I find this first assignment quite exciting; in short we get to explore an area of digital technologies that relates to an area of personal interest in our own teaching. I wasn't quite sure how to start this assignment but I latched onto this prompt from the instructor: "Share with the class via your blog, your early brainstorming of thoughts for this section. " What better way to begin than to A) do an actual brainstorm and in doing so B) work with a new tool! I decided to make a word cloud of my initial thoughts...
For a bit of context, my most recent employment was in a Distributed Learning environment. I'm not entirely sure where I will be in September so for the sake of bringing focus to my work I will assume that I am once again in a DL environment. For this posting I was teaching Senior Humanities as well as working with K-9 students in a home school environment. One of the advantages of DL is the wide use of technology - so I am excited to explore what a more effective use of digital technologies can bring to this flexible environment.
In creating the word cloud I brainstormed a bunch of words that seemed related, and once I looked at my list I decided that it needed a focus. Through a course in inquiry that I completed in the fall, and beginning Will Richardson's ebook (inspired by this TED talk) I love the notion of "making learning fun again" and possibly utilizing an inquiry approach. In this past year I became a mom and I have been able to look at learning and discovering in a whole new light; my son learns with glee. Learning isn't a chore to him - he absolutely loves to discover the world around him and he bring his curiosity to his exploration of the world. These experiences and insights helped me narrow my focus and make these words large in the word cloud. I believe that collaboration and innovation will make us all better teachers and learners so I bolded these words as well. Tools that might be useful such as Google Classroom, TED talks, and Minecraft I made slightly larger too. I'm not really sure how to go about bringing an inquiry approach to DL in a way that is still manageable. I'm not entirely sure where this literature search will end up but I am excited to look into what is new in the DL world in terms of digital technologies!
Resources Used
Daly, Heather. (2018). Assignment 1: reading review part a and b. In LIBE 477 96C Course Module. Retrieved from https://canvas.ubc.ca/courses/6803/pages/assignment-1-reading-review-part-a-and-part-b?module_item_id=413964 on May 8, 2018.
"Free Online WordClouds Generator." (2016). WordClouds: Zygomatics. [Software] Available from www.wordclouds.com
Richardson, W. (2012). Why School?: How Education Must Change When Learning and Information Are Everywhere. [ebook] Retrieved from iBooks.
Richardson, W. (2012). Why School?: How Education Must Change When Learning and Information Are Everywhere. TED Talks. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ni75vIE4vdk on May 8, 2018.
I really like your wordcloud brainstorming image. What a great resource that can be used by teachers and students. Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThanks for being one of the first to post. It helps me figure out how and what I should tackle in my first blog post!
ReplyDeleteThanks for a good first post and for supporting other LIBE 477 learners! Your post connects to your professional and personal experiences, which is a highlight for me. I am really looking forward to seeing where you head next with your inquiry.
ReplyDelete