Category Archives: Blog

E-Portfolio Learning Commons

For Teaching Professionals

Our group project in the ETEC510: The Design of Technology-Supported Learning Environments course was to create a learning space, on a specific topic. My group and I chose to create a website which is dedicated to helping educators of young adults incorporate electronic portfolios into their teaching practice and instructional design.

https://blogs.ubc.ca/eportfoliolearningcommons/

https://blogs.ubc.ca/eportfoliolearningcommons/

Dabbling in Stop Motion

One of the course projects in the ETEC 510: The Design of Technology-Supported Learning Environments was to create a stop motion video. This was the first time I’ve created one. I choice to create it using Adobe Premiere, because I am familiar with that software. In retrospect, I realized,  that in my typical fashion, I choose to do things the hard way! I learned that there are a number of free or relatively affordable, and easy to use applications available which could have been used to create the stop motion in less that half the time that it took me.

Regardless, I enjoyed this course project, and from the creative output by my classmates, I can see the ways that stop motion can be applied for teaching. Here is my project video:

Lucidpress for Design

Need to whip together a professional looking document fast? Or collaborating with a team to make a document? Not a designer?

Screen Shot 2015-03-02 at 10.18.36 PM

From: https://www.lucidpress.com

Fret not.

Lucidpress is a web-based publishing application which is intuitive to use, with it’s drag and drop interface. And you don’t need to worry if you are not a designer, because it offers a variety of beautifully designed templates to use (see list on right).

I used it for the first time to create this flyer to promote a new training program. The website claims that Lucidpress is: Continue reading

Hyperlinks, Online Learning Content & Embedly

Hyperlinking, a critical feature of the internet, is frequently used in online educational content. Typically, the hyperlinks can be identified by text that is in a different colour or underlined.

Online learning content often utilizes hyperlinking to make connections to other online information and website outside the course content. From a student perspective it can be confusing to distinguish which hyperlinks are critical to review as part of the course and which ones are included as optional course links. Course designers can use a number of approaches to minimize or eliminate that confusion. Continue reading

Education, Technologies & Vulnerable Populations

Photo by Stahlkocher CC BY-SA 3.0

A reading by Susan Pitman, in the ETEC511: Foundations of Educational Technology course, discusses the use of technologies and their impact on child development and well-being. In that article, The Impact of Media Technologies on Child Development and Wellbeing,  Susan Pitman mentions both the positive and the negative impacts that electronic media can have on child development and welfare. One key point which stood out for me was that the most vulnerable children are the most likely to succumb  to the detrimental effects of technology use. For me this re-enforces the idea that technology use by children should be mediated by adults (teachers, parents, guardians, etc) who are aware of the scope of potential impacts in order to capitalize on the benefits.  Continue reading