*This post has been written as part of my journey as a Ph.D student through University of Regina “If you have access, watch The Social Dilemma on Netflix and comment on how Web 2.0 (the social web) has influenced our lives in positive and negative ways and how this might implicate (or has implicated) our schools and society” I had watched The Social Dilema in 2020 but did need to rewatch it for the purpose of this assignment; spoiler-alert, it was worth a rewatch. The following are some of the primary* themes that are outlined within the documentary in terms… Read More
Follow Friday – GP Trojans
On Fridays I share what I believe to be a notable person/organization/school on our social media pages to assist our staff in the development of their online Personal Learning Network. Gilbert Plains Collegiate has been active on social media via Twitter for many years but has recently given their online presence a refresh with a new Facebook page. Their new Facebook page, GP Trojans, is being used to highlight school events like: field trips extracurricular activities school updates examples of student programming community outreach events like fundraisers Their page allows them to reach a new group of stakeholders; I encourage you to follow… Read More
WOW Wednesday – Whitmore Social Media
On Wednesdays I highlight some of our amazing MVSD staff on our social media pages. Everyday our staff are using tech in new and exciting ways, are learning new skills, and are sharing ways in which ed tech is assisting them in their practice. With the 22/23 school year in full swing I am always so pleased when I happen to see one of our school accounts come back across my social media feed after a summer break! Whitmore School is an excellent example of this as they maintain a Facebook account to connect and share with caregivers and the broader community.… Read More
Follow Friday – School Board Trustees
On Fridays I share what I believe to be a notable person/organization/school on our social media pages to assist our staff in the development of their online Personal Learning Network. Manitoba is entering into a round of elections for school boards and the past and current members of the MVSD board have decided to harness the power of social media to share about this opportunity. During the last election of 2018 MVSD had just started their journey on Twitter but this continues to be a relatively under-utilized platform among our stakeholder groups. However, I was fortunate enough to work with out board… Read More
EC&I 833 – Introduction Post
*This post has been written as part of my journey as a Ph.D student through University of Regina. Welcome to all of my peers joining as part of our journey in EC&I 833. My name is Kirsten Thompson and I serve as the divisional Coordinator of ICT for the Mountain View School Division; overseeing technology programming and purchasing for approximately 3000 stakeholders. I am a Microsoft Education Trainer as well as a Level 1 Google Certified Educator with over 200 hours of combined professional development on how to assist educators in the use of these tools. Prior to this, I… Read More
House of Ed Tech – Episode 207
Earlier this month I had the pleasure of chatting with Chris Nesi from the House of Ed Tech podcast. If you’ve been a follower of this blog for a while you know that Chris’ podcast has been a part of my accessible PD plan for a number of years and his work appeared as part of our Follow Friday series twice: Education Podcast Network Christopher Nesi After being a listener of the podcast for so long it was kind of surreal to be able to see Chris “in-person” (via video call) and put a face to the name. We chatted… Read More
Follow Along with the MVSD Coordinator of ICT
As I was reviewing my files for the 2022/23 school year I realized that it had been quite some time since I took an opportunity to re-share my socials here on the blog. The social media accounts I maintain on behalf of my professional life are designed to be educational and focus on the use of technology in education (at all levels). At a secondary level, they also serve as an example of how an educator may set-up and utilize social media in a professional capacity. Within these accounts you will find: tech tips to use with students or professionally… Read More
Blogging in the Classroom: A Timeline
*This post has been written as part of my journey as a Ph.D student through University of Regina. Students will undertake a major digital project that involves a) the integration of social media in their teaching practice or b) the integration/development of open educational resources related to their practice. Possible examples might include: the design, implementation, and assessment of an open (or semi-open) student blogging project in the classroom Red Grid Minimalist Monotone Project Progress Timeline Infographic by Kirsten Cali
EC&I Week 11 – Crash Course
*This post has been written as part of my journey as a Ph.D student through University of Regina. Week 11 Blog Prompt Dive into one particular resource [OER] of reasonable size (e.g., a course, video series, other learning resource) and evaluate the course as a learning resource. Would this be something useful to other educators? What is the overall quality of materials? Is this something that can be easily adopted into others’ educational practice? One of my all time favourite OER has to be the Crash Course channel on YouTube. Founded in December of 2011, Crash Course first appeared here… Read More
EC&I 831 Week 10 – Open Education
*This post has been written as part of my journey as a Ph.D student through University of Regina. Week 9 of this course did not include blog prompts. Week 10 Blog Prompt Using content/topics discussed in class this week, write a post around the topic of open education and the culture of sharing. The following videos represent a selection of resources shared in class to help introduce the concept of open education resources (OER) and sharing within the field of education. I feel fortunate to have been introduced to the concept of OER as part of my B.Ed degree via… Read More