About My Edtech Journey

When I graduated from college and moved out, we bought an IBM PC which had a dual floppy drive which we upgraded to a 10mb hard drive.  I can format a drive using the Command line, and know my way around most file systems.  I worked for 2 years as a VAX 780 system manager using VMS and Unix.  In the early 1990’s I bought my first Mac, and have been bilingual since then.  (trilingual if you count running Linux on my Mac now) I have worked in database design and management, and done website design both as a volunteer and paid. I am now a music teacher.

I don’t really understand why we need to teach people how to use software. I pride myself on being able to read instructions, follow them and solve problems. That said, there is very little on the course list that I have not already encountered as part of my MET journey or my life. I have created a moodle, have created a course in WebCT, have been using IM for at least 6 years, have a Skype account, use VOIP at home, run all my music over a server with an internet interface inside our firewall, taught a course on using Wiki’s and Blogs in the classroom, had a Flickr account when they were still a Canadian company, have a Facebook and Twitter account, use iMovie, and GarageBand regularly in my teaching practice. I have played a bit with Audacity as well.

There is not a lot left on the list in terms of software. I am much more  interested in learning effective ways to use technologies than in becoming a “novice professional” in their use.  Assessment is one area that is on the list that could be interesting. I struggle with assessment because of the nature of what I teach, and have started using video and audio recordings and self reflection/evaluation as part of my practice.  I am interested in learning more about assessment, but I am not sure what the focus of an assessment module would be and whether it would work in my context. Bates and Poole’s (2003) SECTIONS framework and Chickering and Gamson’s (1987) 7 Principles framework seem to be a good starting place as they offer guidelines in terms of both pedagogy and practice regarding the use of educational technologies.

What I would love to do is have the time to explore how to create a little sound lab in my classroom.  I have 4 donated MIDI ready synthesizers, I would love to set up some Linux machines (because they are free) and find some OpenSource software to enable my students to create and record their own music.

Other areas I would like to explore in this course:
1. How to set up a Moodle Server (more server side knowledge in general)
2. More depth of knowledge of CSS
3. Screencasting (last time I tried I didn’t have enough memory)

In terms of resources that I might need, I don’t think I need anything other than time, and maybe a shiny new computer :-)

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.

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.
http://www.aahea.org/bulletins/articles/sevenprinciples1987.htm