Nadia's Blog – Learning Technology

Here I am…writing my last post on my ETMOOC reflections.  My experiences, my participation, my learning.  It’s all about me folks …but is it really going to be my last post about my MOOC experiences?

I’ve really given this question a lot of thought lately.  With my tech courses coming to an end, I have been wondering what I’ll do with what I’ve learned, especially now that I’ve been introduced to so many new ways of learning and so many new technologies, cool technologies, that I’m really enjoying.  I’ve never thought of myself as a tech nerd, I’m thinking that statement is so, SO, last century!  I like technology and I’m not scared of it.  And, yes, I absolutely LOVE texting, that’s the best thing ever invented!  It is an exciting time to be learning, I see so many new opportunities opening up and just waiting for me….

I was truly inspired by the ETMOOC session I watched with Will Richardson called “Re:Learn – The Challenges and Opportunities of Modern Learning”.  The ETMOOC archives can be found here.  I was so inspired, I decided to blog about it…

Will’s words really resonated with me, I’m caught between the Traditional Learner model and the Modern Learner.  Where do I fit?  I certainly grew up with the traditional model, but I really feel I fit into the modern model much better.  The modern model seems such a natural fit for me; I love the feeling of being able to discover learning on my own, it makes it that much more authentic, the transparency is there, I am totally connected and networked and I can work on it as I feel.  What can be better than that??  Sounds pretty sweet to me.  It’s a good feeling, a happy feeling!  I think as an educator, I really need to be aware of those around me, perhaps some of them are not as comfortable as I am in this new space…both students and adults alike.  I think I’m on the right track, I’m sure I’m going to take a few different directions as I continue on my learning journey, and that’s ok!  I really like the notion of a ‘life-long learner’, I see myself as that!  It’s crazy, I know, but how can I not be a life long learner with all these free MOOC’s that are available?? oh, and did I mention they were Free?  Yeah, FREE!  I think everyone needs to find their “Ed-entity” (as Will put it…sooo clever!) and I think it will just take some time for everyone to get there.  I am still finding my “ed-entity” and I’m ok with that…it is a journey.

I was so hesitant about blogging way back in January.  I wasn’t sure what to do or how to do it.  Now look at me….I’m blogging!  I think it will only get better as I keep at it.  I really think my posts have gotten better too, I am finding my voice and my way around.  It’s kind of a nice feeling!

So…is this going to be one of my last posts about open learning?  I think NOT.  Last week on Twitter someone posted about some MOOC starting up in the next few months…and guess what??  I signed up for two of them!  That’s right, 2 (two).  One called Social Psychology and the other E-Learning and Digital Cultures, both found here.  I think I’ll be continuing with this…and blogging about it!  In his ETMOOC session, Will stated “May be the most amazing time ever to be a learner”, why yes, Will, I truly believe that it is!

Cheers, Nadia

Check out the Blog Leslie and I made as part of our learning project….

Hardy Local Food Blog

We welcome any feedback or comments….

Cheers, Nadia

Yes, the long-awaited presentation…

Click on this link and you will be taken to my and Leslie’s presentation.

What a journey.

What a ride.

Learned ALOT.

Went by too fast.

Created something really good!

Thanks Leslie

Cheers, Nadia

Yes I am!  I spent the better part of yesterday working on activities to be used with Classroom Suite software, the new technology I am learning.  At first, it was time consuming and took me a bit to get rolling, but once I started…..I made 6 activities!!!  That’s right, 6!!  I’m so excited because I managed to get a good start on publishing my activities for use within the software.  Today I shared them out with a SEA (Special Education Assistant) in my district and she will be test them out with a student tomorrow.  I’ll have feedback from her by Wednesday….and then….if all looks good and they work well….I’ll be posting them to the Activity Exchange!  Sooner than I anticipated!  Did I say….I am soooo excited??!!!!

Cheers, Nadia

After spending these past few weeks learning a new technology, Classroom Suite in my case, I began to wonder how useful this software really is in using it for teaching purposes.  Are the features attractive?  What are some possibilities?  Would students like using it?  Is it user friendly?

IntelliTools website says the following about their software:

Classroom Suite is a unique software intervention tool developed based upon the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) that combines two educational paradigms—systematic, explicit instruction and flexible creativity tools—Teachers have control over specific learning objectives, allowing differentiated instruction for individuals or groups to help students in grades PreK-5 achieve mastery in reading, writing, and mathematics.

I’d say…”Spot-On!”  I couldn’t agree more!  There are so many wonderful and “useful” features that it makes sense to use this software as much as possible in a classroom.  Is it useful?  You betcha, it sure is!  I can list all the features but it’s best you have a look for yourself here.  Best of all, students of all abilities can use this software!

It would be really nice though, if IntelliTools would list the corresponding BC PLO’s on their site too, (they list the USA Common Core Standards).  This would make it so much easier for teachers in BC to see, at a glance, how this software can help them in their classroom.  I think that would be most useful to alot of educators.

Other than taking the time to really learn how the software functions, Classroom Suite is a program that is fairly easy to use.  The learning curve is not that bad once the basics are mastered.  I’ve enjoyed learning this software very much, I’m excited to have opportunities within my job to share my knowledge with teachers, students and SEA’s and I look forward to becoming proficient with making and uploading activities to the activity exchange!

Cheers, Nadia

My learning journey with Classroom Suite by IntelliTools has been anything but boring!  In my last post I indicated I was looking up the PLO’s for the lesson I am planning.  Wowzers!  Looking them up was a challenge in itself!  So many outcomes to read through, so many pages of text, and what’s up with that silly database anyhow??!!  I sure can see why there is a movement to reduce the number of outcomes in the education system!  I think I figured out the PLO’s I was looking for.

After watching a bunch more archived learning sessions/webinars for Classroom Suite, I totally realize this software is really, really, incredibly big and powerful.  I’m not sure if I’ve seen anyone use all the features that are available in it in my line of work just yet.  I can also see how I am going to need to continue to learn the software even though my EDCI591 class is coming to an end in the next week.  My plans of uploading my lesson plan to the Activity Exchange site is going to take me a bit longer to prepare than I had anticipated as now I am aware of all the tips and tricks I need to ensure I include in my up-loadable activity.  I am a bit of a perfectionist, so uploading a lesson that I am not entirely pleased with is a no-no in my books.  It will be uploaded in the near future, stay tuned for that.  I am still planning on making a number of activities to share, so I do believe in making a quality product as my first one.  I want to build a bunch of resources to share and have people pleased and happy to use my lessons and activities.  You never know…there may be a job in it for me in the long run….

Cheers, Nadia

Sounds like a nifty jingle doesn’t it??! ….and look….they all begin with the letter “C”…. makes me go hmmm…I wonder why all these different topics begin with the letter ‘c’….

Anyhow, in my travels working on the blog my learning partner Leslie and I have started for our professional learning project, I wondered if we needed to add some kind of ‘license’ to our super awesome blog hardylocalfoods.  I’ve looked at and read a number of blogs and found the Creative Commons logo on many of them.  Is this something that is expected of us to include?  Is this the way things are done these days?  Would we be in the ‘bad books’ if we didn’t at least research it?  Would anyone even notice?  Does it really matter?  What’s the big deal anyhow?  Does copyright pertain to us?

In order to answer some of the questions I had, I started reading about Copyright here (respecting the acceptable linking practices as laid out on the website).  The Copyright Act can be found here.  So far that’s been a lot of reading…even the consolidated version is a mere 176 pages!  (Okay, sooo I didn’t actually read the whole thing)  I got it, I understood about copyright.  What’s Copyleft?  Ok, so I’m kinda getting this too, it’s sorta, kinda, free to be modified.  Some more information here about how Canada’s copyright law has become clearer and easier for teachers and students to follow.  This website, the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada, (CMEC) also published a pdf titled “Fair Dealings Guidelines” to help teachers and admin figure out how to use copyrighted work appropriately.  I found this website to be the most easiest to read and understand, lots of good information listed here.

Starting to sound like an awful lot of work figuring this out…do Leslie and I really care if anyone wants to use the info we post?   We both decided we would welcome anyone who felt they could use any of our information…

Creative Commons was the next thing I researched.  Seeing most blogs I read had this license listed I thought maybe I was getting closer to knowing what I needed.  After reading this website, I realized there were 6 different kinds, or layers, of licenses that fall under the Creative Commons umbrella.   Even more choices, oh goodie, more decisions!  Ok so I think I know which license would fit our needs the best.   We do want to share our information and are happy if anyone feels they could learn from us…we love sharing information!  I think I better collaborate with my learning partner and see what we decide on as a team…as…after all, this is a team effort learning project!

Oh, and about…Cloud Computing, another definition here, let’s not forget to read about the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act here.  This website is a great source, easy to follow information, and informative…especially the guidelines for using the ‘cloud’ to store information.  All this information is hurting my brain!! I think I’ll leave this stuff for another blog post….one in the near future perhaps!

Okay, so back to our blog…I’m going to have a conversation with my learning partner Leslie, sooner rather than later, and we will then decided which is the best route to take for our blog.  Where to start??  Where to Stop??  So much learning!  Feel free to leave me a comment if you have already decided to add or have added a Creative Commons license to your blog, I would love to hear your thoughts about it.

Cheers, Nadia

As I’m sitting here working away on my final assignments in my tech courses, I can’t help to stop thinking about my learning journey with the massive online open course I am participating in….ETMOOC.  I realized today that my UVIC tech courses will be ending within a few weeks and I’m feeling…..well….kind of sad….it’s coming to an end soon.

I’ve really started to feel like I belong to this online community, the connections I’ve made through Twitter and through blogging has really made me appreciate how much I’ve learned.  The people I’ve met and the conversations I’ve followed really has had an impact on my professional development.  A good impact.  I feel like I have many people I can turn to now when I have “What if” or “How can I” questions…and the people out there are sooo willing to help!  What a truly giving community of caring people.  I like being in this community.  I like this space.  I like what I’ve learned and I know, I am going to like what I will learn!

What does success look like for me with participating in this ETMOOC?  Well, for me, I think my success can be seen as my desire to continue with MOOC’s.  I’m getting better at finding them out there and have already penciled in my calendar ones that will be starting soon.  Even though my UVIC courses are ending soon, doesn’t mean my learning ends there too.  I now know I have this community that I’ve been introduced to that will be my support and my strength in going forward with my learning.  So, I guess I shouldn’t feel sad about my UVIC courses coming to an end, rather I should feel happy and embrace the new opportunities I am going to experience.  I am eagerly waiting to participate in some tech MOOC’s in the near future.  What a grand time it is to be involved with 21st Century learning!  Please feel free to leave me a comment and let me know of any MOOC’s you are aware of beginning in the near future.  Thanks!

Cheers!

Spring Break is here!  I love this time of the year….Spring, and then my favourite season…Summer.  I always feel so encouraged and motivated when I can get outside to play more often, I truly love warm weather!  Many of my colleagues are travelling to distant places this spring break in search of sun and warmth, I’m green with envy!  Next year this time my plan is to go on holidays to someplace warm.   I can’t help but wish I was there with them now….instead…I’m pluggin’ along on my tech courses getting assignments almost completed and reflecting on how far I’ve come these past few months learning these 21st Century technologies.  I’m pretty impressed with myself.

As you may recall, I’m learning the Classroom Suite software by IntelliTools.  I’m quite enjoying learning this software, the more I play with it, the more I realize it can do.  Today I am planning a lesson which brought me to the Ministry of Ed website to look up PLO’s.  As I am not a classroom teacher (I do assistive tech support in the school system) things like lesson plans do not just fall out of the air for me…I have to research, look it up and plan….it is good practice!  I’m putting together a lesson to share with a teacher and a SEA I am working with in order to demonstrate to them the power and usefulness of Classroom Suite for this particular student.  If the lesson goes together as I anticipate, this will be the first one I share out on the Activity Exchange!  Kinda scary putting myself out there this quickly and so soon, however, I feel I should just DO IT!  There’s no better time to start than NOW!!  Yup, warmer weather and the thought of Spring around the corner has given me that little bit extra of self esteem to tackle these last few assignments and GET IT DONE!

Stay tuned…there’s more to come!  Please feel free to leave me a comment!

Oh my eyes!  Yes, I can certainly say I am getting eye strain watching so many online tutorials!  I’ve watched a number of how-to videos here in my effort to learn Classroom Suite plus searching online and watching anything I can find in Google search.

Here’s a video…Intro to Classroom Suite: Getting Started…Introductory Video

So far, I’m learning how to set up ‘teacher’ and ‘student’ within the software.  I’ve set myself up with an account on the activity exchange and I’ve downloaded a number of activities to Classroom Suite.  I’ve played around with a few of the writing templates such as the journals and I’ve navigated around the rest of the program a number of times.  I can see the potential of using this software with many students, it is rather engaging.  I’ve also spent some time this past week observing and supporting a student new to Classroom Suite, I was amazed at how quickly this student caught on to some of the basic functions in the program.  I’ll be posting again soon because now I’m hooked and want to learn more!

Cheers!