As I have been reading the forum postings and blog sites as part of the remaining assignments in PIDP 3240, I have come to realize that perhaps I am more technically capable, and more familiar with some of the trends in education than I give myself credit for. I recently registered for my first MOOC, and I have been watching a few TED Talks and listening to several Podcasts a week. The motivation for this is of course partly completing my class assignments, but I am also trying to improve my classroom delivery tools to increase student engagement in my classroom. One tool I have recently received some training on at work is the Ketab interactive whitboard software. Using an Epson Ultra short throw projector and a touch pen, I can do things in the classroom like project a schematic and then have students draw and write on the schematic. The software can be set to draw shapes, correct writing, and even erase after a set time to allow for other work to continue. If I have a student diagram something on the baord I can also use formative assessment techniques and give some immediate feedback to the student increasing their success and knowledge retention. In conjunction with using apps like Twitter or Whatsapp to communicate classroom events with my students I can really enhance the classroom experience for my students.
So in the spirit of exploration I will examine RSS feeds. RSS stands for Rich Site Summary and it can be used to deliver the latest information from a selected website. I have read that Google Chrome does not support RSS feeds and this is on the wane as a delivery system for information but I will try it out and see what happens. The National Centre for Vocational Education Research is an Australian organization overseeing research into vocational education. They release a regular newsletter with articles of interest to those in the vocational education sector named Insight.
Please have a look at the Insight newsletter. I found an interesting article about MOOC's, Massive Open Online Courses. These courses are free and online and some have up to 100,000 people register for them. The article describes how more research is required to gauge the effectiveness of these courses.
Here is a link to the article, and below is a link to my audio podcast article review. Fischer, G. (2014). Beyond hype and underestimation: identifying research challenges for the future of MOOCs. Distance Education, 35(2), 149-158. Here is the link for the Podcast ![]() This assignment was really difficult for me. I have used powerpoint extensively but I have never added audio or animations in the past. Upond completion, I also found the hosting site Authorstream would not play the presentation corrrectly. I assumed the error was on my part so I edited and reuploaded many times without any success. I then tried another website called MyBrainshark, and my original presentation played fine the first time. Slide one has some minor audio problems but after that the presentation is ok. Getting the chance at a bit of reflection on my trip to Chiang Mai, Thailand while selecting which photos to use was enjoyable. Please have a look and let me know what you think of my first Pecha Kucha Powerpoint. http://my.brainshark.com/Chiang-Mai-300252418 While researching for the third journal entry for PIDP 3240 I came across a couple of books I think are quite relative to what I am doing in my work and with respect to the Provincial Instructor Diploma Program. The first is by Derek Bok, a renowned educator and former Harvard President. Bok advocates for taking a more holistic approach to education to develop well rounded individuals rather than simply acquiring knowledge. The second book is by L. Dee Fink, also a renowned educator. Fink offers a guide on course design that focuses on using teaching and evaluation strategies that better engage students by using a wide variety of techniques to develop knowledge, practical skills and critical thinking skills. Here is a video of Dr. Bok speaking at UCSD on the subject of undergraduate education. References Bok, D. (2009). Our underachieving colleges: A candid look at how much students learn and why they should be learning more. Princeton University Press. Fink, L. D. (2013). Creating significant learning experiences: An integrated approach to designing college courses. John Wiley & Sons. I found a great article on course design by L. Dee Fink, whose Taxonomy of Significant Learning really struck a chord in me for depicting Learning as being circular with each facet supporting the others and not just Linear like Bloom's Taxonomy.
Check out the article for some great insights on designing a relevant course. http://www.deefinkandassociates.com/GuidetoCourseDesignAug05.pdf I found an interesting article I thought was worth sharing that touches on digital media use in the classroom and student engagement. It describes a group project of making a documentary and the challenges involved. It is from the ERIC website so I am not sure if it will require logging into the VCC Library account or not.
http://cclsw2.vcc.ca:2227/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=4&sid=91c40ac7-017b-42f0-9237-b920ddde78d9%40sessionmgr114&hid=116 Watson, J. A., & Pecchioni, L. L. (2011). Digital natives and digital media in the college classroom: assignment design and impacts on student learning.Educational Media International, 48(4), 307-320. ![]() 2015 has brought many new experiences. I completed PIDP 3230, Evaluation of Learning. Although I did not make any Blog entries during that time, I can attest that it was a fantastic course and I really learned a lot. Many thanks to Jeff May and my peers in the course. Now I am embarking on new adventure with PIDP 3240, Media Enhanced Learning. Unfortunately because of time and distance, some aspects of the Social Media option would not work so I chose the "Pick and Choose" option. I am glad to have the opportunity to revitalize my Blog as part of Assignment 4 though, and to take a stab at the Digital Media option for assignment 3 and try a Pecha Kucha PowerPoint and an Audio Podcast. Onward and upward with my learning journey. As an aside, I like to travel and will frequently post my photos on my Blog. Perhaps someone will recognize where the photo in this post was taken. Good luck to my PIDP 3240 classmates. I am looking forward to working with you. ![]() Well, my first PIDP course is winding up. The weeks went by really quickly. It was a lot of work but it didn't seem too onerous because I was learning something new every time I logged in. I was very fortunate to be in the course with a great group of people who all contributed to my learning and success in the course and for that I cannot offer enough thanks! As you can probably decipher from my postings, there was a wide array of Instructional techniques covered in quite a bit of detail. Of course I enjoyed some topics more than others but I learned something new in every topic. I feel much better equipped to try out new methods to engage and motivate my students and to keep the class fresh and interesting. In the next term I intend to implement even more techniques right from the start like a strategy from the Gameification topic. In the past I have used a three stars system like in hockey and I think I will go back to that, with the students deciding who contributed in an exceptional way in any particular class. Rewarding quality, insightfulness, and effort over pure knowledge and extroversion should get everyone a fair chance. Going forward, I can't wait for the opportunity to take some more course offerings in the new year and continue my progress in the Provincial Instructor Diploma Program at Vancouver Community College. I think the word is out because I know several of my colleagues will begin the program next year. Wishing all involved in the class a painless exam period and a great Holiday season. And again, many thanks! |
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