Hi all, My sincere apologies for this late introduction. My name is Ifeoma. I work as an IT Support Assistant with the Provincial Principal’s council and I live in Toronto Ontario . My duties include providing hardware/software support to staff as well as providing support to school Principals, Vice-Principals for the online professional development courses. […]
Continue reading Hi All! Posted in: Week 01: Introductions
Hello everyone, First of all, please accept my sincere apology for posting my introduction so late. The first week of new school year went crazy as I moved to a new school. Now, I finally get to breathe. Here’s my introduction. My name is Deb Kim and I live in Burnaby, a small city next […]
Continue reading Hello from Burnaby Posted in: Week 01: Introductions
Hi DEb,
You are not alone in the late post. Nice to meet you and hope to learn and grow intellectually in ETEC 532
I heard from my coursemates in other courses that this course is lots of fun. I’m looking forward to it. 🙂
Deb
Well, our first week is nearly done and almost everyone is aboard! Thanks everyone for your introductions and conviviality. It looks like we`ll be a fine mob. It also seems that everyone has revved up on our blog workspace without any trouble, but if you have any problems or questions, don`t hesitate to ask. Tonight […]
Continue reading A Good Crowd Posted in: Announcements, Uncategorized, Week 01: Introductions
Hello everyone. My name is Jacqueline Smith. It is great to be on board for another interesting ride. I live in Kingston, Jamaica and teach Technology in Education and ICT to students at the college level. This semester promises to be an interesting one given the courses I will be participating in but I am […]
Continue reading Hello from Jamaica Posted in: Week 01: Introductions
Look who’s here. Hey my friend. Great to have you around once more. All the best 🙂
Great to see you again Jackie. All the best for the semester 🙂
Hi Jacqueline,
Nice to meet you.
Wow, we have two people (including you) from Jamaica. It’s going even more global. Awesome!
Looking forward to working with you. 🙂
Deb
Hi all! Saying hello from Jamaica. I am a teacher in a small Arts College in Jamaica where I teach Dance, Information Technology, Technology in Education and Mathematics. I feel very blessed to teach and perform in both left and right brain fields. This is my second to last MET course and I am looking […]
Continue reading Hello from Jamaica Posted in: Week 01: Introductions
Hello Kerry-Ann! How wonderful to live in Jamaica and to work with both sides of your brain…what kinds of technological adult literacy programs are you currently using?
Verena:)
Hello Verena,
Thank you. In also responding here to David’s comment, with which I agree, I would say that traditionally academic areas have definitely been categorised as left-brain and right-brain and so indeed I feel lucky to be able to exercise some blending. I actually have not started working in any technological adult literacy programmes but would definitely hope to head there.
Kerry-Ann
You may be interested in neuromyths… left brain/right brain thinking apparently is one of those myths. This surprised me to learn but the original research was done on people whose brains were split (the corpus collosum was cut) which caused a large differentiation. It’s exciting to read recent research and realize how we use most of our brain regularly and how we can design instruction to take advantage of that.
Hello David,
I will definitely check this out as I agree with you and have many times commented that for me there is no separation. What I should have said is that the areas have been ‘traditionally’ categorised as left-brain vs. right-brain.
Kerry-Ann
Kerry,
What’s up? Great to have you around on the home stretch. I know we will have a great time learning as usual. All the best 🙂
Hello Everton,
Really great to see you again. Thank you for the well wishes and all the best to you as well. I am looking forward to having a great time as well, which seems to be how this course is already shaping up 🙂
Hello everyone! I am a Vancouverite who is now living in the rolling hills of Switzerland. I am teaching a grade three class at an international school in Zurich. The students are taught in German for half the day and then taught in English with me for the remainder. It has been a very rich […]
Continue reading Hello from Switzerland Posted in: Week 01: Introductions
HI Andrew! I am working on developing ESL technology assisted learning strategies. Although I am focused on jr high and high students, I would love to hear what you are doing. Are your students ESL learners though?
Switzerland is so beautiful, how exciting for you!
Verena:)
Hi Verena,
Most of my students are ESL, but the ‘philosophy’ of the school is really to throw them in the deep end. The students have me for half of the day and can only speak English. It is amazing how quickly they pick it up! For the students with little to no English, I usually begin with giving them some more basic assignments and allow them to talk in German to a partner during certain assignments. But otherwise it’s English, English, English. How does this strategy differ from yours?
Murray,
Your experience sounds very interesting. Great to have you as part of the learning team. All the best.
I believe we were in the same course prior to this one – I remember that it was the first time I encountered anyone from Switzerland in our learning communities….what a beautiful country to be spending time in – although you were enjoying great mountain views where you were before!
Hello Andrew,
Nice to see you again! How long have you been in Switzerland? Have you been able to use any of your MET talents within your courses et al.?
Kerry-Ann
Hello Kerry-Amm,
This is the beginning of my fourth year in Switzerland. Wow, where does the time go? So far, most of my MET talents are used on our class blog, interactive whiteboard, iPad project, and the school is setting up a Moodle site. How have you been using your MET talents?
Hi Andrew,
Nice to meet you.
This course is also my fifth MET course. I took ETEC 500, 511, 521, and 531. I had a great experience taking these courses, so I’m also looking forward to 522. I heard that it’s a great course to take. 😉
Looking forward to working with you!
Deb
Hi all!. I am Tamara Wong and I live a small farming community outside of Toronto. After living in Toronto for 4 year while my husband finished school it is nice to hear the birds sing and smell the fresh (most of the time – it is a farming community) air. Living farther north has […]
Continue reading Blogging from Ontario Posted in: Week 01: Introductions
Hi Tamara,
Nice to “see” you again :). Wow, it looks like you have a lot of interesting things to do. Looking forward to continue learning with you again. Cheers!
Angela.
Hi Tamara,
Looking forward to learning with a fellow learning junkie again.
Tamara,
I am happy to see you around once more. I know we will continue to have a great time learning together. All the best my friend.
Hello Tamara,
Great to see you again. Seems you are on the home stretch. All the best. Learning junkie myself, which sometimes is a challenge because I want to read everything and there is just too much and too little time 🙂
Hi Tamara,
Good to meet up again. I see you are on the last lap(s) of your ETEC adventure, kudos to you! Looking forward to another exciting and rewarding experience.
Hi all! I’m Allie in Vancouver. This is my 2nd course in the Certificate in Technology-based Distributed Learning, after completing 510 this past summer. This course was one of the reasons why I applied to the MET program – I really want to explore the intersection of education and business – particularly entrepreneurship. I am […]
Continue reading Hey y’all! Posted in: Uncategorized, Week 01: Introductions
I like the parrallels you draw between the differences in the fabric patterns and the those between cultural anth and business. I think there is a lot of potential for educational technology and intercultural studies. The internet alone has allowed so many different groups of people to connect across the world, share information and cultural identities.
Hi Jay,
Thanks 🙂 And I absolutely agree with you on tech and intercultural learning. For 510, I had the opportunity to do some research in that area, specifically concerning how people of different cultural backgrounds differently conceptualize collaborative learning, and how they differently appropriate technologies
HI Allie,
It is always wonderful to find out what interests and talents classmates bring into the course, and your passion for architecture, sewing and “material things” are some of the most diverse I’ve yet seen. It is good to have such a solid base when designing the usually intangible aspects of learning technology. I look forward to learning and growing a business sense with you.
Kyle
HI Kyle,
Thanks for your comment, and i look forward to learning with you too! It’s funny to see my interests described as diverse since to me, they’re just… me 🙂 It’s true that I’m definitely interested in thinking about technological objects as… objects; human-computer interaction is an area I haven’t had much time to look into, but would be interested in doing so.
Hello Allie!
I’m a social studies major (teacher) who absolutely LOVED anthropology. I also taught languages and my love of learning and culture overlap in my new business venture. I too liked the way you brought in the sewing elements and the idea of “over lapping”. My biggest challenge is the over lapping between business and education….trying to find the right stitch to keep everything “together” is often difficult for me.
Looking forward to working with you!
Verena:)
Hi Verena, Thanks for your comment 🙂 I can imagine that culture – and language – are both really important to what I understand as the international export of Canadian curriculum. And I’m very hopeful that this help us look productively, and critically, at the relationship between business and education, not simply seeing them as oil and water. Look forward to hearing more about your work this term and learning with you too!
I love your artistic pictures the University shot looks like a face to me and your clothing looks beautiful. Cultural anthropology sounds very interesting. Looking forward to learning with you.
Hi Julie,
Thanks so much! I think that my artistic temperament is here to stay no matter where I situate myself or what I might do! Look forward to learning with you too!
Allie
Hi people! My name is Colin, and I’m new to the MET program. I live in Vancouver, about a 5-minute drive away from UBC. Despite living so close to campus, I’ve chosen to take courses online because I’d like to experience learning in a different learning environment. I’m a full-time secondary-school teacher in Vancouver. My […]
Continue reading Hello from … UBC? Posted in: Week 01: Introductions
Hi Colin,
That sounds like a pretty good job you have, I’m jealous (being a somewhat underemployed EOC)! I imagine that you’ll learn all sorts of things from MET that are helpful, interesting and/or applicable to your work. Take what you can from it and enjoy the ride
I think we may have crossed paths before–are you a Vancouver EOC?
Yes. Did we cross paths in person or MET? I’m usually pretty good with faces but names are a bit hit & miss!
I just got a job last Friday at Prince of Wales, so no more EOC for me unless there are more layoffs.
Hi Colin, welcome to MET! I am sure you will enjoy all the things you will experience here. Looking forward to work with you 🙂 Angela.
Hi Colin,
I hope that you enjoy the MET program! I’m fairly new too – I just have one course under my belt – but what I really love is how the online environment really fosters multiple conversations and perspectives – much more so than in a F2F classroom. I also really love having such excellent examples of what online courses can look like.
Interesting that you live so close to campus yet chose to take this online program…I am such a fan of online learning (most of my undergrad and all of my additional qualifications courses) that I prefer it by far! The interaction of the learners is far more active and of superior quality than I would ever experience in a weekly 3-hour lecture-type class. This is the only way I want to learn.. Good luck and enjoy! Take advantage of regular interaction with everyone…that’s where I learn the most!
Hi Colin,
What better way to learn about using technology in education than by using technology to learn 🙂 Welcome to MET, and looking forward to working with you!
Andrea
Colin,
Welcome to MET. I do hope you will have a great time here interacting and learning with the team.
Hi Colin!
Sounds like you are lucky to have a great job and live in a great place. I am new too – I have only completed one course. Welcome!
Verena:)
Hi, Colin. Nice to have someone new to program and give a new perspective! By the way, love your dog! He looks so happy!
Michelle
Hi Everyone, My name is Jay and I just completed a diploma in adult education and beginning my M.Ed in adult education. I am from small-town Manitoba but live in Vancouver now. I have a bachelor’s degree in cultural anthropology and environmental studies through the University of Manitoba. Last August I returned to Canada after three […]
Continue reading New to blogging…hello to all Posted in: Week 01: Introductions
Yay anthropologists (i’m one too). I’m really interested in intercultural education and technoogy, and so I’m very keen to hear your take on that, having taught in various different settings in Asia.
Hey Allie. Glad to meet someone with similar interests. I think technology can do wonders in intercultural education especially in the EFL sector. Recently I have been really interested in newcomers to Canada and their settlement process as well as the various education programs surrouding intercultural ed., integration and settlement.
Jay,
Great to have you. Lovely interests and experience. Let’s hope we will have a great time learning and sharing ideas.
You’ve had some great life experiences. How do you think we could help other people take risks and have similar experiences? How would technology play a part in that?
I think helping people take risks and have experiences is not an easy task. Technology’s role would involve helping educate people to see past stereotypes and understand differences since it is often fear or anxiety of the unknown that inhibits peoples risk taking.
on a further note, technology allows us to connect over distances in a virtual space to share differences and knowledge. As a simple example I used a video exchange project in one of my schools to teach my students about American schools and how different they were from Japanese schools and we sent a video of our school (in Japan) to a friend of mine who was an elementary teacher in Nebraska. Technology has allowed us to have `virtual experiences` without the risks for those who may not be able to just relocate themselves physically.
Hi Jay,
Welcome back from Asia, and it sounds like you had a great experience in Japan and Myanmar – I had lived in Kanazawa, Ishikawa prefecture for three years before returning to Vancouver to start my B.Ed a few years ago. I would like to hear more about the cultural studies teaching you did, and hopefully get to see how similar projects can be designed with learning technologies in mind.
All the best for ETEC 522,
Kyle
Hey Kyle. I never did make it to Ishikawa but had some friends that lived there for a while. Most of the cultural studies lessons were incorporated into my English classes. Although I did alot more with the community adult class as I had more flexibility with this class. The one year we made an educational video to introduce the area to foreigners moving to or visiting the area. This was by far one of the more rewarding projects in this class that allowed us to use a learning technology (video).
It doesn’t appear we have virtually met in this programme before now. It is pleasure to meet you and hope to learn a lot from you as the course proceeds.
thanks for the welcoming. I am hoping to be able to share and discuss many different ideas and knowledge with all of you. I am not very knowledgable in the technology side of education and am looking forward to learning so much this term.
Hey Jay, I hear you on the ‘blogging’ thing. The first time I did this took me quite a while to figure it out.
You must have been back before the earthquake hit Japan? did it impact the area that you were in?
Where in Manitoba do you hail from? I have a lot of small town experiences………….
Ya luckily I was back before the earthquake. I got back one year ago in August. The area I was living in was fine since it was a seperate island and quite far from the most devastated cities.
I’m originally from Morden, home of the Corn and Apple Festival. 🙂
Before you publish your posting, please make sure that you select a category (eg. Introductions) as well as assign some meaningful tags (keywords).
Deb Kim 9:44 pm on September 11, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Ifeoma,
Nice to meet you in cyberspace as well. 🙂
You are almost done for the program. How’s your experience taking the MET so far?
I’m also looking forward to working with you. Welcome to the course!
Deb
ifeoma 11:55 am on September 12, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Deb,
It’s been a great experience for me and as I inch closer to the finish line, i know I will miss ETEC studies but i guess learning is a continual process so I will concentrate more on application of knowledge acquired to the work place. That is why I am really excited about ETEC 522.
Deb Kim 2:16 pm on September 12, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Ifeoma,
Thanks for sharing. I’m half way through the program but I’m sure I’ll miss it as well.
Deb
andrea 8:19 pm on September 12, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Ifeoma, I’m also in my 9th course and wonder about ‘life after MET’. I’m looking forward to finishing the program, but I’m also thinking about (worried about?) how I’ll keep learning and stay connected with the trends and research. It will be a big change 🙂
Looking forward to working with you this term!
Andrea