Today our class had a skype presentation by Dean Shareski, who has a lot of experience in teaching and ICT and currently works for Discovery Education Canada in the area of curriculum based media. I really liked all that he had to share about the changing face of education and opportunities to engage students. He used several videos to illustrate his points, demonstrating the power of media to engage... I loved those penguins! I completely agree with his thoughts on the power of teaching through stories, and using ICT tools and the internet to create and share experiences. A quote that struck me was "the learning culture is participatory". While I have always made efforts to address the learning needs of my students through planning a variety of activities in my lessons, I can see a whole new avenue of collaborative opportunities opening up... for my students and for me. Co-construction of knowledge and experience is a vital component of teaching to me, and I want to facilitate sharing in my classroom and beyond.
One last thing that I appreciated was Dean's message of the "myth of easy!" As a person who has little experience with ICT, it was nice to hear someone say "this stuff can be tricky to figure out! Start slow... but start!" I have had lots of experience with being told that computer stuff is easy... and feeling like an idiot when I get lost! I am happy to report that I have completed a few "tech tasks" for class with no major disasters thus far! My confidence is growing, and once again I want to say thanks to everyone for being great friends and tutors in and out of class!
I also really liked the quote about it being participatory. Sharing is a two-way street, and it always should be. No one should always be on the receiving end of the share, because it is better to give than to receive. If everyone does their part, then the online resources and sharing will be literally endless!!
ReplyDeleteI felt completely validated when Dean said that technology isn't easy!! I also see a whole new world of collaborative learning opportunities presenting itself and it is exciting. I can totally see the two of us collaborating in the future, whether we are 20, 200, or 2,000 Kms apart.
ReplyDeleteMe, too! That is one exciting part of this for me... having access to awesome people and ideas to learn from and share with!
DeleteThank you, Kelsey and Lisa - I totally agree with technology not always being easy. I felt a bit of relief when I heard this, too. I feel comfortable using technology but outside my bubble of devices, apps, and sites that I'm confident using - I don't find using technology all that easy, and I don't feel like it comes naturally to me all the time. This is really daunting, especially in the age of technology that we're living in. I think the effort to learn and adapt is totally worth it though - when sharing and collaborating can happen with a few clicks.
DeleteI often think about teachers 20 years ago and beyond who did not have these tools and passages that we have access to - and then I'm even more thankful I live in the age that I do (even if it's a bit mind-boggling at times!)
Ya, we awesome people like to share our awesome-ness with other awesome people like you ; )
ReplyDeleteI think Dean's message of technology not being easy is good for all of us to remember. It may come easy to me now, but that is a result of frustration and persistence. I hope I've never insinuated that it should be easy and caused you grief because I forgot how I came to be where I am.
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