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To integrate technology thoughtfully in my teaching and learning
Technology has been a huge part of my life, inside and outside the classroom. A family member who programmed for IBM when it began making home PCs allowed me to access a computer early in life. During my career, access to technology has helped me be efficient and neat (my handwriting is not always the best), as well as innovative. Though I have seen the pros and cons of technology as a teaching tool, it is through my MET studies I have benefited from the opportunity to reflect on where, when, and how it is effectively used in teaching.
Click to play
One of the significant impacts on my teaching came from ETEC 565D: Digital Games and Learning. I have always played games - whether board games, my old Nintendo NES or MMO games like World of Warcraft. I have designed many approved courses geared at showcasing digital gaming careers, from 3D Modeling and Animation to the more recent, Game Design and Programming. This latter course (inspired by ETEC 565D) equipped every student to create a functioning game following the principles of player-centric design. I have seen firsthand how this approach to education can affirm Constructivist theories and improve engagement. I have included here the website and the game that my group in ETEC 565D created, along with a few clips showcasing what happened with students in my classroom.
Senenmut's Quest Game
Student work on Twitter
Student work
One of the mindset shifts for me was learning to view educational technology from the perspective of industry, specifically commercial business. ETEC 522 Ventures in Learning Technologies allowed me to explore how industry views market share of technology products. This was a unique way of shifting my evaluator lens regarding the technology I want in education. Is it just the latest new gadget marketed extremely well, or is it a tool that will expand the possibilities of education? I did a commercial pitch for CoSpaces EDU to highlight the cross over between software I use to teach VR and AR, and the potential commercial market that exists. It was great to see technology trends reflected in emerging areas of education. The balance of the latest and greatest is often difficult to navigate when it comes to efficacy as a teaching tool.
For the last 6 years, I have had the pleasure of teaching a Television Broadcasting Course at my school. We live broadcast each morning at the start of school; taking a full crew of people, a studio, and some stellar equipment. You can check it out on our YouTube channel (the live broadcasts will be from 2019 as COVID forced us to do prerecorded shows this year). In doing the assignment for ETEC 523: Mobile Learning, I discovered an app (iPad or Android tablets not phones) that takes my entire complicated broadcast system and places it into a handheld tablet. Check out my Resources page for all my MET finds! MIND BLOWN! The TouchCast app allows you to publish your cast into a format that, when viewed on a phone or tablet, lets the viewer touch the embedded content to pause the video and link to other content. I haven't had the time to directly teach with this app yet, but I have turned my students on to it and they have been so impressed. This may be one of those pieces of technology that finds its way into my daily arsenal of tech tools. Tools aside, the content of this assignment is a pillar of my shift in thinking about using technology. I am really focused on the creation aspect of technology as tools. My Game Design Course, Information Technology Course and aforementioned TV Broadcast Course use a lot of technology and I have endeavored to really examine whether we are simply consuming technology or learning to create with it as a tool.