At the beginning of all flights there is the introduction by the flight crew and a short explanation of what to expect during the flight.  Welcome to my Flight Path for ETEC565A.  My name is Tom MacIsaac and I am a Biology teacher at Sardis Secondary in Chilliwack, BC.  I was born and raised in Sydney, NS (once a Caper always a Caper) and received my B.Sc at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, NS.  My experience with technology at this point was very limited.  I was allowed to write out papers and labs because everyone did not have a computer. In fact, there were four computers in my residence in 1990 at St.F.X and no professors were on line.  Where technology has gone in the past 20 years is truly amazing and I can only imagine the next twenty years. I  did my B.Ed at the University of Maine and I have been teaching in Chiliwack for 17 years (wow that is a long time).    I am marrried to a grade 1 teacher and we have three children (a boy 12 and 2 girls 10 and 7).

As a teacher, I try to be a student centered instructor.  I  try to teach with the the student’s needs in mind.   I try to teach my students that they need to  be active learners in my class.  I want them to take responsiility in their learning.  I believe technology is an excellent way to relate with today’s students. (Chickering & Ehrmann, 1996)  I want to add more technology to my courses so the students feel they have some control and flexibility in their learning.

I chose to take the MET, which I started in September, because it looked like a challenge to both myself and my teaching practices.  In 17 years of teaching I have seen many changes.  Tehnology used to  be videos and overheads and now it is  projectors and laptops in the classroom.  I have always been interested in technology and trying to find new methods for instruction.  I am hoping the MET program will give me the knowledge and confidence to try to teach using technology.

My main goal in ETEC 565A is to learn how to choose the best technology for my class and my desired outcomes.  I want  to find a LMS that is easy for the students to navigate. (Bates & Poole, 2003)  The reason I took this course was to learn how to use a LMS.  My knowledge of which LMS is better, and how to use a LMS to aid in my teaching, is very limited.  I am hoping to learn how to use a Moodle site to improve the delivery of my courses.  I believe that teachers need to embrace technology and use it well to engage students.  I am hoping that I will be able to present my course in a manner that is  easy for students to use and interesting so  the students want to use it.

What I want to learn about Learning Management Systems (LMS):

As a Biology teacher, I want to find the correct LMS to host my course.  I want to be able to use a LMS so that students can have access to homework, notes, assignments, and an up to date view of their mark.  As Perkins and Pfaffman said, “managing the course online prevents the usual misunderstandings about assignments, due, dates and other course requirements.” (Perkins & Pfaffman, 2006. p.36).  I want to learn about how much control I will have with a Mooodle site that is run by our district.   I want to learn if I can use a single LMS to house all of my courses or am I  going to have to use three LMS, one for each subject.

What I want to learn about Interaction and Assessment Tools:

I would like to learn how to provide an assessment tool or format that gives the  students feedback on how well they know the topic.  I am hoping to have some Pre-Test Quizzes that students could complete and get feedback right away by having the key hidden until the quiz is complete.  That way they could seee which concept they need to review.

What I want to learn about using Social Media:

This was something I never really thought of until this week.  We just had school cancelled in Chilliwack for the past 4 days because of bad weather.  Some kids emailed me with questions about  exams but not everyone.  Most of my students use Facebook and Twitter for their informaation so I need to learn how I could use social media to connect with the students.  Having a Facebook page, for “Biology 12 Sardis” for example,  seems like a good idea now because I could answer questions about homework, problems with a topic, and contact with them when something changes in the calendar.  It is learning in real time and again gives the students control in their learning

What I want to learn about using multimedia in my course:

As a biology teacher, I  get questions about virtual labs.  Since there is only one computer in my class I would like to learn how to embed a virtual lab video into my site.  There are also  a number of Youtube videos that would also be useful for the students.  I would also like to learn about the copyright rules that would apply.  Is there a difference between having a link and having the video embedded in the site?

As this is the beginning of my MET program, and my knowledge of technology is growing, I realize that some of my focus will change.  I hope that by the end of this course I will have had all my questions answered and have the skills to use a LMS with confidence and creativity.

References

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. and Ehrmann, S.C. (1996). Implementing the Seven Principles: Technology as Lever. American Association for Higher Education Bulletin, 49(2), 3-6

Perkins, M., and Pfaffman, J. (2006).  Using a Course Management System to Improve Classroom Communication. Science Teacher, 73(7), 33-37.