I'm just a lifelong learner, with a snazzy blog!

Way back in November I wrote a very brief post about why I began this course of study. In that post, I identified two main rationale for doing this: 
  1. To expose myself to a wider range of eLearning strategies; particularly the chance to apply those skills consistently.
  2. To expose myself to more Academic theory around eLearning, and the effectiveness of it to specifically improve student achievement. 
Now that I am at the end of a 32 week Professional Development experience, it is time to honestly reflect on my achievements, and leanings resulting from the efforts I have put in. The first point to make is that the course has kept my interest pretty consistently. I'm pretty stoked with this, as 32 weeks is a pretty big effort, by everyone involved. 

What have I gained from Study? 


Upon reflecting on the two aims above, I think the second has been much more successful than the first. In the first digital course particularly there were times when I struggled to see the applicability of the e Learning strategies and concepts presented for my senior subject; Geography. I don't really feel that that course affected my thoughts or practice particularly. 

The remaining three courses I think were much more beneficial. I really enjoyed the research paper, and am pretty proud of the literature review I wrote, and the questions I raised in it continue to bug me, and shape my thinking. I don't really have a solution yet, but hopefully the implementation of my teaching inquiry later this year will go some way to pointing me in a future direction.

What impact has my learning had on my teaching? 


From the Practising Teacher Criteria and eLearning criteria, I really feel that criteria 6 and 8 are where I have made the most progress. For criterea 6, the learning program that I implemented at L3 was successful and will be adapted and used again this year. Students responded well to the changes,  

Secondly, for 8,  I am much clearer in my thoughts around the role of technology in the classroom - and these thoughts have immediate implications for me, and the nature of my position as the eLearning Integrator ere at the College. In the 1:1 environment in which I teach, my developing understanding of constructivism has helped me to understand more clearly how students can learn more socially, whilst still maintaining the advantages of device use.    

I'm just a lifelong learner, with a snazzy Blog

So, where to from here? Thinking about Rolfe's fancy model, I think I need to hit the 'What Next' phase. I feel that this course has allowed me to articulate my thoughts, and ultimately concerns, about the current implementation of technology in the classroom, and to clarify my thoughts about an appropriate future direction. 

My future in this space is going to be a more deliberate implementation and structured experimentation of strategies to ensure that the social advantages of a classroom is maintained through heavy device use. 

What this means in terms of future professional development, I can't say - but having reengaged with academic literature during this course, you can guarantee that I will continue reading. 
 
I aim to continue this reflective blog too - it won't be every week, as it has been recently, but you haven't heard the last from me. After all, I'm just a lifelong learner, with a snazzy blog!
















Rolfe, G., Freshwater, D., Jasper, M. (2001).Critical reflection in nursing and the helping professions: a user’s guide. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Look out everyone; the Geographers are coming!

Image
Really? How interdisciplinary can a Year 13 subject be? What is driving what we do? Why do we let competition for students and competition for assessment grades dictate how we structure our schools, and ultimately how we teach? Convincing a Skeptic  We all know that Geography is the most important subject to study. If you don't believe me read this and this as a starter. As a Year 13 Geography teacher, I initially default to a skeptical view of Interdisciplinary studies. Thoughts like "oh, that's something we could try at Y9; perhaps after exams in December when it doesn't really matter if it works" immediately permeate my mind. I wish they didn't. Increasingly I have been reading , reflecting and talking to teachers who are fostering a far more interdisciplinary approach to their teaching. Is that something I want? What about my assessment results? In my experience, the higher level a class, the more protective a teacher becomes. I am the same, I am h
Read more

From Haggis to Hangi: Cultural Responsiveness in a Proudly Scottish School

I have spent part of the week reading about Cultural Responsiveness and thinking really carefully about the relevance of these ideas for me, and my pedagogy. Reading the interesting paper entitled " Culturally responsive pedagogies in the classroom: indigenous student" there  was one phrase that really  got me thinking about my own school: "Schools that reflect  a dominant  culture represent invisible  cultures that can effectively  privilege students who share that dominant  cultural identity while simultaneously disadvantaging students whose cultures are different." What if the dominant  culture ofyour school, is in fact not the  dominant culture of its students ?  Thistles, boys in kilts, bagpipes and haggis play a massive role in the culture of our school - but is it our culture. Is there a a clear dichotomy  between the traditions, dress, symbols, religion and ceremonies of the culture that the school defines as being dominant , and the  traditions, dress,
Read more

Responding to A Professional Context

As a teacher, it is important to have a clear understanding of the context in which you teach. The Socio-Economic context of a school's community will impact all aspects of a schools culture - in my experience in both positive and negative ways. The Influence of Status in a School My current school is a large, urban - and for this conversation most importantly- private Y1-13 school. It is accurate to conclude that the students I teach come from the least economically deprived conditions in NZ, and many will come from families with well above normal financial capabilities. We are obviously a decile 10 school, but in contrast to state decile 10 schools I feel that we have even less variation in economic circumstances. There are certainly some families in our community who are making huge sacrifices for their children to attend are school - but I don't feel as though that is the norm.  The effect of this on the context of the school is profound. Resourcing levels are ex
Read more