A Digital Journey

In analyzing the reported interviews several issues came to the fore. The issues were very similar in each case. Some of these issues were, professional development seminar for the use of technology and engagement of students when using technology in teaching and learning. Some of issues were specifically related to; teachers, students, and administrators. However, I noted with careful interest that the issues were not unique to  any particular institution or to any particular student or teacher.

Based on my interview and those of my colleagues, I develop an interest in, and I am concerned about the use of, the word “engaged” in relation to students’ use of technology. My interviewee made reference to her students being engaged whenever she used technology to teach. My fellow Metters alluded to this “engagement” of students as well.  Is it that when technology is used in teaching and learning educators observe a “sense of active interaction that otherwise won’t appear” (Iris Chan, February 03, 2010). Is this involvement due to technology or “perhaps it is the motivation factor that means more to learning than the technology” Katie and Beverly? The discussion has further ignited by interest and aroused my curiosity. I am eager to explore the extent to which technology makes students more engaged in teaching and learning.

My interview was different from the others with regards to how the interview was done. I did my interview via emailing. I emailed the questions to my interviewee and responded via email.  This was not intentional but turned out to be rather unique. This was supported by one of my fellow Metters, David, who posted “the tools of technology have already been incorporated into our lives.”

There were at least two discussion forums on my LMS. I did these a few weeks ago.  The task was then to decide on one other communication tool. The article  “Teaching in an online learning context” by Terry Anderson, gave me valuable insights on the role of the teacher in an online environment. With this information I was better capable of choosing another communication tool. My choice was to include both synchronous and asynchronous communication in my LMS. This mixture was aimed at maximizing the benefits of both forms of communications. Also, I realized that the limitations of one form of communication were the benefits of the other.

I was very careful in choosing the other communication tools. Bates & Pooles (2003) SECTION framework was the constant reminder. In particular E for Ease of use. I tried to use tools which I was comfortable with. Sure there were others I could have chosen, however, the difficulty encountered during the exploration along with time and grade constrains I decided against them.

The task of adding a course to a LMS was one which was challenging yet interesting. I was forced to explore the different features of Moodle via trial and error or by using tutorials found on the internet. With the necessary information, is way easier to manipulate the software. Exploring the Moodle environment was interesting as well as time consuming. Let’s hope it was my machine which caused the delay. Otherwise, that speed will be a deterrent to developing of online courses (Bates & Poole 2003). Nevertheless the experiences were very useful and will only make the finished product better.

Writing the proposal was extremely difficulty. While I can understand the idea of giving persons the opportunity to be flexible with their proposals, the novice was left in the wilderness. After getting ideas from colleagues who have written proposals before as well as hits from the internet, I proceeded to write. The task became even more daunting with the restriction on the number of pages. I have trimmed, trimmed, and trimmed yet I am still left with three pages. I guess I will have to await the consequences.

In getting the information for the proposal, there were some interesting revelations. Actually some of my questions were answered. I have now realized that a vast amount of resources which can improve teaching and learning are available however they are underutilized.

Bates & Poole. (2003). “A Framework for Selecting and Using Technology.” In Effective Teaching with Technology. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Pages 75-105

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