On Thursday we had the opportunity to have Donald Girouard & Sophia Palahicky from Manitoba Education visit our class to discuss Web Based Courses. I personally never participated in a web based course when I went through the public school system but I know that I will be working with them in the future so I was interested in learning as much as possible. Manitoba Education currently has hundreds of distance learning resources which includes over 40 developed online courses that students can take at the Grade 9 through 12 levels. Since I am in a… Read More
Twitter… 1 Year Later
Shortly after beginning this blog in January of 2012 I decided to join Twitter as well. Looking back at it, I can’t remember if there was something specific that attracted me to Twitter but I do remember that I was pretty overwhelmed at the start. The first few days I used it I pretty much had no idea what I was doing and didn’t understand how to use it effectively. Slowly I began to get used to the format and am now completely addicted! Twitter is now my go-to PLN tool and I’ve been able to network with… Read More
My Digital Footprint
We have discussed the idea of “digital footprints” in almost every single one of our education classes over the past two years. We have discussed them in regards to professionalism, liability, privacy, networking, et cetra and I think we have all come to realize just how important our online presence is. As teachers, it is very important for us to maintain a professional appearance in and out of the classroom. Our administrators, board members, parents and students can all be online looking for information about us and it is important that our online presence upholds the professional standards… Read More
More Than Just Bill Nye… Using Video in the Classroom
Growing up my only real memory of watching videos in class included Bill Nye, the Magic School Bus and any movie-version of the novel we happened to be studying at the time. I don’t remember video actually being used as a learning tool to expand student learning, it was almost always used after the learning and assessment had taken place. Finished learning about the circulatory system? Here’s a Magic School Bus video to watch. Finished learning about magnets? Here’s a Bill Nye the Science Guy video to watch. Finished reading Shiloh? Here’s the movie-version to watch. In fact, I only remember… Read More
Introducing Peter Jory
One of the assignments for our Internet For Educators class is to follow an edu-blogger and feature their work on our blog. I first dipped my toe into the blogosphere and started following education blogs when I started the Faculty of Ed in 2011. Since that time, my RSS feeder has hit almost 300 education blogs from around the world and I’ve learnt so much from the great educators out there that are willing to share their thoughts and ideas online. One of those educators is Peter Jory, who blogs at I Have An Opinion About Learning. Peter… Read More
Clarence Fisher: Purposeful Use of Technology
This week we had the opportunity to Skype with Clarence Fisher from Snowlake, Manitoba. I was especially looking forward to this presentation because I have followed Clarence’s work on his blog for a little under a year and it was exciting to know that I would be able to put a “face to the blog”! Now this wasn’t the longest presentation our class has had (we only had about 30 minutes to connect with Clarence as he was tuning in during one of his prep periods while his class was in Phys-Ed) but it got me thinking about… Read More
Infographics in the Classroom
I’m going to start this post by admitting that I absolutely love infographics! I find them more engaging than paragraphs of text and I love seeing the information visually displayed in an aesthetic manner, which is interesting because I don’t consider myself a visual learner. If you aren’t familiar with infographics here is an explanatory image: Image Credit: Infographics. (2013). CC-BY-SA. http://infographicsineducation.wikispaces.com/ I believe that, likes memes and trending YouTube videos, infographics can be a great way of presenting information through a platform that students are familiar with. One only needs to type in the word, “Infographic” into Google… Read More
John Finch: Hot Topic Issues
This week we had the opportunity to have John Finch physically visit our classroom to discuss various issues in educational technology. I found that I am more engaged during a face-to-face visit so I really enjoyed myself. Now don’t get me wrong, I think tools like Skype are amazing for connecting people and removing the distance barrier but I personally still prefer the face-to-face interaction if possible! After having multiple presenters discuss the benefits of technology in education, PLNs and becoming connected educators, it was nice to discuss some of the issues that are arising from this. … Read More
Connected Learning
This week’s topic for #ETMOOC has been Connected Learning: Tools/Processes/Pedagogy, which I think is perfect because our Internet for Educators class has also been discussing Connected Learning as well! For me Connected Learning definitely included my PLN, so I’ve created a “Visualization of my PLN” below. Connected Learning doesn’t just personally apply to me as a teacher, however, it also applies to my students and how we set up our classroom activities. I can honestly say that our classroom wouldn’t be the same if it wasn’t for technology and the ability to network with other people… Read More
Digital Storytelling in the Classroom
On Wednesday I had an opportunity to attend a presentation by Darren Kuropatwa and Andy McKiel on Digital Storytelling. Both of these guys are doing some amazing things in regards to ed tech and I was happy to finally meet both of them after following their work online. The entire session focused on digital storytelling as a way for our students to document and reflect on their learning. Not only were we introduced to some great ideas but we also were able to try them out for ourselves. This was the very first PD session I… Read More