About Me
My 5 years of teaching experience has been diverse. I started my career in a Primary School in Uganda. In Calgary, I taught as an Elementary Curriculum Support Teacher and as an Elementary and Junior High Paced Learning Program Teacher. Next year, I will be teaching in a new setting. I look forward to learning additional skills and expanding my knowledgebase by working with a different curriculum.
During the last four years, I worked with exceptional students and a modified curriculum. This required a lot of differentiation. Technological tools are advantageous because they allow for accommodations and engagement of students who are otherwise unmotivated or unfocussed.
Goals
A peer suggested this course to me because it is hands-on and allows for exploration of different programs. I was intrigued because I have heard of many of these tools but have not had the opportunity to work with them extensively. In this course, I want to familiarize myself with an array of technological tools.
What I Want to Learn
The MET Program enabled me to create a few LMS tools; I have been amazed by the possibilities. I have not implemented the use of any LMS in my classroom. I want to gain more experience with systems such as Moodle in order to use them as teaching tools. I currently use ‘Desire to Learn’ with my students. Teachers create shells within this system by using pre-existing entities to curtail the shell to what they would like their students to access. It is restrictive because the materials used within the site are unchangeable. Resources such as Moodle are great because they are adaptable. Content can be structured to benefit learners.
I have limited experience with assessment because the students I work with are not assessed on the knowledge they have gained. They work at their own pace and emphasis is placed on life skills. Since I will be teaching in a new setting next year, I am hoping this course will help me to learn ways to assess students using online tools.
The world is about social connections; technology has become the means of socializing. Keeping up-to-date with social software is crucial. Digital Era students think, behave, and interpret their surroundings differently. They thrive on socializing through the internet and social tools. I would like to explore social tools as a channel to encourage learning. Since students are engaged by these tools, why not use them as a means to inspire and assist with learning.
In a previous MET course, I created digital stories with graphics, text, sound effects, etc. This was an exhilarating experience. I am a visual person and I found that multimedia is a great way to generate interest and motivate students to learn. I look forward to gaining additional experiences which I can share with students to enable them to create multimedia tools to express themselves.
Resources I Will Master
– Video/Audio Software (i.e., Storyboarding / Wimba)
– Moodle and other LMS tools
– UBC Blogs/eportfoilio creation
References:
Bates, A. W. & Pool, G. (2003) Effective Teaching with Technology in Higher Education: Foundation for Sucess. New Youk: Wiley, John & Sons, Incorporated.