Author: Camille Maydonik

Categories
Module 4

Social Media and Learning

Wiki Activity: Social Media and Learning

This week in ETEC 565, we used a wiki to discuss the impact of social media on classroom spaces.  Our first task was to list a social media sighting from our teaching context on the 66B wiki page.  From there we utilized the discussion page of the wiki to discuss the issues and trends of social media and learning.  As a class, we were asked to come up with 5 key strategies and 5 key challenges for engaging students using social media based on our discussion over the week.

Normally, our weekly discussions take place in WebCT Vista.  Having a discussion in a wiki environment is quite different.  The main difference that I see is that the wiki environment does not afford threaded discussions, which for me, is a drawback as I like to reference others’ comments based on what was said prior and I like the organized structure of each forum.  This is a challenge of working within the wiki environment as it does not facilitate a conversation as easily and parts of a conversation can even be deleted or edited.

That being said, the use of wikis for group collaboration is advantageous in the following ways:

  • Groups can work privately on projects as usernames and passwords can be set up. This ensures safety when working on the web, especially with students who are minors.
  • The wiki environment encourages participation and motivates users to share their knowledge as common goals are set and realized. Furthermore, the use of a wiki engages students in their learning and is constructivist as an approach to learning.
  • The wiki environment is asynchronous, and as such, groups of people can work on projects when convenient instead of trying to meet at a certain time synchronously or even F2F.
  • The wiki environment is visual which affords the creation and completion of projects and the ability to see where the project is at. (Invaluable for our assignment this week)

My experience working in the wiki environment has been positive.  A challenge that I think might be difficult for some to overcome however is the fact that others can change your work, or the final product may not be how you envisioned it.  It is important to accept this as a fact of working in this environment and to “let go”.  Otherwise, the whole experience could prove to be very frustrating.  In the end, we are all accountable for what has been submitted and just as if we were in a F2F environment, there will always be people who jump in quickly to the conversation and others who listen and then contribute.

Please continue on to my toolkit post on wikis for examples of my educational (teaching & learning) experience using wikis.

Categories
Module 3

Assessment in Moodle

Bonjour!  Please visit my Assessment Tools page to read my reflection on the creation of my quiz in Moodle.  Please feel free to try my quiz here.  Warning:  It is in French! 😉

Categories
E-learning Toolkit Module 3

Exploring Communication Tools; Synchronous & Asynchronous

The following post is also posted on the Communication Tools page.

Activity: Exploring Communication Tools in Moodle

My LMS, in Moodle, is designed for grade one French Immersion students who will be using the LMS to support their classroom learning.  It should be noted that I intend to use my LMS with the SMART Board in my classroom.  Students also have access to one classroom computer which they use on a rotational basis during literacy centers.  I have chosen two main communication tools for my LMS, one synchronous and one asynchronous.

Activity #1:  Wiki (asynchronous)

Description and Rationale

This activity would be completed towards the latter part of the school year.  Generally, as grade one culminates, the students are starting to consolidate their thinking around story writing.  My instructional goal is for students to have a sense of story, specifically the parts of a story; beginning, middle, end.  The purpose of the wiki would be to write a collaborative story.

I see myself and my students using the wiki together and individually.  We would start the project together, using the SMART Board to instruct the students on how to edit the wiki.  We would write the first couple of sentences together.  At this point, I foresee my students adding to the story as part of one of my literacy centers, which is using the classroom computer.  This will allow students time to reflect on their contribution to the collective story.  The expectation would be that they add one sentence to the story and that the story would unfold in order (beginning, middle, end).  Prior to starting the actual story writing, we would have, as a class, developed a story map using Kidspiration.  An image of our map would be posted on the wiki so that the students would be able to refer to it.  The final story product will remain as an enduring record of a project completed by my grade one class which will develop reciprocity and cooperation among students.  According to Chickering and Gamson (1987), “Learning is enhanced when it is more like a team effort that a solo race.  Good learning, like good work, is collaborative and social, not competitive and isolated.  Working with others often increases involvement in learning.  Sharing one’s own ideas and responding to others’ reactions sharpens thinking and deepens understanding.”

A limitation of asynchronous communication tools is that students may not feel as connected to a community of learners, particularly if efforts are not taken to keep people interacting with one another. I do not foresee this to be a problem, because as stated above, students will be expected to contribute to the wiki during literacy centers and are accountable for their work during this time.

I have tested the wiki, and it works!  I am confident that after being showed how to use the wiki, my students would be able to edit it at the classroom computer independently.

Activity #2:  Wimba Live Classroom (synchronous)

Description and Rationale

Chickering and Gamson’s (1987) third principle is “Good Practice Uses Active Learning Techniques”.  Many technologies available today encourage active learning.  Real-time conversation is one such technology.  Real-time conversation has the ability to create a sense of real-time connection and a sense of community.

The second communication tool that I have chosen for my LMS is the WIMBA Live Classroom.  My instructional goal with using this technology would be to improve the oral fluency in French of my students.  At first, I thought that this tool would be far too complicated for grade one students and  that it would be difficult to support with a class of 17-20 students.  This bothered me for a while as I saw this problem as a major limitation.  However, I believe that I have come up with a solution.  My idea would be to use WIMBA as a whole class to connect with another grade one French Immersion classroom in Calgary.  Often students do not understand why they are learning French because it is very disconnected from daily life in Calgary.  By connecting with another peer group living the same academic path, students may start to connect their language learning with life outside of school.

Research on second language acquisition supports the student-centered, task-based learning nature of real-time conversation.  The use of WIMBA supports second language acquisition by providing a relevant, meaningful context, learning tasks appropriate to students’ age level, and learner-centered instruction, which Curtain and Dalhberg recommend as crucial for language learning (2002).  Hadley (2001) reiterates this notion by stating, “opportunities must be provided for active communicative interaction among students” (p. 95).  Furthermore, Hadley recommends “students should be encouraged to express their own meaning as early as possible after productive skills have been introduced in the course of instruction” (2001, p. 95).  Real-time conversation provides opportunities for authentic “communicative interaction among students” by allowing students to communicate with other peers their own age.

The constructivist model of education further supports the use of real-time conversation  in the classroom.  According to Jonassen (1999), knowledge is “individually constructed and socially constructed by learners based on their interpretations of experiences in the world” (p. 217).  Feedback provided by the teacher encourages the learners to “reflect on what they have done” and the “strategies they used” (Jonassen 1998) to communicate in a second language.

Hatch (1978) argues that “[…] language grows out of experience, and it is out of participating in conversations that one learns how to interact verbally; out of this interaction, syntactic forms develop” (as cited in Ramírez, 241).  Therefore, the use of WIMBA will facilitate interactional competence and will provide a medium where students can interact in the second language and conduct a conversation without the worries of grammar mistakes.  Ramírez (1995) writes, “Students need to be made aware that it is not necessary to converse perfectly in the [second language] in order to communicate and that conversational strategies can be used to overcome communication difficulties in the real world” (Ramírez, 253).

I see my students using WIMBA to share projects they have been working on with the partner class.  My students could, for example, share the collaborative story that they wrote with the other grade one classroom.  Their presentation could also be archived allowing for parents or other members of the classroom community the opportunity to watch the students present.

I intend to try to connect with another grade one classroom next school year.  Although we do not have access to WIMBA within the Calgary Board of Education, we do have access to Elluminate which could be used for this purpose as well.  Last week, I was able to test Elluminate with my Assistant Principal and four other teachers.  It was very successful and after having participated with the WIMBA demonstration in ETEC 565, I am confident that real-time conversation will be an asset to my LMS and my instructional goals.

Assessment of students

Because my LMS will be used in the classroom, I will be able to monitor my students very closely.  I will be able to know who has contributed to the wiki (collaborative story) as the students are on a rotating schedule to use the computer during literacy centers.  Furthermore, Moodle itself keeps track of who has edited what.  In terms of using WIMBA, the interaction would be facilitated by myself and another teacher in another school.  Besides formally evaluating the work the students will present, I will be able to make observations of their conversations in French and the improvement of their oral fluency.

References:

Anderson, T. (2008). Teaching in an Online Learning Context.  I In: T. Anderson & F. Elloumi (Eds.), Theory and Practice of Online Learning. Edmonton AB:     Athabasca University. Accessed online 21 June 2009
http://www.aupress.ca/books/120146/ebook/14_Anderson_2008_Anderson-DeliveryQualitySupport.pdf

Chickering, A.W. & Gamson, Z.F. (1987). Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education. American Association for Higher Education Bulletin, 39 (7), 3-7. Accessed online 21 June 2009 http://www.aahea.org/bulletins/articles/sevenprinciples1987.htm

Chickering, A.W. & Ehrmann, S.C. (1996). Implementing the Seven Principles: Technology as Lever. American Association for Higher Education Bulletin, 49(2), 3-6. Accessed online 21 June 2009
 http://www.aahea.org/bulletins/articles/sevenprinciples.htm

Curtain, H. & Dahlberg, C. (2004). Languages and children, making the match: New languages for young learners, grades K-8 (3rd ed.). Boston: Pearson

Hadley, A. O.  (2001). Teaching language in context (3rd ed.). Boston, MA: Heinle & Heinle.

Jonassen, D. (1998). Designing constructivist learning environments. In C. Reigeleth (Ed.), Instructional Design Theories and Models: Volume II. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Ramírez, A. G. (1995). Creating Contexts for Second Language Acquisition: Theory and Methods.  Baton Rouge: Longman Publishers USA.

Categories
Module 2

LMS Proposal

The following post is also posted on the LMS page.

LMS Proposal

To:

Calgary Board of Education
Curriculum and Learning Technologies

From:

Camille Maydonik, Teacher
Grade One, French Immersion
Westgate Elementary School

Purpose

Please consider the following proposal to implement a Learning Management System, MOODLE (Modular Object Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment), into the technology offerings to teachers, students, and staff members of the Calgary Board of Education.

Having worked for the CBE for four years, I believe that the CBE is championing 21st Century learning by infusing learning technologies in the daily school experience. Educators and students alike are embracing these digital technologies. MOODLE responds to 21st Century learning in the following ways:

• Facilitates personalization of learning thus allowing students to share in the responsibility for the  success of their own education
• Provides alternative ways in which to teach and learn (Universal Design for Learning)
• Assists educators in delivering instruction and assessing learning
• Enables educators to tailor instruction to individual learners
• Presents choice in professional learning

Furthermore, MOODLE would allow teachers to effectively model and apply the National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers as they design, implement, and assess learning experiences to engage students and improve learning; enrich professional practice; and provide positive models for students, colleagues, and the community. (NETS, 2008)

Rationale & Selection

MOODLE is a software package for producing Internet-based courses and web sites. It is a global development project designed to support a social constructionist framework of education. MOODLE is open-source and as such would not incur any costs for the CBE. It does need to be installed on a server, however, with the support of the IT department, this should not be a lengthy or challenging process. There are many on-line resources available to support teachers in the development of their course shells.

Currently, the CBE uses Desire to Learn (D2L), as its’ Learning Management System. Although MOODLE shares many of the same characteristics and applications as D2L, I believe that it would complement our work in this area. I have familiarized myself with the CBE Digital Learning Object Development Standards checklist, and as such, am confident that MOODLE meets all of the category standards for content design, assessment, social considerations, engagement, interface, accessibility, technical, metadata and copyright.

Recently, I have begun building a course shell for my Grade One, French Immersion Language Arts program. I am currently building in activities, resources, vocabulary glossaries and mini-quizzes using “Space” as a theme. I have taught this theme before and I intend on using my MOODLE course shell to compliment the face-to-face components of my teaching. I chose to use MOODLE based on a Bates’ and Poole’s (2003) Framework for Selecting and Using Technology. The framework that they developed is called SECTIONS, which is an acronym for Students, Ease of Use, Costs, Teaching and Learning, Interactivity, Organizational issues, Novelty and Speed. This framework is invaluable for teachers and administrators to help them make decisions about appropriate technology for teaching.

Some may question the ease of use of an LMS with Grade One students. This is a valid concern, however, I have been able to teach my current students this year to log onto D2L and follow my splash page to the activities I would like them to complete. My students are also proficient in e-mail. I also see MOODLE as advantageous over D2L because parents and caregivers would be able to log in and work through the activities with their child. This would facilitate improved classroom communication with the parent community. With our current use of D2L, only students are able to log in, parents do no have access.

There are many different Learning Management Systems to choose from such as WebCT/Vista and the aforementioned, Desire to Learn. Although all 3 systems function similarly, and fit into the SECTIONS framework positively, one component that stands alone is cost. As we are currently already using and paying for the proprietary LMS, Desire to Learn, I do not see the CBE investing in WebCT/Vista. Since MOODLE is open-source and the software is free, it would compliment our current system at a very low cost. In fact, the only foreseeable cost is the space that it would take on the server.

Thank you for your consideration of my proposal to implement MOODLE as a choice for teachers, students and staff members of the Calgary Board of Education.

References:

Bates & Poole. (2003). “A Framework for Selecting and Using Technology.” In Effective Teaching with Technology. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Blackboard WebCT Vista.  Retrieved June 6, 2009 from: http://www.webct.com/products/viewpage?name=products_vista

Calgary Board of Education. Retrieved June 6, 2009 from: http://www.cbe.ab.ca/

Curriculum and Learning Technologies. Retrieved June 4, 2009 from: http://www.innovativelearning.ca/sec-learntech/index.asp

Desire to Learn. Retrieved June 6, 2009 from: http://www.desire2learn.com/

MOODLE. Retrieved June 6, 2009 from: http://moodle.org/

MOODLE. Teacher Documentation. Retrieved June 6, 2009 from: http://docs.moodle.org/en/Teacher_documentation

National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers. Retrieved May 4, 2009 from: http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_for_Teachers_2008.htm

Universal Design for Learning. Retrieved June 6, 2009 from: http://sites.wiki.ubc.ca/etec510/Universal_Design_for_Learning

Categories
E-learning Toolkit

wiki wiki wiki

The following reflection is in relation to the Wikis E-learning Toolkit Activity.

In December 2008, I introduced the concept of a wiki (using pbworks) to the parent community of my grade one classroom.  The wiki is called “Oasis of Learning“.  The main purpose of the wiki is to communicate with a very active volunteer base.  Parent volunteers sign up on the wiki when volunteer opportunities are available.  I have also posted our weekly spelling lists on the wiki, which are sent home in paper format, however, many parents have been pleased that they are able to access the information on-line as well.  The wiki is a private wiki in order to protect the privacy of classroom activities, students and their families.

In ETEC 510, we were responsible for editing a page and authoring a page on the ETEC 510 Design Wiki.  I authored the page on Universal Design for Learning.  This Wiki was much different than using pbworks.  It utilized MediaWiki.  What I found interesting with this project was that I was introduced to and learned some html.  Although this was frustrating at times, I loved seeing how the code changed the overall look of the page and piqued my interest in html in general.  Furthermore, I realized that Wikipedia is edited in this way and that got me thinking about the different types of Wikis and their ease of use.  Pbworks uses a WYSIWYG editor which requires no knowledge of html code, where as Wikipedia and the ETEC 510 Design Wiki require basic knowledge of html code.  I am assuming that Wikipedia uses this format to deter people from making easy,  unfounded edits.  That being said, comparing the two (Wikipedia and pbworks); they are used for very different purposes.

Also in ETEC 510, I completed a collaborative group assignment using pbworks.  The goal of this project was to identify the relevance of a particular set of ideas – e.g., about how objects are designed, how people learn, what kinds of learning spaces support meaningful engagements in knowledge-building, the affordances of social networking and collaborative learning – and to engage in a time-limited design practice that is informed by scholarship.  Our group decided to design a learning space that would contribute to the overall improvement of oral fluency in second language learners by utilizing the Wiki technology and Skype.  Visit http://etec510-65a-designproject.pbworks.com/ to view the final wiki project.  I enjoyed working on this project and setting up the wiki.  As a second language teacher, I believe that I will utilize this project with my students.

Overall, I must say that Wikis are a technology that I am very fond of.  The affordances of this technology are numerous and relate to the field of education in so many useful ways!

Categories
E-learning Toolkit Module 2

Moodle Beginnings

This is fun!  Using Moodle, that is.  I just completed my first activity in the ETEC 565A E-Learning Toolkit.  Here is the link to the Moodle page of the Toolkit.  As you know, I teach Grade One French Immersion.  I have decided to design my course around literacy, learning how to read and write using the theme of Outer Space.  I have taught this theme face-to-face in the past and I am very excited about how my course will look in Moodle format.

Reflection

How labour intensive was the process?

I didn’t find the process of setting up my Welcome page and Discussion Forum to be difficult.  In fact, it was rather intuitive for me.  The instructions in the E-learning Toolkit were very helpful and I appreciated them to launch me into my discovery.  As I become more familiar with Web 2.0 applications, my comfort level increases.  This is my 3rd MET course and I must say that if this was one of my first assignments in my first course, it would have been much more intimidating and difficult.  Over the past 2 courses I have learned to give challenges a shot, and that has paid off.

What worked well? What was challenging? What surprised you?

I started editing my course and my Welcome! page with Safari, Version 4 Public Beta.  As I started working in the full text box, to enter in my welcome message, I decided I would like to insert an image.  At first I thought that I needed to enter in some html code, but then I realized that this version of Safari does not support a WYSIWUG editor.  I logged out of the MET Moodle site and then logged back in using the Flock browser, which worked like a charm and presented the WYSIWYG editor.  Thank goodness, because my html coding skills are novice!

Overall, this initial introduction to Moodle worked well and has allowed me to familiarize myself with some of the tools and functions available.  I am looking forward to the finished product, but if the “Benoît scenario” has taught me anything, I’ve got a lot of work ahead of me!  Just keep swimming, just keep swimming… 😉

Categories
Module 1

Flight Path

Flight of the Conchords

How funny is the HBO series “Flight of the Conchords“? If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend it, you will probably get a sense of my sense of humour! Ok, ok, back to the task at hand… my Flight Path for ETEC 565A.

A little about me:

I am originally from Edmonton, AB and have been living in Calgary, AB for the past six years. I am in my fourth year of teaching this year (2008-2009) at Westgate Elementary School (K-6) in Calgary. Westgate is a large elementary school (approx. 560 students) within the Calgary Board of Education, which offers two programs, French Immersion and Spanish Bilingual. I taught a French Immersion grade 3/4 class my first two years of teaching; last year I taught a grade one French Immersion class and I am doing the same this year with a twist. I am team teaching with another teacher with 36 grade one students! Exciting to say the least! I enjoy being able to support other teachers around the area of technology. Currently, I am assisting my Assistant Principal in the maintenance of our school server and computer lab.

In 2001, I graduated from the University of Alberta with a BA in Recreation Administration and in 2005; I graduated from the University of Calgary with a B.Ed. through the Master of Teaching Program. I am interested in consolidating my current beliefs on teaching/learning, as well as adding to them in the context of French Immersion and technology.

In my leisure time, I enjoy taking advantage of my surroundings. I try to make it out to the mountains as much as possible; mountain biking, hiking, trail running, snowboarding, snowshoeing and the list goes on!

ETEC 565A appeals to me because I believe it will allow me to “get my hands dirty” with a variety of applications. In the course introduction this course was described as a “Sandbox” of sorts and that pretty much sums up my feelings!

Goal #1:

Define my skills in assessment and work through what that looks like in grade one when using digital resources. As I mentioned in my post, “Applying the Frameworks“, I have been using the LMS “Desire to Learn” this year. I am struggling with it’s usability in a grade one context and I want to learn how LMS systems can be adapted to different age groups. Although I love teaching grade one, I do see myself working with older students eventually and therefore would like to understand the full power of LMS.

Goal #2:

Continue to implement the principles of Universal Design for Learning in my teaching and provide purposeful digital-age learning experiences to my students. I was introduced to this design model through the book Teaching Every Student in the Digital Age: Universal Design for Learning written by David H. Rose and Anne Meyer (2002). It is in this area that I hope to develop my understanding and skill set with synchronous communication, social software, and multimedia in order to best differentiate my teaching for my students.

Reference:

Rose, D. H., & Meyer, A. (2002). Teaching every student in the Digital Age : Universal Design for Learning Alexandria, Va: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Retrieved May 14, 2009 from http://www.cast.org/teachingeverystudent/ideas/tes/

Categories
Module 1

Applying the frameworks

Within the Calgary Board of Education (CBE), the implementation of D2L “Desire2Learn”, a LMS has been mandated. This system functions, in general, like Blackboard. After reading Bates & Poole (2003), I am questioning the thought and decision process, framework, which was considered when deciding to implement this system. All staff and students within the CBE have access to D2L. At the school level, every teacher at my school (K-6) is expected to create an “on-line” classroom.

S – Students: What is known about the students – or potential students – and the appropriateness of the technology for this particular group or range of students?

At my school (K-6) we have a teacher, a learning leader, working with us to help implement D2L. She used to teach grade six, and was able to show us a unit on Greek Mythology that she created using D2L. It included many of the features of this course, ETEC 565, assignments, inter-activities and discussion threads. This group of students (ages 11 & 12) took well to this learning system and were able to be taught and coached effectively. I believe it was also due to the interest and passion of the teacher with technology that the unit was a success.
I teach grade one (ages 5 & 6). This age group is drastically different from a group of grade six students. At this point, I am struggling with how the affordances of D2L will be of benefit to my students. I am wondering how a system designed for adults can be adapted to meet the learning needs of a much younger demographic. More on this below…

E – Ease of use and reliability: how easy is it for both teachers and students – and the appropriateness of the technology for this particular group or range of students?

Bates & Poole (2003) state, “novice students should be studying within twenty minutes of logging on” (p.88). As teachers are beginning to build their classroom shell, I am seeing that it is taking much longer than twenty minutes even to make small progress! D2L is not overly intuitive and for many teachers, the implementation of this system has presented many hurdles. Although they respect technology and understand the benefit, for some, technology is simply not on the top of their priority list. We have started the discussion around teacher training, however, should this be required of all teachers? Personally, I believe that it is a teacher’s responsibility to keep up with technology. After all, we are preparing 21st century learners. However, the amount of quickly changing information is very overwhelming to most.

Speaking as a grade one teacher who does have a deep interest in technology, I do not think that D2L is appropriate for young students when other, simpler processes can be presented to the students. Even though I find my students are quick to learn on the computers, my approach is to “keep it simple”. For example, my grade one students can easily log in to the computer, locate my classroom folder and locate the bookmarks to web sites that I would like them to visit. At this point, I would argue that this simple system is much more efficient as the students can get to the work without having to navigate the technology.

I – Interactivity: what kind of interaction does this technology enable?

Going back to the example of the unit on Greek Mythology, the discussion threads were a great source of interactivity. The group of students that were working through this unit were lucky in the sense that the school they attended was very small and they could access the computer lab at their convenience. This resulted in rich, developed and complete discussions. At my school, where the student body is large, we have one hour per six-day cycle to bring our class to the computer lab. I’m not sure if the discussions would be as rich with such limited access. D2L is accessible from home, however, not every student has access to a computer at home. This technology would also allow parents to view the units of study. However, the student would have to log in for them, as parents of students in the CBE do not have access to D2L themselves. There could be confidentiality and FOIP issues around this.

A student’s access to D2L stays with them throughout their academic career in the CBE. This technology could enable students to develop some very useful skills that could be applied in their futures. I can see how by the end of grade 12, many students would be very proficient and computer literate.

All in all, D2L is a very reliable technology. However, the age of the students it is being used for must be considered. Perhaps the solution is to start small with the younger students and slowly build their skill set.  That being said, Chickering and Gamson’s (1987) sixth principle, Communicates High Expectations, resonated with me.  “Expect more and you will get more” is so true.  When I taught my grade one students how to log into their school webmail accounts and send and receive emails, they caught on immediately.  When one of the grade six teachers witnessed this, they were surprised that they were able to do it.  Initially, I had no idea how teaching about email would pan out with this age group.  For better or for worse, it all has all worked out in the end and I believe that the students feel a sense of accomplishment, empowerment and independence.

References:

Bates & Poole. (2003). “A Framework for Selecting and Using Technology.” In Effective Teaching with Technology. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Chickering, A.W. & Gamson, Z.F. (1987). Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education. American Association for Higher Education Bulletin, 39 (7), 3-7. Accessed online 5 May 2009 from: http://www.aahea.org/bulletins/articles/sevenprinciples.htm

Categories
Module 1

Digital-age teaching professionals

Step 1: Self-Assessment

1. Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity

I am excited about this category. Next year, my classroom is going to have a SMART Board. My school is installing 3 and I was one of the lucky ones to be chosen to have one. (Helps to be the nerd studying Ed. Tech! lol) My goal is to integrate it into all of my lessons and into the daily classroom routine. I teach grade one, and my goal is for the SMART Board to be a tool that my students and I will use purposefully, not just as the “latest and greatest” trend.

2. Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments

This year, my school has focused on Universal Design for Learning. In this higher-level category from the NETS, my planning has changed in the sense that I have been able to “customize and personalize learning activities to address students’ diverse learning styles, working strategies, and abilities using digital tools and resources” (NETS for Teachers 2008). This is an ongoing challenge and basically comes down to good teaching and differentiation. The Calgary Board of Education mandates the use of the LMS D2L, “Desire to Learn” and I have used this LMS to create my virtual classroom. I have created discussion threads with each of my grade one students and I use GarageBand to record my students reading. Their recordings are posted to their discussion folder and can be shared with their parents. I have started working on some short quizzes as well within my course shell.

3. Model Digital-Age Work and Learning

In December 2008, I introduced the concept of a wiki using PBWorks to the parent community of my grade one classroom. The main purpose of the wiki is to communicate with a very active volunteer base. Parent volunteers sign up on the wiki when volunteer opportunities are available. I have also posted our weekly spelling lists on the wiki, which are sent home in paper format, however, many parents have been pleased that they are able to access the information on-line as well. The wiki is a private wiki in order to protect the privacy of classroom activities, students and their families. So far, I have received only positive feedback, parents hope that the grade two teachers will use this technology next year and I have been able to mentor other teacher in the creation of their wikis.

4. Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility

In the past few weeks, I have taught my grade one students how to send an email. Each student in the Calgary Board of Education has an email address and they have learned how to access the webmail system, how to compose and new message and how to send and reply to messages. So far, they have been sending and receiving messages from their parents and myself and have taken to it like fish in water!

Our school has a partnership with an orphanage, Casa Hogar, in Guadalajara, Mexico. We have been able to use Skype to communicate with the children and staff who live there. So far only our staff have been doing this, however, our plan is to have our students communicate with the students there.

5. Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership

ETEC 565 is my third course in the MET program, and so far I believe that it has truly benefitted my professional growth and interest in Educational Technology. I consider myself to be a lifelong learner and have shown leadership in this area at my school by doing short presentations on wikis and social bookmarking (delicious).

Step 2: ETEC 565 and Camille’s goal

ETEC 565 appeals to me because I believe it will allow me to “get my hands dirty” with a variety of applications. In the course introduction I read that this course will allow us to play in a “Sandbox” of sorts and that pretty much sums up my feelings!

Goal #1: Define my skills in assessment and work through what that looks like in grade one when using digital resources.

Goal #2: Continue to implement the principles of UDL in my teaching and provide purposeful digital-age learning experiences to my students.

So far, looking at the course schedule, Digital Storytelling has caught my eye. I would also like to learn more about html and improve on my novice skills in that area.

Reference:

National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers. Retrieved May 4, 2009 from: http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_for_Teachers_2008.htm

Spam prevention powered by Akismet