Digital Age Teaching Professionals
My NETS reflections……
As a 21st century learner and educator I find I am immersed in technology all of the time. Some technologies I use include: Skype for file transferring at work, VBuzzer to speak to my husband during the week when I’m in Doha, Wiki for our company ICT resources, MOSS for our company file sharing, Promethean Interactive Whiteboards to deliver PD to the teachers, Eluminate for our company PD, Facebook for keeping in touch with old friends, MS products for daily documentation, iBoard/Paint/ComicLife etc. with the students, webmail for work communication and I could go on and on. I am often amazed at how technologically proficient (and resilient!) I have become over the years. I still remember setting up my hotmail account at Royal Roads University in 1998! Now I read my laptop in bed instead of a book….
My reflections:
• facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity;
I am encouraging the Science teachers to use ICT directly in their lessons with laptops and the Promethean boards but it is slow going. The school, though progressing rapidly, is still very traditional, and the ICT labs are used almost exclusively by the ICT teachers to teach discrete ICT lessons. The Supreme Education Council has recently mandated that the ICT teachers plan and deliver a completely integrated program and this is a giant step in the right direction for us. We are beginning to get the teachers to loosen their grip on the reins and give the students opportunities to solve problems on their own using the technological tools available to them. For example, our ICT teachers use webquests to aid the students in their research (this has the added bonus of receiving parental permission to use the internet as many locals are leary of allowing their daughters on the www).
• design and develop digital-age learning experiences and assessments;
One of our biggest strengths is using technology to motivate our lower achieving girls. When the teachers use TASK BOARDS in their lessons we differentiate for our AESN students by giving them the opportunity to use computers to access the information. They also frequently use digital cameras to document their scientific investigations and use the internet for research projects and inquiries.
• model digital-age work and learning;
We communicate to students, parents, and peers using a variety of digital-age media and formats including emails, SMSs, IWB at parent meetings and digital report cards.
• promote and model digital citizenship and responsibility;
We teach cyber-safety, proper use of digital information and technology, and emphasize the importance of verifying information sources and referencing them correctly. In ETEC 510 my group project involved developing a ‘course’ for teachers to use “Teaching Social Networking Skills” which I hope to use in the schools in the new school year. http://etec510.ning.com/ https://teachingsocialnetworking.wikispaces.com/ http://delicious.com/teaching_sn
• engage in professional growth and leadership
I am currently doing my company PD through Eluminate which is an excellent tool for online learning. We often have special guest presenters from New Zealand and I love the interface. This program is my main arena for professional growth though!
My learning goals are:
1) How to create and use more online assessment tools for the students
2) How to utlize synchronous and asynchronous communication with students
3) Social networking- using them with the students
4) Games and simulations- how to create them and integrate them into lessons
5) Digital literacy- learning management systems (LMS); specifically Moodle
I like the 7 Principals of Good Practice in Undergraduate Education and believe that if we reflect on them we can all link our general learning goals to these: For example…
1. Encourages contacts between students and faculty- I want to develop my digital literacy through discussion boards and projects with my classmates
2. Develops reciprocity and cooperation among students- I want to collaborate with my classmates so I can learn from their experiences
3. Uses active learning techniques- I hope to learn how to use LMS and online assessment tools
4. Gives prompt feedback- I hope to learn to use a weblog for this very purpose
5. Emphasizes time on task- I hope to not die of exhaustion this term and need to manage my time in order to balance work, home and 2 MET courses!
6. Communicates high expectations- we certainly have these here! I believe that i have high expectations of my teachers and I hope to coach them to do the same with their students (at the moment, they don’t expect much and that is what they get from them!)
7. Respects diverse talents and ways of learning- I will learn more about how I learn best through this course and I hope to maximize my exposure to various ways of learning
I look forward to this learning journey!