Author Archives: seanturn

Final Reflection

Precis of my Flightpath

My flightpath outlined 3 main goals that I intended to gain from taking this course. Well, after finalizing my LMS content module, I think I have done just that; accomplished my goals. They were:

Design and develop digital-age learning experiences and assessments (ISTE, 2008)
Learn about LMS and create a course either using Moodle or Connect. I am familiar with Connect but not with Moodle. I hope is to learn more on this and then choose accordingly.
Learn in what ways how to integrate social media into the classroom as a teaching tool.

I wanted to learn how to incorporate digital tools into the classroom learning environment. To allow my students to explore their curiosities and be more active in their own educational goals, manage their own learning and assess their own progress (ISTE, 2008). I explained that I wanted to learn how to create a course using either Moodle or Connect, and in the end I chose the former. I’m glad I chose this as I know many elementary schools do have access to this LMS. I believe that it will benefit myself down the road in my educational career. The last goal I had was to learn how to integrate social media into the classroom. November (2012) discussed how using Twitter can be a powerful educational tool and I now know how to use a hashtag with my students.

My ETEC 565A Experience

My overall ETEC 565A experience was challenging but exciting at the same time. It was very confusing in the beginning as we were first using Connect as our main form of online coursework and then switched to the New Learning Environment. I had to keep switching back and forth to see what I was supposed to do next and in what learning space. After a few weeks I got the hang of it and knew what was required from me. I learned that introducing new technology into the classroom, in our MET course and in professional work, technology will always have hiccups.

I must say that I learned a tremendous amount of information while taking this course. The readings, the practical component and our online discussions all tied together nicely. I found myself always referring back to the readings when I was unsure of something or wanted clarification on a certain topic. They were extremely useful for our discussions and our reflections. I appreciated Bates’ (2014) SECTIONS model as I never thought of how or why educators should choose a particular type of technology to use in their classroom. It makes sense. Educators shouldn’t just choose a type of technology since that might be the only one they know how to use, but should step out of their boundaries and consider what is in their students best interest.

The practical component, the LMS content module, was the most challenging but at the same time the most useful. I had only ever heard of Moodle before, never had I seen it in action. I had to learn a complete new type of software, just like most of us. It required a lot of patience, many readings and many videos on how to use it and see just how it works. It was fun creating a course online that I wanted to be engaging, thought provoking and appealing to my students. I think I created just that.

As with other master courses, you learn a lot from each other. As we did with our discussions in this course. Looking at other examples from past students LMS courses helped me greatly. I really didn’t know how or where to start. After reviewing others and getting a better sense of what I’m supposed to do, I tackled it head on. With our discussions, I also learned from others. What I may have not had thought of before, triggered a new view on a certain topic or idea. Constructivist theorists argue that online environments can enrich learning by allowing students to acquire a wider range of resources and materials (Coates, James & Baldwin, 2005). This doesn’t necessarily mean learning from other html pages online, but also what students can learn in discussion groups; from one another.

Next Steps

Traxler (2007) states that mobile learning, allows students to engage in self-directed learning and stimulates their cognitive curiosity beyond the classroom walls (as cited in Ciampa, 2013). I completely agree. I always had and will from now on, find a way to incorporate technology into the classroom. Whether it be using social media, LMS, mobile devices or using different apps or platforms, I am committed to using technology. I think it’s extremely important to engage our learners but also for us educators. Whenever there is a workshop on technology, I always sign up. I will continue to do so. I am glad I enrolled into this course as it will only benefit me in the years to come.

Works Cited

Bates, T. (2014). Teaching in the Digital Age. Retrieved March 31, 2016, from http://opentextbc.ca/teachinginadigitalage/

Ciampa, K. (2014). Learning in a mobile age: An investigation of student motivation. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 30(1), 82-96.

Coates, H., James, R., & Baldwin, G. (2005). A critical examination of the effects of Learning Management Systems on university teaching and learning. Tertiary Education and Management 11, 19-36

The International Society for Technology in Education. (2008). Standards for Teachers. Retrieved March 30, 2016, from: http://www.iste.org/standards/ISTE-standards/standards-for-teachers

November, A. (2012). How Twitter can be used as a powerful educational tool. November Learning. Retrieved from http://novemberlearning.com/educational-resources-for-educators/teaching-and-learning-articles/how-twitter-can-be-used-as-a-powerful-educational-tool/

Assignment 3 Reflections

As I mentioned in my video message posted in Connect, I have used a few other apps that can create digital stories but I decided to go with Videoscribe. The answer is simple, I am familiar with the app and I like the layout and tools that come along with it. I wanted to use something that was eye catching, engaging and fun to watch. I think the selling feature of this app is the hand that draws the images. You can select any image of your choice, and it automatically will draw a picture, with your eyes glued to the screen waiting to see what will appear. According to Bates (2014), if you just transfer the same teaching to a different medium, you wont achieve a different result. You need to adapt to the medium in order to be more effective. A clear example is in my digital story. If I was just lecturing on why students need to read and study Shakespeare, it might turn them away even more from reading his plays. If I used the same idea, but create a visual story on why students should read and study Shakespeare, it might capture their attention. I hope I did just that. I wanted to send a message on why we all need to read Shakespeare, not lecture to my students.

I used my digital story to introduce a unit on Macbeth that is now in my Moodle LMS course. I believe that by placing this digital story at the beginning of the unit, it will pique their interest even more allowing for more questions and discussions amongst them. Bates (2014) describes the use of video as a teaching tool to develop some of the higher level intellectual skills and some of the more practical skills in this digital-age. I hope I have created this with this video. Some of the questions I would have liked my students to think about before and after watching this video are: Why do we need to read and study Shakespeare in this day and age? I’m never going to use his language so why should I learn it? What will I gain from reading Shakespeare? Primarily Macbeth?

After completing my LMS content module, I feel pretty good about it. I found the introduction content module more challenging since I was creating everything from scratch. Once I had this up and running it was just a matter of organizing my ideas and creating my lessons. The few things I found to be challenging while completing my LMS course was the customized GUI, along with creating a group forum with at least two different groups. It was a matter of trial and error and reading up on how to create these. I wanted a mixture of formative and summative assessment throughout my course. According to Gibbs and Simpson (2005), formative assessment is in decline. It may be, but I do believe that it is in the best interest of the teacher and student to perform formative assessment since it allows us educators to determine where to go next in terms of pedagogy.

Bates, T. (2014).Teaching in digital age. Retrieved from: http://opentextbc.ca/teachinginadigitalage/

Gibbs, G., & Simpson, C. (2005). Conditions under which assessment supports students` learning. Learning and Teaching in Higher Education, 1(1), 3-31. Retrieved from: http://www.open.ac.uk/fast/pdfs/Gibbs%20and%20Simpson%202004-05.pdf

Looking into the Future

I thoroughly enjoyed reading the article by Alexander (2014) since it allowed for us readers to get a glimpse of what the future could look like in terms of technology. What struck an interest in me was when he mentioned the desire of residential institution leaders’ to blend their heritage with online resources. There is much debate over this as I learned when I took another MET course, ETEC 521: Indigeneity, Technology and Education. First Nations, Metis and the Inuit all look to their elders for their history, oral story telling and view them with the highest respect. What some elders aren’t so great with, is technology. They view technology as another tool that will diminish their culture and heritage. How can Indigenous cultures evolve with the times and incorporate technology without compromising who they are? This is a very good question. How can we be certain that what we view on the internet is legitimate and is coming from a reliable source? These can be setbacks, but I do believe that they will be overcome with time. Recording oral stories is one way that will allow all Indigenous cultures to save some history and can still be passed on from generation to generation.

What else will be seen in the year 2024? According to Alexander (2014), digital-storytelling will be seen in public and private spaces. We all had first had experience creating our own digital story within this course and we will definitely see more of this with the years to come. Instead of seeing billboards while walking down the street, we will see more digital and virtual boards popping up everywhere. Instead of paintings hanging on our wall, we will have digital stories hanging. Once I created my digital story using Videoscribe, I now have commercials coming from this company when I watch Youtube. Is this a coincidence? Perhaps. Digital stories can be used for so many things. I have a feeling Alexander (2014) is right.

From now looking into the future, it is up to us educators to adapt with the times and embrace the change. We should use technology in the class and make the most of it. Would I have liked to have grown up with technology such as our kids today do? The answer, no. I like seeing how technology has evolved since my time in elementary school and now can see first hand how it can affect the classroom, for the better.

Alexander, B. (2014). Higher education in 2014: Glimpsing the future. Educause Review, 4(5) Retrieved from: http://www.educause.edu/ero/article/higher-education-2024-glimpsing-future?

Copyright and Digital Citizens in this Day and Age

I saw firsthand just how important it is to monitor your digital footprint. When I was completing my teaching practicum with a grade 7 class, we were in the computer lab where I saw a few students on facebook. I asked if they were supposed to be on that site and they said no, but were trying to search my name up! I was petrified at the thought of them finding me and looking at pictures and posts that I created over the past years. I immediately changed my name on this site and made sure that my privacy setting was set high so it would be impossible for students to search my name. It really opened up my eyes and ever since this incident, I am more aware of my actions and extremely careful on what I post.

I think it is very important for us educators to promote responsible digital citizens and to be aware of your digital footprint. Just a few months ago I introduced my class on how to be responsible digital citizens. I mentioned this in a previous discussion post and will briefly mention it here. I showed the class a padlock, permanent pen, toothpaste and a bar of soap. The padlock represents the need for a strong password for different sites, the permanent pen represents everything you put online is there forever, the toothpaste represents once you put information out there it is hard to get back in and the bar of soap means to keep your search results and text clean. I believe the students have a better understanding now. With this day and age, all my students are on Instagram and have Snap Chat and they need to make sure they are following the rules on how to be responsible digital citizens.

What I don’t think most teenagers know is the privacy policy of Snapchat. According to Hernandez (2016), “Your content might be shared to a wider audience.” Snapchat has the right, under their privacy policy, to share your pictures or videos to other users without you being fully aware. This makes sense. I sometimes get updates from Snapchat asking me to watch a video of a crazy storm hitting Texas (uploaded by users) or to watch a mash-up video of posts from people around the world at a sports match. Do these people know that their video whom they sent to their friends are now being viewed by millions of people around the world? What about taking a screen shot of a picture that supposedly will self destruct once viewed? Do teenagers know that friends can take a picture of the picture being sent? I don’t think they know the ramifications of their actions. It’s important to educate our students on being responsible digital citizens, this will allow them to think twice before they post or send something over the internet. I tell my students that what you post now at your age, can haunt you down the road when you are applying for jobs as most companies now will search your name on the internet. Even if you write something as a teenager that you are not proud of later down the road, it still can affect you as an adult and your career.

One thing that I need to be more aware of and to teach my students is the use of copyright. It’s one thing to cite sources in the information they use for reports, but it’s another to give credit for an image they may use found on the internet.

Hernandez, 2016. Oh, snap! Here’s six sneaky Snapchat secrets you might not have heard. Retrieved from: http://digitaltattoo.ubc.ca/2016/02/02/oh-snap-heres-six-sneaky-snapchat-secrets-you-might-not-have-heard-of/

Social Media in a Classroom

Bates (2014) states that social media’s main focus is to allow users to share and create information in a friendly open environment. I completely agree with his statement. Although I am an avid user and believer in using technology in my classroom, I have to admit that I am not using social media as a learning tool as much as I would like to. The article by November (2012) really opened up my eyes. Other than using Facebook, I was reluctant in signing up for another social media site. I thought to myself, “Do I want to have another way of occupying or wasting my time?” Well, after learning at the beginning of this course briefly that Twitter could have an advantage in engaging my students in the classroom, I said, “Well it won’t hurt to try.” I’m glad I did because Twitter is not just another waste of time, but actually a powerful learning tool that my kids would love to engage in.

Like Candy (1991) mentioned, many students come to class not as independent learners, but need support in learning how to use a certain tool (as cited in Bates, 2014). This is one task that us teachers need to be aware of. Even though many students have their own cellphone or iPad, they don’t necessarily have the skills to learn how Twitter can be used in an educational setting. When I try using Twitter out this summer for my English 11 class, I will make sure I teach my students just that.

There are many learning outcomes that social media can help develop in students. Bates (2014) said it best:

“digital literacy
independent and self-directed learning
collaborative learning
development of global citizens
networking and other inter-personal skills
knowledge management
decision-making”

All of these learning outcomes, according to the MYP IB curriculum that I use, will help develop the necessary skills for students in a global context. Many teachers use the curriculum handed to them to only teach certain concepts, but rarely the skills and ideas that students can use in everyday life.

The following poses an excellent question, “Would it be better just to add social media to the course or to re-design it around social media?” In my opinion, using social media is just another tool that educators can use in their classroom setting. I believe it would be better to add social media to a course, rather than re-design it around social media. I do not want to be restricted in my teaching practice to just use social media, as I like to incorporate different tools to engage my students.

Bates, T. (2014). Pedagogical differences between media: Social media. In Teaching in digital age. Retrieved from http://opentextbc.ca/teachinginadigitalage/chapter/9-5-5-social-media/ (Chapter 7, point 6)

My LMS Experience

My experience completing the LMS Introdution Module

Creating an online course using the LMS “Moodle” platform seemed daunting at first. I had only heard of this system before, never had I actually seen it in action. The reason why I chose Moodle over Connect was because I know some elementary schools do use it and I thought it would benefit me later down the road in my teaching career. I am glad I chose it though, since it allowed me to be creative, see first hand just how to create an online course, and to hopefully put my work to good use one day. I had to watch tutorials on youtube to be honest, to get a sense of all the different functions available for me to use. It was like riding a bicycle for the first time. You’ve heard of it and seen it, but never have test driven it.

I found creating the online quiz to be the most challenging for me. There are so many different functions available and I just didn’t know how to tackle it at first. It was like trial and error for me. I would play around with the different drop down menus, switch off the editing mode so I can see what the students would see if they were to view the page and so forth. Once I created all my questions for the quiz, it mysteriously disappeared on me and I was in a panic. I had no idea where they went. Turns out they were in the question bank, only to find another struggle of importing them back into the quiz.

Future Communication and Assessment Strategies

I agree with Bates’ (2014) statement when he says that learner’s may not want or need to be formally evaluated. Instead, they would prefer feedback on the assignment or task. Does the student really understand this? If not, will verbal or written feedback be sufficient? This brings me back to last summer when I taught English 11 face to face. At the end of the course I sent out a questionnaire asking things such as, “What can the instructor do next time he teaches the course?” The majority of them responded that they didn’t want a mark on their essay, but feedback instead. I thought to myself, wow! Okay then, next time I teach this course which will be this summer, I will provide more feedback but still have some marks as I need a summative assessment. I thought that since it is face-to-face, I will ask them to come up one by one and have a “check-in” with me to let them know how they are doing and allow them time for them to ask me any questions. Now, with my LMS English course, I would do the same. I would provide more written feedback and allow them to have a virtual office visit at least twice in the semester. This would allow me to talk to them online over Skype to have a more face-to-face visit.

I always thought it was true and Gibbs and Simpson (2005) just confirmed my belief, students usually achieve higher marks on course assignments than on course examinations. For my Intro Module online course, I created a summative quiz on a novel study we would read titled, Lord of the Flies. I like this because it provides instant feedback to the students, and it’s also less work for the teacher to mark. However, I don’t like giving all my students only quizzes, tests or exams. I like to include projects (solo or group) as another form of summative or formative assessment. One form of summative assessment that I would include in my online course, would be a mind map that would have to include all the characters in Shakespeare’s Macbeth linking the different relationships and a description of each. The students could choose the software platform they would like to use such as bubbl.us or mindmup and then could post their link on a forum. I like this strategy as it doesn’t include an exam and is another way for the students to share and test their knowledge of the content we are studying.

The different types of communication I’ve included in my LMS course is both synchronous and asynchronous. I’ve included a forum for students to ask each other or myself any question they may have for asynchronous communication, and I have also included a live chat for my virtual office hours for synchronous communication. I like both of these as it allows my students to choose their desired form of communication. I noted on my course that I will be unavailable on Sunday. I think it’s important for teachers and students to step away from the computer to regroup and reflect.

Bates, T. (2014). Teaching in a digital age http://opentextbc.ca/teachinginadigitalage/

Gibbs, G., & Simpson, C. (2005). Conditions under which assessment supports student’s learning. Learning and Teaching in Higher Education, 1(1), 3-31. Retrieved from http://www.open.ac.uk/fast/pdfs/Gibbs%20and%20Simpson%202004-05.pdf

Online Assessment

Some of the opportunities I see in using technology to support student assessment is described by Bates’ (2008): Project work or group work, along with e-portfolios. I remember back in 2010 when I graduated from the education program, our final assessment was to create an e-portfolio linking our journey in the program to the 8 standards for teachers. BC Standards for Teachers

Most teachers do use a physical portfolio for their student’s progress, but once I completed my own e-portfolio, I knew that this would be perfect for students. Bates’ (2014) describes them as self-assessment through reflection, recording, knowledge management and evaluation of learning activities. Students could keep them online indefinitely and be able to see how they improved over the years to come. I certainly enjoyed it, and look forward to completing another e-portfolio at the end of this program.

Another great opportunity that technology can bring to student assessment is through online project work. There are so many apps and learning software available for students to use nowadays that the opportunities are endless. The new BC curriculum is headed this way through self exploration, problem-solving, collaborative learning and creativity. I teach my grade 7 class using the MYP International Baccalaureate curriculum, and I feel that the new BC curriculum is using the same idea.

Another opportunity I find using online assessment is feedback. According to Hattie (1987), the most powerful influence in student achievement is feedback (as cited in Gibbs and Simpson, 2005). Students want to know how they are doing, not necessarily by a mark, but by words. Are they doing in correctly? Is there something they should change? Are they really understanding it? Feedback is not my strong point as it requires individualized comments for each student and I am used to just grading a quiz or a paper using a rubric. With online feedback, I can pre-program feedback so that each student will receive a comment that is in the database according to their response. I can see that this would be a great tool to use.

Bates, T. (2014). Teaching in a digital age http://opentextbc.ca/teachinginadigitalage/

Anderson’s Attributes

According to Bransford and colleagues (1999), learner-centred is another way of collecting information from students and thus allowing to have a deeper understanding of what they can bring to the class (as cited in Anderson, 2008). Throughout my journey so far within the MET program, I find that most professors have achieved this by asking us students what our professional/schooling background is and what is it that we want to gain from in the course. I find this very effective because it makes us think and reflect on why did we choose this course and how will it benefit us? The “Get to Know You” discussion at the beginning of every course allows us students to write about our background. In my professional teaching career, I do something similar. I hand out a questionnaire to my students and parents asking them certain questions such as: What are your favourite hobbies? What is your favourite and least favourite subjects? What do you want to focus on this term? How can you achieve this? I can get to know my students on a deeper level and can plan my units and lessons accordingly.

When I think of knowledge-centred, I think of one of the teaching strategies we learned in elementary school: text to text, text to self and text to real world. Learning is not just about reading books and listening to lectures, it’s about making connections with facts, people, ideas and communities (Anderson, 2008). One great example of this in the MET program is when we write reflections on articles and certain questions that are asked. In my teaching, I always try to incorporate real life examples as it makes learning more enjoyable for the students and myself.

I completely agree when Anderson (2008) states the assessment strategies that provide summative and formative assessment are needed most to have the least amount of teacher work load impact. I find assessment a challenge in my teaching career. I want to be able to provide the easiest and best way possible to assess my students that won’t require additional time on my part. I want to be able to give them feedback that they can use for future projects and assignments. In our MET program, I find online feedback the most useful along with rubrics that are posted before we start our project. This gives us something to look at and work towards with the criteria already in place. I really like the idea of having the students create their own criteria that Anderson (2008) has stated and will be trying this in the future.

Community-centred learning would best be illustrated in our MET program with our online discussions. If we were to have any sense of community, conversing and learning with one another allow us to have a sense of belonging. In the classroom, student group work and feeling safe are two important aspects that are critical to have. I want my students to feel safe in a way that they can ask any question and to be able to learn from one another.

Anderson, T. (2008a). Towards a theory of online learning. In T. Anderson & F. Elloumi (Eds.),Theory and Practice of Online Learning. Edmonton, AB: Athabasca University.

Trinh’s Bind

Well, it seems that Trinh is in a bind for sure. Some questions and suggestions that come to mind are:

*Did she explicitly state that students can get a hold her via numerous avenues and not set up just one direct email for questions or concerns?

*I understand that teachers and professors like to give students options for communicating between one another, but perhaps comments and questions between students can be done through blogs, twitter and Blackboard discussions? Leave questions to the professor via her personal email only if they can’t find the answer to it from their colleagues?

*Why are students emailing her so frequently? Are the course instructions not clearly stated in the beginning?

*She could set up 3 different blogs for the student’s living in South Africa, New Zealand and Finland? This way, all comments and basic assignment questions could be asked between the students and not having to always involve the professor? We do something similar with our Maple, Oak and Aspen groups. The groups wouldn’t be private either, allowing everyone to see and share their ideas.

*She could adopt the SOUL (Slow Online and Ubiquitous Learning) theory (Feng & Petrina, 2012). In my ETEC 511 course, we used this method and it allowed for a more deeper understanding of content and less stress by assignment deadlines. Perhaps her emails from students are asking for extensions or clarification, when the students could perhaps answer their own question if given more time?

*She could set virtual office hours via Skype or Blackboard Collaborate?

*At the end of each course, she could send out an online feedback form to the students asking for comments or suggestions? She could use this feedback for her future courses. ie) What do you find is the best way to communicate with the professor and with your colleagues?

Feng, F., & Petrina, S. (2012) SOUL (Slow Online and Ubiquitous Learning). Retrieved from http://www.academia.edu/5065965/SOUL_Slow_Online_and_Ubiquitous_Learning_

Mobile Technology in the Classroom

“Let us know what is the position of your workplace regarding the use of mobile devices in the classroom/for learning. Who is allowed to use mobile devices: teachers, students? What for? What are the obstacles? Are there any success stories? How does the use of mobile devices change the way we teach and learn?”

I can say that I am very lucky to be working in a school district that embraces technology and is not afraid of change. The Vancouver School Board has a district wide policy on the use of mobile devices, but it is up to the teacher on how it is implemented in the classroom. This allows me the flexibility and the freedom to decide when and how I want to use mobile devices; ie. cellphones, iPads or iPods. I personally am ‘all for’ using mobile devices in the classroom. Our school has 2 iPad carts containing a total of 50 iPads for student use and we just received a mobile iPad educational cart that will replace all overheads, TV’s and projectors.

One tricky obstacle that I do face is in my grade 7 classroom where I job share at the moment with another teacher. Her policy with mobile devices is different than mine. I allow my students to occasionally listen to music with their earphones in, since some students are more focused this way. If they are doing their work and not distracting anybody then why not? If the iPad’s are not available (already booked by another teacher), I will allow my students to use their cellphones to do research or look up something for an assignment. Some students also never write down in their agenda and it’s like pulling teeth to get them to write their homework down, so I will allow them to take a picture of the homework board with their cellphones. My jobshare teacher does not allow this.

Traxler (2007) mentions that, “…mobile learning delivers learning to the learner when and where they want it” (as cited in Ciampa, 2013, p. 92). I completely agree with this statement. Most of my students own a phone so allowing them the flexibility of using their own technology is very convenient. My class also has a SMART Board and I will use this if I want to show something to the entire class. I don’t completely agree when Ciampa (2013) states that the teacher named Natasha doesn’t see the same focused activity of her students when using other devices such as the SMART Board. My students love it. I use it throughout the day and I’ve had students come up to me to say that they like how I always use it and in the manner that I do. After watching the video in our week 5 Module which mentions the website Poll Everywhere, I asked my students the question, “Should cellphones be allowed in class?” We were all able to see the results instantly and it was a hit amongst them.

I’ve taught in many classrooms before where there was not one piece of technology to use. I can’t imagine now not being able to use or teach with some type of technology; let alone the students not being able to use it.

Ciampa, K. (2013). Learning in a mobile age: An investigation of student motivation. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 30(1), 82–96