Précis of my Flight Path.

I began my flight path, and the class by talking about the nature of my teaching area and the role technology has played in it.  I teach technology education, and despite the name few teachers, me included, have made use of the current teaching technologies available to us.  I postulated that a teacher from 50 years ago could probably enter my classroom and feel perfectly at home with what he saw there, and would probably be able to teach the class in much the same way as I do.  The sum total of the ‘new’ technology in my room is a television, a DVD player, and a computer in my office.  The concern I expressed in the flight path was that if we continue to run our classes the way we always have, we are going to start losing students.

This is the basis for what I hoped to get out of 565.  In the flight path I expressed that my desire for the class was to develop a program that would incorporate some of the more current teaching technologies.  I knew that with my limited resources I was never going to be on the cutting edge, but if I  could develop even a new way of presenting material and teaching it, it would go far to keep the class from seeming archaic.

Reflection on the E-Learning Tool Kit.

This is one part of the class where I did have some difficulties.  The toolkit activities I worked through I found very thorough, easy to understand and easy to follow.  On one of the reflections I made the observation that the activity was almost too easy to follow, it was more process, (do this, now do this), than work that involved  thought.  The cure for this of course was in my own hands.  Had I repeated the steps a couple of times it would have become knowledge, not process. However, in truth, many times I went through the toolkit because I was supposed to, not because I thought it would be something useful to know.  The difficulties I had with the toolkit activities were  primarily because I wanted to use it as a learning tool and some of the activities concerned technologies that I felt comfortable with already, for example, I’ve used Wiki’s before and I’ve made many DVD’s, I didn’t feel the need to spend the time learning how to do things that I already knew how to do.

Self Assessment of the E-Portfolio using SECTIONS

The SECTIONS model is intended to help teachers make choices about selecting and using technologies.  Given this I could look at my portfolio in terms of a teacher thinking about incorporating this technology for students to use, or I could look at the portfolio as the learner and assess how I found using the technology.  I’ll try to do both.

• Students. As a student I found this very appropriate for the class. The e-portfolio is an excellent way to contain a lot of different material in one place. It allowed me to easily see what I had done and reflect or expand on that without having to dig through files on my computer. I also feel that the professional appearance of the site adds a lot. Presentation is important, especially in an online environment. As a teacher thinking about using it in a class, I can envision using a blog in some classes, for example an English or Socials class where students are expected to write and reflect. In these classes the site would have the same benefits that I found, containing a lot of material in one central place. I have more difficulty thinking about how to use it in other classes, math or sciences or technology education for example, without it appearing forced, using it because it’s available.
• Ease of Use. For me using this technology did not present a challenge. I don’t think it would for school students either. There is a slight learning curve to using the technology but after a brief time it would become second nature.
• Cost. I don’t know if there is a cost to UBC for being a webhost for WordPress. There are many free blog sites available though, including a version of WordPress so using this blog in a class could be free.
• Interactivity. The blog enables both students and instructors to post comments which can themselves be commented on, so there is some interaction with the technology. This interaction could also be used to benefit if the technology was used in a high school.
• Organizational issues. The requirements and barriers for a blog site are minimal. Connection to the internet, time to learn how to use the technology, and the willingness to keep using it after the initial novelty had worn off.
• Novelty. Blogs have been around for some time, as current technology goes, so the novelty associated with newness wasn’t there for me nor would it be for students. There was an element of novelty for me in that I had never used a blog before but this was short lived. I’ve never heard students talking about blogs so I imagine that even though they know what they are they will have little real experience using them.
• Speed. How quickly can courses be mounted with this software? For us the blog didn’t contain the course, it was a place post some of the assignments for the course. I would say that the technology wasn’t appropriate for mounting a course and I think that would be the case for using it for a high school class too.

Next Steps.

Realistically it’s very unlikely that I will ever deliver an online class in the subject area of woodworking.  The majority of students who enroll in my classes do so for the pleasure of working with their hands and creating real tangible items.  For many, these classes are the one place in school where they can feel the pride of accomplishment.  While most of my students are enthusiastic and sometimes very talented, they are not usually the high academic achievers.  This creates a dichotomy, students who are interested in the shop classes are unlikely to enroll in a class that is primarily theoretical rather than hands on, and students that might be interested in a class like this would not generally enroll in a class designed for future woodworkers.

There are however ways that I can use some of the technologies that we explored in 565.  The project idea I outlined that used social media, in my case PhotoPeach, is one that I think could work.  While the project does not involve making things, it does have a hands-on aspect.  I think the students would enjoy solving the puzzle presented in the project and would learn something in the process.

I am also interested in developing a Wiki site for my classes.  Initially this would be used as a repository of projects.  I would post pictures of finished projects or project ideas and students could visit the site for inspiration.  Students are often able to use past projects as an inspiration to design and develop their own projects.  Developing personal design ideas and building on past ideas is something I actively encourage in my classes. Eventually students would play a more active role in the site, posting their own project pictures and possibly links to other sites that are related to the class.

The biggest setback I see to the project ideas I would like to pursue is the lack of a way for students to access either a Wiki site or the PhotoPeach site in class.  As mentioned above I have one computer located in my office. That would put the responsibility on to the students to use the site outside of class time.  This might be difficult to do.  My hope is that if the site is genuinely useful then students will want to explore it and it will become self-perpetuating, students will find it useful, they will add to it and it will become even more useful.

Post note.  Yes, I did leave out the ‘T’.  The instructions for this exercise said “where applicable” and it didn’t seem applicable to me.  So for now, T can be ‘a drink with jam and bread’.

Bates, A., & Poole, G. (2003). 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.