{"id":4,"date":"2010-09-14T10:44:12","date_gmt":"2010-09-14T18:44:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/naomi\/"},"modified":"2012-05-21T18:42:58","modified_gmt":"2012-05-22T02:42:58","slug":"flightpath","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/naomi\/etec-565\/flightpath\/","title":{"rendered":"Flightpath"},"content":{"rendered":"

Professional History
\n<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Hello, my name is Naomi Robins. I am going to describe my learning experiences as a journey, in keeping with the metaphor used in this blog.\u00a0 Every journey should begin with a look at who you are and what you expect to experience.\u00a0 I am an English as an Additional Language Instructor (EAL)to adult immigrants, IELTS examiner and a business skills workshop facilitator.\u00a0 My first teaching experience was in Himeji, Japan, where I taught English to high school students for a year. Later, I worked in human resources and volunteer coordination. Five years ago I began teaching EAL to international students and discovered my passion for adult education.\u00a0 Within a year, I began teaching immigrants EAL for employment.\u00a0 I have a BA in Anthropology and Sociology from the University of Calgary and a TESOL certificate from Mt. Royal University.\u00a0 I plan to apply to the ALGC program this year to pursue an M.Ed in Adult Education.<\/p>\n

I have just begun the adventure of using technology in the classroom.\u00a0 Relating to NETS for teachers, I have used online media such as \u00a0Youtube and listening skills websites as jumping off points for speaking and thinking skills.\u00a0 \u00a0I taught digital citizenship and responsibility in computer classes, through email etiquette and website analysis. \u00a0In terms of promoting student creativity, technology has been used minimally, and I need to work on creating more learning experiences for the digital age. \u00a0It is my hope that I will continue to develop these skills and others in pursuit of my professional goals.<\/p>\n

General Education and Professional Goals<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Every journey holds opportunities to learn new skills, and develop new perspectives.\u00a0 My professional journey is no different.\u00a0 Professionally, I hope to expand my knowledge of adult education and apply it to new areas of interest.\u00a0 Over time, my interests have expanded from the field of EAL towards the fields of higher education and workplace training. To become more knowledgeable about these areas I need to learn more about adult learning, and gain a better understanding of the role of technology in this field.\u00a0\u00a0 From the MET program I hope to learn how technology can modify the adult learning experience, analyze the impact of these changes on learning and instructional strategies, and how technology can be used in feedback and assessment models.\u00a0 I also hope to learn how to design and facilitate online workshops and learning experiences using social media, learning management systems, and web-based programs.<\/p>\n

Reading the NETS for teachers, the Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education by Chickering and Gamson (1987) and a Framework for Selecting and Using Technology by Bates and Poole (2003) provided me with a view of the paths I wish to travel in ETEC 565.\u00a0 As I am new to teaching workshops, I will focus on using digital media to enhance EAL learning.\u00a0 I plan to learn how to create a course that will supplement classroom language learning, permit online interaction, feedback, provide real-world application of skills and help students become better critical thinkers and independent learners.\u00a0 In order to do this, I need to develop a working knowledge of a variety of LMS, multimedia and social software.<\/p>\n

Specific Learning Goals<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Learning Management Systems.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I wish to develop familiarity with both WebCT and Moodle.\u00a0 Currently Moodle is more appealing, as it is open-sourced and cost effective.\u00a0 Many EAL programs don\u2019t have a budget for software, which makes Moodle a top contender.<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Assessment<\/strong><\/p>\n

As Bates and Poole (2003) mention, the variety of learning technology is daunting.\u00a0 I want to learn how to develop criteria to assess the practicality of different technologies for language learning.\u00a0 Related to this, is the need to come up with assessment criteria to decide how to incorporate these technologies successfully into classroom activities.\u00a0 In terms of student assessment, I would like to identify suitable online tools for creating assessments related to language proficiency and application, not content.\u00a0 The majority of EAL assessment in Calgary is now based on project and real-world applications (such as role plays, presentations, form filling, report writing, etc,)\u00a0 and abandoning traditional assessment tools such as multiple choice questions, fill-in-the blanks, and matching.\u00a0 Therefore, I am interested in recognizing and utilizing the appropriate tools for creating project based assessments.<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Social Software<\/strong><\/p>\n

The SECTIONS Model and the Seven Principles both emphasize the value of student – teacher and student-student interaction in the classroom. Consequently, I wish to learn programs which promote this type of interaction online; specifically – Wikis, Google Docs, Moodle and Etherpad.\u00a0 \u00a0In terms of promoting critical thinking I love the idea of blogs and e-portfolios and am looking forward to developing these.\u00a0 I\u2019d also like to take on-line interaction and critical thinking to the next level by incorporating programs like Wimba and Audioblog into the language classroom.\u00a0 However, one challenge I face is that most EAL programs don\u2019t have the technology (headphones and microphones) nor the budget to purchase them.\u00a0 I would appreciate advice on how to overcome these challenges..\u00a0 Guided learning activities would be the best way for me to acquire working knowledge of these programs as I\u2019ve tried watching videos and reading manuals to no avail.<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Multimedia Tools<\/strong><\/p>\n

One issue with multimedia programs (eg dreamweaver) is that they are costly and difficult to master.\u00a0 Given that teachers are rarely paid for prep time and teaching students to use new technology is often highly time consuming, I am only interested in learning how to use simple, free programs like Windows Movie Maker.\u00a0 Another challenge I face is reluctance from students to engage in creative activities as they are seen as non-employment related and juvenile.\u00a0 Ideas on how to get around this would be appreciated.<\/p>\n

This course is just the beginning of my foray into the wilderness of Educational Technology.\u00a0 In ETEC 565 I want to become familiar with programs like Moodle, Blogs, Wikis, Audioblog, Wimba, Google Docs, and Etherpad.\u00a0 I am open to simple forms of Multimedia design programs, so long as there are real-world applications for my students, who join EAL courses to improve their language skills in order to obtain and retain employment.<\/p>\n

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Chickering, Chickering, A.W. & Gamson, Z.F. (1987).\u00a0 Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education.\u00a0 American Association for Higher Education Bulletin<\/em>, 39<\/em> (7), 3-7.<\/p>\n

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)<\/em>. San Francisco: Jossey Bass Publishers.<\/p>\n

National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.iste.org\/Content\/NavigationMenu\/NETS\/ForTeachers\/2008Standards\/NETS_for_Teachers_2008.htm<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Professional History Hello, my name is Naomi Robins. I am going to describe my learning experiences as a journey, in keeping with the metaphor used in this blog.\u00a0 Every journey should begin with a look at who you are and what you expect to experience.\u00a0 I am an English as an Additional Language Instructor (EAL)to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3530,"featured_media":0,"parent":130,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-4","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/naomi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/naomi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/naomi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/naomi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3530"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/naomi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/naomi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/naomi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4\/revisions\/37"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/naomi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/130"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/naomi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}