Hello! My name is Kate Ropchan and I live in Vancouver, BC. For the past eight years, I have worked at a secondary school in Langley where I currently teach Math 8, Science 10, and Psychology 12. I started my MET journey in January 2013 and have completed six courses so far. I am also taking ETEC 532 this semester along with this course. In general, I am interested in successfully integrating the use of technology into my classes in ways that enhance student engagement and learning.
My specific goals for this course are the following:
- According to the International Society for Technology in Education (2008), educators should facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity. I try to make learning meaningful and situated in real-life contexts so that my students can see how what they learn in school applies to real world scenarios. Everyone in life likes to have a choice so I often set up tasks where students have some control over what and how they learn. Additionally, I agree with Chickering & Gamson (1987) that students learn by doing, not watching. In most of my classes, I successfully create opportunities for active, collaborative, authentic learning. However, the one course that I struggle with the most is Science 10. The curriculum is insanely packed with information, followed by a provincial exam. Due to the time crunch that I experience in this course, not all learning is as hands-on and authentic as I would like. One of my major goals is to get past this way of thinking. After all, “good learning, like good work, is collaborative and social not competitive and isolated” (Chickering & Gamson, 1987). Thus I want to find new ways to use technology to help students work together and learn from one another while solving problems that relate to their everyday lives.
2. I especially want to learn more about Learning Management Systems such as Moodle. I currently have an informative class website, but I have considered switching it to a more interactive, social platform such as Edmodo. I hope that I will have a clearer conception of the affordances of LMS’s and ways to incorporate Social Media and Social Networks into my teaching by the end of this course. This is a part of my goal to improve the way that I design and develop digital-age learning experiences (ISTE, 2008). I also hope that an LMS may allow me to communicate better with my students. After all, “frequent student-faculty contact in and out of classes is the most important factor in student motivation and involvement” (Chickering & Gamson, 1987).
3. I find it important to advocate, model, and teach safe, legal, and ethical use of information and technology in my classes. However, I could improve my practice by taking more time to promote other aspects of digital citizenship such as digital etiquette and cultural awareness (ISTE, 2008).
4. One thing that I always keep in mind is that “no matter how powerful in educational terms a particular technology may be, if students cannot access it in a convenient and affordable manner they cannot learn from it” (Bates & Poole, 2003, p. 81). Thus I hope to learn about forms of technology that have minimal cost and are easy and reliable to use. When considering whether or not to use a new technology, I will reflect on Bates and Poole’s SECTIONS framework before proceeding.
5. “The ways in which new technologies can provide feedback are many” (Chickering & Ehrmann, 1996) and I look forward to trying new ways to provide digital feedback (for example, using programs such as Khan Academy). I hope to learn about new forms of assessment in ETEC565a, such as making quizzes on Moodle.
6. Good practice in education emphasizes time on task (Chickering & Gamson, 1987). I would like to move to more of a mastery learning approach in some of my classes, and this will require even more energy and time on behalf of the students. Engaging activities are more likely to keep students on task, so I need to make course content as relevant, hands-on, and interesting as possible. In each of my MET courses so far I have learned about interesting new ways to use technology for learning, and I’m sure that I will in this course as well.
7. As a teacher, it is important to respect diverse talents and ways of learning (Chickering & Gamson, 1987). Everyone learns in different ways and has different strengths and weaknesses. Thus I try to use as much variety and choice as possible when it comes to setting up opportunities for learning. Technology is very helpful in this regard, and I would like to learn how to harness technology to create a learning environment that is more customized and allows students to progress at a pace that is appropriate for them.
I am excited to dive into the world of learning technologies and explore what it out there. By the end of the course, I hope to have accomplished many of the goals that I have set out above.
References:
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). San Francisco: Jossey Bass Publishers.
Chickering, A.W. & Ehrmann, S.C. (1996). Implementing the seven principles: Technology as lever. American Association for Higher Education Bulletin, 49(2), 3-6.
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.
International Society for Technology in Education. (2008) Nets for teachers 2008. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/docs/pdfs/nets-t-standards.pdf