EDTECH 522: A Reflection on a Significant Learning Experience

While I have had a lot of experience with the many roles of the online education process (the learner, the teacher and the developer), the most significant learning experience for me in EDTECH 522 was the Rich Media Tutorial.  With my past professional experiences, I have an arsenal of information that I can use in experiences that foster learning.  While I have had significant experience with more traditional online teaching practices such as discussion forums and project creation, and I have also had significant experience with face-to-face teaching I have never had the opportunity to blur the lines and verbally teach using an online medium.

The Rich Media Tutorial provided me with that opportunity.  In EDTECH 522 we were assigned to create a tutorial using some form of video and media integration which will allow us to teach/present information via video recording.  For my assignment I had chosen to create and deliver a tutorial on using iPad Accessibility features in the classroom, a tool which I hold a significant amount of expertise in.  The tool I opted to use for the tutorial was Camtasia.  The reason I had chosen to work with Camtasia is that it was a tool which I had never used before, and overall had heard very positive reviews about.  Creating my content was nothing outside of my traditional comfort zone, but when it came to mastering Camtasia I was in untrodden ground.

My past experiences and certifications all focus around Apple hardware, software and related technologies and within those platform most things work very similarly.  Camtasia was quite foreign to me and certainly took a few hours before I truly had a hang of the tool.  Once I felt that I had appropriately mastered the software, I proceeded to record and edit my tutorial – quite successfully I may add.  Overall, I found the experience to be transformational as it forced me to step outside of my technology comfort zone and learn something new, which I greatly appreciated.  I had ended up finding a number of parallels (specifically in regards to the editing process) to Apple’s iMovie software, and therefore gave me the illusion of a security blanket of sorts in this learning process.

I feel that by gaining mastery of Camtasia I had an opportunity to gain experience in something I would not normally have, and it actually proved to be highly beneficial to me as I had a job interview for a new opportunity at the Centre for Online and Distance Education at Simon Fraser University where I could speak on my experiences with this software and how it could be used to shape and enhance the current online learning environment at Simon Fraser  University.  I feel that ultimately being able to comfortably discuss a tool as powerful as Camtasia with as much comfort and confidence as I did is what helped secure the position for me.

While it is not something that we are able to do right now, at SFU CODE we are having planning conversations regarding how we can enhance the current online learning paradigm by integrating new tools like this into the online environment to start blurring the lines into the realm of a more modified blended learning environment.  Being a key contributor to this conversation, I feel that the skills I gained from this module alone is going to help fuel my success in at Simon Fraser University, as well as give me the confidence now and in the future to step outside of my comfort zone and try out new tools to benefit both my students and myself.

Creating a Moodle Lesson: A Reflection

For one of our final projects for EDTECH 522 – Online Teaching for Adult Learners, we had the opportunity to build our own Moodle lesson from scratch using the tools, techniques and best practices that we had learned throughout this term.  I will say, when the term begun originally, creating this online lesson seemed like a mountain to climb.  It was a very daunting assignment for me, as I had never created anything as an administrator in a LMS.  Well, the universe had different plans for me as the term went on.

I was fortunate enough to be offered a position with Simon Fraser University as an Online Course Production Technician at their Centre for Online and Distance Education.  My job description is effectively exactly what this assignment was – the only differences being that my days at work are spent designing courses in WebCT, where this assignment was in Moodle, and secondly, in my professional life I have a team that creates the preponderance of my graphics and rich media for my courses.  As the assignment deadline approached, I felt at ease with what was ahead – I spent the first few weeks of the module designing materials and creating content for my course, creating a vast variety of things all which I stored in Google Docs.

When the assignment due date rolled around, I cleared out my day and prepared myself for a fun afternoon getting my hands dirty in Moodle.  One of the first things that I had to do to create my course was to request a container in which I can build my course in the Boise State University Moodle Sandbox.  After following the steps for my container request, my heart sank as I received the message that the container request can take a few days to process.  I was gobsmacked by my own stupidity – on a daily basis I put in container requests for courses at SFU, and I know they take 2-3 days to process and here I was thinking I can just walk in and a container will instantly appear.

After I recovered from the shock, I studied the cards that were dealt to me and decided that I will create my lesson as a Google Site for the time being to have the raw material to submit, and then shift everything over to Moodle once my container is created.  Luckily, the Moodle Gods (AKA Nelson Baquero in the Boise Moodle control centre) smiled down upon me, and had my container created within the hour.  Boy, was I happy to get his email.  Crisis averted.

Once I stepped into my container, I felt confident in my abilities.  I have come to learn that most LMS’ are very similar – whether it is WebCT, Moodle, Canvas, etc, they all work on the same basic principles.  I quickly found my way around and put my materials I have created over the past few weeks to good use.  Before my eyes I witnessed my own course come to life.  Like Dr.Frankenstein I wanted to step back and start laughing deviously at my creation…but alas, my husband was asleep next door and I did not want to disturb him, so I contained my excitement.

While I do create courses on a daily basis at work, this was my first course that I designed that was truly my own.  I had conceptualized it, designed it, created materials for it, and finally I had built it.  It was mine, through and through, covered in my own blood, sweat and tears.  Overall, I am very pleased with the outcome – I quickly felt myself channeling my knowledge from EDTECH 502 – The Internet for Educators and relied on my web design basics to rely on some rudimentary HTML, tables, containers etc.

I did not run into any major roadblocks while I was building my lesson – things came together quickly, and I was very happy with what I built.  The hours and hours of preparation that I had done in the weeks leading up to it truly paid off as I had the opportunity to assemble my course as if I was an expert chef with all pre-cooked and pre-measured ingredients – almost as if I was on the food network!

I look forward to getting to spend more time in Moodle and further hone my skills as a course designer next term as I am currently set to take EDTECH 512 – Online Course Design and EDTECH 523 – Advanced Online Teaching Methods.  Feel fee to provide me with any feedback you may have regarding my course – I am always open and willing to receive any constructive criticism to improve my craft.

Alas – without further adieu: Apple iPad Foundations for Classroom Use

School Evaluation Summary

As this semester is coming to a close, final assignments are due, and the final lessons are being taught.  For EdTech 501, our final assignment was to evaluate an educational institution of our choosing using the Technology Maturity Benchmarks.  This assignment gave me the opportunity to apply many of the different skills I learned in EdTech 501 this spring semester.

Completing the evaluation using the Technology Maturity Benchmarks, I had the opportunity to gain a much greater understanding into the many complexities that all contribute to whether an institution has successfully integrated technology, and to which extent.  Having that understanding, I feel that I have greater amount of respect and do not feel as frustrated at my institution as I had felt in the past for what I considered to be their technological inadequacies.  I was able to identify many of their strengths, as well as their opportunities, and most notably I was able to discover why many of the past technological endeavours had failed – a lack of professional development and a proper support structure.  Overall, this was an eye-opening assignment and I am very glad that I was able to use so many of my resources and tools that I acquired during my semester in EdTech 501.

Below you will find an embedded copy of my evaluation, as well as a direct link to the GoogleDoc where my evaluation survey is posted.

View this document on Scribd

Maturity Benchmarks Survey Sheet

This assignment met the following AECT standards:

3.1 Medial Utilization

3.3 Implementation and Institutionalization

3.4 Policies and Regulations

4.1 Project Management

4.2 Resource Management

5.1 Problem Analysis

5.2 Criterion-Referenced Measurement

5.4 Long-Range Planning

Technology Use Planning Overview

Having a constant push for new technology, with not enough funds, time, space or resources to dedicate to new and updated technology is by no means a new development in the United States public school system.  From as long as I have been cognizant of my educational surroundings – it seemed that nearly everybody around me was talking about technology in schools.  Many of the questions I heard buzzing around me included:

• What technology does this school have?
• How old is it?
• Do they use SMART boards?
• How frequently do the kids get to use it?
• Are the teachers properly trained?
• What sort of protective measures are in place to prevent my child from finding things on the internet they shouldn’t be?
• How do we know that they are actually doing work, and not just chatting with their friends or playing games?”

In education, it is a commonplace for educators to be peppered with all sorts of questions like these, and at the same time, educators themselves funnel these questions down the pipeline to the technology resource coordinators, administrators, and so on.  In order to answer as many of these questions as possible, one of the most valuable tools at your disposal is appropriate and well thought out technology use planning.  Technology use planning includes, but is not limited to outlining the kind of environment of the institution, their mission statement, their demographics, technology use statistics, research facts and figures, literature reviews, cost analysis, benefit analysis, deployment schedules, professional development plans, etc.  A proper technology use plan will leave no stone unturned, and no question unanswered – anybody should be able to refer to your plan and know where your school is currently at in regards to technology, where they would like to go, what they need to get there, and how the school system is planning on making it happen.

For the longest time (and still to a great extent), the government has been a few years behind when it comes to helping school systems gain and maintain momentum in regards to technology integration.  Unfortunately a great deal of legislation that is created to provide the necessary funding gets scrutinized, analyzed and weighed down with so many provisions that unfortunately by the time the money reaches our schools, very little of it is actually left.  For the first time in a number of years, technology integration and planning is relatively present in the agenda of the current administration and the  National Educational Technology Plan 2010 takes great strides in setting the proper tone for technology integration in our classrooms.  Effectively, their position states that by integrating and effectively using advanced technological skills and practices has long-term benefits for our students and population as a whole.  By outlining the recommended goals for each level of the education system (Federal to individual districts), specifically in regards to “Learning, Assessment, Teaching, Infrastructure, and Productivity”, this provides many school systems the drive and focus they need to help get their tools and technologies back up to speed.  A refreshing perspective for sure.

Dr. John See from the Minnesota Department of Education makes a very valuable argument, stating that technology use planning should never be long-term plans, as technology is evolving at such a rapid rate that there is no way one can plan what technology is going to be available in five years, nor how you envision it being used.  Take the iPad for example – a little over two years ago, the iPad had just been announced by Apple Inc, and the critics were having the laugh of a lifetime.  Very few people took Apple seriously, and many were convinced that this was just a “fad” and that it will die out very soon.  Here we are, 27 months after the announcement, and “iPad” is likely one of the biggest buzz-words in education since the internet.  The iPad is allowing school systems to control the content the students have access to, have devices that are relatively simple to maintain, easy to handle, easy to store and has countless educational implications – none of which any of us could’ve imagined three years ago.  With that said, Dr. See is spot-on with his argument.  Whilst it is good to plan ahead to make sure you have the appropriate budgetary allocations, when it comes to technology, short-term planning is what is key.  Attending conferences, staying up to date on the latest trends, trying what’s new and effectively getting your hands “dirty” with technology is par for the course – after all, how else will you know what is the “next big thing” in educational technology?

Dr. See also makes a valuable argument that effective technology planning should focus on applications, and not the technology.  He makes the argument that we should not be concerned so much with using Mac vs. PC, but rather what the overall outcome will be of it.  I agree with this statement, after all, when we purchase a car to drive, we do not purchase a car simply for the pleasure of driving a car, but rather for the purpose which it serves – getting from point A to B.  The pleasure of driving, along with fuel economy, space, comfort, etc are all secondary to the primary purpose.  Viewing technology from this perspective makes a lot of sense – we are not so much focusing on what we need to get, but rather why we are getting it and what the purpose of it will be.  Only then can you come to understand the true needs of your school system and what technology will have the greatest long-term effect on the students and faculty alike.

One of the most memorable experiences I had with technology use planning was in high school when wireless internet was just becoming relatively accepted and affordable.  Our school had a decent technology budget, and they opted to invest in a “technology cart” which had a class set of laptop computers, as well as a wireless router which would broadcast a wireless network for the class to use during instruction.  Unfortunately, even though the resources were planned and allocated appropriately, and the school system was able to purchase relatively new and quite “trendy” technology for that time, the faculty had no training on how to set it up and use it properly.  Unfortunately, the majority of the instruction was spent trying to set up the mobile lab, get everything connected, and get everybody online.  By the time that was done, the bell rang.  Unfortunately this is a prime example of how one key element has the ability to throw everything off track and likely derail the plan all-together.  I am certain that that experience coloured that instructors perspective on the mobile lab, and certainly had an effect on her lesson-planning for the future.  We never used the mobile lab again in that glass – and I can honestly say I am not surprised.

Overall effective planning goes a long way – both long-term and short-term.  Having your school system back you up, as long as state and federal government will make things even easer – but by no means, easy.  Always be ready to answer the tough questions, get a great deal of pushback and get ready to plead your case to anybody who will listen.  After all, how good is a technology use plan if nobody knows its there?

References

See, J. (2001). Developing effective technology plans. National Center for Technology Planning. Retrieved from: http://www.nctp.com/html/john_see.cfmUS Department of Education. (2010).

Transforming American education: Learning powered by technology: National Education Technology Plan 2010. Washington: DC. Retrieved from: http://www.ed.gov/technology/netp-2010

This assignment satisfies the AECT standard of 5.4 Long-Range Planning.