The life and times of MET student

So after setting my Moodle course shell, I felt like I wanted to soak in even more technological skills, so I moved on to the DVD authoring page in our e-learning toolkit.  I have never created a DVD before, so I was a little worried that it may be complicated process for me.  I know my technological prowess is impressive, (sarcasm intended)!  Luckily, the user-friendly nature of the Mac came through once again!!

I opened up the iDVD program, and chose to make a custom DVD, just to make things interesting.  It was amazingly easy.  There is a variety of professional looking themes to choose from, and once I chose one, all I had to do was drag and drop files from the well organized, handy-dandy media browser.  The program also allows you to customize the DVD titles, and the pictures or video in the background of the menu page.  Then it’s as easy as pressing “Burn” and inserting a disc to make your DVD.  I ended up making a really cool DVD with videos and a slideshow from a trip I took to Australia a few years ago.

iDVD made the process of DVD authoring straight-forward and fun, with a really professional looking product at the end.  This process was not labour intensive at all, and the only surprise was how simple it all was.

Sorry, that heading was a bit nerdy.  Anyway, I set up my Moodle course shell this morning, and I was surprised at how straight forward it was.  I’m not sure if this is due to the clear and detailed instructions provided in our e-learning toolkit, the intuitive Moodle interface, or my technological brilliance (kidding).  Maybe it was a combination of all three.  Although initially the thought of setting up my own course was somewhat daunting, after breezing through the Moodle set up, I feel somewhat relieved.  The process was not particularly labour intensive, as I easily set up my home page and a discussion forum.  The only thing that I can see being challenging may be making full use of all the various functions and tools that Moodle has to offer, but I’m sure that I can figure it out with a little reading and some practice. Bring it on, Moodle!  I am actually feeling quite excited about learning this new technology.

In my own teaching, I feel that there are some categories from the NETS 2008 document in which I am proficient, and some that I need to improve upon.  This is my second MET course and there is still much for me to learn.  I feel that I facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity through:

• encouraging students to express their learning in a variety of ways (cartoon, video, powerpoint, blog, etc.)
• modeling innovative examples of how they can express their learning and solve problems
• providing students with opportunities to work collaboratively with other members of the class, as well as older and younger students so they can socially construct knowledge and teach and learn from each other

I also believe that I design and develop digital-age learning experiences and assessments through:

• having students use peer and self-assessment in the digital environment (blogs, e-portfolios)
• having students set their own learning goals before starting a project, and monitoring their progress in achieving their goals throughout

While I meet quite a few of the standards in the NETS categories, I feel that I certainly have room to grow and learn in several areas, like modeling digital-age work and learning.  Throughout the course of ETEC 565, I hope to achieve several learning goals so that I can more fully meet the NETS standards.  These goals include:

• having a firm grasp on how to effectively use management systems, like Moodle, which I have never used before
• increasing my knowledge of various digital communication tools, so that I can improve parent and student communication in the classroom and school
• using social networks as a learning tool to spark students’ interest, and educating them on the appropriate digital citizenship and responsibility when using social networks

I hope through combining the knowledge and skills that I gained from my previous MET course, and the knowledge and skills that I hope to gain in this course, that I will be able to meet my goals.

Feel free to poke around and comment.  I’m looking forward to sharing my thoughts with you!