The Long Road Behind Me
Teaching in a Connected Classroom
This was a great first course and indeed an introdution to the rest of the Masters in Curriculum with a focus on Technology Integration. I got to work with Office tools that I had used a hundred times before, but was shown interesting tricks of the trade for each of them. From importing sound on PowerPoint presentations to conditional formatting in Excel, there were a lot of bells and whistles I learned that will definitely make my life in the classroom a little easier and tons more fun.
The best tool I learned to use in this course was MovieMaker. This opened a whole new world for me in terms of options I could give to students who needed another to represent their learning. I helped to deliver some professional development with my FLECS high school staff about the program, and this immediately established me as the "go-to" person for all matters involving technology - scary.
Snagit was another really useful tool to which was exposed over the course of this intorductory program. I can see applications for it in the classroom because I can now set up various tutorials on specific skills that I need students to learn before they need to use them to complete their assignments. Whereas our students are adults, many of them have been out of school for quite some time and their technological competencies are less than stellar. Simple lessons such as how to attach a file to an e-mail and send it are valuable ones that they will need for the rest of their academic careers.
Coursework in a Connected Classroom
Curriculum Design I
This was without a doubt the most intimidating course of the program. We were required to create a unit plan that incorporated some of the best practices of technology integration we had learned thus far. I chose to go with the Justice Unit from the Canadian History 11 course curriculum. My reason for this was two-fold; I love the justice unit of that course so I knew my motivation level would stay high, and I would probably finish the project in time to pilot the program with my Canadian History 11 class.
The project involved quite a bit of self-discipline on my part. I was able to get all work done in class and was very pleased with the end result. The focus was on the subject-specific curriculum itself, with technology as the main component of the learning activities. I was able to "try out" the unit with my students and had a hugely positive response. They were thrilled to have centres, choices, freedom of creativity, and generally cool activities in which to participate.
Coursework in Curriculum Design I
Foundations of Curriculum Studies I & II
These courses I have chosen to summarize together, as one compliments and builds upon the other. The first course afforded me the opportunity to have six different guest instructors; one per day. The change-up in the person at the front of the room was refreshing and each instructor had an interesting perspective to share with us.
There are some instructors' lessons that stayed with me more than others. I learned about funding, thinking outside the box when it came to dealing with administration and the red-tape aspects of the business of education. The theoretical aspect of the foundations of curriculum design was only a little mind-numbing, and I think this was because I was able to make strong and clear connections to the reality of the classroom. I also have to give credit where credit is due. My principal has a strong understanding of board initiatives and current "buzzwords" in education and thus I was exposed to these ideas of backward design and outcome alignment long befor this course. This definitely aided me in being able to move forward.
The major deliverable for this course was a technology implementation plan for the great state of North Carolina. Although it was fictitious in nature, it really forced me to think about the logistics of trying to make things happen in a techie way in the classroom. I worked with a wonderful group, and our differences made working through this project a colorful and truly enjoyable experience.
Coursework in Foundations of Curriculum Studies I & II
Curriculum Integration of Technology
The first night of this course was my calculated due date for my second baby. I attended and stayed for most of the evening, but something told me I had better get home. Forty-eight hours later, I found myself going into labour so I quickly completed my course work, participated in an online class discussion and then packed my bag for the hospital.
Baby Ronan accompanied me to class eleven days later, and I was back into the swing of academic success with (now) two in diapers. The first of many challenges of this course would be to work in a group and present to the rest of the cohort about a problem we had identified and were attempting to address with some resources; visual illiteracy. This was enjoyable because I got to research some mapping tools and graphing technology.
The instructor of this course was extremely well prepared for class with interesting comments and questions for us to think about. The workload was a little heavy, but finding the time to complete the work had become a little easier as I was home on parental leave from the HRSB.
Other notable areas of growth would be in learning about the nature and usefulness of blogging and podcasting, as well as on the validity of using video as a learning medium, both for students and teachers. I was glad to have this particular class run over the course of eight months as there was a large amount of material to digest and process.
Tech integration
Curriculum Design II
This was my least favorite course in the program. The task was to identify a problem in our classroom that we felt could be addressed through the "wise" use of technology.
I chose to address the issue of exam review. Students who do not need to review the material usually show up to class for review. The students who need the most help do not attend class on "review day". I thought that if I designed some sort of review game that gave students immediate feedback or a score, then students would be a little more inclined to participate. Furthermore, if I made it into a portable program that the students could take, then it wouldn't matter if they "absolutely had to" miss that last day.
What a nightmare. I chose to use the program C# Visual Basic. I had never done any programming before, so I immediately enlisted the help of my software-developing best friend. I watched several tutorials and demonstrations about how to start putting together and designing a program. I wrote pseudo-code and entered what seemed to be an endless database of exam questions, both in multiple choice and true/false formats. This was the most tedious thing I've ever done to date, I'm sure. I received some help from said best friend when it came to testing and de-bugging the program, but I have to say that the end product was very satisfying. I had no idea what went into creating a simple program, but I have a newfound respect for developers. I was able to pilot the review game with my Canadian History 11 students, and they loved the fact that the program told them what they had scored in each of the units. They knew exactly where they needed to focus before the exam, and two students completed the game at home and e-mailed me their scores. It was too cool.
Curriculum Integration of Multimedia
This course was eye-opening for me in many ways. With all of these ideas about what resources I probably should have, the obvious question is "Could I have them?" My instructor was very helpful in showing our cohort how to apply for funding outside of the Department of Education. This is probably not a new concept for a lot of my colleagues, but it hardly occurred to me that I should seek funding from a private organization. When you think about it, however, it makes perfect sense. They are the ones with two essential ingredients; the money and the mandate. I now know how to apply, where to look, who to ask for help, and how to approach making my "wish list".
I also worked very hard to learn about a resource that is web-based and will now firmly entrenched in my classroom practice; Voicethread. I presented the resource with an accompanying critique, facilitated colleagues to play with the program and helped to make some cross-curricular connections. Some other session I attended included Comic Life, Audacity, National Geographic Atlas Explorer, Wii Fit, and Wikispaces. These were all interesting and now comes the challenge of how I can use them to bring the forcus back onto my curriculum instruction.
Coursework in Curriculum Integration of Multimedia
Integration of Dynamic Web-based Construction
This course was the best way to end my Master in Education program. The instructors were of the highest calibre; consumate professionals who gathered and distributed resources for all to learn from and share. This website is a result of my willingness to constantly leap from my comfort zone and try new programs suggested by our instructors. I selfishly attended sessions to help me grow personally as well as professionally. Photoshop, Irfanview, Widgets, and GPS & Geocaching were so exciting ro learn about; I can't wait to start editing, cropping, searching, and growing. Thank you, Rona.
Now What? - A Reflection
Coming to the end of this summer institute, I realize that this was just the beginning of tracking down resources and collaborating with colleagues to find out about all of the cool ideas that are floating around. My website is up and running and I am very pleased with the end result. It is not quite ready to go for students to use in September, but I will try and devote a little time each night to adding more resources and links to assignments. I have to round up some hardware for my classroom, and start thinking about how to structure courses that run over four months instead of two. Lots of challenges ahead, but like I said in class a week ago, I feel like I'm heading into battle with the right kind of armour.
Collaborative learning at work