My name is Sylvain Menard, and I am a high school teacher in a small rural town of British-Columbia. I took a very indirect route to the world of education. After completing a college diploma in visual arts, I worked in the photo industry for a while before I returned to school to complete a undergrad degree in sociology. Somehow my studies led me to start up a forestry contracting business, which I ran for about ten years before going back to school again. I obtained my degree in primary education in 2005, and I have been teaching High school for the last nine years. I always enjoyed learning, but I never liked school, so my motivation to become a teacher is pretty much fueled by my desire to reform the way we educate our kids. I am inspired by authors such as John Dewey, Maria Montessori, Jerome Brunner, Paulo Freire, Ivan Illich, and Ken Robinson. My goal is to make education more relevant to the needs and interests of our students, and idea that is aligned with the Connected Learning movement.
I have the fortune to work in a school where innovation is encouraged and promoted. In order to overcome the challenges that small rural schools are facing, we often have to come up with new ideas. In terms of technology integration at my school, I have been responsible for:
- the reorganization our library into a learning commons.
- setting up a blended learning environment where students can enroll in a variety of courses which are project based and offer a mix of online and face-to-face instructions.
- training and supporting all teaching staff in creating and maintaining their own website to support their instructions and facilitate communication between teachers, students, and parents.
- obtaining funding and organize the acquisition and the management of digital devices (Chromebooks, I-pad, and video recording equipment) to implement our school digital literacy goals.
My project for next year where, is to implement a new format to teach information technologies and digital literacy. The info tech, and digital literacy education will be embedded in the humanities classes. My role will be to bounce around between the English and social studies classes to ensure that all our junior students have the necessary skills and knowledge to select and use digital tools.
Since it will allow me to learn and experiment with a variety of tools in a variety of contexts, the ETEC 565 course is very much relevant to my practice. I am self-reliant with the use of many digital applications, and I am not looking to start using any particular technologies, but I am open to discoveries, and I am looking forward to exchange some ideas.
Sylvain