In my flight path, I stated how I have ended up where I am with technology through a combination of interest and coincidence. I never planned to be the go-to tech person in a school I was in. I took my first computer/technology-based courses in my fifth and sixth years of university. During and since university, though, through interest and the desire to do certain things with computers, I have learned a lot on my own. Since then, I have made a more conscious effort to take advantage of learning opportunities in the area and to build my set of skills, as well as my reputation, as someone who has become a go-to technology person where I work. Learning much on my own, though, I often wondered how what I did with technology in school married with actual theories and pedagogy. I wondered if, even if what I was doing seemed good, if it was the best thing I could be doing. I wanted, with this course, to have a better understanding of what technology to use when, and to be able to back activities up with prior theories, learning, papers, and experiences. My list of goals could be rephrased or reduced to a few main wishes:
- To learn how to better use different types of technologies.
- To be sure what I am doing, or what technology I am using, is best.
- To grow towards a shift in employment (department, board, university, etc.).
A first (and revisited) step in this journey was my introduction to the course’s eLearning toolkit. Before I even got into it, I loved this idea. I knew that it was something I would take back and use at my school and perhaps push for at the district level. It made such sense to have an assembled collection of possible tools to use for different jobs. Like any set of tools, some got used a lot, some got used a little, and others didn’t get touched. I didn’t get to explore the toolkit as much as I wanted to. Part of that is my fault, I suppose, but other pressures from the course and “regular” life seemed to make it difficult for me to really dive in at this time. I have it saved, though, and fully intend on keeping with my in my bookmarks / files wherever I may be working.
I found the LMS section to be very demanding, but very rewarding in the end. I felt (and still feel in some ways, I suppose) that I was kind of directed to adopt Moodle as the best choice. There weren’t many options to look at fully, so it came out on top. I suppose, though, a more thorough LMS investigation would be a course in itself.
The web design was something that I looked forward to. I was hoping that there would have been more of it required. I thought I may have the opportunity to use things that I saw as useful steps in growth for me; things like CSS and designing websites with flash-based programs. While I did read about CSS from the toolkit, and I saw the software editors available, I didn’t really delve into it. I got to keep my HTML skills sharp quite a bit, though, so that was good. I’ll just have to wait until a need or desire appears for me again so that I can tackle it on my own – perhaps when I decide my school’s site needs an overhaul.
Synchronous chat is something useful that I’ve used in the past. I have used Skype, MSN Messenger, and other chat programs. Wimba was new for me, and I liked it. Unfortunately, it costs money, so it’s probably dead in the water for me for now. I also enjoyed using the asynchronous tools like our discussion forum and the course email. I used VoiceThread some more, as well, and know/like it increasingly.
Not always for the purposes of the course, I also used social software quite a bit in the last few months. Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Delicious, MySpace… the list goes on and on. People are social creatures and this stuff has a lot of potential for learning if used in the right ways. I see things like this going from banned (as they are in our schools now) to being commonplace – even recommended or endorsed.
I have had a long history with weblogs, and have changed my use of them recently. Originally, I found blogs a way to express my thoughts in writing, and to stay connected to people I knew who liked to do the same. Blog searches are a common activity for me when I am trying to find downloadable music as well. They offer things mainstream sites don’t. Lately, though, free time has disappeared for me. I don’t have time to blog like I used to, and I’m out of that loop (or RSS if you will). I have been using them in school, though. I started seeing them as a tool for my students to write with. Plus, they are a great way for students to maintain a record of their progress and work. I see myself continuing to use blogs for the purposes of writing / creation / sharing, as well as using them as tools to communicate simple things like homework to parents. I found the blog in this course to be a bit of an afterthought or necessity for me, personally. For me, it didn’t seem to be the focus or the thing that I should be giving most of my attention to. That being said, I think that coming out of this course with an already set-up ePortfolio is fantastic.
Wikis are something that I read every now and then, but don’t do much with. I think that the wiki activity we did as a group was my least favourite. They are useful, and I did use a couple of very basic ones in my Moodle site, but there were things about it that I didn’t like: it got messy, anyone can change anything, and I always felt like I was trying to balance contributing and wanting to be seen with not being seen as dominating. I thought there were other tools better-made for that job, but the experience of being frustrated that way was still a useful one.
As for media, I am forever taking pictures and doing things to them. I have my favourite techniques and sites, so I didn’t see too many new things in terms of images in this course… perhaps because I didn’t have to. I did learn to search for images cleared for reuse. That’s something. For audio, I liked VoiceThread as I mentioned already. I tried doing things with Audacity many times, but it just doesn’t work with my computer. Apparently, at least in Vista, it doesn’t like 64-bit systems. I tried finding fixes on my own, outside of the course, but none worked. That was disappointing. I didn’t play much with video. I did experiment a little while school was still in, when I had access to the school Macbook. I tinkered with exporting still-image presentations to movie formats, which was successful. To be honest, I’ve burned many discs in my day, so the DVD-authoring part was neglected almost completely by me. The same can be said for accessibility, since I had covered it in a previous course.
Overall, my ETEC565 experience was fantastic. It wasn’t without drawbacks, however. This is my third online course, and there are some frustrating things about it: the inability to get instant / face-to-face answers and interaction, how scattered across the platform that course information can seem at times (to me, at least), and the sheer volume of messages to wade through. Previous courses had a lot of interaction, but I’m pretty sure we didn’t log about 4,100 messages to read, many of which were short, personal messages like “I agree,” or “yup”. It was hard to keep on top of at times. That being said, the classmates were great. Everyone was incredibly supportive, active, and helpful. Some were great examples of obviously high achievement, which pushes a somewhat academically competitive person like me to give a little more. The material was engaging, as were the activities. Everything was worth the time it was given, and I found that the learning scenarios/stories very useful. Our instructor was also a great part of the course. He was helpful, always quick to reply to messages, knowledgeable, and a good overall example of someone who knew what they were doing with the material – someone you wanted to take some of that knowledge from.
When looking back at my shortened flight path goals above, I think I achieved them all. I have gotten better at using, and thinking about when to use, different types of technology. The technological toolkit is something that I think I will eventually make my own version of, and add to it as needed. I am also more sure of what I will be using and why. Bates and Poole’s SECTIONS model is a well-structured and fairly easy-to-remember set of guidelines to use when making decisions about the appropriateness of certain pieces of technology. Also, not exclusive to technology were Chickering and Gamson’s Seven Principles. There were a few reminders and exercises through the course that will stick with me as either being more important, or something that I can do better. I think the most useful ones for me will be:
1) Respects diverse talents and ways of learning. Something like Moodle (or our district’s favourite, ATutor) may really help to increase my diversification of instruction while easing the burden on me.
2) Gives prompt feedback. This is always a problem for me. I dislike correcting things with a passion, especially in language arts. If I can pre-make feedback that is appropriate and useful, and the students can get it right away… it will be a wondrous miracle for all involved.
3) Two principles put together: developing reciprocity and cooperation through active learning. Keeping the students active by giving them activities where they construct their own learning together, not getting it straight from me, is a great idea.
I think that my next steps will be to focus on those above three or four principles and to keep the SECTIONS model in my mind when making decisions. I think I will create a toolkit for myself, the teachers at my school, and try to get one put into use (perhaps one in a wiki, so that all can add/ edit) by the district. I don’t see myself using Moodle a lot in the near future, as it doesn’t have the district support that ATutor already does. Having taken another learning session on ATutor this summer, though, I think I will probably end up finally using it this year for a class or classes. I already see myself as a lifelong learner with technology, and I plan on continuing to use it as an everyday part of my life. Now, however, I will be more educated about what I do, rather than perhaps going on instinct, which will make me more confident and effective as a learner and educator.
References
Bates A. W. & Poole, G. (2003). A Framework for Selecting and Using Technology. In A.W. Bates & G. Poole, Effective Teaching with Technology in Higher Education (pp. 75-108). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. 4.
Chickering, A.W. & Ehrmann, S.C. (1996). Implementing the Seven Principles: Technology as Lever. American Association for Higher Education Bulletin, 49(2), 3-6. Accessed online 8 August, 2010 http://www.aahea.org/bulletins/articles/sevenprinciples.htm
Chickering, A.W. & Gamson, Z.F. (1987). Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education. American Association for Higher Education Bulletin, 39 (7), 3-7. Accessed online 8 August, 2010 http://www.aahea.org/bulletins/articles/sevenprinciples1987.htm
