Category: Reflection

These items are personal reflections focused by readings, discussions and personal thoughts.

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e-toolkit learning Exploration Reflection

Moodling and Meandering

moodle image My course work has taken me deeper into Moodle and my understanding of this free, open source LMS. I love the word Moodle. There is fun and freedom implied in the word. Playing with the word leads anywhere. (moodles, moodler, moodling, can you moodle? I’m moodling, How’s moodles today?) Not to mention the spinoffs possible with rhyming and word families. The Moodle logo even hints at the fun, playful nature of learning, with the jaunty angle of the graduation cap.

So deeper into playing with Moodle, learning about Moodle and writing about Moodle I go. Like Alice down the rabbit hole…. and I ended up everywhere and nowhere I expected. Some interesting items discovered as I travelled the meandering, moodling path:

But my Cheshire Cat along the path was this gem of a find on describing Moodle by using LEGO. The definition of the word ‘moodle’ as a noun and a verb caught my attention. Using LEGO to explain what Moodle is all about …. how much more fun and playful can it get?!

Categories
Open Reflection

Cookies and crumbs

I was having heated conversations this past weekend with some colleagues about tracking sytems when using email. Since then, this idea has caught my attention several times.

Cookies leave crumbs…. no matter how neat you eat. When you work in a digital world, the crumbs are there to follow. In my course work, I can us SNAPP to see who is talking to whom, how many times they respond, wether it is inbound or outbound, even get a visual of how the community connects through it’s various members.  In wiki work, the history and editing done is recorded and can be viewed. You can always go back to previous versions of what was created. In blogs, such as this one, there is a trail of changes made. In collaborative project spaces such as Googledocs, there is a record of who wrote what, how it was edited, even when the edits were done.

I recently got an email from Twitter and Facebook asking me to come back to visit. I haven’t been connected to those sites since I set them up (on a whim and some tech support from my daughter) and was surprised to know I’m wanted. So, I’m being tracked there too.

Interesting that the more you ‘put yourself out there’ the more connected you feel, but also the more suspicious you can become. I’m beginning to rethink how quickly I click the “I Agree” button when I sign up for some new web service.

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Reflection

Digital age reflecting

I began my reflections on digital age teaching with the ISTE -NET standards from a +ive and -ive T chart and quickly realized that most of the items could fit under both columns depending on what I referenced. So I went back to the ‘list’ and reflected on my overall experiences in implementing technology into my teaching and leading practices. That helped.

Then I read the chapter ‘Faculty Development for the 21st Century‘ from the book ‘Educating the Net Generation‘ and was challenged to think about my personal digital FITness. This chapter refers to Fluency in Information Technology. The authors state that three kinds of knowledge is required: contemporary skills (practical experiences to build competence), foundational concepts (the how and why) as well as intellectual capabilities (applying abstract and critical thinking to complex tasks).

Now I don’t want to say I’ve been around the block a few times, but as I reflect, I realize ….. I’ve been around the block a few times !!!! 🙂 (in a good way!) Technologically speaking, I’ve moved through lots of ‘hardware’ and ‘software’ options. I feel I have always modelled, demonstrated and collaborated so my FITness level as it relates to modelling, promoting and engaging in digital work, learning, growth are probably stronger than other areas.

I was also very interested in the ISTE standards for administrators (school leaders) and thought there should be more common threads between the two. I was surprised to see that there weren’t as many as I thought. The principal as curriculum leader doesn’t really appear to be a focus, but there was certainly lots to reflect on in both my teacher and leader roles.

So FITness in the areas of design, customizing, addressing diverse needs, evaluating and reflecting on current research, and facilitating effective use of emerging digital tools are areas that I feel need to be ‘muscled-up’ during this course. Applying digital and information technologies to the complex task of learning (at all ages and stages), while focusing on the how and why, are critical parts of my own learning.

My flight path is beginning to look like a marathon route!

Categories
Reflection

First Reflection

This is the beginning of the ETEC 565 course journey. This first week has been about introducing ourselves to fellow learners. It is about re-acquainting myself with the work and schedule of an on-line learner who also has a full time job in education. This week has been about reviewing the course materials, expectations and planning. Self reflection was the first part of this beginning module. Reading and reflecting on the ISTE NETs for teachers was the basis for our personal technology focused evaluation.

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