An important part of having a successful journey is being able to explore areas of personal interest. Without this freedom of flexibility, the whole experience would feel a lot less authentic, and a lot more like a packaged tour (busy, impersonal, and full of superficial sights). Being able to select from a variety of possible electives during the MET program was a nice way to tailor my learning needs and explore potential avenues of interest and future growth. In the same way that personal journeys and exploration have moments of clarity and success as well as frustrations and failures, the opportunity to select my own learning journey was alternatively successful and challenging.
"Whatever is good to know is difficult to learn." (Greek Proverb)
Planning and Managing Learning Technologies in Higher Education
I took this course knowing that it would be extremely challenging. Looking forward, I know that I should be prepared for any potential career opportunity; however, going in, I hadn't begun any type of long-term teaching contract within the secondary system, and my only experience in post-secondary was as a student. When the majority of discussions and possible project focuses were on higher education, I had to do a lot of extrapolation on my existing knowledge, and a whole lot of research.
I completed this course near the end of my program, and, as a result, after I had already explored a number of key concepts. I was initially wary of taking a course that seemed to be destined to be solely based in constructivist learning (i.e. discussion- and group project-based), since it generally complicates the online learning platform. Despite these reservations, I had some of my most fruitful learning experiences. Through the online 'research cafe,' the ongoing discussions and reflections, and the final culminating lesson plan, I applied and extended my theoretical and practical knowledge in a way that seemed purposeful and tailored to my own needs. The research cafe, for instance, allowed for a deep exploration of student-lead and student-centred learning topics, allowing for the flexibility of choice, and the final lesson plan was drafted and adapted from one of my own social studies classes.
This was one of the first courses I took. I enjoyed the rich discussions that arose from debating copyright, intellectual property, and the future of education within our new cultural framework. Since a lot of the concepts were new, and since I didn't have a lot of experience using the different technologies, class discussions, independent projects and personal reflections were significantly more time-consuming and challenging when compared to other courses. But, like any other journey, challenges often produce the most expedient and longest-lasting learning.
Sometimes, when looking back, you can't remember many specifics, especially if it was near the beginning of your journey. Perhaps one thing struck you as important, no matter the importance of anything else experienced. That was the case in this course, and that one thing was my investigation into gamification and the use of video games in the classroom. While I did find relevance in the other material, discussions, and assignments, especially since I teach in the Humanities and we did work to create an applicable lesson plan based in sound theory, it is sometimes too difficult to escape pet projects.
I have always been passionate about books and history, so this class was a nice fit for me. The combination of critical reflection, discussion, and the production of artifacts was an extremely challenging and rewarding way to consider the future of text. How does technology influence the adoption and development of text technologies? How are theories of technological determinism too limited? How is the 'remediation of print' changing teaching practice? While I don't necessarily have any finite answers, I do think that I'm better equipped to consider the role of different text technologies in the classroom (it's all about balance!).