565
My Flightpath for 565A….
My name is Diana Wilkes and I am doing this MET program with UBC as part of my journey as a 21st century learner. I am a Canadian trained teacher who has worked in the education field in Canada, Korea, New Zealand, UAE and most recently Qatar. I have been working in Education Reform in the Middle East for 2 years. My role has largely involved delivering PD and providing coaching/mentoring to local teachers on best practice and utilizing effective pedagogical strategies while they implement the more modern curriculum.
I am looking forward to sinking my teeth into this course and learning more about Educational Technologies that are available to us- I think a large part of the ‘problem’ with teachers not using IT has to do with the ‘you don’t know what you don’t know’ scenario- and I wanna know more about:
1.What I want to learn: LMS: I can’t wait to learn how to use Moodle! I am hoping that I will be able to develop my own course for the local teachers on easy ways to integrate ICT (in English) into their lessons.
What I need to learn: Standard Windows computer to install it on, patience to manage the steep learning curve, innovative ideas to develop courses within the LMS
** In “Towards a Theory of Online Learning” Anderson indicates that “Online learning, as a subset of all distance education, has always been concerned with provision of access to educational experience that is, at the least, more flexible in time and in space than campus-based education.”p53. I believe that Moodle will be a fantastic online interface in which learners can benefit. Plus, Moodle is an open-source software so it’s free!
2. What I want to learn: Assessment: learn how to use IT to engage students in assessing themselves/peers
What I need: WordPress for ePortfolios, weblogs, wikis & a variety of online assessment tools and/or strategies for summative/formative assessment feedback
** In “Unlocking Formative Assessment” Clarke, Timperley and Hattie, 2003 postulate “Current thinking about learning acknowledges that learners must ultimately be responsible for their learning since no one else can do it form them. Thus, assessment for learning must involve pupils, so as to provide them with information about how well they are doing…”p45 If I can get the students to utilize IT for their formative and summative assessments it will be beneficial for the evaluative skill development and IT proficiency.
3. What I want to learn: Social Software: strategies for social software into the classroom and the cyber safety issues that are associated with this, what’s a mash-up?
What I need: Put the 510 project “Teaching Social Networking Skills” http://etec510.ning.com/ into practice &techniques for collaborative writing- practice with google docs
** In “Why Youth love Social Networks” Dana Boyd says “Publics play a crucial role in the development of individuals …. By interacting with unfamiliar others, teenagers are socialized into society. Without publics, there is no coherent society. ..Learning society’s rules requires trial and error, validation and admonishment; it is knowledge that teenagers learn through action, not theory.” P138 and
In “Web 2.0: A New Wave of Innovation for Teaching and Learning”, Brian Alexander states that “Social software has emerged as a major component of the Web 2.0 movement. The idea dates as far back as the 1960s and JCR Licklider’s thoughts on using networked computing to connect people in order to boost their knowledge and their ability to learn. The Internet technologies of the subsequent generation have been profoundly social, as listservs, Usenet groups, discussion software, groupware, and Web-based communities have linked people around the world.” P1.
I want to build on my knowledge from the Social Networking Skills project I developed in ETEC 510 and develop methods for tapping into this passion for social software that students have.
4.What I want to learn: Multi-media- as I already use Photostory and Moviemaker frequently I am looking forward to more ideas/strategies for using multi-media within a classroom context
What I need: New techniques to use with Photostory, Powerpoint and Moviemaker to produce multi-media presentations
** Bates and Poole state that “I is for Interaction and Interactivity. Most theories of learning suggest that for learning to be effective it needs to be active; in other words, the learner needs to respond in some way to the learning material.”p98 What better way to get interaction than to integrate a multi-media project?!
Furthermore, I look forward to learning a lot through discussions and collaborations in this Community of Learners!