What’s Your Vector, Victor?
I am a physics teacher currently working in a high school in West Vancouver, British Columbia. I have been teaching physics and science for 5 years as well as having spent 2 years teaching just about everything as a teacher on call.
My current technological knowledge (like most people I suppose) is self taught. I have always been intrigued by new toys and technology in particular so I am fairly well versed in a number of computer programs and applications. Having said that, I am very aware that not only are there many tools out there that I have yet to run across but also many new and evolving ways of using the technologies that I am already familiar with.
While technology is one of my favourite hobbies, education is my career. My primary goal in ETEC 565 is to find a way to successfully merge them. I have always looked for ways to integrate technology into my teaching, though I realize now that it has not always been for the right reasons. Early in my career, I was sometimes distracted by the newest and flashiest piece of tech. It did not take long to find out that there is much more to the successful implementation of technology than just plug and play.
One of the things that motivates me to work with technology is that it mirrors my educational philosophy. I feel that it is critical for professional educators to model life-long learning. Just as technologies grow and evolve to meet certain needs so too should teachers be constantly looking for ways to improve their craft.
According to the NETS guidelines put forth by the International Society for Technology in Education, the expertise that I seek falls under the category of designing and developping digital age learning experiences and assessments (ITSE, 2007). I would like to improve my ability to create and deliver curriculum that is rich in content but diverse enough to enable multiple learning styles, while also promoting student ownership of their education.
My growth in ETEC 565 should also be in line with the seven principles laid out by Chickering and Gamson (1987). Though their guidelines were developped for undergratuate education, many of the principles are directly applicable to the education of the senior high school students which I teach. I would like to focus on using technology to increase the number of ways and the effeciency in which I communicate with students, to genreate more active and interactive learning strategies and to provide prompt and meaningful assessment for my students.
To be more specific here are the goals that I would like to meet in ETEC 565. In particular I will be focussing on developing tools for the Physics AP: B curriculum.
Learning Management Systems
I expect to construct course modules on an LMS platform. These modules will be comprehensive, complete and content rich. They will be easy to use and clearly structured as well as include rationale for student learning. Most of all I want to learn some strategies on how to build an entire course from the ground up to create a cohesive finished product.
To master this technology I will need to have the opportunity to play around with an LMS (…Moodle anyone…?). In the past I have been able to learn a great deal about computer programs by explore them in a constructivist fashion. With some semi-structured activities, constructive feedback from the instructor or classmates and robust FAQ section I should be successful.
Assessment
I am most interested in learning how to use technology to give students valid, formative assessment of their work. As a physics teacher I have seen enough worksheets! I would like to find some tools that would provide students with immediate feedback on the progress of their understanding – not just calculations but also concepts and theory.
In order to master this technology I will first need some background information. I have a good understanding of face to face assessment practices but no experience whatsoever with online assessment. Most of all I just need some exposure to the relevant literature. Ideally this would be coupled with some classroom discussion and practice.
Social Software
I would like to implement social software in my class to allow students to form online study groups and to create course wikis. I have some experience with both and I believe that they will be a great way to encourage students to teach each other. I would like to learn about some tools that would allow me to integrate these into my class. Although wikis and chat-groups might seem like simple tools, I am sure that there is a way of using them that will maximize student involvement and ultimately student learning.
I hope to learn about social software from my classmates directly. Having used social software personally but not professionally I am already fairly comfortable using them. The challenge for me is going to be applying them appropriately and efficiently to the courses I teach. With any luck some of my classmates will have some experience using these tools, and through this course we will have the opportunity to discuss best practice and then put them to use.
Multimedia
One of the things that I have always struggled with as a teacher is meeting the needs of a group of students with diverse learning styles. I hope that I will learn some strategies to help me meet these needs. I plan to build course modules that are rich in a variety of different media that will allow students to “choose their own adventure” on their way to reaching the same learning objectives. Furthermore I would like to find ways to gently prod students to work outside of their comfort zones. For example, while visual learners might learn best from watching a video clip I would like find a way to link these visuals to activities that require them to work hands on.
To meet my goals for multimedia will require two things. First, I would like to be exposed to a variety of tools that I could implement. Second, I would like to see some literature on how to get the most student learning out of multimedia. I am hoping that there are some guidelines on best practice that have been backed up by studies. I feel as though there are some consistent strategies that could be applied to successfully implement these various technologies, despite their diversity.
References:
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 September 12, 2010, from http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_for_Teachers_2008.htm