When first reading the course description for ETEC 524, I was initially drawn to the “hands-on” experience offered in the course. The curriculum did not disappoint, I was able to create many components for a course I will be teaching in the upcoming school year. At this point in my career, being a full-time teacher, raising a family and studying my masters, course planning does not always fit into my schedule. With the current teaching environment, educator’s have virtually no time for preparation, and lesson plans are often short sighted, overlooking the core competencies and fundamental learning objectives. Having the opportunity to fully consider all aspects of a course, building the content from the ground up, and using research and theoretical frameworks to guide my pedagogical decisions has helped me to acknowledge and embrace my profession in the digital age.
With the Covid pandemic and the introduction of remote/ hybrid learning, with very little consideration for learning objectives, teachers were forced to implement technologies and learning management systems into their classes. The approach was completely reactionary to the situation, and did not fully consider frameworks such as the SECTIONS model, outlined in Bates, T. (2014), or the MIT CITE and IMM framework described in Osterweil et al. (2015). Questions asked in Bates, T. (2014) such as, “What is known about the students—or potential students—and the appropriateness of the technology for this particular group or range of students?” and How easy is it for both teachers and students to use? How reliable and well tested is the technology?” were not considered prior to the rollout. It’s important to acknowledge that many teachers have successfully integrated the new technologies into their classrooms, but with a lack of training and time, many of the implementation techniques which were haphazardly thrown into place during the pandemic, have carried over into our present situation. My flight path focused on thorough and careful consideration of how technology could improve my specific course and provide needed support for students.
I enjoyed the process of using research and case studies to help guide the decision making for my course. Osterweil et al. (2015) provided a clear and concise comprehensive framework that I was able to apply to the course creation process. For example, prior to making any curricular decisions, I analyzed my student’s possible situations. Considering their “Comfort with Technology, Student Support, Home Access to technology and equitable access.” Osterweil et al. (p.11). These were elements of course planning and integrating technology that I had never previously considered.
The process of working with a group to create an evaluation rubric in assignment 1, was an eye-opening experience. As a Media Design/ Drafting high school teacher, my perspective and the pedagogical choices I make, are very specific to my own situation. Collaborating with fellow colleagues who work as school technicians, administrators and curriculum designers allowed me to explore diverse perspectives when incorporating technology into schools. An example of this was working with Hassan, who is an IT technician for a private school. When collaborating to create the Infrastructure section of our evaluation rubric, he shared many insights regarding privacy, scalability and division management. All were components that I knew very little about prior to the assignment. I found our group worked incredibly well to utilize each member’s personal skills and share their insights with the rest of the group.
The case studies were another component of the course which helped me view the implementation of learning technologies through different lenses. I thoroughly enjoyed the variety of scenarios and the process of solving specific issues based on different educator’s situations. Working within the different constraints, addressing the needs of different subject areas, working in different countries, considering the public vs. the private sector, socio-economic situations and various levels of student support required me to use lateral thinking. I often focus solely on the needs of the subjects I teach and my current school situation, so it was both challenging and exciting to put myself in other educators’ shoes.
Having worked in a school district which implemented a widespread rollout of the Microsoft Teams LMS platform into classrooms, I had very little experience utilizing other learning management systems. In Assignment 2: Unit of Learning, I chose to use Google Classrooms. This choice was based on the fact that I have previously used different apps on the Google workspace including Gmail, Google Sites and Google Docs, but also because it is a platform that I can see myself using in the future. As previously stated, I enrolled in this course for the opportunity to build carefully considered resources for my own profession. I fully intend on testing the Google Classroom I have created for a Media Design 10 course in the upcoming year. Having the privilege of being a teacher, gives me the opportunity to implement these resources in an actual class setting. During this process I will be assessing and observing the effectiveness of the resources I have included. Having already created the first 2 units of my course, the contents of the remaining units will be based on how successful the first 2 units are. I often use myself as a gauge for assessing resources to include into my courses. If the technology is confusing, has a faulty interface, or is not engaging, then I will likely omit it from my curriculum. In this circumstance, I will be asking my class for feedback and observing their interactions with the software. The results of this form of qualitative assessment will guide my choices for the upcoming units of learning.
One major component of my courses that I have tried to improve is my assessment techniques. With the introduction of various technologies into all aspects of my courses, it seems that my assessment methods are falling behind and are somewhat outdated, relying on older, quantitative assessment methods, without fully embracing the technology, current core competencies and courses learning objectives. In my proposed unit of learning I focused on incorporating new and innovative assessment strategies. Including rubrics which are reflective of the core competencies, peer and self assessments and using game-type platforms like Kahoot to conduct quizzes were techniques used to address this issue. My reasoning for reforming my assessment methods is not to just arbitrarily update the methods, but with teachers prep time and time for assessment at an all time low, the need for more effective, efficient techniques is a necessity. Allowing for the students and technology to assist with the process is a great way to save time, and make the content more memorable.
In conclusion, I’m extremely happy with my choice of enrolling in ETEC 524. I found the content and projects to be highly useful and directly applicable to my own teaching practice. In addition to continuing to use the technologies I have discovered through this course, I’m excited to use the strategies and frameworks I have learned to critically analyze and incorporate new and effective resources into my classroom.
References
Anderson, T. (2008a). Teaching in an online learning context. In Anderson, T. & Elloumi, F. (pp. 343-365). Athabasca University. Retrieved from http://www.aupress.ca/books/120146/ebook/14_Anderson_2008-Theory_and_Practice_of_Online_Learning.pdf
Bates, T. (2014). Choosing and using media in education: The SECTIONS model. In Teaching in digital age. Retrieved from https://opentextbc.ca/teachinginadigitalage/part/9-pedagogical-differences-between-media/
Kenny ME, Catraio C, Bempechat J, Minor K, Olle C, Blustein DL, Seltzer J. Preparation for Meaningful Work and Life: Urban High School Youth’s Reflections on Work-Based Learning 1 Year Post-Graduation. Front Psychol. 2016 Feb 26;7:286. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00286. PMID: 26955365; PMCID: PMC4767925.
Osterweil, S., Shah, P., Allen, S., Groff, J., & Sai Kodidala, P., & Schoenfeld, I. (2015). Summary report: A framework for evaluating appropriateness of educational technology use in global development programs. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts & The Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, India. Retrieved from https://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/115340/Summary%20Report_A%20Framework%20for%20Evaluating%20Appropriateness%20of%20Educational%20Technology%20Use%20in%20Global%20Development%20Programs.pdf?sequence=2&isAllowed=y
McTighe, J., and Wiggins, G. (2004). Introduction: The logic of backward design (Links to an external site.). Understanding by Design: Professional Development Workbook.Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. (PDF)
Rawashdeh, A. Z. A., Mohammed, E. Y., Arab, A. R. A., Alara, M., & Al-Rawashdeh, B. (2021). Advantages and disadvantages of using e-learning in university education: Analyzing students’ perspectives. Electronic Journal of e-Learning. Retrieved October 21, 2022, from https://doi.org/10.34190/ejel.19.3.2168