Flight Path Précis

As I stated in my Flight Path at the begin of the course, I had several reasons why I wanted to enter UBC’s Master in Educational Technology program and register for ETEC 565.  In regards to the course, I had either an interest, experience or familiarity with many of the technologies being examined and, in the case of Moodle, was interested in expanding my knowledge of that particular tool.

I felt at the time, and still do, that I have been in the field long enough to have experiences to draw upon and give context to the theories and concepts I would be learning.  By adding a formal structure to my own developing educational technology philosophy, I would be better able to organize my future experiences and make me more effective in my educator/mentor position that  I enjoy so much.

 

eLearning Toolkit Experience

The following sections details some of my direct and indirect eLearning toolkit experience and reflections while in the course including learning management systems, web design, wikis, weblogs, synchronous communication tools, social software, accessibility, mLearning, multimedia and authoring tools.

Learning Management System – Moodle

Overall, I have found the 6 week experience of completing a constructivist Moodle (Bremer & Bryant, 2005) online course to be rewarding.  However, if you had the ability to have read any of my reflection notes during this process you would have probably thought the opposite to be true.  With the assignment done and, on reflection of the holistic process, much knowledge and experience has been gained.

I was fortunate that, even though I had never worked with Moodle before,  I brought prior knowledge and transferable skills to assist me in the completion of the components.  This included some practical experience participating within the MET’s use of the UBC BlackBoard Learning Management System (LMS) and in my ETEC 510 group work using the Canvas LMS.

On reflection, I am glad to have had the opportunity to complete this assignment.  Not only was I able to utilize my interest in educational website design to fulfill the assignment’s components but it has given me practical experience which will better inform me when completing future assignments in the same vein as the LMS proposal or Benoits dilemma.

I definitely see this activity as just another experience which confirms my belief that without support the integration of technology within the education system is set up to fail (Gagnon, 2012).  It is hard to understand, how we as teachers, accept the lack of support that we see as our professional duty to provide to our students.  If I found aspects of this learning process frustrating with my interest and ability level, I couldn’t imagine how the average unmotivated teacher would feel.  In my experience as a mentor, teacher frustration often leads to actual or perceived failure with the end result of no adoption of the new tool, behaviour, etc.

Web Design, Weblogs & Wikis

In regards to web design tasks required to complete my Moodle course, I found I was rusty in using Dreamweaver as it had been several years since I had to use an offline editor to do web design.  Maybe this speaks to the movement to cloud based storage and apps with my use of SharePoint and WordPress.  However, it did allow me to design my splash page for the course, its navigation, and the HTML pages displaying the content.

Prior to the course, I was already very familiar using and creating weblogs, especially using WordPress, and was comfortable adding artifacts to my course e-portfolio and my own MET e-portfolio as well. Before being in the program, I had used wikis but not via the MediaWiki platform.  However, in ETEC 510, an assignment required the completion of a comprehensive wiki entry which gave me useful skills, mainly the familiarization with the mark-up language used for formatting,  in this course.  The two main wiki based assignments were the whole class asynchronous task of developing strategies to engaging students using social media and the two wikis I created for use in my Moodle course.  One of the Moodle wikis was utilized as an asynchronous tool meant to support student interaction. By adding a wiki activity, I created a space for those in the community to collaborate and share helpful course related resources in the form of links such as, but not limited to: web sites, software, hardware, and readings.  A wiki supported my instructional goals by providing students with a supplementary resource and provided myself and future students with a growing resource.  In addition, it provides students with exposure to a tool that they can use with their own students (e.g. group work) or possibly for their own use in creating a site if the tool I have chosen for them to use is not to their liking. It will allow them to compare the affordances and conventions offered by blog and wiki platforms.

Synchronous Communication Tools

Utilizing synchronous communication tools was not often required or easy mainly due to the nature of the course and the geographic locations of students within the course.  Much of the communication was completed using asynchronous communication using either discussion forum posts or email.  This is understandable as students were in a so many differing time zones that scheduling was difficult especially when taking into account family and work obligations.

However, I did participate in one BlackBoard Connect session which was our introduction to Moodle. Even though the session itself had some technical difficulties unrelated to Connect itself it was rewarding. It was nice to put a face and voice to peers, who until then, were known only as a small thumbnail avatar and accompanying text.  In addition, I had the opportunity to use Skype to communicate with my Instructor and discuss some ideas I had for an assignment.  I value synchronous audio and video communication for occasions when trying to explain in words is time consuming and possibly ineffective.

Social Software

I used primarily three social software tools including Flickr, Twitter and YouTube.  Flickr was utilized for both its Creative Commons search feature and subsequently found images for use in my e-portfolio.  For the most part, I felt using Creative Commons was relieving me of any copyright obligations but I found out that I could be crediting/citing the photos and images in a better manner.  In addition to adding captions citing both author and source to each image in both the course and my MET e-portfolio, I added an image credits page as well.

I started using Twitter two years ago and find it to be one of my most valuable professional development resources.  Having information sent to me from those I follow versus visiting all their sites for updates is a key feature.  I also like that, due to the 140 character limit and use of hashtags, I can quickly discern the content at a glance and either decided to access the full article or more on.  I did not use Twitter within an assignment but did use it as a research tool, curated a list of users in the course which I then shared, and tweeted about learnings like the embed tweet below.

I created "Tools For Online Interaction" with @HaikuDeck: http://t.co/stYkCHruox #setyourstoryfree #edtech

— Mark A. Bates (@markabates) June 14, 2013

YouTube was utilized in several assignments including the home page of my ePortfolio, tutorials, orientation and welcome messages within my Moodle course site and as the main tool in compiling and publishing my digital story.

Multimedia & Authoring Tools

I enjoy any opportunity to create digital works.  I find it addresses my need to express myself artistically and is very rewarding.  Some of the multimedia and authoring tools I have  used are listed below and cover a wide range of uses and environments from online, cloud, mobile, software to hardware.

Presentation Tools

• Prezi is both a free iPad and web based app for creating interactive presentations which can be view in a nonlinear fashion.  Several Prezis were embedded in my Moodle course both to model the technology to students and as alternative to text as presented traditionally on the page.

• ThingLink is both a free iPad and web based app for creating interactive presentations using Rich Media Tags.  I used this tool to create my response for the Interactions to Support Learning discussion forum.  Users could interact with an infographic I had created using PowerPoint.

• Haiku Deck is a free iPad app which uses Flickr creative commons images and minimal user text to create attractive slide based presentations.  I used this tool to create my response for the Interactions to Support Learning discussion forum as well.  I was happy that this particular deck was noticed by the creators of Haiku Deck and featured on the spotlight section of their website.

Image and Video Production Tools

• Sock Puppets, a free app for the iPad, was used to create the main video used in my digital storytelling assignment.  The app allowed for a selection of pre-designed characters and backgrounds.  Voices could be assigned to each character and then modified to enable a distinct personality.  I liked the anonymity this gave me when ‘acting’ out the script and I feel gave the story more depth.  By clicking on a character, I could move, resize and enable to automatic mouth movements to simulate talking.  After going through my script, I exported the video directly to YouTube.

• iMovie app was used on an iPad mainly as a way to access theme music and text features for use in my digital storytelling assignment.  Oddly enough it was not used to edit the final video.

• Bookabi is a free digital storytelling app for use on the iPad that is similar to Sock Puppets but creates image stills and not video.  It was used to design a title page for my digital story.

• YouTube & YouTube Editor is a free web based service accessible via a YouTube account.  I have used YouTube Editor several times for video editing as my requirements were fairly straightforward and simple.  I used the enhancement features to create transitions, merged and trimmed clips and in some cases added closed captioning.  As mentioned earlier, YouTube was used to host several videos created for this course.

• BigHugeLabs is a free web based service used to create a movie poster for my digital story.  I thought the site was child-friendly and provided a nice teaser image to show the day before.

• Camstudio is free open source screen recording software which I used when creating several videos shared with peers on the steps involved to make my splash screen within my Moodle course site.  These videos were then uploaded to YouTube for viewing.

Accessibility

I utilized accessibility tools in several ways both for my learning and for the potential benefit of those viewing my work.  I used text to voice synthesis in my LMS proposal so the viewer could hear the entire document read to them.  This was done using the WordPress Audio Player plugin in combined with an uploaded MP3 I created with the free VoiceReader iPad app.  This app takes pasted text from any document and converts it to voice.  I use this app for my own learning by downloading PDFs of the required course readings, converting it to audio and then listening offline while in bed or in the car.  Another WordPress plugin I activated was WPTouch which converted my eportfolio’s theme to a mobile version if a device such as a tablet or smartphone accessed the site.

In addition to text to voice, I also utilized closed captioning in several of my videos including my digital story assignment to accommodate for hearing issues.  Additionally, I have attempted to regularly use ALT attributes to describe the majority of my inserted or embedded media for those with vision impairments using adaptive page reading technology.

mLearning

As mentioned above, mobile computing is an interest of mine.  Through my employer, I have access to both an iPod and iPad for use at work and at home.  I often install and examine numerous apps related to education some of which I have used in this course (e.g. EverNote, Werdsmith, neu.Annotate+,etc.)

I would have enjoyed being able to utilize both the Blackboard and Moodle mobile apps on my iPad.  This is an area I would liked to have explored further, but administrative levels did not permit this.  Not only would it have been a nice feature to enable for accessing course content without being locked to a physical location using a desktop, it could have been another layer in designing my Moodle course site.

Overall ETEC565A Experience

Overall, I enjoyed my ETEC565A experience.  Some of the learning and growth I experienced was expected and predicted within my flight path but some was a surprise.  These ah-ha type moments came from my interaction and reflection with required readings, peers in the discussion forums and by completing the assignments.

SECTIONS

The scholarly article that made the greatest impact was Bates & Poole’s 2003 A Framework for Selecting and Using Technology.  This was my second course using this framework as part of the content but my experience in this course differed as it required its application in several assignments.  It was this application, which seem to have the greatest impact in my adoption of the process both academically and professionally.   It became evident that this framework would be a great asset for my district especially given the absence of any real evaluation process or procedure for acquiring technology.

I believe it was the combination of the detailed explanation of SECTIONS  within the Bates and Poole’s article, the more general Chickering and Ehrmann’s (1996) Seven Principles, and the application of the UBC SECTIONS Framework document (2010) which made its use more accessible and easier to implement.  SECTIONS offers flexibility , in that it can be used by a variety of users whether it be a classroom teacher, school administrator or district specialist.   This is achieved using its strengths in applying a common language and terminology to assessing the educational affordances and constraints of a variety of technological mediums and media.  This allows information to be shared and discussed amongst a variety of professionals minimizing the alienating qualities that sometimes accompanies technology.  It also offers a balanced approach focusing on multiple aspects, not just those that traditionally involved ITC departments and given a disproportionate higher value.

Discussion Forums

Discussion forums were, until this course, a tool which I had undervalued and now see as a great learning experience.  For me, there were several discussion threads which caused me to question myself and reflect.  Not only was this cause for great reflection regarding how I chose to answer the questions, peers, etc. but on why I was responding and in some cases,  not responding.  This began a process where I questioned what was my motivation and if it was in fact for the right reason.  Why was I posting so early in the week?  Why was this different than in past courses?  Was I responding more to those ‘like minded’?  Was I only validating and not challenging?  As a student, the potential rewards from a discussion forum are dependant on the effort put forth – stating, asking, sharing, reflecting.

Assignments

On reflection throughout the course, I was able to identify that I was often going off task when completing assignments.  I would read the scenario or instructions, then jump into brainstorming and working on the drafting process.  However, I had to add the additional protocol of rereading what was being asked at least once during the brainstorming and drafting process.  I think my writing mimics my conversation pattern where I tend to speak in tangents especially when excited about a topic or subject.  I found it helped to create a bulleted list of the instructions and, in the case of a discussion scenario, key factors and check off as I completed them.

Novice Professional

Even though I came into course fairly confident in my technological abilities as related to the those explored, I still experienced many examples of being the Novice Professional as I outlined in my flight path.  As mentioned, being self taught in regards to my technological knowledge, it allows me to empathize with the flight path many teachers undergo when learning a new technology.  I have experienced many of the same frustrations, repeated missteps and questions.  Even with those Novice Professional moments, being in the course reminded me how much I enjoy learning and speaking about educational technology.

 

Next Steps

Technologies to Explore Moving Forward

Mobile apps, open badges and commercial versions of Learning Management Systems (LMS) are technologies I would like to explore further as I move forward in my educational technology practice.

Commercial Learning Management Systems

So far within the MET program, I have gained hands on experience using Canvas and Moodle which are both open source LMS.  Other than using Connect and its Blackboard LMS as a student or reading articles about them, I do not have first hand experience developing a course at the teacher or administrator level to make a comparison to my work on open source systems.  I think having this opportunity at some point within the program would provide a more balanced experience.

Badges

While developing my Moodle course, I examined the badge function in the Administration section.  I had heard of badges in education while doing some reading on Twitter and it interested me.  Possibly this was do to fond memories of earning badges in Scouts and having them adorn my camp-fire blanket.  In my course, on completion of each module and the course overall, students would earn an Open Badge to display in Moodle and take with them using your Mozilla Backpack.  I am interested on reading the evolving research in this area and, if positive, experiment with applications in learning not only with students in school but with teachers I provide professional development with.  With the move to e-portfolios versus traditional hard copy versions, having the ability to track and curate accomplishments in this manner is appealing.

Mobile Apps

Mobile applications for handheld devices are also an area of interest moving forward.  Specifically, I am looking forward to evaluating mobile apps using Bates and Poole’s 2003 SECTIONS model.  In my school district, handheld devices like iPads are being used without any guiding policy or educationally based framework.  It would appear that teachers and schools are purchasing, installing, and using apps  without any sort of assessment and evaluation process in place.  In addition to applying analysis to apps, there is some interest in our district to examine the applicability of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) to our schools.  My role might be expanded to offering advice and suggestions to students and teachers on effective educational apps that can be used in and out of the classroom.

Being a Lifelong Learner

Being a lifelong learner, in terms of educational technology or not, is an integral and intertwined component within my educational philosophy. Whether I am offline or online, how I teach is grounded in my educational philosophy based on my academic and experiential knowledge gained both in and outside of the classroom. I like to view myself as becoming what Paulo Friere described in Pedagogy of the Oppressed (2000) as a ‘humanist educator’. One who believes in the ideals of engaging themselves and students, “…in critical thinking and the quest for mutual humanization” (p. 75).  To counter ‘banking’ or traditional education models, I work towards a Friere’s “…problem-posing education”, system in which the, “…teacher [is] no longer merely the-one-who-teaches, but one who is himself taught in dialog with the students, who in turn while being taught also teach” (p.80).

Being a humanist teacher, I look to create a supportive, safe and caring environment which fosters and encourages learning. I would look, as Dewey did, to create a classroom which, “… took the form of an “embryonic social community”, one in which students were encouraged to cooperate and work together and learn from each other as well as from their teachers” (Bryant, Dunnill, Flanagan, & Hayes , 2007, p.193),  Although the virtual classroom requires, at times, different procedures and methods to create such an environment the end goal is the same.  While keeping to these constructivist ideals, I am unable to separate myself from either the role of educator and learner fuelled by the curiosity that this dynamic creates.

References

Bates, A.W. & Poole, G. (2003). Chapter 4: a Framework for Selecting and Using Technology.  In Effective Teaching with Technology in Higher Education: Foundations for Success. (pp. 77-105). San Francisco: Jossey Bass Publishers.

Bryant, R., Dunnill, R., Flanagan, K., & Hayes, D. (2007). Teaching and training in post-compulsory education. McGraw-Hill International.

Chickering, A.W. & Ehrmann, S.C. (1996).  Implementing the Seven Principles: Technology as Lever. American Association for Higher Education Bulletin, 49(2), 3-6.

Freire, P. (2000). Pedagogy of the oppressed. Continuum International Publishing Group.

Sections framework. (2010). University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC. Retrieved from http://wiki.ubc.ca/images/1/19/SECTIONS_Framework.pdf