`ll both be involved throughout the course.

Your big job this week is to make your introduction, review how the course works, and ask any questions.

Also, please look at the Emerging Market modules (M4-M11) right away – if there any topics that are of special interest for you please let me know by the end of this week before we automatically assign people to their groups.

Please enjoy the course – we`re looking forward to your contributions!

DavidV