First Some Rambling Reflections
I ‘ve been reflecting on our last class, specifically the cross referencing “connections” exercise that @Katiahildebrant provided. Thirty minutes goes by very quickly in a group activity which requires quick organization from the team. Unfortunately, as I am not familiar with the SK Curriculum, I wasn’t able to bounce around it very quickly and was not a lot of help to my team in that way. But I could take notes quickly! I am somewhat familiar with the MB curriculum. In my parent role I have looked at it a few times. Although I must admit it is usually to see what they are learning in health class. Hopefully the students learn more than what these folks in Florida know!
In my professional role as an educator in a competency based health program, I have a similar document provided by my professional association. Perhaps K-12 education programs are competency based for practical skills during practicums? I would be very interested to find out. I’d love a response! The CAMRT Competency Profile for Radiation Therapy outlines the skills the students must attain prior to graduation.
The National Competency Profile for Entry-Level Medical Radiation Technologists (MRTs) in Canada describes the practice requirements of MRTs at entry-to-practice, to provide safe, effective, compassionate and ethical patient care in a variety of work environments.
I am also very familiar with cross referencing the competencies to ensure we are providing our students with the best chance for success.
Our school is about the enter the accreditation process and we are preparing for first submission next May. In my new role, it is my responsibility to ensure we are adequately addressing the entire profile. I have also gained a new document, HSO’s Allied Heath Education Program Standard. This is my guide (bible) to creating evidence of the quality of our program, including integration between didactic and clinical components. What we learn in the classroom is not always what we see in the clinic. Again, I can see how this could be parallel to the education programming. Do K-12 educational programs have the same goal?
Which P?
Katia’s approach creates a sense of classroom within the online environment. While andragogy is different to pedagogy, and adult learners have different motivations for learning, this is still quite difficult to achieve. The Discord community makes a contribution, but it is also a practical addition to the class. It appears that most of the learners in our classwork within shared divisions,
and certainly share the same curriculum. As such, Discord provides the opportunity to create connection and build upon our Professional Learning Network. Even for those learners that don’t have this in common (such as myself) it provides an opportunity to create connections and build upon our Personal Learning Network.
I hope some of us are able to maintain these connections and expand our PLNs, regardless of its context.
How soon should we PLN? yes, I turned that into a verb
I now believe that creating a PLN early in life will have benefits. My 16 year old son has firmly decided on what he wants to study in university. But really, how does he know? I can see why he is drawn to it, and he seems to have the right qualities. If he was actively building a PLN (without calling it that of course!) he would have access to much more information to make a more informed decision which could impact his course choices in grades 11 and 12. Thoughtful Learning has a great activity around building a PLN that can be done with older students. I believe it would be appropriate for my son. From this site I was linked to a Prezi that provides a how to on creating a PLN.
This activity would also address a theme that has been running through our conversations – how to we teach digital literacy?