Etec 565 Electronic Portfolio

Hello Classmates,

My synthesis reflection is complete and you can peruse it if you like at https://blogs.ubc.ca/etec565hawkinsbogle/e-folio-synthesis-reflection/

It has been a pleasure learning with all of you! Enjoy the rest of your summer!

Stephen 🙂

Portfolio Presentation

Hello Folks. My portfolio is not quite finished, but I thought I would offer it out for your perusal now. My Moodle LMS is finished and hopefully I have met the assignment criteria! 🙂  It is a geometry unit designed for students in grade 6, but it can be easily adapted and differentiated for other learners. I will be “hiding”  two learning modules and the final evaluative quiz later tonight. If anyone has time, please feel free to offer me any feedback regarding my ETEC 565 portfolio. My final synthesis is not complete, but will be posted soon.

It has been a pleasure learning with all of you!

Stephen

Social Media Reflection

I chose to use a glog to display my social story because I believe that this multi-media tool has great potential for students to demonstrate their knowledge. I have used a glog before, but I don’t have extensive experience. Part of using this tool is so I can get a first hand experience of using a glog, and so I can learn how it might be used with school projects. I have seen glogs used for research projects in science and history, and I believe the applications are endless, including student portfolios.

Glogs are free to use and the skill set required to use them are minimal. Students create a digital poster of their knowledge and are able to easily add text, video, audio, and graphics to a digital poster. This tool really takes poster projects to a current and authentic place. If a teacher is using glogster.edu, then students can be linked to each other in a class. Students sharing a class in a glog are able to view each other’s work in progress and provide peer feedback through the internal electronic message system. I would expect that the multi-media features of a glog, combined with its ability to provide students with digital feedback, would greatly support imagination, creation, and high quality artifacts of knowledge.

Telling my story through a glog added a sense of vulnerability that I had not felt when composing this narrative in text. My story is about my sexuality and a tale of coming to terms with who I am. When I composed this in text, it felt good, and I enjoyed reflecting on the past and celebrating how far I have come in my life. Re-telling this story on video exposed my life to a different level that I have not felt before. I caution my students about publishing private information, and this example certainly puts my life out there.

Hello Everyone,

Please follow this link to view my social story.  This is a personal story of my struggles with sexual identity from childhood to my current status as a happily married man. I have also embedded the story here, but the link might provide a better view. This is still a draft, so please offer any constructive feedback. All comments are welcome of course. 🙂

http://misterhb.edu.glogster.com/comingout/

Stephen

I’ve enjoyed working on this wiki with our classmates to discuss our experiences and ideas regarding social media in education. I appreciate how everyone is in control of a wiki, and how the structure and contribution of ideas can change at any given time. I have my own vision of how ideas should be flushed out, with my own structure and flow, but this activity forced me to work within the structure of a group. I don’t think the wiki is the most effective choice for ongoing discussion of topics, but I like using this tool for generating collective ideas like we did with the five barriers and challenges.

I actually prefer the social media tool of Google Docs over a wiki for this type of collaboration. I find the platform of a Google Doc more visual and easier to use, and the discussion (chat) platform of the document is more of a true chat, where you can engage in synchronous discussion with your partner(s). I find the editing features of the Google Doc superior as well including the revision history tool and the ability to add asynchronous discussion when you have edited the document.

Regardless of my preferences, I think wikis and collaborative social media tools are excellent for developing a technology enhanced learning environment (TELE). They provide users with ability to synchronously collaborate on projects and ideas, and they are excellent for giving and receiving descriptive feedback. It is much easier to utilize formative assessment instruction in a TELE when you have access to these social media tools.

Cheers,

Stephen 🙂

Moodle Collaborative Tools 

Hello,

I have set up three different social collaboration tools to be used in my Moodle LMS.  My LMS is a geometry unit for grade 5/6, and it is intended to be used in a blended learning environment that includes either f2f or synchronous instruction via an online classroom (e.g., Blackboard Collaborate).  I have selected two asynchronous tools including a glossary, and a Q & A discussion forum, and synchronous chat.

The purpose of the glossary is for students to post their understanding about terms as they discover them through the learning units.  This will provide a unique explanation of terminology that might differ from standard “dictionary” definition. The idea is that the instructor would monitor the posts and edit as necessary to ensure correct meaning. Students have a their own way of explaining concepts, and it is often in jargon that their peers understand.

There is a Q & A discussion forum for each of the two existing learning units in the Moodle LMS.  The purpose of these forums is for students to share their understanding of a concept, and to seek clarification. The instructions for participation haven’t been articulated yet, but I will provide expectations for quality and frequency of posts. There is also a chat for each learning unit, but I have not decided how, or if, this chat will be used. My thought is that it could provide a level of synchronous discussion, but if this is already occurring in a f2f or digital classroom, the chat might not be needed.

When I post instructions regarding how to contribute to the forums and glossary, I will also include how the students will be evaluated for their contributions.  I believe it is important that students understand the criteria for success.  My thoughts are that the teacher would track who is commenting and when, but another idea is to have students reflect on their online communication through a reflective journal. This would empower the students to think about how they engage in a social learning environment and it would increase the teacher’s efficiency of assessing each student’s participation.

Please know that my Moodle LMS is a work and progress and I have ideas suggested above that need to be put in to my design.  I also have one more learning unit to add to the Moodle LMS.  Check it out if you want and offer any feedback you like.

http://moodle.met.ubc.ca/course/view.php?id=292&edit=0&sesskey=aSDmmsogmS

Thanks,

Stephen

Hello Everyone,

I don’t know about others, but I am experiencing some difficulties while creating my Moodle LMS.  Don’t get me wrong, I am figuring things out, and have added different activities and resources, but the loading can be problematic.  It seems as though when I save a new item, Moodle has to think long and hard before bringing me back to the main page. Often I will back arrow my page and save it again, as this seems to quicken the process.  This might just be an issue with my laptop, but I seem to remember Moodle behaving this way last time I used it as an editor.

Regardless, I am enjoying this creative work, and I hope I am on the right track.  Check out my Moodle LMS http://moodle.met.ubc.ca/course/view.php?id=292 if you are interested.  (shawkinsbogle).

Also, I am finding that this course is changing my view of how to create a LMS.  I initially began uploading files to the Moodle platform, and then realized that this will create issues of downloading for some folks.  Having your information hosted on its own website is a much more efficient and cleaner way to go.  I think John recommended something to this effect along the way.

Cheers,

Stephen

One stop during my weekend fieldtrip ~ Soda Creek, BC

Hello Everyone,

If any of you have a chance to check out my Moodle proposal, I would appreciate it.  I guess I better be willing to return the favour ehh?  My proposal is hypothetical, but is based on a real learning context in the Quesnel School District (#28).  I actually had a conversation with teachers from the rural elementary schools identified about such a learning platform to instruct mathematics, and they are pretty keen on the idea.  The big kicker is time, and who is willing to put the intiative out there and get the ball rolling.  I think these teachers see the value of sharing their instruction amongst each other so their students get valuable, and focussed dialogue. I love a multi-age classroom, but when you have a breadth of K-7, it is difficult to offer kids rich guided practice in mathematics.  Of course there are many learning benefits to a multi-age learning environment, and at the end of the day, a classroom should be differentiated regardless of the grade split.

Do I have your interest tweaked?  Give my proposal a read, and you might get a clearer picture of what I mean.  I hope you all had a nice weekend and took time to enjoy some of your favourite things.  Despite having to write report cards, plan for instruction, and complete this assignment, I managed to get in the garden, have a quick dip in to the lake, run with the dogs, and go on a cool field trip to Soda Creek with my husband.

Cheers,

Stephen

Hello Folks,

Please follow this attachment (Group_2_LP_Evaluative_Rubric) to access an evaluative rubric that I developed with a team of students from ETEC 565.  This rubric is comprehensive and can be used to measure the utility of an online LP (e.g., LMS).  Our rubric has been developed to support a hypothetical scenario of assisting a school district in BC with their selection of a LP that will serve the needs of home schooled and international students learning in a distance ed program.  I believe this rubric is comprehensive enough to be used to measure LPs for many different contexts.

Enjoy!

Stephen

Out for a jog just before I got married - July 10, 2010! 🙂

Hello,

I’ve deemed this my first flight, but this is merely my first blog reflection as I enter the journey of ETEC 565. I am filled with a lot of positive excitement in regards to this journey, and this is not just because it’s my 9th MET course!  Woot Woot!  All kidding aside, this program has introduced me to many technologies, but more importantly, it is supporting my quest to find out what is GOOD use of technology in education.

This course in particular interests me because we get to dabble with so many technologies, and explore relevant topics like social media in education. I am looking forward to the end of this program; not because it will be over, but rather so I can explore and hone my craft of teaching with technology. I use technology a fair bit, but I need more time to focus on the things that I am finding useful and relevant to kids.  A big part of my journey is to find creative ways to implement Assessment for Learning (AFL) with technology enhanced learning environments.

Let the journey begin!

Stephen 🙂