This was my first course in the Educational Technology and Design program. This was also my first experience learning through a distance education program and an online one at that. As a result, I had no idea what to expect and if I would even be able to handle all that it would be. I nervously purchased my textbooks and started to sort through the online course materials trying to be a good student and get a head start on the course.
As I worked through the course I began to get a feel of how things would be. The course was broken up in a way that guided me through designing, and then creating instructional materials. The supportive environment helped ease my concerns and I quickly settled in.
I wanted to try and apply my assignments to my role as a teacher and learning leader as much as possible. One of my goals at school was to transform our school’s library into a Learning Commons that was accessible 24/7 to students and staff. I wanted to figure out a way to have more staff at my school partake in sharing online resources through Diigo, a bookmarking tool that had already been set up for our staff to share resources with each other and and students.
I developed front end analysis for my instruction which included determining what the client required and what would then support this. One of the most beneficial parts for me was developing the decision point flow chart as it allowed me to see if my thought process on how to approach the teaching of the concept could work. From here I developed a prototype and did some primary usability testing to see how well the instruction I designed worked.
Now that they had a tool, I was hoping that my staff would make of an effort to use Diigo since there was clear instruction on how to effectively and efficiently use it. Unfortunately, this was not the case. In the end the perception of the need was greater than the atual need.
As a teacher I am constantly going through the design process, though not as thoroughly and often with not as much purpose. This was an excellent course for me to start with because I realized how passionate I was about the design thinking process and with some reflection could likely improve the instruction I was providing to my students.
Click here to see my project for this course. (Bookmarking Using Diigo: Sharing Online Resources with Others - An Instructional Design Project) Click here to close this course.I took his course concurrently with ETAD 873 as the Introduction to Ethics and Integrity was not that demanding. It was designed in modules that I was able to work through at my own pace. Having it is a required course for all first year graduate students makes sense since it focuses on exploring ethical issues that students might face while completing their degree. This was welcoming as I had been out of the academic arena for a number of years.
The course did not really cover anything I was not already aware of though it was worth my while and I found it informative as it reinforced and reaffirmed some of the beliefs that I held.
Click here to close this course.I was excited to begin ETAD 874 because I felt as though I had a decent understanding of instructional design after completing only one class. Working with a team we were given the task of creating instructional material for a real client. Trying to apply the knowledge I had previously gained, I jumped into the project without taking the time to reflect on the instructional design process.
However, I did not realise this at the time, nor apparently did the rest of the team. We briefly brushed through the front end analysis and treated it as more of a formality than the initial stages of the process itself. We tried creating something with the little information that we had gathered and in the end created something that completely missed the boat and did not meet the clients needs.
Much of our time as a team was spent discussing what we thought the client would want instead of discussing with the client what they actually wanted. This was most obvious in the response we got from the client during the presentation of our product. They did not shy away from telling us how the product we created would not be used as it did not meet their needs. Fortunately, our client was part of the University of Saskatchewan. However, if we had been a real instructional design team we would have been fired and the client would have gone elsewhere to have their vision developed.
I must admit that at the time I was immensely proud of the work that I had done on the backend to create a dynamic and evolving resource for Saskatchewan’s teachers and students that highlighted Aboriginal perspectives and contributions in relation to the science curriculum. After doing an online search I notice that the client did in fact end up developing their vision. It is different than what was shared with us at the time and incorporates some of the elements that we worked to infuse. I would like to think that this was either the portion that we created which met the clients needs, or the that we were able to inspire the client to incorporate some of the ideas that we presented.
Click here to see my project for this course. ( Living Earth: The Saskatchewan Cradleboard Initiative) Click here to close this course.ETAD 802 was different for me for a number of reason. First, I would have a different professor than my previous courses, who at the time also happened to be the head of the department; second, the course was based on smaller readings whose topics were then discussed in an online forum; and third, because we were asked to select a topic related to the use of technology in education and then write a paper on it, more specifically a chapter for an e-book.
For the initial online meeting of the course we were greeted with a photo of a party and there was some lively music playing, definitely not what I had expected. After a few minutes of waiting patiently Dr. Schwier appeared on the screen and enthusiastically introduced us to this course. He took the time to say “hi” to those he knew and welcomed those that he did not. His passion for teaching, the program, and for learning was clearly evident through his excited hand waving and the approach that he took to sharing his knowledge with us; it was captivating and inspiring.
The readings that we were asked to participate in forced me to challenge my own thinking and in turn the thinking of my fellow classmates. A safe environment was created in which I felt comfortable disagreeing with others and was more than happy to take on, and defend, any challenges that were presented to my based on my own opinions. It made me realize how much value I can gain from listening to others, especially when those others are a diverse group of people from all over the country; one of the perks of such a program.
Yet, I found the selection of my topic for my final paper difficult because I was not sure where to begin. I wanted to pick something that I was interested in but also something that I could potentially apply to my role as a teacher. After much deliberation, and some guidance from my classmates, I settled on exploring the evolution of the e-book and e-reader which was right up my alley being a Humanities teacher.
This was probably one of the most challenging, most time consuming, and most rewarding things I had ever attempted in academia. I have never considered myself a strong writer and here I was taking on a chapter for an e-book that was slated to be published in the near future. Sweat, blood, tears, and more than 10 000 words later I had completed what will likely be one of the pieces of work that I am most proud of. The chapter included links, images, and videos all in the support of our need to rethink the way that we read.
Interestingly enough, one of the most discussed topics in the forum was related to what we each considered to be, and not to be, technology.
Click here to see my project for this course. ( The E-volving Book & Reader: Keeping up with tomorrow's’ learners) Click here to close this course.The second annual Summer Institute was being promoted when I entered the ETAD program the year before. Through each of my courses I was gently persuaded / coerced to attend. I was up for an adventure so I decided to go with one of my good friends and fellow ETADers.
We packed our car with the essentials, like local beer to share, and began the drive from Calgary to St. Peter’s College in Muenster Saskatchewan where the institute was being held that year. I was aware that St. Peter’s College is housed in a monastery but I did not expect to be greeted by a Benedictine monk upon my arrival.
We were given a brief tour of where our meals would be, where the lounges were, where we would sleep for the next three nights, and most importantly where we could indulge in the never ending supply of freshly baked cookies.
Over the next two days I would hear from a number of Instructional Design experts and engage in many discussions with the experts, my professors, and current, past, and future students of the ETAD program.
The Summer Institute opened up my eyes to a side of Instructional Design that I was not aware of. I was encouraged to use the knowledge and skills I would gain in the program to seek new opportunities. Furthermore, it reinforced my passion for Instructional Design and the design thinking process.
Click here to close this experience.Technically I had enrolled in this course at the same time as ETAD 802; however, as I agreed to attend the ETAD Summer Institute, I was provided the opportunity to gain my inspiration for my paper from the musings that were to take place during this experience. I graciously accepted this opportunity.
At the end of May I was told that my career would take a slight shift because for the first time since becoming a teacher I would not be teaching Humanities. Instead, I was given the task of establishing the Robotics & Design program at my school. As part of this my students would be engaging in robotics, programming, and 3D design and printing.
This created a natural topic for me to explore as part of this course. I examined the Learn to Code Movement and its implications for students and the educational community. For this I looked at the origin of the Do It Yourself Movement, and the Maker Movement. At the time I was completely unaware of the influence that this paper, and the invaluable conversations I had at the Summer Institute, would have on the direction my career would take.
Click here to see my project for this course. ( The Learn to Code Movement: An Offshoot of the Do It Yourself and Maker Movements) Click here to close this course.I had not considered distance education as an option for delivering instruction even though I was getting my master’s degree in such a fashion. By exploring various approaches to distance education I realized that online learning environments are not the be all and end all of distance education.
I am incredibly fortunate that I grew up in Canada and was able to do all of my schooling here. I have also only taught in Canada. As a result my only perspective of education was what I had experienced as a student and teacher. This very sheltered view did not take into account the reality of what learning is like in many parts of the world including select parts of Canada.
The knowledge that I gained in the Instructional Design courses was directly applied here and made the process of designing a distance education program much easier. By performing a front end analysis that examined the learners, the learning environment, and the objectives of the program I was able to develop a distance education version of the Robotics and Design program that I was teaching.
There was a good chance that my proposal would not go any further than this course, but the process of thinking through the Robotics and Design program, and ways of effectively utilizing resources and approaches to learning, assisted me in improving the face to face environment that I was teaching in.
As I advanced through the program I began to realize the benefits of taking the Instructional Design courses first. I was constantly required to apply my learning for many of the other courses and this background knowledge made it much easier for my to grasp many of the concepts covered.
Click here to see the first project for this course. (Technology Innovation Report: Screencast Recording Solutions and Streaming) Click here to see the final project for this course. ( Juniour High Robotics and Design: Distance Education Design Plan) Click here to close this course.The Ethics and Integrity in Human Research course acted as a reminder for me to be aware of ethical concerns when conducting research that involves humans. The philosophy, sociology, history, and psychology courses I took in my undergraduate degree also covered many of the considerations that were discussed in the modules.
Furthermore, as a teacher I work with students for whom I have to constantly make ethical considerations for especially since my teaching methods are often considered non-traditional.
Click here to close this course.Another course, and a different professor? One of the amazing things about the program was the fact that I was only really taught by three different people. I found this comforting knowing that I knew my professors, and they knew me. They saw me as a person, not a number, and did what they could to support my learning and all of the situations that would arise in my personal life during the program.
ECUR 809, Models and Methods and Evaluation of Educational Programs was a course that had one of the most substantial impacts on me as a teacher and a professional. The activities guided me through developing some of the elements involved in a program evaluation. This was my first look into what the field of consulting might look like.
For my final project I explored the impact that class location can have on learning and teaching. This was personally relevant for me because a similar situation was occurring at my school. There was some discrepancy regarding the importance and value of specific programs. The argument was not so much about the programs themselves but more about the spaces that they were consuming. Being on the Leadership team I was partially responsible for solving issues and ensuring that our students were receiving a high level of education. By being able to analyse the situation more thoroughly, and walking through the program evaluation process I was able to present plausible recommendations to my school, some of which were implemented.
I realised that I enjoyed analysing situations and then working to come up with solutions to meet the clients need. At this point I seriously considered becoming involved in educational consulting based around Design Thinking. Program evaluation is, in its essence, the Design Thinking Process.
I also found myself looking back at the courses I had completed and doing brief program evaluations, often being critical of my experiences. I did try to share my thoughts with my professors in the hopes of improving the learning of those to follow in my footsteps.
Click here to see the final project for this course. ( Program Evaluation Proposal: Junior HIgh Guitar - Class Location & the Impact on Learning and Teaching) Click here to close this course.This course was a bit of a break for me which was a relief as it occurred during the most intensive time of the program. The course explored ethics (similar to information covered in GSR 960 and 961), the Library and Resources available for research (I had already been using these resources throughout the program), writing (completing a journal review was beneficial as it was the first time I was asked to do this and it was supposed to be directly relevant to something we were currently working on), and the Celebration of Research and and Scholarship which was a showcase of graduate student work put on by the University of Saskatchewan.
Click here to see my writing project for this course. ( Journal Article Review: Makerspaces in the School Library Learning Commons and the uTEC Maker Model) Click here to close this course.I apprehensive about taking this course. I had heard that this was a beast of a course and although relevant was chalked full of theory. I enjoy learning about theory but so much was crammed into such a small amount of time that I struggled to keep up having to read, re-read, and then re-re-read our text to try and make some sense of what was being discussed. This course not only challenged me but also completely overwhelmed me. Fortunately, through the discussions I realized that I was not alone and we all worked together to try and make sense of the research methods being presented.
After completing the program I appreciated research much more and decided that this would not be something I would be willing to dedicate my life to; kudos to those who do as I much prefer reading over the summaries of their hard work. I was grateful that research methodology made up only one section of the final project.
Click here to see my final project for this course. ( Mental Health of Alberta’s Elementary Students: Research Proposal) Click here to close this course.I was glad that I saved Multimedia and Design for Learning until the end because it combined my interest and passion for teaching, technology, and making. The course occurred during the summer which was a bonus since I was able to dedicate more time to my projects than could normally be afforded while teaching.
I put all of the skills that I had garnered to use combining instructional design, the research I did in ECUR 805, designing for distance education, and program evaluation to guide my projects.
The selection of my theme came easily as I was starting up a new program at my school, Construction and Design, and turning our closed Industrial Arts room into the Construction and Design Studio, a Makerspace. Each project served to provide instruction and assistance to my students which was then put together in the culminating project that had us creating a comprehensive multimedia resource. In my case this was a website for my students to provide instruction for skills and knowledge when I was not available to them. The greater plan was to open this up to all of the students at my school, not just those in my program, and eventually to the entire school board.
Currently, my final project sits finished for the purpose of this course, but unfinished for use by my students and others.
Click here to see the first project for this course. ( Robo 3D Printer: Loading FIlament) Click here to see the second project for this course. ( Interview: Client Technical Director of the Online Game Technology Group with Sony Online Entertainment) Click here to see the third project for this course. ( Digital Image Manipulation) Click here to see the fourth project for this course. ( Creating Instructions: Making a Mitre Joint) Click here to see the fifth project for this course. ( LittleBits Introduction and Instruction) Click here to see the sixth project for this course. ( Virtual Tour of the Construction & Design Studio) Click here to see the final project for this course. ( Construction & Design Studio Website) Click here to close this course.What a cool way to end the program, a reflection of the process and products that got me here. I hope that through this portfolio I was able to portray my experiences during the program and the value that has come from completing it.
My life was full of positive and negative experiences during the program such as getting engaged, and then married, having a baby, and ending up in the hospital with a heart condition; all in the span of two years. I am fortunate for the support that all of my professors provided and the extensions that they allotted as I had more pressing matters at times, and they understood. My well being and the fulfillment of my life ambitions was important to them, as it was to me and others close to me. My words cannot express the appreciation I have for this.
Click here to close this course.