WELCOME TO MY EPORTFOLIO

Introduction

This compilation of work and reflections will illustrate and showcase my activities, accomplishments, questions, and reflections on the possibilities of integrating technology into learning. I will highlight and showcase who I am as an educator as well as a researcher of the theory and practice of utilizing technology in meaningful ways and in various contexts. This ePortfolio contains a focus on the analysis and synthesis of my learning in the MET program and sets the stage for identifying the next “satellite” of my life-long learning.

Statement of Purpose

As a life-long learner, I receive great satisfaction in learning something new, setting and reaching goals and attempting to stay current in the world of educational technology. At this point in my career I am at the end of the MET program and I am faced with the task of synthesizing the individual pieces of learning, putting them together to illustrate a depth of learning, and using my learning to create something new. Therefore, the purpose of this ePortfolio is to not only to show synthesis and reflection based upon my learning over the past three years, but I want to take this opportunity to compare this learning experience to one of my favourite activities that I use for processing my learning and spending my creative energy, is the personal aspects of my life that I will share as part of the five satellites that I’ve chosen in the metaphor for this ePortfolio.

Audience

Through this ePortfolio I will demonstrate my learning as a result of progressing through the MET program and I will share my newly constructed knowledge with my audience of peers, fellow educators, school administrators and future employers. I hope to make this ePortfolio a living blog and therefore, continue to add and share my learning over time.

Over-arching Inquiry

I searched a long time before finding the MET program. My primary focus in my decision to begin another master’s program was to specifically learn the theory and practice of integrating educational technology into my teaching and professional work. I wanted to find ways to engage my students, to give them tools through which to engage them and further develop their critical thinking skills.

The MET program gave me the opportunity to learn about, understand and synthesize educational theory while considering its application within public education, post-secondary classrooms and online course delivery.

My inquiry process for this ePortfolio is as follows:

Topic: To be able to understand and demonstrate the connection between the use of educational technology in the classroom and student learning (grades 8-12 and post-secondary).

Goal: To learn the appropriate educational theory and the practice regarding the design of online learning management systems (lms) for use in both blended and online course delivery.

Questions: 

• How can I utilize educational technology to facilitate student learning that is engaging, that meets their individual needs, and provides them with the flexibility to learn at their own rate and in their own way?

 Sub-questions:

Is my personal, professional and academic development evidenced throughout my ePortfolio?

• Do my selected artifacts demonstrate my progress?
• Does my “Satellites of Learning” metaphor clearly depict my life-long learning?
• Have I evidenced my accomplishments while making connections from theory to practice?

Metaphor: “I am a Technology Pioneer”

I have chosen this metaphor because I am a pioneer in using technology in my workplace for student learning, engagement, and for my staff in terms of access to resources for themselves and the students with whom they work. I have come to the realization that technology is an important vehicle that can be used to engage today’s students and foster deep and solid learning but we are still very much at the beginning of tapping its potential in the classroom.

Therefore, through this metaphor I will build my ePortfolio around the attributes of the pioneer and include “the caravan”, “leadership”, “the campfire”, “facing the challenges”, and life on “the back porch” will all be part of the structure. The metaphor of the “the caravan” represents time for personal reflection, where “leadership” represents the methods of bringing technology into the workplace and classroom, “the campfire” represents storytelling and future dreams,  “facing the challenges” represents qualitative and quantitative research and the “back porch” represents our professional learning.

In terms on the method of putting the e-Portfolio together, I plan to construct the general framework for the entire e-Portfolio by creating the various sections and adding the written content and selected formal written artifacts that fit each section. I will then add the multimedia artifacts that I have created and make the connections to the “whole”. Once the content is in place I will add my synthesis and reflections on what I have learned, apply what I have learned to current settings, make suggestions regarding the implementation of education technology into the teaching and learning process, and leave it with the feeling that it is a “work in progress” as my implementation of educational technology will continue to evolve. Finally, I will add a guided tour, my finalized assessment rubric, and other pieces that will bring this project to fruition.

Achieving my Objectives and Exploring my Questions

By selecting artifacts that clearly articulate and reflect my chosen metaphor I will be able to demonstrate how I have achieved my objectives and explored my questions. Over the course of the three years that it has taken me to complete this program I have had many opportunities to apply my learning both in the school district and in the post-secondary setting where I am a sessional instructor.

This ePortfolio will reference my competencies, values and beliefs, and the artifacts that I will select will demonstrate the many skills that I have learned and developed. As I build this ePortfolio I will reflect on my learning, construct new knowledge, make new connections and create more artifacts.