My name is Ceci and I have been teaching for 10 years in Vancouver now. I am a language teacher, teaching from grade 7 to grade 12. I hold a Master of Arts degree from East China Normal University, majoring in translation studies. As an educator, I am excited about the changes that technology brings to education and eager to learn more. I started the MET program in 2016, and this is my last course. WOOHOO!
Before I came to Vancouver, I was teaching English as a second language in a south-west city in China. I also taught in Seattle Public Schools for two years and a half. I’m a proud mom of a five-year-old daughter, Claire. My husband and I love spending time with her and watching her grow.
I was attracted to MET because I wanted to develop a more sophisticated understanding of the role of technology in classroom teaching, with the intent to improve and inform my practice. However, what I’ve gained from the program is much more than I expected. I found myself developing a more philosophical view of technology in our society. Of course, every course I took in the program has been benefiting my teaching practice in many ways.
Watching my daughter’s little fingers double tapping, swiping and entering my password to unlock my iPhone or her iPad, I don’t know how to describe my feelings. It’s a mix of emotions for sure. Am I impressed, or am I concerned. I can’t help asking what’s the impact of technology on young children, the digital natives?
What I hope to come away from this course are new perspectives on mobile learning while many of us are trying to harness the potential benefits of the mobile phone and its social media applications. Looking forward to the learning journey we’ll embark upon together.
Hi Ceci,
Congratulations at being nearly “done”, it sounds like it’s been a wonderful journey. As a parent of a young one, I too think a lot about our “digital natives”. From an educational perspective, I also can’t help but wonder if we’re doing enough to support parents and families in understanding just what the term “digital native” means. In my context at least, I think we could be doing a lot more to help put things in perspective and offer more professional insight into both the risks and benefits, particularly for young learners. One big risk is that many parents simply feel the competitive pressure to “immerse” their child in technology, something we see a lot here in Hong Kong.
I look forward to learning with you!
~Matt
Hi Matt,
Thank you, and welcome to MET 🙂 Yes, it’s been an amazing journey! I met some good friends and profs, learned a lot, and created some artifacts I would cherish forever… Since I’m working full-time, I really take my time, taking a break from time to time. Most of the time, I’m only taking one course per term. Don’t feel like being rushed, and hope to get the most out of the program.
Good luck, and see you around 🙂
Hi Ceci,
Congratulations on getting on to your last course! Yeah!
It is happy to see someone who also graduated from a “Normal” university from China. Whenever I said I graduated from a normal university, I wondered would people understand what I was saying? However, I did not want to be an educational practitioner at first but slowly grow my interest in it after I spend more time with the students. Sometimes I would play some video games with my students in my spare time. I have been trying to see what we, as educators, can do to encourage the students to use their electronic resources to learn, or at least help them learn more efficiently. Especially under the content of working in an international school hosted in a highly traditional dictated Chinese host school.
Hi Jane,
Nice meeting you! I totally get what you mean, haha 🙂 I’ve never been to Liu Zhou. Hope to visit one day… Looking forward to learning with you.
Hi Ceci!
So great to see a familiar face! I can relate to the feeling of either being impressed or concerned when the little ones can swipe, unlock, and navigate a device so confidently. Looking forward to working with you this semester!
Kylie
Hello Ceci, lovely to meet you! I also have ESL experience, and I’m with you on being both impressed and concerned about digital natives. My 9 year old niece lives in the UK, and we’ve been FaceTiming and playing Roblox together – she is my mentor through figuring out the games, how to change settings, etc. and as we play she reads along with text on the screen, using inflection and adding her spin on it. I know her parents get concerned about her interest in playing games, but it’s a social activity for her, and I’m glad we are getting to bond this way. Looking forward to learning with you in this course!
Nice to meet you, Mel! Kids are really good with technology, aren’t they? Looking forward to learning with you this term 🙂
Ceci
Ceci! So lovely to be doing another course with you!
I am sharing that mixed feeling you have about your daughter, watching my cousin’s 11 year old son at the moment. We are staying here due to not being able to get home, and he has school cancelled due to the pandemic. It’s strange watching him be so adept at his three-technology setup with youtube, tictok, and fortnite running simultaneously but not knowing how to navigate the Google Teams platform his teacher is using or that google translate exists for his English homework.
We shall see what comes of it all over the next few years, I guess…
J
Jamie! I’m thrilled to see you here! Thought we were in different classes, but it’s so nice that I could see your posting as well. That’s amazing! Hope you and your husband are doing well in Germany and things will get better soon. Take care!
Ceci
Hi Ceci, nice video. Looking forward to learning with you in this course.
Thanks, Ram. Nice meeting you! Looking forward to learning together 🙂