Hello class, my name is Alex and this is my 5th MET course. I’m currently enrolled in the Graduate Certificate track, but will be switching to the full master’s program soon. I currently work at the Sauder School of Business, managing the Canaccord Learning Commons. I am responsible for co-curricular programming at the school, including spaces, in person-programming and services, as well as online learning components. Recently I’ve been working with faculty on creating co-curricular learning activities grounded in their course assignments inside of our LMS. I’m very excited about this since this is major milestone for us. You can see what we offer students by visiting our website here. I’m currently in the process of leaving my job at UBC and moving to Calgary, so I apologize in advance if I go MIA for short periods of time.

My background is in business. I graduated with a BCom. from Sauder, specializing in Organizational Behaviour and minoring in Psychology. I was an analyst at a management consulting firm before joining UBC, and have extensive experience with business analysis and presentation building (two things that it seems we’ll be doing a lot of in this course). PS we have some content on building great presentations on our website here if you want to check that out :).

I’m looking forward to engaging with all of you.

Here’s a video we made for our students as part of our weekly video series with three tips for better presentations:

Good morning!

I am wondering what the “first” day of the week is for this course – and by corollary, what day is the last day of the week, when our assignments will be due 🙂   In my previous experience this has sometimes been Monday and other times Sunday, so I didn’t want to make an assumption.

Thank you!

Nicola

Hello everybody! It’s nice to be starting Winter Term 1 with you.

My name is Nicola, and I am originally from northern B.C.. For the past three years (and since commencing MET) I lived in Haida Gwaii and worked as a librarian on reserve and an educational consultant. Projects included a variety of technology-supported educational ventures, including a mobile app for the local Aboriginal language revitalization initiatives, and an eSchool for adult learners.  I have been interested in ETEC522 since 2010 when I was first reviewing the courses MET had to offer, as I believe that the ability to successfully pitch and analyse pitches is an essential component of any educator’s skillset.

I took a break from the 2013 summer term in order to move to Quebec in order to pursue French as a second language.  For the 2013/2014 school year, I’m living about 90km northeast of Quebec City, in a small town called Baie-St-Paul where I am employed at an école secondaire as an English language monitor through a program funded by the Department of Canadian Heritage.  My new workplace has strong ET leadership and significantly innovative projects, including a recently completed, fully equipped CNC lab with an elective course for students to create their own snowboards from scratch; and an award winning, student-led television program.

This term, I am taking my eighth and ninth courses of MET, with my other course ETEC565M: Mobile Education. I have a variety of interests in the field of educational technology and it seems that with every course, I develop new interests to add to the list. Major themes through my MET courses to date have included technology applications for language acquisition, applications of 3D printing, and more recently, educational technology in defense/military settings. Wearable technology is one area that I currently know little about, but would be interested in delving into.

I’m Ross. This is my 6th MET course. I currently teach kindergarten at an international school in Moscow. I love traveling, working with kids and technology. We use ipads, document cameras, SMART boards etc. every day at school. At home I’m even more of a geek or at least that’s what friends and family tell me. I’m an early adopter and love to play at the edges of what’s possible with technology. I often tell people it’s not that I’m better at technology than most rather that I simply have more experience because I jumped in early and continue to do so.

I look forward to learning from all of you but now I’m off to enjoy Moscow city day. It’s been raining here for a week but for holidays the government actually releases chemicals into the clouds to dissipate them. The result is that official holidays are always sunny! Another great use of technology! I don’t know about the environmental implications but I’m going to enjoy the sun and blue sky anyways.

I can’t change my profile photo. I tried about 8 times. This is not urgent but it’s annoying. PS I am using Chrome, is there a better browser to use with WordPress?

Viewpoint on Highway 29

photo by Susan Hubbard

My name is Jackie and this is my 8th MET course. I am responsible for overseeing 29 distributed learning Math and Science courses for the secondary students in our district. Our school has been undergoing a great deal of change over the past couple of years which makes this a very exciting and trying time. I hope to be able to make a positive contribution by implementing some of the things I learn in this program. 🙂

This is the 9th and last time I write an intro for MET.  I am a jewelry artist /teacher, and I enrolled in MET 3 years ago to put my jewelry classes online. The research I have done has led to some innovative yet ridiculously simple applications using video. I have a vision for a methodology that I want to explore in this class. I hope we all have a great term.

Surely at the speed the internet is evolving Open Source traditional subject courses should be available for general access and integration within programs of study. Why re-invent the wheel? The availability of such plug and play content frees the teacher to focus on enrichment experiences, adaptations and modifications. A collected resource library should be ever expanding and as per YouTube will be bested by newer versions; in other words a market place for knowledge.

Hello all,

Troy Moore from glorious Quesnel, BC…home of the giant gold pan, West Fraser, Billy Barker Days, and, of course, the Moore family. This semester will mark class number 7 and 8 of my MET. I am hoping to be done in April. Keep your fingers crossed. Currently, I am librarian and Writing 12 teacher at Correlieu Senior Secondary School (Home of the Clan!). I took this class out of interest. Learning and technology is an oft-bantered subject. Every wants to bring in more technology, but at what cost and benefit? There is the potential for great strides in technology and education. BCEsis was a venture in learning technology, as was the overhead projector once upon a time. I wonder what the next powerpoint or prezi will be?

Good luck to all this semester and I look forward to learning from each and everyone of you!

My name is Dana.

1. My professional background

– Learning support teacher

– Grade K classroom teacher

– Grade K/1 classroom teacher

– Grade 1 classroom teacher

2. My current employment

– Elementary teacher

3. My reason for taking this course

– I am interested in learning how to become a pioneer in advancing learning technologies that would benefit my class, my school, and, perhaps, my district. Although I have no idea what this will mean for me, I am looking forward to finding out if I have what it takes to be a pioneer in my teaching context.

I wish everyone success in this course!

Hi Profs,

Is there a way to edit or delete comments? Not main posts, but simply comments. I tend to make mistakes and like to go back and correct them lest I look a tad foolish. Is there a way to do this that I’m unaware of ?

Thanks,
Brendan Alexander

Hi everyone,

Ta Chi Lee is my legal name, but I am more used to be called Margaret Lee. I immigrated to Canada 20 years ago from Taiwan, so I think of Vancouver as my home now. I am a bilingual instructor teaching ESL and Mandarin as a second language. In Vancouver, I had taught at Langara College and SFU and I am now a language program coordinator at a private college. Having read many of your posts, I have learned that each of you have diverse backgrounds and are living in different places, so I’m quite excited to work and learn with everyone. This course uses UBC Blogs instead of the Vista and Connect, so I think this would be another intriguing experience which can extend my practice in both learning and teaching application.

E-learning has changed the way we educate and at my college, our plan is to focus on expanding this market to Asia.  This will be the first step for us in attempting to balance the theory and practice to successfully create market plans and find e-learning business opportunities in this digital generation. This is why I am here to further my knowledge and expertise in the field of education as an enterprise through this course. I am looking forward to working with everyone.

Best,

Margaret

Hi guys.

After a summer off, I have signed up for my 6 & 7th MET courses this semester (522 & 531).  I have worked as a Veterinary Technician (like a nurse for animals) for years and had hoped to teach it online but horizons keep expanding so who knows where this will eventually lead.

I have learned much about teaching from MET (actually, just the tip of the iceberg – teachers are my new heroes!) but technology still challenges. It takes me a while but I eventually catch on. Just bought my first smartphone the other day.

Riding the great biking trails of the Cowichan Valley in summer keeps me sane but when it rains in winter, I wimp out and walk. Just about walking season again.

Hi there everyone

I’m Alex from beautiful Victoria, BC.  This will be my fourth MET course and it’s nice to see some familiar faces back again.  I am a middle school learning support teacher – just beginning my seventh year on the job.  Special Ed and technology work very well together and are definitely providing learning opportunities that have simply not existed before.  Pretty exciting.

When I’m not in the classroom I like being outside.  My bike ride to/from work is often one of the best parts of my day.  So many podcasts, so little time.

I’m looking forward to this course and connecting with new and interesting ideas.

The amount, form and location of information that is accessible is quickly expanding. Going even further, the ability to overlap additional levels of information on top of what we naturally perceive is not only like science fiction brought to life, but it is readily purchasable in the form of Augmented Reality hardware and software. With apps such as Accrossair, one simply needs to lift his smart phone to see, in real time, locations and distances. If the thought of unlocking your phone and lifting it up is too much for you, then look no further as Google has you covered. With the advent of Google Glass, mapping information can be displayed at anytime in front of you.

Opportunity Statement

With the amount and speed of data recognition constantly increasing, Augmented Reality provides the possibility for learners to see the natural world around them while also experiencing many typically unseen layers. As mobile technology floods into the field of education, not to mention many other domains, the opportunity to add and then decipher tiers of data is allowing learners the choice to access it when needed.

Prediction Source

13 Trends in 2013: #8 Rise of Augmented Reality

Augmented Reality and Education: Applications and Potentials

Hi, my name is Lois. I live in the sunny Okanagan. I love to spend time outside, especially on my paddle board. I teach Home Ec. at a middle school and love every minute of it. My new adventure in technology for this year is to try to use Evernote Food with my class.

Hi Everyone!

My name is Danielle and I live in London, Ontario, or as I often call it, Little London (although its not that little).  I am a business teacher, currently teaching accounting at a rural school, and am excited to learn more about different ventures to take that knowledge back to the classroom.

I am also currently taking 540, and these will be courses number 7 and 8 for me in the MET program.  Its looking to be a busy semester as I look at the syllabus for both these courses, am currently teaching two brand new courses, and work on wedding planning (although I have some time for that still!).

I look forward to working with all of you, and getting to know you!

Dani

Hello All!

I’m very glad to be taking this course with you all. I am currently teaching Integrated Arts in an elementary school, here in Montreal. Unfortunately, I do not have access to much technology, my computer is not even up and running in my classroom yet, oh the joys! The students can be tough, but I like the challenge. I’m enjoying it, but it is exhausting! This is my final course on my journey through the MET program. I am excited to be finishing up, and promised myself I would make the trek to Vancouver to pick up my diploma (hopefully all goes well!).

I look forward to working and learning alongside you!

Milena 🙂

This semester I am adjusting to a lot of new changes. For one, I just moved from Burnaby to Delta and am enjoying my new home. I have also taken a break from teaching full time and am currently on maternity leave expecting to give birth to my first child in October. Finally, I am enrolled in my fifth course for the MET program. Hopefully, I can juggle a new born and a new course at the same time. Before my leave, I was teaching full-time Math and Science at a secondary public school for the Surrey School Board.

I am excited to learn about all the new emerging learning technology that I have started reading about in this course. It would be interesting to see how the different technologies can be implemented in a high school setting as a lot of the articles focused on post secondary education. I am hoping the exposure that I get from this course as well as previous MET courses would allow me to integrate sound pedagogical theory with technology into my teaching methods  and make me a better twenty first century educator.

The one image I would like to share is the Piscasso Head Self Portrait that I had to complete as an introductory activity for another MET course. I had a lot of fun creating it and I feel that it is reflective of the flexibility technology offers a learning environment to merge multiple skills in an academic setting and a unique way to perform a task like introducing oneself. If anyone else wants to give it a try, it is available at http://www.picassohead.com/

Stephanie

Hi, I’m on my 6th MET course … writing you from Australia where I live.

I am really keen to explore Word Press and maybe one of the assignment topics will let me dabble on my own project?  (let’s see).

Great to be here with you guys and look forward to chatting more soon.

– Janette

Hello everyone! My name is Ryan and I am currently enrolled in 522 and 565m, both with David! These are courses 7 and 8 for me in my MET journey. I  have greatly enjoyed my experiences thus far in all the courses that I have completed and I have been looking forward to this course since my enrollment (more on that in a second!)

I currently live in Edmonton with my wonderful wife and 2 daughters (who just finished their second day of grades 3 and 1). Although I live in Edmonton, I am commuting to Fort Saskatchewan (NE of Edmonton) where I am fulfilling a new role as “Directeur adjoint” (assistant principal) in a newly formed French immersion school. Previous to this I have been working else where in the district as an educator.

I have been looking forward to this course as I have always felt that I have had a very entrepreneurial spirit, but have not known how to express it. My hope is that I will either have made or be on the cusp of making a true foray into a Kickstarter campain!!! (The thought gives me shivers!) Since its conception I have been drawn to see and support the creativity of those around the world, which has caused my wife to say (with much love) “No more Kickstarter!” (My bank account is not large enough for all the innovation I have seen!)

I am looking forward to learning lots this term and in getting to know all of you!

Bon courage!

One day…

Well, BC’s North Shore is well represented in this session of ETEC 522.

My name is Diane and this is my 4th term within the MET. I am taking 522 concurrently with ETEC 512.  Vastly different courses, I suspect, which should help me keep the subject matter correctly categorized in my brain. I’m more than a little nervous about attempting 2 courses this term.
My motivation is that my son moved away for 1st year university on the weekend, so I expect I will have much more time on my hands to dedicate to my studies.   I need to keep myself busy so I’m not over visiting him and making his life miserable 🙂
I am one of those fish-out-of-water students. I am a practicing healthcare professional, working at Fraser Health Authority, looking to open some doors to new career options.   I think 522 will be a fabulous experience for considering the business side of educational technology with all its permutations, and already have an idea or two in mind that I’d like to work on this term.
I love how diverse the student population of the MET program is, from educational backgrounds to work experiences to locations. It makes for much richer discussions when we come from different backgrounds and have such different ‘voices’.
I look forward to working with you all and learning from you as the next 13 weeks unfold…..

When not working or studying, I can often be found hiking the trails of North Vancouver with my golden retriever, Sam.

All the best, Diane

Hello all from Central Alberta. My name is Dale and this is my seventh course through the MET journey. I live in Vermilion with my wife and shitzu, MacKenzie. I am a retired submariner who served 21 years with the Canadian Military. I work at Lakeland College as the Accessibility Advisor and Assistive Technologist. I provide support to students with diverse needs (disabilities). I am looking forward to learning more about the venture factors involved in technology and working with such a diverse group.

Hello -My name is Terri, and this is my ninth course in the MET Program. My professional background includes dietetics, technical writing, courseware development, instructional design, IT project management as well as business analysis. I currently work for a large software firm that allows me to dabble in all of the above, except dietetics of course! My interests center around virtual live classroom and e-learning initiatives. I especially enjoy the challenges and rewards of working on virtual teams dispersed across time zones.

When I’m not working, you’ll generally find me enjoying the outdoors on the North Shore Mountains although I’d love to hike up Mount Cheam (Chilliwack) pictured below. As well, this fall I’m planning on taking up kayaking. Anyone have any suggestions for taking up this activity?

Reading through the bios I’m thrilled to see that once again we’re a highly diversified group. I look forward to learning with you.  – Terri

What part of being North is so attractive to me you might ask. Well …it’s living in the superlative!  😉 The further North the more pristine, wild and invigorating. It’s just so cooool…(-40) and the people are so interesting.

So I have been busy preparing. My car has been very unreliable, so I had to get something more dependable. I’ve hauled my guns out of the safe and have been stocking up on foodstuffs. I’m taking my bread-makers, bought lots of powdered milk and gathered my collection of music and video CDs ; and…not to forget I’m taking my computer to stay in touch with you folk. I did check and they claim they do have a reasonably good DSL hookup. The location is Iskut, B.C. from which I intend to build my corporate empire after completing this course. I wonder if the NSA surveillance teams will be able to track me down there?

I’ve had some experience building empires. I ran a very successful language institute in Vancouver for many years and subsequently became consultant on international student recruitment to several Lower Mainland School Districts and several Community Colleges. I traveled extensively internationally in my recruiting efforts. I also represented the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate (UCLES) in the Lower Maniland as Local Secretary.

My interest in this course is due to the fact that at the core I’m still entrepreneurial. I like to solve issues that present themselves as a challenge. I’m hoping to meet some kindred spirits to brain storm. preferably in an international context.

About me personally: Retired teacher, three gown kids now successfully launched, and a dedicated wife who plans to stay home in North Van while I move north for ten months to stare at the Aurora Borealis.

Hi everyone,

I’m excited and slightly nervous to be doing this course and 565M this term, as I’ve had a long break from studying. Right now, I’m a stay-at-home mom to 2 little boys. Prior to that I was a college instructor, a creative for a couple dot com companies, and an e-learning consultant at an educational publishing company in New Zealand, in which I helped develop new literacy and numeracy products for NZ schools and international markets. I have a personal interest in how technology can help kids with special needs.  When not doing MET courses, I run a little Etsy shop with my husband selling our prints and paper products (the antithesis to digital!) and consult for a start up app development company. I’m very happy to be on this adventure with you all!

This image captures the essence of what my life is like.

Hello there everyone! My name is Amber and this is my first semester in the MET program. I’ve been teaching for the past seven years all over the world and having worked in different countries and curriculums, I have seen the disparity in the quality of education overseas. I believe that technology will be the power that levels the playing field, giving everyone equal opportunity to the high quality education they will need to follow their dreams. I want to be a part of this and the MET program has the potential of giving me the knowledge and skills I will need to get involved.

So now I’m back in Vancouver and grateful to live here in what I consider to be one of the most beautiful places on earth. I spend every free minute out in nature hiking, biking, jogging, and basically enjoying the great outdoors. I’m hoping that next year I will have been able to save enough money to take off and finish this program while riding my bike around the US and really putting online education to the test. But really, who knows what the next year will bring?

Hello All,

My name is Evan Barr and this is my 5th course in the MET Program, so I’s nearly half way there.

I’m currently completing my MET part-time, treating it more as a marathon rather than a sprint, as I am teaching full time as well. Balancing my course work and teaching responsibilities is a challenge, but I find it forces me to make use of my time more efficiently. Its amazing how much time one can waste if they don’t have something to keep them motivated.

The reason I took ETEC 522 is to gain some alternative perspective within the field of educational technology. Many of the other course I have taken within the MET Program have been geared towards eLearning and the theory that surrounds it. I am hoping to gain some perspective on what it takes to be a pioneer in the educational technology field, and learn some alternative applications of educational technology outside the school setting. This course also has unique form of blog style delivery which I already find easier to navigate than the Connect pages used in other courses.

Personally, I enjoy hockey (Go Sens Go), the outdoors and alternative music. I live on a lake in Eastern Ontario and have recently finished a project which saw rehabilitation of the spawning grounds for walleye (pickerel) on the lake, which hopefully will lead to greater fish stock within the lake in the coming years.

I look forward to working with you all in the coming weeks.

Evan

Hi, everyone!

I’m Sarah. This is my 5th (and final!) course in my graduate certificate program. I won’t be flying to BC in the spring for graduation, but I’ll hum the graduation march when I open my certificate in the mail.

I have a little 1.5-year-old girl, and a great husband who works in higher education. I’m a trained teacher who “fell” into the world of educational publishing after graduating from teachers’ college and have been there ever since. I now manage the production of our suite of K-12 digital products.

My reasons for taking this course are two-fold; one, because the course I wanted to take this semester was full (perhaps I should have prefaced this post with a warning: I offer no-holds-barred honesty!), and two, because I desperately wanted a practical course to finish off my certificate. I always felt a bit out of the loop when taking my other courses because I work in business and not education! While the core courses of the program offered me lots of insight into research on eLearning on a large scale I haven’t yet been given the opportunity to explore the actual design of an eLearning (or any type of learning) product from a money-making standpoint. Although this is actually part of my job we so often fall into the habit of sticking with what’s safe, and that is what I’ve done! This course will definitely push me to try something new.

I love baking, reading (currently obsessed with Game of Thrones), and coaching a synchronized swimming team in my community.

I look forward to working with you all over the next few months.

All the best!

Sarah

Hi Everybody,

My name is Brendan Alexander. I’m originally from Vancouver, but currently live with my wife in Dallas, TX. Here’s what we look like:

This is my 4th MET course, and I’m delighted to see a few familiar faces… er, names.

I am a curriculum writer and language teacher. Currently I am working on a curriculum project that bridges Chinese and Korean middle-school aged students into the Canadian public school system. I last taught in June at a school in Vancouver. Previous to that I spent a year teaching in Saudi Arabia, and 3 years teaching in Seoul, Korea.

I think this course really jumped out at me because, first and foremost, it sounds really interesting. I am always captivated by innovation and the entrepreneurial spirit. After reading the course description I got really excited thinking of possible pitch ideas! I have been taking mostly theoretical courses at this point, so it’s really refreshing to do something a little more creative.

Other than that, I’m glad to meet you guys!

Brendan

Hello everyone,

My name is David MacKinnon and I am currently teaching at Wellington College International Tianjin in China (picture is below).  I have been in Tianjin for almost five years now and I love it.  I teach biology and math to middle school/high school students.

This is my 6th/7th course in the MET program and I have learned an incredible amount since I started the program.  I have to admit this course is definitely outside of my area of expertise, but I am really looking forward to learning something outside of my comfort zone.  I’m not sure if I have what it takes to be a pioneer, but I am ready to find out!

Cheers,

Dave

My name is Shaimaa. This term I am taking my 5^th & 6^th MET courses (this course and 511 which is my last core course). I am an Egyptian living in Germany, Munich as my husband works here. We have two daughters who are 5 and 2.

My educational experience is quite diversified. Back in Egypt, my focus was on Adult Education especially in a non-formal setting. I used to design and facilitate training courses in various fields: Development, NGO work, and Business Consulting. Here in Munich, I am teaching Arabic for kids (5-10 years old). I am trying to keep my connection to Adult Education through focusing on related topics in MET courses and designing training courses for adults in Egypt for community development purposes.

I think this image is quite a good reflection of what I am trying to do 🙂

Looking forward to learning and interacting with all of you

Shaimaa

Hi there! My name is Momoe and this will be my 3rd MET course so far. I am a physician working in the field of obstetrics and gynecology. I decided to participate in the MET program to help me in my academic career in medical student and resident physician education. Both courses I have taken so far have been great but definitely a huge learning curve for me, and I’m sure this course will be no different! It’s kind of nice to learn something completely out of my comfort zone . . . most of the time.

Looking forward to working with you!

Mo

Hello, my name is Rocky and this will be my 7th/8th MET course. Oh how time flies! I am currently working at an international school in Hong Kong teaching Year 2 (Grade 1). Amber warning is currently hoisted, not like the amber alert in Toronto, but just means it’s raining a lot – a signal may then be elevated to red rain, and black rain would mean no school.

This year we moved towards using GoogleDocs for team planning and installing two new class sets of iPads, ready for trial with the entire grade level. I look forward to working with you all.

Here is a picture from when I was travelling in Mexico this summer. Taxco was a beautiful small city famous for silver.

Hey Everyone,

My name is John and this is my 9th MET course.  If all goes well, I should be flying out to BC to attend graduation next year.  I suspect I’ll be the first person from my board to request a graduation leave of absence to go across the country and I have my fingers crossed that they’ll give me more than one day.

I teach a 5/6 split in a little community outside of Windsor, Ontario.  I’ve been here about 10 years, and have always taught some version of grade 5, 6 or both.  I love the age; they retain the eagerness of children, while being able to take on more difficult cognitive challenges.

Prior to the MET program, I generally considered myself fairly tech savvy. While the MET program has introduced me to fantastic resources, it has also really highlighted how much more I have to learn.  I’m looking forward to learning with all of you this term.