Assessment?? Of whom exactly?

As part of my professional venting system, I will continue to blog. I have found that this is a way for me to get my frustrations out even if it just sits in cyberspace taking up room on Blogger's server. It is my zen.

Can I say that I am sick sick sick of talking about assessment. Not so much the ideas of assessment and that we should be doing authentic assessment (what is that really anyway?). But that it is being shoved down our throats by the government and school division. I feel like they are saying that we, as teachers, have been doing a terrible job and we need to be re-taught how is should be. Many of these concepts that they are preaching, are done every day, we just don't sit down and feel the need to name them and make us feel important. We had to sit through an entire day on assessment and guess what? I don't even remember enough about it- apart from that I hated it- to even complain about!! Yes, we've got the free books and yes, we have to call it a name, but please don't treat us like we are stupid. Please don't shove this at us and say, "This is how it should be done." What happened to professional treatment? I have a Bachelor AND a Master of education degree- I understand the concept of assessment vs. evaluation. As high school teachers, assessment and evaluations were the lone weapon that we had to make kids hand-in assignments, behave in class and study for tests. Now we are told that we can't take marks off for lates, can't assign a grade for participation and attitude (even if we have a rubric) or let kids fail a test if they didn't study. No! Now they tell us that it won't be an authentic record of what kids are learning. Well, please give us an alternative.

The other point that I have issue with is the fact that this is another band wagon that everyone has jumped on. I guess that I should stop complaining and wait until this fad peters out. I'm just saying that in the 8 years that I've been teaching, I've seen a few fantastic educational leaders come and go. Does anyone remember the Dufours?? I'm sure as hell not doing and PLC's anymore. Just sayin'...

That's what I think about the "new" assessment.
Katie

Final Reflection

This is my last blog post for ECI 832 and I have to admit that it is bitter sweet for me. I have really enjoyed the opportunity and freedom to explore and play in the sandbox with everyone in my class. I am genuinely going to miss posting my thoughts and reading others' ideas and experiences. As with my last class to use this blog, I will try and keep my blogging up as I go through and experience more in my teaching career. I still have to write a paper and post to the forum in my other class, but after April 15^th, I will have completed my Masters in C&I and will not have to take classes. I have stated before that the best part of all of my classes, be it online or on campus, is the interaction with my fellow educators and the learning that I get from them- from you.

I'm going to answer each of Marnie's questions and then post some final thoughts after. I don't want to get too far off track! J

 

Question #1-

• What new understandings of the role of educational technology to support learning have you gained, acted on or perhaps strengthened?
  

I think that I have always had an interest in technology, but I always thought of it as a gimmick and not as a way to enhance student learning. I thought that it was something flashy that I could use to impress the students and my fellow teachers. Through this class and by taking a step back to evaluate and critique various technologies, I have been able to look at them as a way to deliver content and to reach students. I've never had much luck collaborating with my fellow teachers and through my final project, I am now working with two ELA teachers on their particular topics. I have had the chance to follow some other educators through their blogs and read about their ideas and questions about technology and gather information to form my own opinions. I also got the chance to explore programs that I never thought I would ever use (such as Second Life and Twitter) and have found them to be extremely interesting (going to the Globe Theatre in 17^th century England was a highlight) and such an interesting way to reach learners. Above all, I have found that through this course I have had the opportunity to objectively look at my own teaching in general and my own views and beliefs about technology. It has opened my eyes to a new way of reflecting and growing from my experiences and to be ok with making mistakes and to embrace them as learning experiences. I think that the blog has been a safe way to express myself and this is another reason that I will try and continue using it as an electronic journal.

 

Question #2-

• What has had the most influence on your horizon of understanding?
  

I would have to say that it was a combination of my edu-tech blog (Will Richardson) and my classmates' blogs. I really enjoyed reading about the experiences of everyone in the class and even though I didn't always have time to leave a comment, I read a lot of your information and I found myself nodding my head with you or having "a ha" moments at my computer desk. I also have to say that the sandbox exploration also had an influence- I was asked to play and to explore new ideas and that was a lot of fun.

 

Question #3-

• What new questions have emerged for you?
  

I have a few of questions swirling around in my head:

1. How can I get the teachers at my school to be more enthusiastic about technology? How can I get them to try a few of the things that I have tried and get them to use it in their teaching?
   
2. How will I keep up with all of the technology?
   
3. Will I still be as pumped up about all of this in two months? Two years?
   
4. How can I get the division on my side and work with us to start heading in the same direction? Is it possible?
   
5. What is the new stuff coming down the line? Are there trends that I should be looking out for?
   

 

Some last thoughts

I want to thank everyone for their time and comments- I really had fun.

I am applying to go to the eLearning conference in Edmonton this year. I saw an email about it and I am very interested in what I could learn there and it is primarily due to this course and that is exciting for me.

I am going to pledge to try and keep up my blogging and to try and keep a critical and open mind about technology in the future.

Cheers!

Katie

Online PD

This week's topic was very interesting for me because of my seminar that I am leading this week in 830- my topic is Technology and Professional Development, so this is a very timely topic.

As I was doing research on professional development and technology, I came across a couple of articles that suggested online PLCs and social networking sites and I was very interested. So, for this week's exploration, I chose to join the Classroom 2.0 site. I was very glad that I did because it is a really neat way to do PD!

I joined the Beginners site to start with and found lots of really useful information. One of the discussion topics was called Twitter for Beginners. I recently joined Twitter and I found that the suggestions and information in that discussion thread was really useful for me. I also found the wiki section really useful, even though I have used wikis in the past, there was information in the discussion that I wasn't aware of and suggestions on usage that I had not thought of previously.

I also like the idea of an individualized PD opportunity and also an ongoing one. It is nice to be able to ask questions and get feedback. It is not a presentation on something that I have no interest in (like some PD that we get), but it is an online community that is accessible 24/7.

What's Wrong with the Web?

Will Richardson posted something very poignant for me today- he was addressing a recent article in the New York Times called "Texts without Context" and he lists major issues with the internet today, by summarizing some of the issues in the article:

* Copyright and intellectual property are no longer respected
* Plagiarism is rampant
* Originality and imagination are being lost
* We are losing our ability to think deeply and creatively
* We now just want immediate gratification
* Information overload
* Further polarization of political views
* A loss of the ability to read extended texts
* An impatience with nuance
* A loss of focus in a world of distraction
* The sense of immature entitlement on the part of social media users
* Decrease in overall quality of work
* “Cyberbalkanization” or a growing comfort in the echo chamber
* Loss of serendipity
* Loss of an objective reality (i.e. the debate over climate change)
* The end of authorship
* Groupthink
* Etc.

Wow! This is very similar to a lot of the issues that I have been discussing with my classes (ECI 832 and 830). A lot of these points have been discussed through the chat room, forums and on the blogs. The comments that have been made, and there are only 5 so far, have been interesting as well. Some people blame our society, that we now all have forms of ADD and our attention spans (or lack of) have caused these problems. Some say that education is the key to solving these problems, which I think is a pretty broad answer and as we've been asking- How?? How can we solve these huge issues? Can we use these issues to our advantage? Does knowing what the issues are give us an edge to be able to reach learners in a more informed way?

My head actually begins to spin when I look at that list because I've really been intensively involved in looking at them for about three months now and it's all getting a bit blurry- I'm sure those of you who are also in the two classes or any other technology course are also getting a bit battle fatigued. This is what I will be thinking about for the next little while, but it is nice to actually have a nicely constructed list to work from.

Until next time...

Queen of Copyright!!

Sorry folks, I found this post in my draft folder- I thought I posted it this weekend!

 

I am sure that when I utter the word "copyright" at my school, eyes roll. I have been saying that word for a long time and I'm not sure that anyone listens. Teachers have long been known as the Copyright Police's Most Wanted. We are terrible with copyright and from my experience have very little respect for it and yet we demand that our students cite their sources and give credit to authors/creators in their assignments. Sometimes I think it is the height of hypocrisy.

I understand that there are many good reasons for breaking copyright laws (money, availability, etc.) and I am as guilty as the next. Yes, I am confessing that even the Enforcer breaks the laws and I do it a lot. I find information that I think would be beneficial to my students and I grab it. But, and this is a big but, I am aware that I am doing it and I take responsibility for it. As the teacher librarian, the role of copyright expert has fallen to me and I was told when I started that I was to take it very seriously. In fact, I was informed by my principal that if there were any violations (he was speaking about movies in this case) and if we were caught I would be taking the fall and probably fired. Now, this is a bit shocking to a 24 year-old, who just started as a t-l and had only been teaching for 2 years before that, but I've taken it to heart. So, from then on, I've tried to take the issue of copyright and plagiarism very seriously.

There are mythical and terrifying people known throughout the education world as "The Copyright Police". They swoop down look through your things, write fines and slap your hands. When I was in a small community, during my second year of teaching, some of the higher-ups caught wind of a rumour that said there were squads of the Copyright Police moving through the province. I am being totally honest when I say; I have never seen such a panic amongst teachers and a school. Teachers were boxing up materials and moving them to their private garages at home. Some were wondering if they bought a lock, could they force you to open a drawer or cabinet. It was total panic! I was new to the profession and as with all small schools, I was the new kid and so I taught nothing that I taught the year before and I had not amassed anything of consequence. Now I am older and I find that I use that story and the stories of other unfortunate schools as a cautionary tale for my staff.

Even though I am the voice of caution in my school, I realized in this block that I don't really know a lot about copyright. For instance, I thought that you could use anything on the internet as long as you gave credit to the owner. I was wrong, some cases you need to ask permission. I also did not understand how Wikipedia worked- although I'm a huge fan. I admit that reading some of the information was a bit dry and I think that the entire issue of copyright is extremely boring, but a necessary mission. I really liked the iSearch concept and I actually plan on using it the next time I teach Science 10 and I also may have another teacher interested in using it in their class this semester. It is a vast subject and I'm sure that you could take a whole class just on copyright- I have bookmarked several links in this week's content so that I can re-read or refer back to them later when I'm unsure about something.

So, all of you teachers who are reading this please, the next time someone (like your friendly neighbourhood librarian) tells you that dubbing movies or copying DVDs is illegal, don't roll your eyes. Thank them for their diligence and understand that someone has to be a stickler; it is for your own good!

 

Katie

Apprentice, don't just Teach!

In Will Richardson's Feb. 24th blog had a couple of interesting points: 1) teachers need to become Master Learners, not so much Master Teachers and that maybe we need to treat students as apprentices not just as vessels that need to be filled with knowledge.

Richardson talks about his frustration with "selfish" teachers. I understand where he is coming from especially in terms of technology. There has to be a willingness from teachers to revert back to the learner-mode and be ready to accept instruction, be experiential in our classrooms (which is sometimes humiliating and not always easy) and to be willing to make a few mistakes along the way. We have to be students again. I think that it is easier for people, like us in this class, to see that and to become the learner again because that is exactly what we signed up for! But, for other teachers, it can be difficult to get in that mindset again. For some of you, this may be your first grad class, but for the rest of us- remember your first grad class. Where you lost? Confused? Frustrated? Overwhelmed? YES!! It is not easy to shift gears and be out of control. Now that some of us have a few classes under our belts, it is easier to see that the control issue is huge for teachers and it is scary jumping off the cliff into the desk again. I like the term that Richardson uses, "Master Learner" because that is exactly what I feel like right now!

The other point that Richardson makes is that in the last century, there was a shift for the majority of children- from being apprentices to being students. Why can't we see students as apprentice adults and maybe change our approach to teaching. I like the idea of thinking of my class as full of apprentices not just students. I'm not sure how to go about doing that, but it is an interesting concept to start thinking about. I'm going to try to think about how I can change my teaching to be come more like a "journeyman" and my students as "apprentices".

Those are the ideas that I'll be chewing on this week!

Katie

Blogs, Twitter and Wordle

I've had busy couple of days with my Web 2.0 tools. As I mentioned in the first post about Web 2.0, I have used a blog (obviously), but I created my blog for the library today! It is not perfect yet and I'm still fiddling around with format and gadgets, but it is up and running and tomorrow I will be posting my first "real" post about some new and old books that we have in the library. I will add my blog to the blog roll on this blog, but for my virtual portfolio, I'll hyperlink it in this post.

The blog is called Bell's Book Blurb. Check it out and let me know what you think.

I used Wordle for the first time this week as well. I have seen this in my school before and never really knew what it was. I have to say that I am underwhelmed. I like the idea of the words and the design is eye-catching, but I'm not sure how I would use it in my class yet. I am thinking that I would use it for vocabulary and have it around as a reminder for my special ed students or use as a motivational poster.

Then I did some research and found some really great ideas about how to use it in a practical and kinda fun way! Greg Smith writes on his blog, Technology Education Know-How about how to use it in a classroom setting effectively:

"Wordle is a tool that creates a graphical display to show the frequency of word usage in a text, web page or document. This is called a Word Cloud. The bigger the word is, indicates its dominance of usage. As I’m sure you know; Visual Feedback can give a more lucid understanding of what you read. To give you an example here is the “First Inaugural Address by George Washington in 1789”.

You or your students can use this tool in many ways.

Here are some ideas that I’ve had:

1. Students can use it to monitor the frequency of word usage in their own writings.

a. How often do they use the same adjectives or nouns?

b. Are they overusing words?

2. Students can use it to analyzing news articles.

a. What is this article about?

b. What’s the gist that the author is trying to get across?

c. Check out this assignment http://www.boxoftricks.net/?p=103

3. Teachers can use it for field trip reviews.

a. Have each student generate a list of what they saw are learned on the field trip. Combine the list, copy and paste into Wordle. Whoop! you have an instant “What’s Important List” from the field trip. (side note: A wiki would be good for creating that list. ;-) )

4. Teachers can create a Current Events Analysis.

a. Copy the RSS feed from popular news sights like Google News and use Wordle to give you the hot topics.

b. Copy the text from a news page and use the same way.

5. What are your students listening to? Copy and paste the lyrics of popular songs into Wordle and find out.

6. What is important on your school campus? Copy and paste your schools mission and vision statements into Wordle and find out. My schools Wordle.

7. Self Reflection; If you where to write a story about yourself, what would your Wordle say?

8. Current Study posters. What is curricularly important in your class this week? Create a Wordle that visualizes that.

There are as many ways to use Wordle as there are clouds in the sky. If you where to Wordle this blog post what would be the biggest word? So, today’s theme would be? You guessed it, Wordle!

Leave a post and let me know how you used or plan to use Wordle in your educational setting."

Many of these suggestions would be good for an ELA teacher, but I can see some connections for me, a science teacher. We are going on a field trip in May and I think this would be a great way for my students to express what they learned, as they aren't always able to express themselves fully. It is not an essay or a big description of events, just words.

(I wasn't following Mr. Smith before, but I've just added him to my blog roll!)


The other big event of this week is that I am now on Twitter!! Yes, I have resisted, but I have signed up the library to be on Twitter. I am only following a handful of people (including some in this class and my other one) and I would be thrilled beyond belief if someone would follow me! So, if you are feeling charitable, please follow the musings of a desperate librarian! The user name is WCSlibrary.

I've heard of teachers following politicians, authors and other people of importance, but I think for the library, I'm going to stick with literary people. I am still learning and haven't really seen how I will use Twitter in the classroom, but I may do some research and get some ideas.

P.S. I've added the library blog to this account, so I will know be known as Miss Bell! I may change it back later, but we'll see...

Richardson's 10 Questions

I usually read Will Richardson's blog about once a week and I had quite a bit to get through this week. His thoughts on Educon has been vast. On Feb 10th, Richardson asked for his loyal blog readers to go through a number of questions that he came up with while he was at the conference/conversation and asked the readers to rank them. He had over 200 responses and on Feb 15th,he gave us the top 10:

1. How do we support the changing role of teacher? 116
2. What is the role of the teacher? 110
3. How do we help students discover their passions? 110
4. What is the essential learning that schools impart to students? 109
5. What is the purpose of school? 102
6. How do we adapt our curriculum to the technologies that kids are already using? 100
7. What does and educated person look like today? 97
8. How do we change policy to support more flexible time and place learning? 97
9. What are the essential practices of teachers in a system where students are learning outside of school? 92
10. How do we ensure those without privilege have equal access to quality education and opportunity? 92

I think that if you look at these questions, they are asked a lot in education today, not just in relation to technology and education. His goal is to address each question in a blog posting for the next couple of weeks. I am looking forward to reading about his thoughts on these questions.

I have a feeling that these questions may lead to more questions! He has already started and if you have time, I think that you may find his thoughts very interesting.

Katie

Web 2.0 Tools

Two years ago, I took a course through the U of A on Web 2.0 tools- nothing else, just Web 2.0. I initially thought that it would be a walk in the park because I was already using some of the tools personally and I thought it would be an easy conversion to using them in the classroom- I was wrong. I found that I did not know about all of the tools available and that using them in the classroom required a lot more thought and consideration. We were asked to create a blog (the one you are viewing now, as a matter of fact) and we had to complete a weekly blog posting on various Web 2.0 tools that we personally had to use and research the benefits and uses of them in a classroom setting for educational purposes. It turned out to be a lot of work, but also a tremendous learning opportunity for my professional life.

I have done extensive blog posts on some Web 2.0 tools for that course and if anyone is interested on my findings and opinions of them, you can find them in the 2008 archives on the menu on the left of the screen.

For this course, I would like to re-examine some of those tools, as some of my opinions have changed over the two years since I first posted.

Blogs: As I mentioned, I had to do basically a research paper every week for my blog. I started to resent my stupid blog and not enjoy posting entries. Eventually, I saw the benefit of putting my thoughts on “paper”, as a way of professional therapy. I resolved to use the blog after I was done the course and to keep up with entries. I even put a link to my blog on my school library website. I knew that no one would read it- and I don’t believe anyone has until January of this year- but it made me feel better that I was contributing something to my field. I was sharing my thoughts and experiences with others who may be in similar situations. I think I only ended up making 3 or 4 postings, but I thought about it a lot and wanted to do more. There was also an urge to rant about things at my school and about things that were going on, but I don’t think this blog (that is linked to my school site) is the appropriate place to do that!

I have found that since I have been back on the blog, I’ve been enjoying it. I think that it is a great tool to deliver information and experiences with others. I have such a high opinion of it that I am considering using a blog (or a wiki or both) to complete my final project and promote the library in my school. I want to use the blog as a way of advertising different events, new books, new software, etc. I think that I may also use a blog in my teaching as well. I am teaching a Special Ed course of Science and Social Studies and I think that I may use a blog in Social Studies as a journal for the students. They really enjoy sharing their lives with me and I think this could be a new and inventive way for them to communicate with me and with each other.

Wikis: I flat out love wikis!! I have been using them for a couple of years now, I have two of my own and one that I used as part of a class discussion (used a bit like an online forum).

-Graphic Novels and collection development

-Batman (Comic Vs. Film)

-2learn2gether

I really never understood what a wiki (except for Wikipedia) was before. They looked really complicated to create and to use, but I was pleasantly surprised when I tried to use one for the first time. It was very easy to do! I find them similar to a blog, but I am able to be more organized with my content. I am currently creating a wiki for my library to start a virtual book club. Students can pick books on my list and then they can discuss their thoughts about the selected works. I’m hoping that it will catch on and that we can have some good online discussions. It is another tool that I would like to use to promote the library. As with blogs, it could also be a fantastic way of creating a guided journal for students.

I love the ease of use, the organization of information and the way that others can add to your pages. It really offers an interactive way of learning- a bit more Socratic than traditional teaching.

I’m going to end this post for now otherwise the length may scare people and I want to break it up a bit. Remember, there was enough Web 2.0 content for an entire course, so I’ve got lots to say! Up next… Social Networking, Video/Photo Sharing and Social Bookmarking, I’ll bet you can’t wait!!!

Katie

Computers, teaching and learning...

Before I get started on this entry, I have to say that the quote from Will Richardson yesterday may become my ultimate teaching quote! I have been thinking about it all day and I have decided that I love it!

Back to the topic at hand... computers, teaching and learning. I've been thinking about this question since Sunday, when the content was posted. I am to think about how "schools could implement computer-supported learning in ways that authentically transform teaching and learning." That is the $64, 000 question about teaching and technology today! How can we begin to use technology/computers as learning tools and not just tools?

In my limited experience, I have found that there is great diversity in computer skills between students. I teach at a high school that offers Information Processing, Computer Technology & Production and Computer Science. Students that are enrolled in those courses seem to have much better skills at using technology and it is very noticeable-naturally. My belief is that students should have computer classes (of some kind, I'll let the curriculum developers handle the content) that are mandatory. Before we can begin to use technology to transform teaching and learning, we must be sure that all students (and teachers for that matter) are on the same level playing field. How many times have teachers tried to incorporate technology into your teaching only to find that a third of your students, don't know how to use the technology correctly? So much time could be saved- computer skills should be cross-curricular.

I'm not sure if I've answered the question or just rambled on. I don't have the answers and furthermore I don't believe that I have the power to change anything in terms of technology at my school, because it is so regimented and we don't always get much say from the powers that be in the IS department. Sorry to any techies reading this, but that is how it appears from "the Front Lines" of teaching. Lot's of red tape and hand slapping.

Katie

Weblogg-Ed- Brilliant!

On my blog, I follow a number of "cool" educational blogs. I have to admit that I don't always have time to read everyone of them, but I do try. Today I was reading Weblogg-ed by Will Richardson and I was struck by his reflections of the Educon and the actual website itself- not a conference, but a conversation. Isn't that interesting?

Quite often when I attend or I speak to a colleague that has just attended an educational conference, they (and I) are underwhelmed. This is not a shot at the organizers or presenters, but it is a common thread. I always find that the most meaningful experience that I have at conferences is the interaction between my fellow teachers and librarians. The conversation that we have and the experiences that we share seem invaluable to me. I'm either inspired or I feel my confidence rise because I know that I'm not the only one who does this or I am doing something right or I just helped someone else!

Maybe we need to have more conversations and less conferences!?

I also really liked Richardson's quote that he created from his reflections:

Stop complaining. Be the change. Love your students and do well by them. If that includes technology, so be it.

Wow! That may be my new motto in the school- that just sums up what I think about technology in teaching. Teaching is not a linear profession; it is circular, web-like and full of change. We are supposed to be leaders for students and our actions and responses are being watched and absorbed. We expect our students to roll with changes and accept the new ideas and tools that we present to them, but so often we ourselves are not willing to be so accepting. So do as Richardson says and if it will help your students, be like Nike and "Just Do It!".

My beliefs about learning...part 1

For this blog entry I am really taking a good look inside myself, my teaching beliefs and my classroom practices. I'm finding it hard to put these thoughts and feelings into words, but I'm gonna give it a try:

I believe in the individual learner. I believe that we all learn differently, but that we are also capable of learning the same way- depends on the subject matter. I think that most people are visual and auditory learners and that a combination of both delivery methods will reach most students.

In speaking with other teachers in my school, I do find a few teachers that think the same way as I do, but I find many more who believe what I do, but teach their content very differently. I have also found a few teachers who do the same thing on the day they started (10 plus years ago) as they do today. I believe that you have to change it up a bit and continue to perfect it as time goes on.

After reading some of the information posted on our wiki, I think that I am actually a behaviorist believer to some degree. I think that the environment plays a huge part in learning and how students learn. I think that this part of me comes from my own learning experience and my role as a teacher librarian- a pleasing and stimulating environment stimulates learning. I think that environment also includes the people in it, such as teachers and support staff. Their beliefs and attitudes can also influence learning.

Rightly or Wrongly, I seem to approach teaching regular classes and special ed. classes differently. In a regular class, I feel a lot of pressure to get through a great deal of content and information. I have to complete my four units by the end of the semester, so my delivery is designed to get the most content to the kids in the shortest amount of time- I use overhead notes, lecture and handout information that they have to use when they are doing their homework. When I teach my special education classes, I feel that I am able to slow down, read information and discuss it, I watch more educational videos (to reach visual learners) and to be able to review and go back over information if the students don't understand. As I think about my teaching, I feel that I do a much better job of teaching special ed than the regular courses because I am more conscious of their needs- why am I not conscious of regular students' needs? They also have different learning styles and needs, so why do I not adjust my teaching for them?
This is something that I need to look at for my future teaching assignments.

I think that technology has a large part to play in reaching different learners and in our classrooms; I use technology to help students visualize concepts, through overhead diagrams, interactive websites and my Smartboard. I also use live streaming websites to access videos and information that would otherwise be unavailable to me and my students. I don't think that technology is the end all- be all, but when used as a tool and not a crutch, I think it enhances student learning. I enjoy taking these types of classes to find out how I can use technology in new and different ways.

Katie

Second Life and Second Chance

Top to Bottom: Me in Macedonia, on the top of the Eiffel Tower and in the Globe Theatre!!

When I first signed up for Second Life and logged onto the program, I didn't know what to expect. I found the process of getting started quite easy and I adapted to the controls pretty quickly. I found that they were a lot like the controls of first player video games that I have played on my PC in the past. I actually remember thinking that SL was quite a lot like one of the games I have been playing. I did have trouble with customizing my avatar and am still working on that process.

I met with my group and had to type my chat because I forgot my head set at school. I didn't find that there was any problem with this and I was able to follow the group and what was going on. I did find it very useful to have our leader on audio, so that I could listen to her instructions and follow along. Some of the videos worked, others didn't and the ones that did, I didn't find all that useful for me.

I didn't really have any feelings about SL until I went back a couple of times on my own- I went to Dublin (one of them) and thought things were really cool at first and was quite excited. I then went into a pub and completely got the heebie jeebies! I felt as though I was walking into an actual pub on my own and I didn't know anyone- except this was worse, because not only did I not know anyone, I also didn't know what they actually looked like. I felt very uncomfortable and I didn't end up staying long.

After this experience, I was very unsure of exactly how this program could be used in an educational setting. I'll be very honest and say that I thought that I would play along for the class and read the readings for how to use SL in schools, but I would never, ever use it personally or professionally. I had written this technology off- so to speak.

I never went on SL again until my scheduled group meeting with my instructors. I was not looking forward to it, but I was blown away! This time when we met up we actually got to teleport to different places- Paris, Macedonia and Shakespeare's Globe Theatre!! I had so much fun that night, that I have been back on exploring other places. My attitude did a complete 180- I was a bit awed by that session and now my teacher-mind is starting to whirl. I can absolutely see how I could use this in my teaching!!

I have been telling other teachers about SL and my experiences and they seem quite keen on seeing it for themselves. SL is blocked by our school, but I have got a couple of them telling me that they are going to go home and sign up and try it out. I am hoping that my enthusiasm for this program will continue to grow with this course and beyond!

That's what I think about Second Life... Katie

My Coordinates

I used Option 1, The LoTi (The Levels of Teaching Innovation) Framework by Chris Moersch to find my personal coordinates. As I looked through the descriptors, I found that I fell in between Level 2 (Exploration) and Level 3 (Infusion). I tend to use technology more in my personal life and my other role as a librarian than I do in the classroom. I feel there are a couple of reasons for this: 1) availability of technology hardware 2)Classroom dynamics- some classes are not ready to explore new technologies or go beyond and drive their own learning.

My hope is that the school division will catch up with technology and it will be available for teachers if and when they would like to use it. I also hope to learn new and interesting ways of using technology in the classroom through classes (like this one) and other PD opportunities.

Katie

Reflections-Looking Back to the Future...

As I was reading Mirshra, Koehler & Kereluik's article The song remains the same: Looking back to the future of educational technology (2009) I was struck by the term "time". I think that technology is all about time.

I have long thought that the biggest obstacle for teachers using technology was time. We don't have time to see new technology, learn how to use it, learn how students could use it or how to use it in our classrooms. Our school divisions want us to get on the technology band wagon, but we don't always have the support to take on these new technological ventures. Mirsha, Koehler & Kereluik state, "Teachers are busy people with many goals competing for their time. Educators who are not skilled beyond basic usage will need to learn both the technology as well as how to use it instruction-ally--a completely different skill" (2009). I see this in my own situation; we are told that we have to start using a web-based report card program and are given one hour of "watching" instruction and expected to use it the next day and be proficient. The next time that we updated, they had people come into the school and allow us time to actually use the technology in a computer lab and set up our courses. Instructors were there to answer questions and I felt it was a much better way to handle new technology. Technology needs to be a hands-on instruction. We need to do it to learn it.

On the other side, teachers tend to use time as a battle cry for not wanting to try new things or to change the way they have always done things. I mentioned this in a previous post this month. Teachers are creatures of habit and many of us do not like change. Technology is change and is always changing. I find it a bit hypocritical of teachers to promote and encourage "life-long learning" when we, ourselves do not adhere to that way of thinking when it comes to technology. We need to model life long learning by making the time to learn something new or how to incorporate new technology into our classrooms and our subject areas. We have to be brave and show students and our colleagues that we are not afraid to jump in and learn new things. Take a chance.

I'm not entirely sure how to encourage people to move forward with technology and not retrace the past. My way of doing it is to model it for other teachers and hope that they will become interested and excited about new technologies. There are a few teachers on my staff that are really into technology and I find that when they talk about what they are doing in their classrooms and how they use technology, other teachers are very interested. Hopefully, if we continue to do this we will be able to convert other teachers into tekkies and it will trickle down.

All we need is time...

Katie

Welcome EC&I 832

Welcome to my fellow classmates from EC & I 832!! This is my little blog that nobody, but me reads... it started out as a project for a course I was taking through the University of Alberta that dealt with Web 2.0 tools. We were required to blog about a new tool every week, so anyone that may have some time to kill and an interest can find those postings in the archive.

I am having a pretty good day so far- I had to break the news to my staff that VHS is obsolete. The shock and horror that resonated through my office was startling. My email has been pinging all day with questions and concerns. The theme of the emails dealt with questions about converting VHS to DVD- I wasn't sure if that was legal. After some research, I found out that if I couldn't replace the video with a DVD version then we could convert. Sigh... course materials and flow will be ok- we will not have to change anything. We are very strange creatures of habit and a lot of us fear change. I feel that I am on the outside looking in when it comes to teachers; I am a teacher, but I also have to work with them and that is sometimes a challenge! Some can be so resistant to change...

I am taking two classes that deal with technology, so I hope that I don't get confused between the two. Not sure if I will have to use this blog for that class, but there may be some confusing postings happening here.

I'm sorry to blather on, but one of my New Year's resolutions is to post more often on the blog. I find it a good way to express my feelings about my professional life- instead of boring my family and friends who are not in the education field and have no idea what I'm talking about.

That's what I think today. Until next time... Katie

Welcome 2010!

A new year is upon us and hopefully a new attitude!

This school year I have been trying to incorporate my new SMART Board into my teaching. I am finding that it is much easier than I thought. The board has been in my classroom since the spring of last year. Our division offers a Technology Infusion Project grant every year- up to $4000 for projects that use new technology. Another teacher, Christa, and I applied to get a SMART board to use in Science 10, which we both were teaching at the time. We created an interactive periodic table using the Inspiration program. It enabled us to show students visually how different elements are related and how they react and bond with other elements. I've used it a couple of times and I think it is going to be fantastic when I teach Science 10 again.

This semester I am teaching modified science at the 10 and 20 level. I have used the SMART board way more than I thought I would. Last year it sort of hung in my room and acted as a very expensive projector screen. I made it a personal and professional goal to use it more and become comfortable with creating units using the Notebook Software. After the initial frustration with the program, I started zipping along with lessons. I think that I have reached my goal because I use the board almost every day!

Semester 1 is coming to a close in a couple of weeks, but my next class will be an Alternate Education Science and Social Studies class. I have found the SMART board to be a fantastic tool to reach all of my learners and the kids are really engaged because they think it is cool and it is a new tool, so it grabs their attention right away. They are also always very enthusiastic about coming to the front of the room and using it at any opportunity.

I am hoping that I will become more proficient with the software and be able to create more elaborate lessons and really wow the kiddies! I think that it will be fantastic for my Semester 2 kids and I hope that they get more out of my class with this new technology tool.

That's what I think about SMART Boards, for now...
Katie