Tinkering with technology

This is a short video I made on MS Photostory 3 for my Inquiry into Digital Content course.

July 7 fourth blog post

Today our focus was on video conferencing. I have used Elluminate numerous times because most of my courses at U Of C have been online. I have found it can be a really great way to interact with classmates and an easy way to disseminate information because of the functions such as webtour, application sharing and the whiteboard.  I have also used Elluminate as a means to collaborate with classmates on projects- particularly because my group members have lived in different cities. I found that of all the collaborative technologies I have tried - Elluminate is just about the easiest to use- because you can type, send files, visit the web, speak and listen to each other and even see one another on the webcam- synchronously. Part of my new job in the fall will be to provide PD for content area teachers on how to adapt their teaching to accomodate the ESL students in their courses. I could see potential for Elluminate to help facilitate small group sessions for these teachers.

July 6 third blog post

A whole lot of potential in this little girl!

Today we watched a really inspirational video presentation by Sugata Mitra. I was wowed by his experiments involving students in developing countries   In his work, these children could access learning when provided with nothing more than computers and Internet access. It was amazing to me how quickly these children took to the technology and were able to quickly and collaboratively solve problems and not only that- to retain what they learned in their inquiries.  Another interesting thing I learned from this video is power of the 'grandmother method'; by providing children with a ton of unbridled encouragement and positivity, and by asking them to show what they know, they can make great gains in their acquisition and application of knowledge.  I have always had an interest in education in developing communities. When we went to Ethiopia to adopt our daughter, I was struck by the plethora of children who do not or cannot go to school.  The video we watched made me think of all the little children we left behind in Addis Ababa and it made me more hopeful for the future of these disadvantaged children and others like them around the world.  Each and every one of them have so much potential if they are given the chance!

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 In terms of a professional application of our class experience today, I wanted to share a little about an intiative I have been involved in over the past few years.  I have been working with teaching Hutterite students via distance learning. These young people live in sheltered colonies- and hold tight to their conservative religious values and cultural traditions. Nevertheless, these communities are acknowledging the value in providing educational opportunities for all their young people (at least to the end of high school) and are slowly embracing technology as a means to this end because they live in remote communities that often do not have enough children to warrant having a separate high school. I see tremendous potential for learning management systems and social media technology to help provide quality learning experiences for these children. Some colonies are more progressive and are employing web CT to connect colony schools within the province- while others are still wary of the Internet. At present, many of the colonies connect students with telephone conferences that support paper/pen correspondence courses which operate through Canada Post.

I taught German through the telephone conference course for a year- it was really frustrating on many levels. I often found myself thinking - 'if only I could teach this course on Blackboard- or just have Internet access- it would be so much more engaging!'. I continue to be part of the development team that is currently rewriting the syllabus for the German correspondence courses that these students take. It is my hope that eventually we can get these materials online and use various tools to help these students connect with each other in collaborative and communicative ways.

More Hutterite youth- especially girls
are getting high school diplomas
than ever before-
 thanks to distance learning!

Culturally, as outsiders, we cannot impose our values on their society- however the limitations presented by the archaic technology limit the learning experience significantly for these Hutterite students.  In time, I feel that this too will change. It is a constant challenge for these people to navigate a balance between allowing their children an education, while maintaining their culture and their way of life. For them, it isn't that they have no resources to access the technology -given that most colonies are quite financially secure. Rather, it's that the technology itself opens a pandora's box of ethical issues.  It is an interesting evolution that is happening right here in Canada. It has been a great learning experience to be involved in this endeavour.

On another note...
here are some useful things I learned today that I didn't know before:

• how to take a screenshot,
• how to make a wordle,
• how to download a document from google docs
• that moodle operates like d2l (which I already know how to use)* this encourages me to try out this free LMS

ps: My wiki is up and running  - feel free to check it out.
 Link to my wikispace

July 5 second blog post

Today I got a chance to practice using several collaborative tools that have a plethora of potential applications in a language classroom. I encountered a new website called Titanpad- which is a simple and quick way for students to share their ideas- either publicly or privately. I liked the fact that this was quick and easy to set up. I also liked how the text was highlighted in different colours for different speakers. As well, we had a chance to work on Google docs with a partner- making a text document and powerpoint presentation.   What I really like about all of these tools is that they open up the potential for students to work simultaneously with other students without being restricted by geographical, technological or financial considerations; these applications are free, require little computer expertise and they open up opportunities for students to communicate with others in the target language of instruction across the globe.  I also like the fact that the students can work together on their own computer via these applications, which alleviates the chance of one student sitting idle while the other does all the work.

Introduction and reflection- July 4

INTRODUCTION
Hello!  My name is Heidi. I am a high school teacher from Winnipeg. I am finishing up my MEd in Second Language Teaching.  In the past, I have taught French, German, Spanish, English Language Arts and E.S.L.  I have also done some work in curriculum development with the province of MB. In the fall, I will be working on developing an ESL program at a large urban high school in Winnipeg. I have two beautiful children and a smart and supportive spouse who is also an educator.

REFLECTION
I think this course will be a good reinforcement of what I have learned in previous courses here at the U of C. It will also offer me a chance to try out a few new applications (ex. moodle, blogger, wordle). Tools such as blogs and e-portfolios have tremendous potential to allow language students to create, to collaborate and to share in the target language.   I am curious which of these tools will be actually available to me in my new position, as many of them are unfortunately blocked by the school division servers. Since I work with minors, I will need to navigate the online publication of student work carefully.