I for Innovation

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, innovation refers to “a new idea, device or method.”  It also refers to “the act or process of introducing new ideas, devices, or methods.”  It derives from the verb “innovate” which means making “changes in something established” (Online Etymology Dictionary). Thus, the term “innovation” suggests that something new is going to change what is already existing.  Indeed, it might not necessarily be better, but will certainly be different.  Besides, the idea of integrating novelty in education or anywhere else also suggests that arguments will surface.  Making changes usually takes time — it is unlikely that everyone will move at the same pace all the time.

ETEC 510, Design of Technology-Supported Learning Environments, was my first course in the MET program and my introduction to Educational Technology.  This course gave me many new ideas to begin transforming my classroom practice which was, at the time, my face-to-face (f2f) students.

My first experience with the very organized Vista discussion forum took place in ETEC 510.  I introduced a similar discussion forum to my students in Moodle that turned out to be a great success.

This teaching accomplishment brought me a few months later (Fall 2010) to a conference in education in Toronto where I was invited among other speakers to give an atelier on how to integrate a discussion forum in a Learning Management System (LMS) blended with a f2f course.  This is the prezi I created to support my presentation, an eTool I learned to use in ETEC 511 (my third course in MET).

It was in ETEC 510 that I learned how to use Moodle and, curiously, found out I had access to the same LMS in my school — a well-kept secret at the time.  I immediately started using it in all the courses I was teaching.  I quickly found Moodle LMS to be a useful addition to my courses.  It allowed me to post activities and resources and replaced a large amount of photocopying.  I began encouraging my students to post some assignments through the site.

In ETEC 510 I also experienced working on a wiki for the first time which, for me, was a great experience.  This project, accessed more than 22,483 times to this day, has no frontiers, something I could not have fathomed when I first wrote it.

Chosen Artifact

One of my favourite projects in the MET program was working on this wiki to which I decided to devote a topic that is very dear to me.  You can access it by clicking on the picture below.

Artifact: Physical Disability: Technology and Learning

While working on this wiki, I not only developed skills in html, something I had never worked with before, but I knew I was discussing, even briefly, a subject in education that needed to be improved: accessibility for people with physical disabilities.  One way of doing it is by using technology efficiently and the number of people who have accessed my wiki is proving my instincts to be right.

Context

This project was my first one in the MET program.  It was also the first time for me to write a project in English and, because I lack confidence in this area, I decided that I would create the wiki alone.  It was very challenging because every aspect of it was new to me: researching valid information on the web for a project, using an online technology to develop a topic and using the APA citation and reference format.  The number of hours I spent working on this project still amazes me to this day.

Reason

I choose this artifact as I find that a wiki is a great tool for collaboration offering no boundaries.  A wiki is a very appealing space where one can find and share information, and is open to the world for review and further addition, makes it a unique eTool to use in education.  What’s more, this type of hypertext is a good example of how the writing spaces have transformed over the past decades (Ong, 2002), something I studied and reflected on in ETEC 540.  As a matter of fact, in ETEC 540 we worked collaboratively in a wiki to pinpoint some relevant information in regard to some particular chapters we read in our class book.  The ETEC 510 wiki also showcases a product I have created that demonstrates linkages and applications between theory and practice.

Discussion

It is essential to consider the evolution of the writing spaces as an important part of our current environment where technology is evolving quickly.  This is the world we live in, and as an educator I have to ensure that my students are developing the skills they need in order to succeed in the 21^st century.  For that to happen, I have to model exemplary practice in my ways of presenting information and knowledge.  In ETEC 510, I learned that I was at a turning point in my career, and in order to further develop these (at the time) limited skills, I had to make some changes.  I also learned that I was not the only educator in this situation and that this transformation was possible.  I was pleased to be in such an environment that allowed me to further develop these new abilities.

Even though I have not used wikis yet with my students, I know that they could be very useful in my language courses and I plan on using them in the near future.  Eventually, I will transfer the skills I have developed doing this wiki into my classroom.  ETEC 510 has given me the confidence to do work with wikis, but it has also given me the confidence to try new technology.  It is also in this course that I have developed skills in working with Moodle, which eventually brought me to the Desire2Learn (D2L) platform.  I quickly learned that these skills, with just a few adjustments, are transferable from one technology space to another.  Consequently, I realized that it was only a matter of doing the first step.

Reflection

At the time I wrote my wiki I was working f2f, but just a few months later I started working as a full-time online teacher.  This professional transition was strongly influenced by the MET program I was in.  During my first year of teaching online I had the pleasure of teaching a young lady with cerebral palsy for whom taking an online course was a pure joy.  At the same time, the Ontario Ministry of Education had decided to give the opportunity for a few students to be filmed in an online environment.  I immediately suggested Chloee’s name as an example of success in online learning.  A short video in French was made of her where she talks about her plans for the future and how important going to college was for her.

My Student Chloée

Indeed, the video is showing Chloée discussing how she benefited from the online environment and how much independence it gave her.  In that video, I had the pleasure to be interviewed and concluded by saying that “learning online is definitely for everybody.”  Hence, as the number of people with physical disabilities is increasing, and as the population is aging, I believe that more people will depend on the online environment for their living, studying and working.  Thus, it is very important to make these environments as accessible as possible for everyone.

Many thanks to Dr. Sunah Cho for the great semester I had in ETEC 510 (Winter/Spring 2010) which was such a great learning experience.

References

Innovate. (n.d.). Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved from http://etymonline.com/index.php?term=innovate&allowed_in_frame=0

Innovation. (n.d.). Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Retrieved from http://www.learnersdictionary.com/search/innovation

McLuhan, M. (1964). Understanding Media: The extensions of man. McGraw-Hill.

Ong, W.J. (2002). Orality and literacy: The technologizing of the word. London: Routledge.