Synthesis

ETEC 565 Synthesis Reflection

It feels like yesterday when I wrote my flight plan and jumped into this course, I still can’t believe we are in our final week! As I reflect back and revisit all of the activities, assignments and readings, one prominent theme arises; this course encouraged us to always be thinking about different ways technology supports learning. This course has provided me with the necessary skills and tools to implement technology into classrooms, to not only support my teaching, but also support everyday learning.

Précis

I have been looking forward to this course from day 1 of the program and I am so elated that I am finally taking it.  As this is currently my 9^th course in the MET program, I can honestly say that so far, I have been exposed to an entirely new world of education, technology and teaching. This program has completely changed my thoughts and ideas about teaching and has shown me how to improve my learning as well as my teaching.

From this program, my goals are to take what I have learned and possibly create an online classroom/learning environment for students who are in a hospital or ill home. My vision is to give these students an opportunity to learn and feel connected to their peers and classrooms. I would incorporate the different tools and skills learned during this program and create an individualized lesson for each student.

My goals for this course is to focus on #3-#5 of the National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers (2008).

• Model Digital Age Work and Learning- Teachers exhibit knowledge, skills, and work processes representative of an innovative professional in a global and digital society.
• Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility- Teachers understand local and global societal issues and responsibilities in an evolving digital culture and exhibit legal and ethical behavior in their professional practices.
• Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership- Teachers continuously improve their professional practice, model lifelong learning, and exhibit leadership in their school and professional community by promoting and demonstrating the effective use of digital tools and resources.
• I also hope to discover and learn more about using a variety of learning technologies, different assessment tools, other LMS software, including Moodle.

My eLearning Toolkit Experience:

I really enjoyed this portion of the course and the resources that were available in the eLearning toolkit. I worked through all the activities and used them to help me develop my assignments for this course. From these toolkits, I found many exciting advantages that will help me in my future adventures, reflecting on the tools that most inspired me:

Learning Management System (LMS): This tool helped me learn more about LMS platforms and how they function. I really enjoyed learning about WebCT/Vista, as this has been the main system used throughout this program. I definitely found that exploring this tool helped me learn more specifically about Moodle and how to build my own site. As Moodle was very new to me, this eLearning toolkit allowed me to learn quickly about the ins and outs, as well as how to effectively create a user friendly, welcoming site.

Web Design and HTML Authoring: This tool was also very new to me. I really enjoyed exploring this avenue and learning more specifically about the background of web designs and HTML authoring. I found the web design tutorials to be especially helpful.

Synchronous Communication Tools: What an important and necessary tool! Synchronous communication tools are so important in distance education learning environments. I found the “important issues” section very informative as it specifies how certain tools can help or hinder students ability to interact and understand the requirements of assignments and activities. The example list of synchronous communication tools was also very helpful and allowed me to see a different variety of tools one can use within their face-to-face classroom or online learning environment. I found this toolkit to be very helpful!

Social Software: I was intrigued to read about all the different kinds of social software available, along with our weekly module readings. This toolkit encouraged me to read more about social software and learn how to effectively implement different kinds of social software into classrooms.

Wikis: Wikis are very new to me. My only other experience working with wikis was in ETEC 510. During this course in module 4, we were asked to contribute a “sighting” from our own experience of how the presence of social media is apparent in the lives of our students. I found this assignment to be very challenging as I was not familiar with using wikis and had a difficult time figuring out the functions behind it. However, after exploring this toolkit, my wiki worries were instantly put to rest. I was able to explore and learn about wikis as well as view wonderful examples of how wikis are used at UBC.

Reflecting on the eLearning toolkits and the activities I interacted with, I am happy to say that my goals set at the beginning of the course, have been reached. From the toolkits, I have learned a significant amount about how to effectively use them in classroom settings, both face-to-face and online environments.

My Overall ETEC 565 Experience:

I have learned so much over these past 3 months! This course allowed me to participate and learn hands-on, which is how I learn best. I found the readings related perfectly with the assignments, which was very refreshing.  I did find this course quite challenging at times however, I found that with the support of my professor and peers, I was able to complete and succeed with my assignments. Reflecting on each assignment from a distance:

Flight Path: What a great idea! This was the first of 8 of my MET classes that had us write out a plan of our goals, learning desires and future aspirations. It’s so interesting to reflect back on my plan and see where I was just 3 months ago. I feel like so much has changed since then, as I feel that my goals have been met and my future aspirations seem clearer.

Group Rubric: This was a challenging assignment for me, as “meeting” with my group seemed to take longer than we had expected. If I were to do the rubric again, I would definitely make sure to touch base earlier on and communicate more effectively. I found that we were so rushed with completing the assignment that we literally threw it together at the last minute. I do understand that group assignments can be difficult to communicate, so I am chalking this up as a learning curve : )

Moodle Proposal: As I was not familiar with Moodle, I found this assignment to be very challenging. I had to do my research and read all the required readings and especially pay close attention to the Bates & Poole (2003) article, A Framework for Selecting and Using Technology, to make sure I had a good understanding of what this LMS consisted of. Reflecting back on this assignment now, I see that there are so many things I left out and should have included. However, this assignment definitely helped me shape my own Moodle course and guided me through requirements for the LMS assignment.

Moodle Assessment Quiz: As stated in my Moodle assessment quiz reflection, I also found this assignment very challenging. I had never used Moodle prior to this course, so not only did I not know how to do anything with Moodle, but I also didn’t understand the assignment, or the “Moodle vocabulary” used. After watching several YouTube Moodle tutorials and reading the Moodle guides, I was finally able to relax and create my quiz. For this assignment, I relied a lot on Gibbs and Simpsons (2005) article, “students tend to gain higher marks from coursework assignments than they do from examinations”. (p. 6)

Digital Story: This was a very fun and exciting assignment! I really enjoyed creating my digital story and using different tools to make my creation more interesting. I chose OneTrueMedia for this assignment, as I was familiar with the layout and like the options it displays. For this assignment I focused heavily on Alan Levine’s “50 Web 2.0 Ways to Tell a Story”, and Lamb (2007), Dr. Mashup; or, Why Educators Should Learn to Stop Worrying and Love the Remix. I found these readings impacted the design of my digital story and allowed me to step outside of my comfort zone.

Moodle LMS: This assignment was easily the most challenging. After I had completed the Moodle quiz, I thought I had a good understanding of how the platform worked; I was in for a rude awakening! After hours of reading Moodle tutorials, watching YouTube clips and reading my peers discussion posts, I was finally able to work on my Moodle course and design it the best way I could. For this assignment, I made sure to make it very user friendly, as my student base is for 6^th graders. I also made sure to include a lot of pictures, bright colors, live chats and instructions. Overall, once I understood the assignment requirements, I enjoyed working through my course. Looking back on it now, I could definitely keep adding, changing and manipulating the material within the unit. It is a great way to learn and I believe students would definitely enjoy using Moodle as their LMS.

Blog: I really enjoyed creating a blog for this course and keeping track of my work throughout the semester. I have created a wordpress of all my courses thus far from the program, so this has given me a head start in adding this material to it. I do wish however, that during this course we were required to interact with our peer’s blogs and communicate with them on their posts and assignments. I felt that once we stepped outside of the Vista site, we didn’t interact with each other as often as I would have liked.

Overall, I had a great experience! This course has opened my eyes to an entirely new way of incorporating technology into education. I have learned so much from the readings and how to positively integrate LMS into classrooms, as well as how to provide students with the necessary tools to learn in a successful technological environment.

My Next Steps in Terms of Educational Technology:

I am currently living over seas with my husband and am expecting our first child at the end of February, so my first step is to finish my last course in this program, ETEC 590. My next steps in terms of educational technology is to become a distance learning instructor, specifically for students and children who are in the hospital or ill at home. I want to connect these children with a learning environment that inspires them to continue learning and interacting with material that interests them. I have heard of a similar program that is operating in Seattle, so I plan on contacting them and learning how they created their program and see about funding options for Canada.

Aside from that, I hope to continue learning about educational technology and how to effectively implement it into both face-to-face and online learning environments. I plan on using the tools I have learned from this course, as well as other courses, to provide my students with the best learning environment possible.

Thank you for a wonderful semester!

References:

Bates, A.W. & Poole, G. (2003). Chapter 4: a Framework for Selecting and Using Technology. In Effective Teaching with Technology in Higher Education: Foundations for Success. (p. 77-105). San Francisco: Jossey Bass Publishers.

Gibbs, G. and Simpson, C. (2005). “Conditions under which assessment supports students’ learning.” Learning and Teaching in Higher Education Accessed online 12 October 2012 http://www.open.ac.uk/fast/pdfs/Gibbs%20and%20Simpson%202004-05.pdf

International Society for Technology in Education.  (2008).  National educational technology standards for teachers. Retrieved November 25, 2012 from http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for