ETEC540: Text, Technologies Community Weblog

Hello everyone! It was difficult to pick just one photo, but I ended up selecting what appears to be the beginning of a presentation promoting a Moodle learning environment to an unknown audience, possibly other teachers. The text on the projector screen says “Moodle or Muddle: From paper to cyber”, implying that Moodle has clear benefits over a printed paper format. The photo to me represents an example of a forum where people are sharing ideas and trying to make sense of the shifting technological landscape at the grassroots level. How can we ensure that the new technologies we choose to adopt in schools are beneficial to student learning and what impacts are they having on literacy?

It is also interesting to note some of the other technologies in the classroom, from the digital projector to the overhead projector, as well as the classroom configuration itself, and to think about what classrooms of tomorrow might look like. Depending on how networked technologies such as Moodle are utilized by teachers and schools, additional devices for students, and room configurations to support them could become necessary. On the other hand, such technologies can also be used to support and extend face to face classroom activities in ways that do not require such a complete switch from one format to another.

I am a middle years teacher in a rural Manitoba school division, and also have a part time role in supporting teachers with their use of educational technology in the classroom. My school division uses Moodle and other distance education technologies to support high school course delivery in many of our smaller schools, but it is also interesting to see how Moodle and other similar technologies are increasingly being used in many different ways in face-to-face classrooms as well. This is my 8th course in the MET program, and I look forward to once again engaging in the conversations, readings, and online spaces we will share to deepen my understanding of educational technology and education in the 21st century. I look forward to participating with everyone in our collective dialogue in the upcoming weeks!

A student recently told me that he read the world was going to end in two weeks. A comet was going to align with Earth creating a catastrophic earthquake and we would cease to exist. My first thought was, “darn, I haven’t finished the MET”. I then began to reflect on the power of words and their meaning and interpretation. Words have the power to create new worlds or destroy them. With the words my student read, his reality became one of fear and doubt as an impending apocalypse neared.

In the radio broadcast, “From Papyrus to Cyberspace”, James O’Donnell discusses our need to understand who we are and the reality we live in in order to make rational decisions. We are prone to an outlook of doom when problems arise. It is therefore our responsibility to apply our wisdom and knowledge to make sense of the world around us.

Two weeks later, my student learned the true meaning of how us humans ‘eat our words’ when our predictions do not materialize. The photo I have chosen says just that.

I have been teaching English at a men’s college in the United Arab Emirates for the past 3.5 years. BC is still my home and I return every summer to enjoy a few clouds and scattered showers. I am taking my 6th and 7th courses this semester which includes ETEC 512. I still can’t believe I am halfway there. And I am loving every minute of it.

O’Donnell, J. (1999). From Payrus to Cyberspace. [Radio broadcast]. Cambridge Forum.

Hi everybody!

This image shows a fresco Kiss of Judas in a small Croatian church build in the 13th century – St. Mary of the Rocks in Beram. I’ve chosen this image because it is related to a primary oral culture, i.e. the culture of people unfamiliar with writing. Although I have some previous knowledge on oral cultures, only when I was reading the first chapter of Ong’s Orality&Literacy I realised that I can’t imagine how primary orality looks like. When I was in London I was told that the old inns hadn’t had written names, but pictures on a sign because a large proportion of the population had been illiterate so pictures had been more useful than words. Similar to that, the peasants living in the 13th century in Beram were illiterate and probably the only literate person in the village was a priest. The frescos in the church show scenes from the Bible but adapted to the illiterate audience. This kind of presenting the Bible is called – Biblia Pauperum – the Bible for the poor (meaning illiterate). I think that these examples can make us term primary oral culture more comprehensible. The other reason for choosing this picture was to show you a part of Croatia.

I’ve been working for the Croatian Academic and Research Network – CARNet, a government agency which provides network and related services to Croatian universities and schools. I am a head of the CARNet educational centre. We develop and deliver online courses and educational materials on use of ICT for students and teachers. I live in Zagreb, a capital of Croatia, with my husband Mario and two daughters – Marisa (6) and Romana (2). This is my 9th course at the MET! I’m planning to take my last MET course in December and to come to the graduation ceremony to Vancouver next year. You can reach me at gordana.jugo@carnet.hr. Here’s the link to my e-portfolio http://gordanajugo.wordpress.com

Why I’m in this course? I am familiar with the influence made by print on the society and with the interrelations between technologies and society in general. I think that in order to better understand the impact of new information and communication technologies on teaching and learning and on human in general we need to better understand a broader context including text technologies.

I’m so glad to see so many common faces here. Looking forward to working with all of you!

Gordana

I chose this picture because to me it epitomises just how much technology has made literacy available to us all.  The Gutenberg Bible was the first book made (more) widely available through the technology of the printing press.  The iPad is a technology that represents a whole new dimension to literacy.  People are not only able to read but to interact with others to create new understandings.  Thus technology, here, adds a new thread to the ever-evolving web of literacy.

This course is one that I have looked forward to taking since I began the MET program.  This is my eighth course.  As a teacher I am constantly trying to find ways to help my students to not only become literate but to embrace literacy. It is interesting to see that often students believe that they are  not “readers” or “writers” in a traditional sense of picking up a book and reading it, or writing a paragraph, but can be seen as eager communicators, reading and writing, in a technology-rich environment. My goal in this course is to explore the changing face of literacy and consider ways to harness technology to support literacy in schools.

It is great to see some familiar names in this course!  I look forward to working with you all! ~ Sian

Hi everyone! My name is Garth and I am a student in the Educational Psychology, Technology in Education department at the University of Alberta.

I chose this image because I am fascinated with how mobile technology is changing the way we interact with each other. To a ludite, these three individuals have no idea how to talk with each other and their cellphones have ruined them. To a technophile, their are strengthening multiple relationships at once. As has been alluded to throughout module 1, I think the true effect of mobile technology lies somewhere in between.

I am an instructor in the Office Adminstration department at Grande Prairie Regional College. When I started teaching here 6 years ago I was interested in learning more about how technology (computers) have and will affect written language. After working with students who use mobile technologies all of the time, I became more interested in how mobile technologies are affecting the way students interact with each other, and how that affects the typical classroom.

Google led me to this course and I am very excited to be a part of this learning community and look forward to getting to know everyone.

My favorite part of the day in my classroom was when we would sit down and share a really good book. Early in my career I made a pedagogical decision to read aloud in my classroom each day regardless of the age of students I taught. I not only wanted to share my love and joy of reading with them but my love of learning.

I started taking courses five years ago this month. My goal was to enhance my skills and thinking in the area of educational technology so that I could collaboratively work with staff and students to share my love of learning. I finished a Diploma in Teacher Librarianship and Adult Education. Later this academic year I will finish my Master of Educational Technology. I could never have imagined five years ago where this journey has meandered.

Flickr has so many pictures to enjoy. I chose to share this picture for three reasons. The first reason is that the space is a public library fill with books. The second reason is that the library is also filled with school children. The third reason is that the picture represents the technology at the time it was taken. When I look at it I realize how much has changed in the physical space and technology of the 21st century library.

There is so much that has changed in my career, the introduction of the Internet, computers in the classrooms, digital projectors, interactive whiteboards, iPods, kindle… the list continues to grow at an exponential rate. I love working with students and teachers to navigate these new digital territories as we discover new ways to think, learn and grow digitally.

I choose this photo because it reflects my sense of humor. I think the sign does a marvelous job at getting the correct point across whilst adding humor to the message; I’m a believer of trying to instill humor into my life and the lives of others around me as much as possible. Life doesn’t have to be serious all the time and the ability to laugh is important to learn, it’s what separates us from the animals (also, the ability to weasel out of things is important to learn, it’s what separates us from the animals …… except the weasel – Homer Simpson, 1999).

About me, I’ an UBC graduate that is teaching at Mission Secondary School as the Information Technology Teacher; I teach Desktop Publishing 11, Information Technology 11/12, Yearbook 11/12 as well I am the Tech Support for my school and department head. In addition to that I also serve on the District Technology committee for Mission Public School District. I also run a course for the University of the Fraser Valley through my school that started in February 2010; this may open up further career opportunities for me.

I choose this course because the changes from tradition text to multi-media text intrigues me; I have used many multi-media forms of text including blogs, social networks, forums, online articles, wikis and RSS. I look forward to this course as I have found all of my courses that I’ve taken in the MET program very useful in my teaching/personal practices. Every course has offered me new ways to think about technology. I am excited to help create a class weblog as I just completed on for ETEC 565A and thoroughly enjoyed the process. This and ETEC 590 are my last courses and I’m looking at doing a weblog for my e Portfolio; even though I have already started a website for this, I’m loving the concept of the weblog.

I look forward to working and creating with you all this semester………my last one!!!

Regards,
Scot Alexander

Image Title: Reading in the Subway

This image caught my eye since I have recently had subway reading experience. It is a unique environment to escape from one world and into another. The stark, dramatic image of an individual reading in a subway station as the train moves past blends shadow and colour, movement and stillness. For me, this image presents the paradox of the speed of the current textual world and the stillness of being immersed in a good book. It speaks of the exterior world going by while time stands still inside the textual world. It’s a powerful image about what reading is all about. Letting go of everything that may be around and reaching into the text for it’s true meaning. The question remains – did she miss the train?

Hello to fellow travellers in ETEC 540. My name is Helen DeWaard, and I am not a commuter or subway traveller. I live in a small community north of Toronto and enjoy the occasional trip into that ‘other world’ of the big city. This is my 4th MET course and I am also taking ETEC 512 this term. I have recently ‘retired’ or as I like to refer to it as a ‘self-imposed sabbatical’ from my position as an elementary school principal. I have also just begun a contract lecturer position at a local university in the Faculty of Education. It is an interesting shift in text and technologies!

I became interested in this course because of conversations with my daughter, who worked on a Masters in Public Text. Our discussions about text, new and old, as well as the evolutions of thinking that hypertextual worlds are providing, were many and deep. I look forward to engaging with her again since our collaboration has changed our mother/daughter relationship to one of co-learners. I am looking forward to engaging in dynamic, hyptertextual conversations with all of you. Again, an interesting shift in thinking.

Helen DeWaard

I selected this image as it illustrates that mixed messages can occur when the meaning of “text” changes or when new technologies are introduced. I am interested in learning more about the tradeoffs that occur when a new technology is invented and introduced. What do we gain and what do we lose or what changes as a result of the technology. I am especially concerned how computer technology is affecting the physical activity levels of people as a tradeoff for the benefits of using the technology.

I am taking my seventh MET course on my scenic route through the MET program. Scenic route as I am taking one course at a time as a reasonable balance with work and life (and trying to maintain an active lifestyle at the same time). I am a Curriculum Coordinator with the School of Business at SAIT Polytechnic in Calgary, Alberta and have just completed by fourth anniversary in this position. One of my main roles is to provide coordination, leadership and support to the development of new programs and the redevelopment of existing programs. One thing that I have learned is faculty need encouragement and support to try new things as part of the program redevelopment process, otherwise they can become set in their ways and negative towards change, including the use of technology.

I chose this picture because I love the contrast shown for the meaning of TEXT: it is a word with many meanings being applied to something most of us do every day on our phones. Better yet, we are asked to receive a text from the library with information. The old and the new meet via an old word used in a new way.

I am in my last term in the MET program and, along with 590, I am excited to finally take the course that first caught my eye when I was researching the program. Long ago, I majored in Classics with a minor in Latin. I studied linguistics as part of my ESL teacher training. I think this course spoke to me because it seemed most familiar as I read the various course descriptions!

I am instructor at Kwantlen Polytechnic University in Richmond, BC and live in South Surrey where I try to enjoy easy access to beautiful beaches and lovely walking trails. I am joining a choir this year to nurture my soul and taking a Pilates class to nurture my body and hopefully offset too many hours at the computer!

Looking forward to working with you all!

Lynette