802+topics+-+2011

In this space, give your project a title and give us a brief description of what it will be. Here are the topics from last year's class if you want some ideas.

Marc Gobeil Apple Epub Project for iTunes U

I spent most of the past week in Vancouver at an Apple Distinguished Educator conference where select educators around Canada came together with a focus on Professional Development and Collegiality. There has been a call by Apple to Produce projects for iTunes U for the creating of educational resources for teachers around the world. There was a group of 4 of us from Saskatoon that laid the initial groundwork for a Project that would allow us to create and manage a Canadian repository of ePub documents for the purpose of PD and education. My Project is to take what we have so far as a project and refine it to a more concise Project overview. I have been experimenting with using a blog but am thinking that creating a website may be better suited, Ive been looking at adding an RSS feed and discussion areas. As an Overview the project follows 4 educators here in Saskatoon with a focus on ePub Documents, the 4 content areas are the creating of children stories by High school students, The creation of ePubs as learning tools, Increasing student and aboriginal achievement with devices, and Resources for students teachers in the Post Secondary realm.

Stephen Doubt
 * Alternatives to Institutional Learning.**

I was sitting in my accreditation course last week with a room full of Saskatchewan teachers, some of whom still consider Wikipedia to be the devil and many who think Facebook inherently evil. During one discussion, the idea of changing methods of education afforded by evolving technology was introduced. After some debate, the idea that online and blended learning could mean the death of schools as we know them arose. One of my colleagues offered up the notion of schools without sports teams or cafeterias, where students come and go on radically different schedules. This brought up the well-documented ‘fear of change’ response from many in the room. Perhaps ‘fear for our jobs’ was more likely. I was immediately reminded of John Taylor Gatto and his works //Dumbing Us Down The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling// and //The Underground History of American Education// where he ties learning systems to the industrial revolution. Just as industry has spread from its assembly line model, so should education. I strongly believe that technology (both systems and hard/software) offers an opportunity to present more choices to more learners and a way out of the one size fits all system that clearly is not working for many. In my blog I would like to chart some of the options as (I hope) we begin to move towards more individualized learning. Here in Saskatoon, the Media School, the Outdoor School and various online programs like Credenda already exist. My question is - What are the other options? The next question, and one I will probably not deal with this summer, is - How do we implement them? And, why do more not exist already? BLOG: [|Alternatives to the Industrial Model]

Natalie Rivard- I'm going to veer away a little bit from the media side of technology and focus on instructional design. I'm interested in writing a research paper about using kinesthetics in the classroom and its link to student achievement. I have used "body breaks" in my classroom because I feel they are a great tool to refocus my students' attention. My purpose in researching this topic is to either confirm or disprove my belief that using kinesthetics in the classroom improves student achievement. I am also curious about different methods of implementing "body breaks". I hope to take the knowledge from this research an implement it in my classroom.

Jade Ballek - In the fall, I will be working with the Sun West Distance Learning Centre as the Division expands the number of courses offered to students through Moodle (a web-based course management system). Many of the teachers who will be involved in the development of these online courses are brand new to this method of delivery. As such, my role will be to provide professional development in the area of distance learning environments, and to apply an Instructional Design lens to the courses. I am excited that ETAD 802 offers me a chance to further explore the area of authentic learning in online settings, primarily in asynchronous courses, as much of our course development will focus on this type of delivery. To share my learning with classmates and colleagues, I will post in my blog, //Learning Through a Lens//. (originally created for 879). Some of the topics/questions that I hope to investigate include: 1) defining “authentic” learning and describing its importance; 2) constructivist learning theory and its application in asynchronous courses; 3) constructing knowledge in online environments; 4) the role of the teachers in creating authentic learning tasks/activities; 5) developing opportunities for social interaction; 6) problem-based learning; 7) student communication – through forums/blogs/wikis; 8) ways of integrating student reflection.

Jeff Tang - I'm entering the 3rd year of a 3 year project in technology. The AISI Jr. High Technology Project (AISI stands for Alberta Initiative for School Improvement) embeds a 0.5 FTE teacher in each of our Jr. High Schools (smaller schools may share an AISI teacher) to facilitate teacher professional development in all areas of technology. As a result of this project I decided to theme my blog around my own P.D. and experiences in using technology with middle years teachers and students. Motivating and Engaging the Middle Years Student through Technology will explore software, hardware, and web based tools and how they can impact the middle years classroom. There will also be a focus on assessment using these tools. The focus is to provide practical applications for teachers; things that they can use right away. The intended audience is for this class (and future ETAD courses) and the cohort of my fellow AISI teachers.

Racquel Biem - I will be doing a blog on [|internet tools] that can be used in an online class. It will be a bit of an evaluation/critique of games/tools that can be used in the online classroom through exploration. I would likely choose 6-12 tools perhaps one or two each week. I teach exclusively online and would like to do this because I never seem to have the time to experiment or evaluate the cool tools and games that are out there that can make online learning fun/enriching/better... I would welcome any input from those of you who are already using the tools that I will be exploring or if you have suggestions for tools/games for me to explore, as I am sure that there are many in the class will be far more advanced than I in this area.

Maureen Romanchuk - I'll be blogging about connecting classrooms through technology, at [|MoBlog](a blog created for 809). I know a lot of teachers use Skype and I'd like to delve into Skype and what else is out there. I believe that Canada is vast enough that connecting students from Nunavut, Charlettown, or even Kamloops to Saskatoon would be a great opportunity for students in elementary schools to learn about Canada. Learning about different communities is a big part of their curriculum and I think this would be an excellent resource to explore. I would also like to connect with some of the teachers I have met internationally if possible. So I'm hoping I can discover a few wonderful opportunities that I can use in my grade 2/3 classroom next fall, and even help the grade 3/4 teacher get on board to open up a new spectrum for her class as well. I have never used Skype with any of my students, and I have not come across many examples of it being used in primary classrooms. So...explore I shall, and any feedback, suggestions, directions would be kindly aprreciated.

Tannis Emann- I have chosen to write a paper addressing the use of Skype to enrich and deepen learning through spontaneous, authentic, relevant and real-time experiences.This past school year I was part of a Skype trial within our school board that had some very exciting, unexpected and inspiring results. There was a marked level of student engagement, global citizenship, and curriculum enrichment. I would like to investigate these findings in more detail to better understand the use of Skype in a classroom and its role in learning. In my paper some areas I hope to explore include a comparison of video conferencing equipment and Skype, the challenges of Skype in relation to safety and security concerns, the elements of digital citizenship that are inherent to this form of learning, the connection to global citizenship, the curricular/project resources available to connect learners via Skype, and the value of spontaneity in learning.

Ryan Hall - I have been fascinated with Libraries and Technology, especially the move towards electronic libraries and the challenges facing school libraries (and in some cases libraries in general) in trying to remain pertinent, if not simply survive. As a result, I have chosen to blog about libraries and their place in the modern school/educational institution. In particular, is there a benefit to moving the 'school library' from a physical place into an 'online' setting? What drawbacks might their be? What advantages/disadvantages are their to traditional books vs. E-books? Are their benefits in E-Readers and Tablets for students and schools vs. textbooks and serials? Also, I hope to touch briefly on the social aspect of libraries, both as a physical location, and also as a gateway to the web for students/schools/and the community. To do so I hope to reference a number of journals, other Educational and Librarian Blogs, as well as the feedback/suggestions of classmates. So please accept this as an open invitation: If you have any sources, references, or thoughts, I would gladly welcome any help that you could give me. My blog can be found at http://librarianowl.wordpress.com/

Zofia Gehl - My intent is to create a wikispace entitled “What’s Hot and What’s Not in ET." The posts will include a comprehensive list of resources and ideas for teachers with summarized descriptions and value judgments. Connections to ETAD 802 course materials will made throughout the duration of the project. I also plan to incorporate links to valuable educational technology articles, as well as relevant blogs and websites while inviting other professionals to join in the discussion and cntribution-making. I see this project as an opportunity for my own professional development in the area of ET. As a teacher, I am always looking for new creative ways to integrate more technology into my pedagogy, but often find myself lacking the time and resources to expand my current ET practices. This assignment will hopefully not only aid me in picking up new resources and tools, but will also be helpful for other educators who find themselves in a similar situation with the overall goal of enhancing student learning and improving their experience. I also found it interesting to see that according to D. P. Ely (2000), one area of specialization for educational technologists is the collection of learning resources. Since the primary purpose of my blog will be to collect and share such resources, this project will be an opportunity for me to take on the role of an educational technologist, which, to me, is a very exciting prospect. If my wiki is successful and well received by other teachers, I could see this initiative continuing well beyond the duration of the ETAD 802 course. Reference Ely, D.P. (2000). The field of educational technology: Update 2000. A dozen frequently asked questions. [ERIC Publications. ERIC Digests in Full Text] Ely's definition of educational technology.

Charles Paul Bazin Webster The 21st Century Learning Identity After writing my independent research project on Students and Intellectual Engagement - Flow in the 21st Century as a requirement for ECUR 805 with Dr Dirk Morrison, I want to continue this exploration on student academic engagement. The working title for my paper is The 21st Century Learning Identity. I will be posting sections of the research and writings to my personal blog: []. Follow and support as it is possible! It will be much appreciated!

Barclay Batiuk Online Learning in Grades 6-8.

Our school division does not to my knowledge offer any online courses of any kind. It is going to be my mission to change that. I was prepared to start in Health 8 but my position has recently changed to vice-principal at my school and so will my timetable. I am also going to be on a mission to lobby for some ipads to aid in students online learning. I have been in touch with people working in the ministry and this will be a goal for my the fall. I have started with Blackboard, edmodo, and tenmarks. Low math scores in our division has been a real sore spot for senior administration and I would love to take some low performing students and use tenmarks (a free online learning program) and make a difference in their scores. Also, edmodo follows in my philosophy of keeping in contact with parents. This program allows me to text parents and students about work, behaviour, etc. it does not show my phone number which takes care of the privacy issue. Parents are able to text me as well as email. I can assign work, students can hand in work from there, and I can grade it. I know it sounds like I am all over the map, but I am actually quite excited about all of this. Ultimately, I would like my blog to the pioneer of my school division. I would like to post how what is available, what is working, and where we are headed in the future. I would also like my blog to be the spot where senior administration are being made aware of what the future of education could/should look like. My blog is at []