Course Description
This course deals with the management of technology-based courses and projects, strategies for change needed at an institutional level to support technology-based teaching, and system-wide planning requirements at a provincial, state or national levels to support and regulate distributed learning. The course uses the Internet and print resources to enable participants to analyze and critique different management and planning strategies at various levels of technology-based operation.
Reflections
I have specifically chosen my study of the Shared Learning Proposal in the Mission Public School District for a couple of reasons. The first is that it helped make a vital connection between some of my previously held beliefs and the development of a plan to elicit a change in teaching practice where I work. The second reason was that the supporting literature and vision that we developed has already supported branching out in a new direction. As Bates (2000) indicates technology is being used to address weaknesses in or to provide advantages over the current conventional system of teaching in higher education; this is true for the environment in the education system in British Columbia. With a declining secondary student population in MPSD, districts must be pro-active to address weaknesses and utilize technology to deliver the same level of service in education that it has historically done. Bates (2000) goes on to state that the use of technology requires a major reorganization or restructuring of the conventional teaching and learning environments. The move to Shared Learning is a major restructuring for MPSD that will enable students in all parts of the district to partake in academic courses not offered via a face-to-face setting in their school.
Bates, A.W. (2000). Managing Technological Change: Strategies for College and University Leaders. San Francisco: Jossey Bass, pp 9, 34, 35, 62.
Artefact
Assignment #1 – Professor for a Day
Shared Learning in Mission Public School District