Hello Everyone, My name is Doug Smith and I’m entering my second year into the MET program. I’m a teacher-on-call (ie substitute teacher) in Vancouver, focusing on math science and physics. Prior to teaching I was a mechanical engineer for 15 years. Partly due to my background, I’d like to develop and grow some skills […]
Continue reading Blogging from Vancouver Posted in: Week 01: Introductions
Hi Everybody, My name is David Berljawsky and this is my final semester in the MET program. It’s been a great experience. I’ve met and worked with some fantastic individuals over the past few years and am looking forward to collaborating with all of you. I’m taking 3 classes this semester, including ETEC 511 […]
Continue reading Hi from Vancouver Island Posted in: Week 01: Introductions
Hi David,
Very impressive photos, and an equally bold move from scenic Vancouver Island to a somewhat less visually dynamic Ottawa. But it sounds like the switch from education to NPO will provide enough ups and downs. It will be great to hear about job prospects for technology-minded teachers outside of the education field, so please keep your classmates posted. All the best on your more, as we as the three final courses in your MET program.
Kyle
Hi David,
Nice to meet you! I have very fond memories of summers up in Courtenay when I was a tween – at the summer music school. I’m also heartened to meet another career changer, as I’m also leaving post-secondary teaching in search of other, more lucrative opportunities.
David,
I’m interested to hear what you are planning on doing for you non-profit organization. I also love you pictures! They are gorgeous. I love photography as well but am more of a beginner and it makes me all the more in awe of people who actually take such great pictures.
I too, am taking ETEC 590! I wonder if we are in the same class. Sounds like you have a lot on your plate this term. Good Luck and maybe ‘see’ you in ETEC 590 as well.
Tamara
Hi Everyone, I’m really excited for this course. I’m not sure if I would consider myself a pioneer or if pioneering is necessarily my calling, but I am really interested in learning how to become a successful pioneer and understanding their efforts in general. I completed the emerging market poll and I found it difficult […]
Continue reading Hello from Ontario! Posted in: Week 01: Introductions
Hi Ashley!
I am right next door in Mississauga! I am also in my last term, this fall I am working on my 7th and 8th courses (also taking 540 and really excited about that one, too!) and 9th and 10th in the Winter.
Your post about QR codes reminded me of a video I saw recently about a school that really integrated them… I mean everywhere! Here is the link:
You are right next door! 540 is a great course, I took it during my first semester and loved it!
Thank you so much for the video, I found it really interesting. It’s neat to see an example of how schools are integrating QR codes.
Hi Ashley,
I couldn’t agree with you more about working with the atypical learner. It’s one of my favourite parts about teaching, it requires patience and thinking outside the box and is extremely rewarding. I’m also taking my last 3 courses this semester, excited and nervous as well!
Best of luck!
David
Hi David,
I love thinking out of the box for the atypical learner. It is extremely rewarding when you find the tools that work for them.
Best of luck with your last three courses!
Ashley, sounds like you do amazing work, people like you are very needed out there!! I’m very intrigued about your picture – it so cool but I can’t figure out what it is.
Look forward to working with you
Tamara
Thanks Tamara.
The picture was taken at a temple just outside of Kyoto. The pieces of paper are called Omikuji which are prayers or general blessings for good fortunes.
I’m Julie from Vancouver and I’m anticipating an interesting course with the opportunity to make some new connections to interesting cohorts around the world. This is my third and hopefully final term at MET. I’m taking a short sabbatical from my consulting company, Vivid Connections Inc., to focus on finishing the program. I’m very […]
Continue reading Looking forward to connecting Posted in: Week 01: Introductions
Hi Julie!
I think we have worked together before in ETEC 510 on the Workplace Safety Program Development. I hope you are enjoying your sabbatical and the final stretch of the MET program!
Juliana
Hi Julie,
Sorry if you get this post twice. Just wanted to say hello! I think we worked together in ETEC 510 on the Workplace Safety Program Development project.
I look forward to working with you this term. As you are already have your own consulting company I am sure that you will have some unique perspectives in this course.
Take Care,
Juliana.
Hello! So fantastic to already know someone in the class. I can’t wait to get started.
Julie,
Nice meeting you. Congrats. This is also the final semester for me. All the best.
Cheers….
Keisha
Last term… so exciting. All the best to you too.
Hi Julie,
Wow – I’m so impressed that you have your own consulting company, and I can’t wait to learn more about your experiences with it! Best of luck with completing MET this term!!
best, Alice
Thanks Alice – best of luck to you too. I think this term is going to be a lot of fun!
Hi Julie,
As a new consultant myself, I am eager to hear all about your business adventures and connections. Do you work at designing courses for the workplace?
Verena:)
Hi Verena,
I’ve just started moving in this direction with the MET program. I just finished designing and delivering an interesting program for Solution Architects in the workplace. It was very well received so I’m looking forward to moving further in this direction and I’m hoping this course will really help.
Julle,
I am anticipating great interactions too. It’s great to have on. I wish you all the best.
Thanks! All the best to you too
Hello, fellow METsters. Michelle Workman (Chen)here from Vancouver. I am the music director at Sutherland Secondary School in North Vancouver as well as teaching English. I’m also one of the Coordinators for the Kiwanis Jazz Festival. I love working with students and creating music. Nothing like jazz band at 7:30 AM! I use a […]
Continue reading Evening! Posted in: Week 01: Introductions
Very cool photos, Michelle, and it must be nice being back in the 7:30 jazz band, only now you are behind the conductor’s podium! Great to hear about your involvement with the Kiwanis Festival as well as the iPads. I just met one of the Seycove teachers who is also up on the latest gadgets, and it got me thinking that I could make a habit of going to different schools around North Van with an iPad tutorial.
It would be great to hear from you, the Sutherland techie, about how easy it was to implement the latest on-line resources. Are iPads taking over the SMARTboards, or are there ways to integrate the two technologies? Many questions to follow, and I am sure you are already asleep, getting ready for the first early morning rehearsal. All the best, and hope to hear from you soon.
Kyle
Hi Michelle, nice photos! thanks for sharing. I am looking forward to share learning experiences with you and share our love for music (although I can see that you are much more expert in this field than me)
Cheers,
Angela
Hi Michelle!
Nice to meet you! Sounds like you are crazy busy, too! I love the picture of you with your iPads. I *finally* got an iPad2 on Father’s Day this year and I love it… I’ve been eying them since the first iPad came out… Have you tried GarageBand for the iPad? If not, it is worth far more than the tiny amount it costs from the apps store. A word of warning though… it is addictive and WILL waste time that you should be working on you MET courses 🙂
I think this course is going to be very interesting because it is so different from the others we have taken… not saying it will be easier or better, but different is good and I think the entrepreneurial slant will be very cool…
Love the photo on the bus… Been there…
Hey, Jim
I still have my first gen iPad and it really has become my daughter’s playtoy right now as I don’t have time to explore as much as I want. And yes, I know GarageBand is amazing on it . . . almost better than on the laptop!
As for this course being different, yes! I’m actually excited about it but darned scared, too. I’m not an entrepeneur at all! And I love not being on Vista . . . oops, inside voice.
Looking forward to working with you.
Hey Michelle,
I think it is so cool theat your handle has the same initials as your name. I don’t now if you want your name in posts so I will refer to you as MW. If you want me to use your name then let me know.
Really enjoyed the pics. Thanks for sharing.
I like your diverse use of technology. What’s PLN?
Kerry-Ann
Hello everyone, My name is Andrea and this is MET course #9 for me. I’ve been looking forward to this course, partly because I’m not a ‘pioneer’ but am interested to spend time learning how ventures come to be. We’re all consumers of different ventures, so it will be intriguing to understand what’s behind the […]
Continue reading hello from Vancouver Posted in: Week 01: Introductions
Hi Andrea,
I really like your rationale for taking the course… it kind of reminded me of times when parents ask me why students are spending time creating media texts in school… Besides finding the creative experience to be fun and interesting, the students also learn about what is going on behind the curtain, all the decisions the author(s) makes about the text, meanings, audience, and so on. It helps immeasurably when students start to deconstruct media and critically evaluate it. I think this course will help all of us to do the same when it comes to educational products.
Love the picture of the colourful Adirondack chairs!
Hi Jim, and thanks! I couldn’t agree more about the value of deconstructing and evaluating to understand how and why things work, or don’t work. I hope that this course will help me to be a more savvy consumer, and perhaps even to inspire my own ventures 🙂
Andrea
Hi Andrea,
It’s great to meet you! One of the things I’m really enjoying so far about this course is that a lot of us *aren’t* K-12 teachers (K-12 teachers – you all are wonderful too!). The work you’re doing as an instructional designer sounds so much like where I want to position myself, and so I’m really looking forward to hearing more about it!
Allie
Hi Allie, It does seem like there’s a higher percentage of the non-K-12 crowd in this course. Sounds like you’ve had really diverse experiences educationally and professionally. Are you thinking you’d like to move more towards the design side? Are the courses you teach now face-to-face, blended, or online?
Andrea
Hi Everyone! My name is Stephen Chiong. I am currently living in Richmond, BC. I have a degree in Computer Science and Masters in Information Technology. I have been teaching since 1998 (in the Philippines). I just moved to Canada last year (Jan 2010). I am currently teaching University Transfer Computer courses at Coquitlam. Yeah, […]
Continue reading Hello World Posted in: Week 01: Introductions
LOL! Hi Stephen, I am with you on the “long commute” part of Richmond to…. Coquitlam or North Van. I was really hoping that we qualified for a U-Pass to cut down on the driving, but it is not the case, given that we are all about distance ed :-0
Looking forward to tapping your expertise!
KJ
Howdy, e-folks. My name’s Steve – one or two of you may have seen me in another course before (this is my sixth one) – and I live on Prince Edward Island. Some of my main interests are music, playing trivia weekly, les Canadiens, photography, nature, & technology (have been blogging for six years… just […]
Continue reading East Coast e-Hello! Posted in: Week 01: Introductions
I agree with you so much about tech being great if it is better than an alternative..it is awfully expensive for schools if it doesn’t add much to the learning experience. And I am really pro-tech too, but only if it is used right. I am sure with your new family addition, things like getting enough sleep is pretty important too!
It is! I’m learning the ropes with this new plate-spinning balancing act of school, masters, my wee fella, and “regular” life!
Hi All! This is my eighth course in the MET program and the first one that has been in blog format, not in Vista… so that is different and cool! I will be finishing the MET program by April 2012 so I am looking forward to my last year and will miss working and learning […]
Continue reading Hello from Ontario Posted in: Week 01: Introductions
Hi, Jim! Wow. You bring a lot to this course. I’m feeling a little overwhelmed as I think I might be out of my league here 🙂 Your comment about your experiences with children resonated with me. I have a daughter going into grade 1 who constantly amazes me with the technology at hand and how easily she adapts to it. Of course, it’s now difficult to get my iPhone or iPad out of her hands.
And I’ll look for you on twitter . . . not sure what I would do without my PLN!
michelle
I also have great difficulty getting my iPad back from my kids… Jim Gaffigan tweeted once that there should be an app you can download to get your phone from a 5 year old… 🙂 http://twitter.com/#!/JimGaffigan
Jim, sounds like you are bringing a lot of experience with you! It’s so interesting to have so many people with so many different experiences that we can learn from.
Tamara
P.S. Such a bummer on that Google thing 😉
Jim,
Nice to meet you. Looking forward to working with you this term.
Keisha
Hi Jim,
Kudos to you for your involvement in Wikipedia. I agree that it is quite a feat that editors and contributors like you around the world have accomplished. Open source and open access tools always help restore my faith in humanity 🙂
Andrea
Hi, Jim.
I told my class today about your wiki feats… they were wowed.
I’m intrigued about what this course will reveal in terms of doing something with ideas, too. While I’ve never had something as big as your Street View idea stolen, I’ve thought of things before but just had NO idea about what to do with them. I hope this course can help provide the knowledge about what to do with great (or at least good) innovative ed. tech. ideas.
Cheers!
Hi Steve and Jim,
There are going to be plenty of great, Google Earth-like ideas coming out of this course, and we’ll have plenty of support from classmates and instructors to find out what to do with them. It also doesn’t hurt that we are blogging about them, and will have a digital record of ed tech innovations from the moment of their inception. The semantic web will be all about tagging and tracing back information to its original source, allowing us to be creative entrepreneurs.
All the best to you both,
Kyle
I too am a huge fan of Twitter and follow some amazing education and tech gurus..I have learned so much from that PLN! And a beer-blog? You have may attention!
My name is Brenda Courey and I live in the southern part of Ontario – quite far south actually as you can see from the map. This course will be my 7th and my goal is to complete the program by the end of next summer (keeping my fingers crossed that […]
Continue reading Greetings from Ontario! Posted in: Week 01: Introductions
Hi Brenda,
I hope I can follow your timeline to finish next spring, this being my 7th course, as well. I have yet to attempt 2 courses at once, unlike many other MET students, and hence doubt my ability to remember all the things I have learned since I started in September 2009. ETEC 590 may well prove to be a challenge!
Best of luck on your continuing journey!
KJ
Hi Brenda,
I just finished ETEC 565 as well, and it was a good technical stretch, wasn’t it! 🙂 Thanks for the link to your blog. I really liked the quote you posted: “Adults do not learn from experience, they learn from processing the experience” (Judy Arin-Krupp). ETEC 565 was a good example of how effective reflection can be.
Looking forward to working with you, Andrea
Hi Brenda! Nice to see you again :). I suffered too with html code in ETEC 565 but I must say that it is a lot what we learned there. I love traveling too, I think it is the money best spent. Looking forward to continue learning with you! Angela.
Hi, Brenda.
I marvel at folks on here who work (maybe have kids) and do two courses. I wish I could do that. I always feel the pressure to totally commit my thoughts to one class at a time… especially now, since I’m back to school and have a two-month-old in the house! These last five courses of mine just had an extra challenge added to them!
I think using a blog for a whole course will be interesting, too… I kept a personal blog from ’05 – ’10, and started a beer-related blog of all thing last year. I find blogging is a great way to share info in a technologically creative way. How are you enjoying your post-class blogging?
See you around the blog,
Steve
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bcourey 6:19 pm on September 7, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Good luck on your event! I am envious of your ambition in this race! And I would love to hear about your Playbook experience…I am a blackberry user surrounded by iPhones and iPad, but have quite an affinity for the Playbook despite the derision of the Apple users…am I crazy for wanting one over the iPad??
Doug Smith 8:09 am on September 8, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Not crazy at all, especially if you want a mobile device or something that is smaller. Only recommended for people with Blackberry phones though, but that may change in the next few weeks with an OS update. Otherwise, frankly, tablets all seem to behave relatively the same (I’m testing out an HP Touchpad right now). They have decent web browsers, apps for reading books, calendars, etc. Ask anyone with a tablet what apps they use the most, and you’ll see that most people would do okay with any platform.
Karen Jones 7:06 pm on September 7, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hey! Best of luck in the ride, Doug. You’ll be riding right past us 😎 Do you tether your Playbook to your phone’s data plan?
Doug Smith 8:11 am on September 8, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I tether it all the time, the Blackberry Bridge is always connected. I have my email, contacts, calendar synced and can use the internet wherever there is a cell signal. I imagine most/all tablets have equally accessible tether options (I hope!).
Everton Walker 8:56 pm on September 7, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Doug,
All the best with your riding adventure. Good luck with your MET course when you return.
colink 9:48 pm on September 7, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Good luck on your race!
hall 7:05 pm on September 8, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Doug, I think we have met in one of the courses I have taken in this programme. I am happy to be in the same class with you. I am mathematics and physics teacher who I think that this programme will help me to be more marketable my profession.
Doug Smith 9:49 pm on September 11, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Conroy, you’re right. I think we took 512 together?
I couldn’t find your introduction for a while, then I realized that it was posted under “uncategorized”. I was trying to figure out who “hall” was.
Have a good course!
Deb Kim 2:31 pm on September 12, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Doug,
I see our UBC Elearning website in your Playbook pic. Did you open the website using Safari or Internet Explorer? I’ve tried opening the website on my iPhone as I’m always carrying my mobile device with me just like you. It’s very convenient and efficient, isn’t it? I’m also amazed that many places (e.g. mall, retaurant, bank, etc.) offer free WiFi these days.
Nice meeting you and looking forward to working with you. 🙂
Deb