Hi! My name is Karen Jones and I live in North Vancouver and teach in Richmond, BC. This is my 22st year working in a small alternative program for grades 9 and 10 teens with behavioural issues, to whom I teach science and English. My B.Sc., B. Ed, and Diploma in Computing Studies were all […]
Continue reading An alternative approach! Posted in: Week 01: Introductions
Hi Everyone! I am writing from Chile and I am really excited to start my two last courses of the MET program. I am a Social Studies teacher, and I currently work at a school (teaching two courses in grade 7 and one course in grade 9) and a University (coordinating a graduate program about Digital […]
Continue reading Hello From Chile Posted in: Week 01: Introductions
Hi Angela! I believe we were in 531 together just last term! This blog is a very useful way to introduce ourselves as we are more able to include photos as you have. Thanks for sharing them with us – and I am impressed with your guitar skills – missing out on learning a musical instrument is one of my deepest regrets. Great to be with you in another course!
oops meant 565 together, not 531
Thanks Brenda! Nice seeing you again. Yes! We were together at ETEC 565. No worries ,we all get confused about our membership in different courses, for me, it is very difficult to remember names and faces when I am not “seeing” them every day. Cheers!
Hello Angela, Nice to *meet* you and hear about your interests. The program you’re coordinating sounds really interesting – will it be online or face-to-face delivery? Good luck with the enrollment!
Andrea
Thanks Andrea! Nice meeting you too. Here in Chile Universities are not so familiar with distance learning. I tried to convince the University Academic Council to create a program based on blended learning environments, because we could include participants from isolated regions of Chile, but they insisted that participants would not feel so comfortable, and because it is our first attempt to run it we should do it entirely face-to-face. I had no choice but to agree. But they assured me that if it is successful we will try to deliver it online in a second attempt. So we are doing our bets for this to have great results.
Hi! Nice to be able to see that our passions, not only for education but music still moves us in our journeys! Even though I’m a music teacher and play most instruments, I never learned the guitar! Congrats on being at the end of the MET journey!
Michelle
Thanks Michelle! Hope to get to know you better and share our passion for music. Cheers,
Angela.
Hi, Angela. Glad to see a familiar name in the course. While my musicianship (percussion mostly) is quite rusty, I’m still a big fan. I’ll share a link of one of my friend’s acoustic performances as well as a performance from another fellow I got to meet and hang around a few times years ago. I share your interest in the creation of new knowledge, or unique ways of showing and sharing existing knowledge. I also am always keen to push my junior high kids to think critically… I like pushing their thoughts and values. The collaborative part isn’t always smooth, but I try all the same. I plan on using Glogster again (and more) this year, especially its social / sharing features.
Cheers,
Steve
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsc16Di1MGM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikHI7_PMFNc
Hi Steve, nice “seeing” you again. Thanks for sharing the videos. The musicians of the videos are great! I would like to have the skills to play like them. Amazing. Next month, I will use Glogster for collaborative presentations with students of grade 9. Later we can share our experiences. Cheers,
Angela.
Sounds like a plan! Glogster’s had some sales on of late, too, for us education-types… $69 for the teacher license, and, I think, $19 for a basic teacher license.
Hi everyone! I’m very excited to get started in this course (my 8th) and in this term. I’ll be finishing up the program (hopefully) in May of 2012, so I’m in the home stretch. I have worked as a high school teacher of math and science in the Aboriginal community of Behchoko, NT for my […]
Continue reading Hello from NWT Posted in: Week 01: Introductions
Hi Emily!
thanks for sharing photos so we can see you!
Your experience at work looks very interesting and challenging.
Looking forward to get to know you and learn with you :),
Angela
Hi Emily,
I would be interested in hearing your experiences with technology and students who have not been successful in mainstream settings. While the students I teach are from a relatively large urban environment, I am sure their learning styles share many similarities with the students you have taught, especially in the areas of math & science!
Love your photos 🙂
KJ
I’m particularly interested in your work with “at-risk” students and strategies you use or are researching on dealing with those issues. I have some theories but that’s all they are at this point and I would really value hearing your experiences.
Hi Emily,
Congratulations on being in the home stretch! I think it’s wonderful that you are interested in different learning opportunities for students unable to succeed in the traditional school environments. I am also interested in this topic, I mainly work with students with ADHD and learning disabilities to figure out strategies to help them become successful in their educational endeavours but I am interested in the atypical learner in general and trying to figure out ways to help them become successful.
I look forward to hearing your thoughts and ideas on this topic.
Ashley
Hi, Emily.
Although I teach at the intermediate level, I’ll be interested in seeing your thoughts this term regarding the “students who are unable to succeed in traditional school environments”. We have a local reserve that feeds into our school, and some of the kids (some from the reserve and some not) would definitely fit this category of sorts.
See you ’round the blog,
Steve
My name is Kyle Stooshnov, and I am starting my second year as a student in the MET program. Currently I am a Teacher On Call for the North Vancouver School District, and hope that I will get a few days work before the inevitable teachers’ strike Seeing that there may be some down time […]
Continue reading How now, masters? Posted in: Week 01: Introductions
My husband is a Shakespeare nut as well. He will be excited to see what you develop. Great meeting you, and look forward to working together!
Emily
Hey, Kyle. Nice to see you here and very nice work on the Shakespeare! Still very odd to be in courses with you electronically when it’s been (a lot) of years since we were in the classroom as band geeks.
Ick. Strike. Let’s not talk about that here. Cheers. Hope to actually see you soon.
Michelle
Hi Michelle,
Great to see you again on-line, and looking forward to your posts. Cool gravatar, and can’t wait to read how you introduced yourself, as well as the project you have in mind.
Kyle
Hi Kyle, your project looks very interesting! Congratulations and I wish you all the luck with it. Looking forward to learn with you in this course.
Cheers,
Angela
wow! Great Project Kyle! Such an amazing idea – I certainly would have LOVED to have access to something like that studying Shakespeare in both University and High school. I’m kind of hoping there is a strike 😉 so we can see this project!! 😀
Hello Wongte,
Thank you for the enthusiastic response, and I look forward to learning more about you and your educational experience when you post your introduction. Sounds like we are in the same boat when it comes to BCTF’s current job action, so let’s hope the turnaround time from designing a project to receiving our first million – lol – will be quick so that we can continue with our MET studies.
I also got to observe some of the frustration of learning Shakespeare at university when I signed up for a 300-level on-line course this summer. Many students went into the course with only a vague memory of learning a few of the plays in high school. The data I collected make for an intriguing case study when it comes to ETEC 522’s assignment #1.
All the best with your studies,
Kyle
Band geeks unite!
Kyle, my brother is also a Bill fan… to the point where, in university (since he hated the ending of “Hamlet”), he wrote the sequel to “Hamlet”, “Horatio”. In iambic pentameter. And had it turned into a local play. Nowadays he writes for Marvel among other things… I’ll be curious to see your technologification (my new word for the day) of Shakespeare.
Hi Steve,
Has your brother seen “Hamlet 2”, Steve Coogan’s attempt to one-up Shakespeare by bringing the dead prince back from the dead with the help of his friend, Jesus? Would be great to see the script for McQuaid’s Horatio, especially as it is iambic pentameter.
As for the technologification of Shakespeare’s plays, much of it will rely on the talented design skills of the numerous video game studios around Vancouver. Kind of like the multimedia experience of Kill Shakespeare (graphic novel, feature film, possible video game), with more of a focus on the plays’ text rather than the characters alone. Looking forward to any feedback you can provide.
Kyle
To be honest, I don’t know if he did or not. I did, though – “Rock Me, Sexy Jesus” was a highlight. “He’s totally the man, the man with the plan. He traveled through time in an awesome custom van…”
Hello, my name is Jenaca and this is my first semester taking the MET program. I graduated last May with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Elementary Education. I was very interested in continuing my education and am very happy with my decision to pursue this masters program, as well as this course. As our […]
Continue reading Guten Tag Posted in: Week 01: Introductions
Hi Jenaca,
Looks like you’ve had your share of world travel and adventures! It sounds exciting. Looking forward to working together.
Emily
Hi Jenaca,
You are going to have a wonderful time traveling with the hockey scene! You will love the MET program..I have found the online learning to be engaging, challenging, and most of all supportive through the interactions of your colleagues and the instructors. Welcome!
Welcome Jenaca,
I too continued my education by jumping right into the MET program after graduating with my B.A in Linguistics. This is a great master’s program and I am sure you’ll enjoy it.
Best of luck and I look forward to working with you this term.
Ashley
Hi, Jenaca.
I first went for my BSc (biology) as well, then specialized in secondary science in my Ed. degree. My first job, however, was second grade language arts! You just never know what you’ll end up doing. I was a bit of a latecomer to technology (only in university, really), but have embraced it as one of my strengths since. Looking forward to working with you.
As a hockey fan, I have to ask… who’s your fiance?
Stephen
Hey Stephan,
Sorry it has taken me so long to get back to you. My fiance is Carsen Germyn. He began his career with the Calgary Flames organization and has now been playing in Europe for 2 years. (Switzerland last year and Germany this year)
I look forward to working with you as well,
Cheers,
Jenaca
Hello everyone, My name is Kristopher and I have been in the MET program for two years now. I have a strong interest in adult learning, and have explored previous courses from that perspective. I currently work with the Canadian Red Cross in the Injury Prevention department. I am in a project management role revising […]
Continue reading Hello! Posted in: Week 01: Introductions
Hello Kristopher! I lived in Ottawa most of my life but I’m a recent transplant to Montreal. I created the writing content for an occupational health and safety module for the Canadian Standards Association a few years ago. The module was a 2D “serious game” with simple scenarios and commentary on choices. Congrats on your anniversary and best wishes on your project!
Can I get a job at your home office? 😉
Nice to meet you. Looking forward to working together.
Emily
Hi Kristopher – nice office location.
I used to work at the Red Cross (Winnipeg location) many years ago. Can I ask what your educational background is? I do some project management activities now in my current job as a Clinical Informatics Specialist (I am a nurse by trade) and was wondering how you ended up down that avenue.
Looking forward to working witn you,
Deb
A first greeting from your instructor along with some information about the course and an outline of your work for the first week.
Continue reading Welcome to ETEC522! Posted in: Announcements, Week 01: Introductions
Hi David,
I am really looking forward to this course. You invited comments about the New York Times article so here I go…
I completely disagree with most of Randy Yerrick’s points in the New York TImes article. It appears as though Yerrick is citing research that is looking at engagement and test scores. What I think is always the missing, but most important piece, is how the *teacher* is using the technology within a solid instructional design. You can’t just dump millions of dollars of technology into schools and expect it to have an effect on learning (as measured by “test scores”) but this article makes it sound like that is exactly what they are looking at. The Maine study should have been a clue–they had difficulty separating the effects of the technology from the effects of the teaching. I think if you really think about this, the teacher’s instructional design will always have a significant effect on learning… if technology is used effectively in that instructional design, then that is great, but it is still the teacher’s decisions regarding implementation that counted, not the technology per se.
Where I do agree with Yerrick is in his assessment of “engagement.” It is a fluffy term and I wish educational technologists would stop using it when trying to justify technology in classrooms.
The article notes a lot of dollar figures about the millions spent on technology but it doesn’t really say how much, if any at all, was spent on training the teachers to use the technology effectively with students, in ways that would maximize student success.
I really like Mark Share’s point that he makes in the signature of each of his emails: “It’s not the stuff that counts — it’s what you do with it that matters.” That’s exactly right.
Re the importance of design, the fluffiness of engagement, the failure to separate pedagogy from technology in producing results… Amen Brother.
You are speaking my language! If I ever use the engagement term in my office, my Director winces…he agrees that it is a fluffy word that rarely translates into improved achievement. As he stated, “if I walked into a classroom in a clown suit, they would sure be engaged too…and I would not have had to spend much money at all…But would they learn…not likely”…same with the technology. If learning theory understanding and sound pedagogical practice do not accompany the technology, then you have wasted a lot of money and time..
Before you publish your posting, please make sure that you select a category (eg. Introductions) as well as assign some meaningful tags (keywords).
David William Price 5:58 pm on September 6, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
You might be interested in this article on Neuromyths in education.
http://www.economist.com/node/9261727?story_id=9261727
Karen Jones 6:42 pm on September 6, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Thanks for the link, David. I agree with the statement that it is dangerous to pigeonhole students as one type of learner or another. Ideally, in a perfect world, the educational path available to children would be comprised of a variety of choices regarding both topic and medium in which to engage and express learning. Unfortunately, we as teachers seem to constantly be reinventing the wheel, and discovering different approaches is dependent on access, time, and willingness to embrace change. Although there are many digital collections of materials, wouldn’t it be great if there was a searchable central innovative learning resources repository by province? country?
Just wishing:)
KJ
mcquaid 4:24 pm on September 7, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I think your wishes, Karen, will come true… perhaps sooner than one would think? I believe one of the most important aspects of the web and information in general now is how it is labelled, tagged, categorized, etc. With so much out there, people are going to need to find things by key words / tags more and more. With this becoming more common, finding info by place, subject, etc. should get easier… then we just have to decide what to do with everything BEFORE now. :S
Like you, I think a strength of tech can be things like blended environments that better support the “diversity of learning styles, interests, and abilities” of students.
Steve
BC seems like such a nice place… I really must visit. Even just for the sights & breweries if I can’t make it to see my relatives & friends! 😉