Synthesis
My Flight Path (A Précis)
I always start each new course with a mixture of fear and excitement. I knew that this course would provide a steep learning curve for me, which was both inspiring, and tad overwhelming. As I began to set my flight path, several goals emerged.
The first was my desire to appraise my current assessment practices for online learning. I wanted to look into ways to make my teaching and assessment more authentic, and to include opportunities for peer assessment and more personal reflection. My second goal was to delve into the world of multimedia. I wanted to look for ways to make more apprentice-like activities for my students. While I didn’t end up making multimedia presentations for my practicum course, I did create some for other courses, and have way too many ideas for using these tools in all my online courses. My third goal was to expand my knowledge and gain a much higher level of competency using Moodle. I had taught using this LMS for several years, but knew I was using only a very limited repertoire of the tools available to me.
In my flight path I stated that while it was not a big priority for me now, I would like to look at social media and the possible implications for my college students. I didn’t think this would be a large part of my learning journey, but in the end it turned out to be one of the greatest discoveries of this course for me.
Reflection on My eLearning Toolkit Experience
I really appreciated this hands-on undertaking. It was a great opportunity to meld learning necessary technical skills with pedagogical theory. What a great way to build in really authentic learning activities! As I worked through each of the tools, I found my self constantly reflecting about how, if, and why I might use these tools with my students.
LMS – This tool helped me to locate and discover resources within Moodle I had never used. I was able to pull many new ideas into my own MET Moodle course, and have even more ideas to use with my students. I will be using the blog feature for my practicum courses, have found an exciting way to use a wiki in my Professional Communications course, I created a lesson for my ETEC 510 course, I learned how to give a variety of feedback for quizzes, discovered the glossary feature (which I’ll be using in several courses), embedded videos, and more. Wow….so much learning!
Web Design & HTML Authoring – This was a huge, difficult, stressful, tearful, but rewarding experience. While I have only just begun to learn HTML, it was very exciting to break through my mind block and begin to understand the basics of this mystery code. No, I don’t love it, but I’m using it, and that is good. I enjoyed the Web Design component in terms of learning what makes an effective web design, and what is cause for disaster.
Synchronous Communication Tools – This was one of the few tools that didn’t overwhelm me. While I don’t use these kinds of tools often, I have used quite a few different ones. During this course (and ETEC 510 which I’m taking now too) I was able to delve into Elluminate and Web Ex while collaborating with peers. I appreciated these, as well as the Wimba tools I’ve used.
Social Software/Media – This toolkit resource was one that started to open my eyes to the potential power of social media. I had no idea there were so many tools out there! I’m a Facebook user, and am looking forward to seeing Google+. Completing this toolkit item before our module on social media was very helpful. It set the stage for some incredible learning during our 4th module.
Weblogs – This course provided my first interaction with blogs. It was somewhat challenging to set up my wordpress blog, but after looking through the information in the eToolkit, I found some great examples that gave me new insights into the world of educational blogging. I’ve now subscribed to several, and am afraid I may begin spending more time on the computer than I do with my children!
Multimedia & Authoring Tools (digital still, audio, video & DVD) – For me, this was a time consuming section. I’ve done almost no digital creating, so each step of this path took me some time. I was very excited with the results though, so it was time very well spent. I’ve now created several videos to share with my online students, and I love the different affordances created when I shift away from straight text. So exciting!
Wikis – My only experience with wikis prior to this course is one very failed attempt at using one in a course last fall (needless to say, it will be completely made over for this fall!) and accessing Wikipedia as a user (and warning my students not to trust or use them). I happy to say I’ve completely changed my tune and am looking forward to using wikis and teaching my students how to use them. Wow….complete turn around for me in this area.
Accessibility – I was really happy to see this topic was part of the eLearning toolkit. Accessibility is an issue that has come up at work this past year with my online courses. Removing barriers for students and providing necessary accommodations is essential for online learners today. I loved this section.
M-Learning – I have to say, I was so embarrassed when I had to blog about this topic. Yikes….I think I live in the stone ages. Other than a really old cell phone that I used on rare occasions, I hadn’t experienced using any of these palm held devices (unless you count a calculator, of course!). How many MET students have never texted? I think I’m in the minority. I’ve watched people use all sorts of mobile tools, but it wasn’t until I jumped into this part of the eLearning toolkit that I actually used one myself. I borrowed several devices (iPad, Blackberry, cell phone that actually has texting capabilities, and an iPhone). While I’m not addicted to these little techno wonders, my eyes have been opened to what they can do and how they can connect people with each other and to countless resources.
As I reflect on my experiences, I think back to Chickering and Ehrmann’s (1996) discussion on good practices for active learning. Working through the eLearning toolkit definitely used active learning techniques and respected “diverse talents and ways of learning” (p. 6). It was definitely a tremendous learning experience for me.
Reflection on My Overall ETEC565 Experience
Not only have I enjoyed this course, but I have learned so much. Can it get any better than that? This course challenged me….constantly. It was a lot of work, and much of it was difficult. It wasn’t because any one item was unduly arduous, but because most of the course set me on a steep learning curve.
I was glad I came into this course with some good teaching experience with Moodle, even if it was a fairly basic skills set. This reduced some of the anxiety for me, and allowed me to focus on learning about new activities and resources that I hadn’t previously explored. I’ve been able to spend a lot of time thinking about how to select and evaluate different technology tools. I love Bates’ & Poole’s (2003) SECTIONS framework. It provided me with guidelines for not only selecting what LMS I might want, but then within Moodle, I was much more able to consider how and why what tools might be appropriate for any given learning activity.
Creating a blog introduced me not only to the world of blogging, but also to the concept of an ePortfolio. I found working through the process of setting up a WordPress blog somewhat challenging, but I leaned on various electronic and human resources to help me problem solve when I got stuck on certain logistics. Having read a few family blogs regularly, I had some idea of what could be done, but actually writing posts and reflecting on my learning turned out to be a new and very insightful journey. I love looking back on my posts. I realize that I really have learned so much! It seems like such a personal way to learn. I’ve never been a journaler, but I now value the reflective process in a new way. The idea of creating an ePortfolio really appeals to me, and I am looking at ways to incorporate it into my teaching practice. It is flexible, reflective, and personal.
At the beginning of this course I saw that we were going to create a digital story. Anxiety set in immediately. I had no idea what this term met or how I would learn enough to ever create one in such a short timeframe when there was so much other learning going on. In the end, this activity, and the readings leading up to it, really were some of the most eye opening experiences for me in this course. I really hadn’t given much thought to social media, nor to the implications for education. Now I can’t believe I didn’t jump on board this socially tech train before! Creating my own digital story was a powerful experience, and it led to some deep reflecting. My students are social. I am social. Why have I not tapped into this before?
There is a lot of change needed in our education system, much that will only happen over a great deal of time and effort. But it is so exciting to know that I can make a difference in my students’ learning right now.
My Next Steps
So what are my next steps? Well, I hope to follow the International Society for Technology in Education’s (2008) NETS guidelines to guide my instructional practice at the College of the Rockies:
Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity – I plan to create more authentic online learning experiences for my students that involve more collaboration and creative thinking. This means doing a lot of changing in my current online courses.
Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments – I will be updating Moodle quizzes to provide more automatic feedback, an will be revamping activities that enable students to contribute to community learning activities in a personalized way. Anderson’s (2008) four attributes of learning have caused me to reflect on my strengths and weaknesses as an instructor. One goal I have is to really focus on the community-centred component, and looking at the social aspects of my online classrooms and learners. I see a lot of my “extra” time (what is that, anyway???) being spent evaluating my current courses and reworking them. I have one fall course that needs a lot of work, so that’s what I’ll be starting as soon as this assignment is posted.
Model Digital-Age Work and Learning – I am going to use my digital story in several of my classes, use way more multimedia presentations (created by me!), and then have my students begin to explore new media options to demonstrate their learning.
Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility – I will model net etiquette in all my online courses (hopefully not a new thing!) and begin to expand my global cultural awareness of digital communications (something I’m greatly lacking in). I’ll begin by reading blogs and then see where that takes me.
Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership – I will continue taking MET courses and being a model and leader in my institution for educational technology. Before fall start up, my colleagues have asked me to share some of my “learning” with them from this semester. I’m excited by their enthusiasm to learn and grow along with me.
References:
Anderson, T. (2008). Towards a theory of online learning. In: T. Anderson & F. Elloumi (Eds.), Theory and Practice of online Learning. Edmonton AB: Athabasca University.
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. & Ehraman, S.C. (1996). Implementing the seven principles: Technology as lever. American Association for Higher Education Bulletin, 49(2), 3-6. Accessed online 10 May 2011 http://aahea.org/bulletins/articles/ sevenprinciples.htm
International Society for Technology in Education. (2008). National educational technology standards for teachers. Retrieved June 6, 2011 from http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for-teachers/nets-for-teachers-2008.aspx
