Final thoughts from 502 In the past 4 months, I have had an incredible learning journey so I wanted to create a post to record and remember how I felt at this time so I can support new teachers and students in their fears and apprehension in the future.
For me, 502 The Digital Continuum, could be more accurately named Foundational Building. After the program introduction from 501, I had the opportunity in 502 to experience the teachings and transfer understandings to build a solid platform to work from. Working with the theory and practice in a concrete way allowed me to view the learner in a new light with a deeper appreciation of how different students thrive with a variety of learning styles and environments. Involvement in group work demonstrated the imperative features collaboration provides as referenced to in my 502 reflection. Working with the framework Understanding by Design (UbD) and Universal Design for Learning (UDL) resulted in a major thinking shift weaving past readings and practice into a complete picture. My lesson critique reflection describes this in more detail. Working with the Community of Inquiry (COI) survey opened my eyes. Reflecting on my own involvement as an online student helped me to understand the importance of careful consideration when planning an online course regarding teacher presence, social and cognitive aspects. Incorporating principles from a Community of Learners gave insight and pause to reflect on how to integrate these lifelong skills when building an online community. The differences in social presence our class experienced using both Collaborate and Zoom platforms highlighted the necessity of connection. Making connections with colleagues is essential for building and maintaining a professional learning network. Twitter had played at focal role in constructing my network. I have also appreciated the opportunity to learn from and with my cohort colleagues as they share their insights and post comments about their learning journey and network opportunities. I have felt apprehensive about posting outside the comfort of my group but with encouragement and guidance, I'm building my confidence. Learning new organizational tools such as Evernote and Hootsuite for collecting the mass volume of information streaming in has been a welcome addition. Copy write laws have always been confusing to me. I’m excited by the establishment of Creative Commons and Open Education Resources. I believe it is a fundamental step, reflecting a Connectivist approach and will hopefully be the norm for the next generation. I appreciate the new age approach of being able to share work openly and build on each other’s knowledge and creativity. Randy’s final week synopsis on Leadership and Change supported one of my concluding thoughts from my final paper. We need strong leaders, able to model a new vision of learning and provide teachers the support and guidance to create sustainable positive structures. We need teacher’s willingness to embrace a new role from teacher to guide and take time to learn collaboratively from each other. Leadership is key and I believe all of the OLTD participants will contribute to that change in their own way. Comments are closed.
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AuthorK-7 Coordinator in SD68. Archives
January 2017
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