Précis
As a teacher, I try to be a student-centered instructor. I try to teach with the student’s needs in mind and to teach my students that they need to be active learners in my class. I want them to take responsibility 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.
My main goal in ETEC 565A was to learn how to choose the best technology for my class and my desired outcomes. I wanted to find a Learning Management System (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, more specifically Moodle. My knowledge of Moodle, and how to use a LMS to aid in my teaching, was very limited. I wanted to learn how to use a Moodle site to improve the delivery of my courses. I still believe that teachers need to embrace technology and use it well to engage students. My hope was that I would 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. I wanted 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)
ETEC 565A Experience
When I registered for this course, I was excited to learn about educational technology and more importantly Moodle because our district uses it. But what I really learned was how to select technology that works best for the students learning. As teachers we are guilty sometimes of being distracted by the shiny newness of technology. We jump on something quickly with very little thought on how best we can use it and how it can effect the student development. As educators we need to start “making decisions about educational technology should have some theoretical model or framework that guides the choice of media and technology.”(Bates & Poole, 2003). The part of the course that really stood out for me was Bates & Poole’s SECTIONS framework for the selection and use of technologies. Bates & Poole have come up with a simple yet effective method for looking at technology and the important points that should guide our decisions. For me the parts of t his frame work that stood out for me were the steps represented by the letters S,E, T,I, and N. Students needs and benefits first. This seems like such an easy concept yet every year schools and districts jump on technology bandwagons and make uninformed decisions. Implementing new technology without first thinking, will the students benefit from this, is an ongoing mistake in education. This little letter S has changed the way I view technology in the class. I now look at technology decisions in our school with Bates & Poole whispering in my ear. After working with Moodle, the ease of use and the speed at which the course can be mounted on to this technology are very important. Choosing technology that can benefit different learners and different methods of teaching is another point I must keep in mind when making any technology decisions. As a public school teacher, I am restricted by cost of technology which is why we can get caught buying novel technology with out thinking of the long term uses or upgrades that may be needed (i.e. BCeSIS).
I learned that technology, when chosen correctly, could affect how I teach in my own classroom setting. If I choose technology wisely and carefully with the students in mind then I now feel I will be making the correct informed decision that Bates & Poole talk about.
The case studies were also something I really enjoyed and learned a great deal from. The scenarios in the studies were realistic which actually made me feel like I was solving the problem for them. I also found it interesting how every one has their own twist on solving the problem. The sharing of ideas, and in some courses assignments, is a part of all the MET course that I really beginning to enjoy despite my participation. Even in my class, I try to put what we learn in to a real life context and that is what these case studies did for me
I never really gave much thought to assessment and interaction when choosing a technology for my class. I am still undecided about going with Moodle or a Blog format for my classes next year. As I said earlier, I wanted to use Moodle because our district was promoting its use but after using it I see both the benefits of it and the drawbacks of it. No matter which avenue I go down I am going to make the most out of the interactive part of the technology. I thought that Moodle or a Blog would be a great place for kids to go get the work they missed when they were sick or on holidays. Now I know that Moodle and Blog have so much more to offer than just a note and worksheet dispenser. I am really intrigued by the Forum and Chat options where kids can ask questions or participate in online discussions with myself and other students. This is technology that I will be using next year in my courses.
E-Toolkit Experience
The first day I went through the toolkit I was completely overwhelmed. I knew very little of what was being talked about and even less of what I was expected to do. It took me a long time to be somewhat comfortable with the E-Toolkit. Some people might say it was procrastination but I am the type of person who likes to understand concepts before working on these concepts. At the beginning, I thought this was a resource that I could go use to help me with a module we were working on. It wasn’t until a couple of weeks into the course that I realized we were to complete all these sections and add them to our e-portfolio. So I tried to do the activities in the toolkit but my comments and answers were brutal. As the course moved on I realized they were helpful for me as we went through a module or upon completion of the module. Once I understood the concept, the toolkit helped me to understand more and how to implement this knowledge.
The sections in the E-Toolkit that I found the most interesting and helpful were the sections on Social Media, Weblogs, Synchronous Communication Tools and m-Learning. I never thought of Social Media as a tool in my class but it has really got me thinking about how I can use it. The activity that made us check through the Terms of Service and Privacy settings was a real learning experience. I, like many people, just click accept when those terms come up on a site because I know what I am going to do on the site. Now I will read the Terms of Service and Privacy information to see what the site is going to do with my work or the work of my students. I have used Blogs before, like WordPress, Blogger, and UBC’s blog, but never thought about choosing a Weblog that works well for the students in my class. To search out other Weblogs and see what they have to offer was helpful. It never occurred to me that what I do in my class and how I teach could be carried over to a LMS or Blog.
One aspect of my teaching that I think is important in class is to communicate with my students as much as possible, whether it is at the door to say hello and welcome or to ask them how they are doing. I walk around when they are working to see how they are doing and it gives everyone the opportunity to get help. The reason I move is because I know some students feel uncomfortable walking up to the front of the class to ask for help. By me coming to their desk they feel less intimidated and more willing to ask for help. The use of Forums, Chats and something like Elluminate Live allows me to continue being an interactive teacher but using a different medium. Before I began this course, I was unaware of using technology as a communication tool as both a synchronous and asynchronous form of communication. Until completing the m-Learning section it never occurred to me that students could do their work on the mobile devices and I am embarrassed to say that, since I spend a great deal of time asking students to put their phones away until after the lesson. Using their mobile devices and apps provides another opportunity to reach the students using technology they are comfortable with. I do wonder that even if we do all these adaptations with technology will the students participate. There still is that age old question of how do get students excited about learning and stay excited about learning. Is all this technology going to be so common that using a tablet or a mobile device for education seems boring? I think that is going to be an interesting trend to follow.
Moving Forward
I think the title says it all; I plan to keep moving forward with my practice in educational technology. If anything, this MET program has made me curious about what technology I can use and how I can use it in my class for my students. I feel more comfortable in my abilities to choose technology that is right for my class and confident in my abilities to use it and pass on the knowledge. I also realize that I can learn from my students to find out what technology they like to use. If I can use my students as a source for finding and choosing technology, then I will surely be making more informed choices with the student’s needs as a priority. As I move forward, I still want to learn more about Moodle, Blogs, Communication Tools and m_Learning and how they can benefit my teaching. The other technology that I never thought about before this class was the use of Social Media in my class. I am interested in how I can use these forms in a class and which forms of Social Media my School District supports or allows. I never thought of them as a learning tool because I always just thought of Facebook and Twitter as Social Media. After reading about Alan Levine’s experiment, I was amazed and inspired to try some of these forms of Social Media. There are some very creative ways to explain a very simple story. I am already trying to come up with an assignment for my Science 10 class. The course is painfully boring because it covers a little bit of Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Earth Science without getting in depth on any topic. I want to use Social Media as a medium for a short, fun project at the end of each of the components on what they learned. I think it something the students would enjoy and I can see what they are learning in the unit. This is a work in progress but this course has got me thinking. I think I always have been a lifelong learner in terms of educational technology. I try to use my Pro-D days to find about new technologies being used by other teachers. I ask teachers in my school what they use and how they use it. Some of these ideas I employ and some I decide against. As a teacher in this day and age you have to see the importance of learning about educational technology. It can be a little overwhelming because it changes so fast and what was once new is now obsolete. My plan was, and still is, to continue learning about new technologies. I will be open to new ideas and forms but I will now make wiser choices about the technology I choose. Educational technology is the vehicle that is going to drive education in the 21st Century. Accepting that and moving forward with it is my goal.
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.