Please find my Summary of Learning video attached for your viewing! I spoke to my understandings of online and blended learning, designing with accessibility, and the trials and triumphs of incorporating and creating H5P content.

I want to thank everyone in this class for their suggestions, feedback, contributions to discussions, advice, the sharing of tutorials, and so much more — much of what is in my summary could not exist without you! Thank you for such a collaborative learning experience.

I’m also now officially at the half way point of my M.Ed. This has been a perfect class at this time in the journey to explore so many avenues and opportunities as I continue through the second half!

Overview of Course Prototype: Introduction

And here it is! The ‘final draft’ (it’s always a work in progress, right?) of my Course Prototype for Creative Writing 20! This has been quite a learning process for me – I chose to use my division’s Moodle as a way to explore its potential outside of using it for content throughout Covid-19 “emergency remote learning” (language matters!). I learned a lot about Moodle as an LMS, it’s possibilities, opportunities, and some limitations.

Walkthrough Screencast Link

Here is a link to the screencast I created as a walkthrough of the Creative Writing 20 Blended Course Prototype.

Course Prototype vs Course Profile: Was it a Match?

As my course prototype came to a close, I was happy with what I accomplished based on what I set out to do in my Course Profile & ADDIE from the start of this semester.

Course Prototype: Reflections on the Creation Process

In creating both of these modules, are the areas I feel I can reflect on the most in the creation process:

1. 1. Using Lumi and Getting to Know H5P

   • Learning a completely new system to create engaging and interactive content 
     • Thinking about my learners in the content area for how the H5P that I developed would work for the blended course design
   • I was able to experiment and explore different interactive types such as the Interactive Video and an Interactive Presentation 
   • Using YouTube tutorials as a means of troubleshooting the issues that I encountered with the content creation process. 
     • This also helped me view the access of the interactive content through a student lens and I could better anticipate their needs when using and learning through the content. 

   2. What Can Moodle Offer?

   • I was able to expand from my previous Moodle (emergency remote teaching/learning) experience and branch into new areas and explore the variety of plugins and opportunities (Moodle workshop, pages, URLs, inserting media, etc) 
   • I tried to explore creating “Pages that connected” and/or “books” so that students could click through the content with more ease, however this proved to be very challenging for me despite reaching out to Moodle creation forums and YouTube tutorial assistance. So, I stuck with creating a logical flow of different pages. 
   • While Moodle was not being used as an assessment tool (our division uses Edsby so students would need to go back and forth between the two), I still wanted students to have access to the rubrics and resources in one spot
   • I would constantly change between “edit mode” and “student mode” so that I could see what I was creating from a student perspective
   • I also enrolled myself as a student so that I could practice the log in and other user processes 
     • I would have liked to create a tutorial for this as provided in my feedback on Module 1

   3. How Can I Use/Incorporate Ed Tech?

   • By exploring much of what I listed in point 1 above, I feel that the ways in which I incorporated Lumi will add to the students’ learning experience
   • I aimed to use Padlet as an interactive discussion board that would work to replicate discussion and sharing in a face-to-face setting
   • I wanted to find a balance between incorporating ed tech/interactive learning with not overwhelming students with links and various platforms 
     • This was done as a means to branch away from some of Moodle’s limitations 

   4. Accessibility Assessment: Is This Accessible?

   • After our class discussion, I realized that much of what I had done (i.e. images, etc) had the potential to be very confusion to adaptive technologies such as screen readers and I am looking forward to opportunity to change this in my practice so as to be more inclusive – especially in a digital learning environment
   • I tried to consider multiple ways in which students could participate in both the assessments (formative and summative), and in discussions/community building
   • I learned more near the end of doing accessibility checks on the content that I created and I hope to go into some of the content I’ve built for things outside of this course and see what they show for areas of improvement in future practice 
   • I wanted to ensure that the course navigation, the instructions, and of course the layout were clear and easily accessible for learners 

Concluding Thoughts

Throughout the process, I was able to create an engaging first module for Science Fiction/Fantasy writing with a focus on World Building, use H5P content via Lumi such as an interactive video, and create a logical flow for students to follow. Module two’s focus was on writing workshops. For this, I was able to create an engaging interactive presentation via Lumi as a means of creating community through learning about feedback (in how to give it, and how to receive it). I kept my learners top of mind through the activities in how they would be interacting with the content: are they face to face? are they online? Is it a mix of both? How can I best support them, and how do I need to structure these activities so they are successful for students no matter how they are accessing the content?

Are the modules perfect? Absolutely not. Do I have many pages of loose leaf covered in notes on how I can improve and a to-do list of what more I can learn on Moodle? Yes, yes I do. But, this was a great start in learning something new, and a great start in creating a different arena of learning experiences for my students.

Walkthrough Screencast Link

Here is a link to the screencast I created as a walkthrough of the Creative Writing 20 Blended Course Prototype.

As many of the reflections have stated throughout this week’s posts, receiving feedback on works-in-progress is so helpful, and most definitely appreciated. We are all learning, growing, and exploring the areas of H5P, EdTech, instructional practice, and pedagogy when it comes to the intentional instructional design of our courses for our existing and future students. And throughout this journey, we cannot go it alone – we have so many people in our class to learn from and the experience to both share and receive feedback was meaningful and thought-provoking.

I was very happy with the thorough, constructive, and thoughtful feedback I received from my reviewers. Not only did they validate the efforts I had put into the building of the first module, but they also gave me a lot of food for thought when it comes to both the construction to my second module, as well as user-friendly changes and adaptations I can make to the first module. I want to thank them both for their time and attention to my course-in-progress. 

Summary of Feedback and Plans for the Second Module:

I, along with some help from ChatGPT for title suggests and brief summary, was able to organize the feedback to better understand the ‘themes’ or ‘areas’ in which they fell under so that I could further enhance the opportunities I can improve upon!

Areas that were done well: 

• Course Structure & Organization 
  • The course appeared to the reviewers to be well-structured, easy to navigate, and had a logical flow between the materials used
  • The Moodle LMS was used effectively with student-usability as a central focus
  • The links, documents, Lumi materials, etc were well labeled and all links worked 
• Engagement & Interactivity 
  • The Interactive Video built from existing YouTube content enhanced engagement due to the multiple Q&A and opportunities to engage outside of the video 
  • The Padlet would allow for student-student interaction nearing the end of the module 
  • The quick write prompts were engaging and allowed for multiple submission attempts to promote creative thinking, revision, and opportunity to enhance writing skills 
• Assessment & Feedback 
  • Multiple writing attempts encourages improvement 
  • Both formative and summative opportunities are intentional within the module 
• Blended Learning Considerations 
  • Designed with both in-class and asynchronous learners in mind
  • Aligns with the Saskatchewan curriculum and ADDIE model

Areas that Can be Improved: 

• Student Guidance & Accessibility 
  • While a division-supported platform was used, some students may be new to Moodle and would benefit from an introductory section or tutorial on how to use and access some of the features. 
    • Improvement Idea: add a voice note with instructions on where to submit the assignment as well as a PDF with screen-captures of the process. ChatGPT suggested a ‘trial’ submission activity as well so students can practice uploading work and writing in a comment box before they are graded.
• Assessment Clarity & Transparency 
  • More explicit details on grading and rubrics to help students understand the criteria to be successful 
    • Improvement Idea: attach the rubrics as a link under each assignment, and if available, provide Level 1-4 student exemplars at each stage of the writing process 
  • Further explain how *grading will be managed in Moodle 
    • *Note: While Moodle is the LMS being used, we use Edsby as our reporting system so while I can give feedback on the assignments, the grades will be posted in another platform
      • Improvement Idea: provide clarification on this part of the process so that students know what to expect 
  • Further explain how individualized feedback is going to be given to students
    • *Improvement Idea: provide clarification on this part through written instruction that when students submit their writing on Moodle, they can expect to see teacher feedback annotated on the PDF, an attached annotated rubric, and then can go to Edsby to see their grade as reflected on the Rubric 
• Student & Teacher Interaction 
  • Expand on how teacher-student and peer interactions are facilitated online 
    • Improvement Idea: provide clarification on what students can expect throughout the Science Fiction module in terms of communication with teacher and their peers, as well as interactions between students and teacher. ChatGPT suggested that I Incorporate weekly check-in messages via Moodle announcements or email to maintain engagement.
  • More detail on how students will receive feedback on discussions and assignments
    • Improvement Idea: I believe this connects to the improvement idea that is noted above*

Accessibility & Equity – Class Discussions and Reading Reflections

Based on the readings from this week, I found myself focusing on the topics of “Students”, “Models for Media Selection”, and “Deciding” in regard to the discussion surrounding accessibility and equity. I used module 1 of my Creative Writing Course as a means of reflection, as well as critiques of my current practice to better inform and understand how accessible and equitable my blended learning environment might be. One of things that stuck with me was the use of screen readers as an area in which many of my materials can improve. 

I was struck by an initial quote in 9.1 where it states, “there is relatively little literature on how to choose appropriate media or technologies for teaching”. This is surprising to me because when you’re in the trenches in teaching in a primarily digital age/environment, being a part of a course like this, and are surrounded by this kind of structure (i.e. online grad classes at night after using blended models all day in the classroom) – you may think that you know how to/are learning to choose appropriate media or technologies for teaching. 

However, with the visual provided in Figure 9.1.1 of the SECTIONS model, it makes it all the more clear how imperative it is to conduct best practice when selecting the media and/or technologies for teaching – especially when there is so much of the learning experience impacted by this choice. 

Based on the course modules and profiles that I reviewed, on top of the discussions that we have in our classes each week, it is obvious that as professionals we are keeping the needs of our learners top of mind in the choices that we make. There were great examples of accessibility given in our most recent class discussion that got me thinking. Oftentimes when we hear the phrase ‘online’ we immediately connect this to being ‘accessible’. When really, it’s just not the case sometimes. 

Accessibility & Equity in My Own Course

In considering how I’m working to build a blended learning environment for Creative Writing 20, I am catching myself thinking of the ways in which I can make what I have done so far even more accessible and effective for all learners. Some of my attempts include: 

• Use of AI to help construct a transcript for a YouTube video I selected to use in Module 2
• Use of AI (such as diffit.com) to help alter the reading levels of texts for any PDFs of stories, narratives, grade-level writing exemplars, etc. 
• Incorporating multi-submission options for students such as audio, video, and written
• Creating choice in assignments for students is another way that I am doing my best to increase accessibility. 
• Incorporating the use of audio-based/video-based/screen-record feedback 
  • Using this to go over some of the annotations (written or PDF annotated) that I made on their paper (I have been told that my handwriting is like a grandma’s and it’s ‘too fancy to read’ haha). 
  • I have in the past paired this practice with the assignment type – so if it was a video or audio submission, I responded with my feedback in the same way. Recently however I have also started doing audio/video-based feedback with written pieces as well. 

One of the areas in which I can really improve upon in terms of accessibility is to move away from the ‘flashiness’ (that’s a word, right?) of some of the tech (powerpoints, google slides, etc) that I have used to better suit screen readers. I have noticed that these are becoming more and more popular within my classes and the ways in which my materials are currently set up do not allow great accessibility for screen readers–thus setting up a frustrating experience for some of my learners. For example, having decorative images without alt text (or the images are not being clearly marked as decorative) throughout an assignment created on Google Docs, while it may be visually appealing, can cause confusion for a screen reader as they rely purely on text to convey information. 

Canva is also becoming increasingly popular for sharing information and it brings up the same concern – how does this work with screen readers? I asked my students and they said “not well!!”. When something is meant to increase clarity of information (i.e. use of an infographic) but then does the opposite for some learners, it is cause to re-evaluate the purpose of the program’s use in your practice. 

Ultimately, I believe my greatest learnings have come from the conversations surrounding accessibility and UDL. I do so much in my classrooms to ensure I am meeting the needs of students especially through where indicated on things such as ROAs and IEPS, and I can be more conscious of transferring that intentionality into my online learning environments as well. 

Finding meaningful ways for students to engage in an online format with both their peers and the instructors is crucial to the success of the course. In developing my course prototype, this is something that I will need to pay close attention to. With my course prototype being a blended learning design, I have the benefit of being face-to-face with my students for the majority of the course –with some components (i.e. workshops and EdTech activities) taking place online.

Within this blended structure, I will need to make sure that my students are provided with opportunities to engage meaningfully in both face-to-face and online settings. This will help with creating community amongst the students as well as impact the positivity and safety of our classroom environment. 

In reading Amy Amy Brusini’s post about building community in an online course, I found her suggestion of creating an introductory video to be a great idea. This is something that I could easily bring into my course prototype, even though it is not stated in my ADDIE template. I hope to include this. As of now, with it being a creative writing course prototype, I would include elements in my video that speak more to me as a writer and a facilitator of creative writing, rather than a traditional ‘teacher’ introductory video. I could also include favourite books, writers & authors, personal inspirations in writing, genres I both prefer and find challenging, etc. I am sure that I could make it creatively through Lumi as our course suggests. I found this resource on how to make an engaging introductory video.

Writing is community! It’s important that writers do not feel siloed in their craft or alone on an island – using each other for inspiration, feedback, and for a break from the writing is important for success. 

“While solitude is an inevitable part of the writing journey, communities can provide accountability, inspiration, and tremendous growth” – Ginelle Testa

The following are forms of Student/Student-Instructor Interactions in my Course Prototype along with their justification and rationale as to why I included them as a part of this blended course: 

• LMS Workshop function for providing peer feedback during online workshop opportunities 
  • Justification: this provides students with a more anonymous approach to a typical writer’s workshop and eliminates the face-to-face interactions that may cause some discomfort on the outset when sharing their work with others for feedback
• Recording audio-files for teacher-feedback so that students hear directly from the instructor about their writing submissions. Written feedback will also be attached. 
  • Justification: this allows for a personal touch from the teacher in response to the student’s writing where the respondent can be expressive in ways that writing the same feedback would not allow for. 
• Encouraging students to leave voice-memo messages through Edsby 
  • Justification: encourage dialogue and conversation between student and instructor as a means of building relationship 
• Video Reflections on Workshop submissions with Video Response from Teacher with written feedback attached 
  • Justification: students will be able to provide context on their work that will allow for greater understanding and thus allow for more focused feedback 
• Peer-Peer Writing Workshops 
  • Justification: students will work together in a pair and establish a rapport for future interactions in class (re: writer’s workshop) by critiquing each other’s work and providing constructive feedback 
• Quick Rounds: students have 30s-1m to give an overview of what they are working on in their own free-write time 
  • Justification: this will engage students in quick, informal dialogue with this classmates as a means of building relationships 
• 1:1 meetings during available preps/spares for students 
  • Justification: this will allow for students to meet with the teacher about their writing at a time that might be more convenient for them than in the class period, or if they were absent during the class period 
• In-class Student-Teacher conferencing 
  • Justification: allows teacher a chance to build in 1:1 conferencing as an informal check-in with students about what they are working on, allows for formative assessment pieces to be completed if outstanding, and to engage with students 1:1 about their works-in-progress

 The following are guidelines and assessment practices that will be a part of my course prototype to ensure that interactions are meaningful, supportive, engaging, and relevant:

Writer’s Workshops

• We will collectively set expectations for workshop feedback to ensure that it remains both critical and constructive 
• Teacher will implement a structured peer review guide (at least in the initial stages so students become familiar with the process) that contains guiding questions and encourages feedback that is specific to the writing instead of open-ended and general praise
• Students will also partake in self-assessments so that they are able to go through a revision process and learn from their own writing based on the goals they have set for themselves
• Teacher will use a voice recording for feedback on student writing submitted to workshop so as to be more personal 
  • Students will be able to choose whether all of their feedback will be audio, or if they would like the companion written feedback as well

Classroom Community

• Use of EdTech tools and collaboration at various stages in the writing process 
• Students will engage and participate in genre-based activities such as free writes, quick writes, carousel writing, and conferences 
• Inviting guest writers to be a part of our class and to learn from others in their craft 
• The teacher will schedule 1:1 conferences with students throughout each week to discuss their writing, their challenges and successes in the course, etc. 

Students: Self-Reflection 

• Students will submit a video/audio self reflection with each of their final genre submissions so that they have an opportunity to speak to and about the context and background of their work 

Assessment: Final Portfolio 

• Students will submit a portfolio of their writing at the end of the semester that they feel best reflects their growth, their best writing samples, their passion for writing, etc. 
• Students will be encouraged to submit their work to formal publishing throughout the semester through initiatives and programs through both the school’s library and their local library 
• There will be a class anthology created wherein students can submit their top/favourite pieces from the semester. Teacher will create a bound book and provide each student with a copy upon submission of their final portfolio.

Course Prototype: Course Profile for Creative Writing 20

Introduction to my ADDIE Template & The Background of My Choices

You will see in my ADDIE template that I envision this course prototype to be one that I eventually will use in my day-to-day teaching of this curriculum. Therefore, I started with a big vision of how I could structure a blended-learning Creative Writing 20 course with a focus on the Fiction Writing outcome (CW20.6). However, it was too big of a task for this particular project and I needed to narrow it down. I chose to work with the unit of Science Fiction writing. I find this one the most challenging to teach and engage students in. I have found that students either gravitate toward this style as their ‘niche’  or find it incredibly daunting and therefore struggle to venture into it – sometimes avoiding it altogether.

I am hopeful that through a blended learning structure that this particular writing style can become really fun, creative, inventive, and engaging for all students to explore!

In trying to become specific and choosing something that could fit within the construct of a single ‘lesson’, I chose to use the introductory phase of the unit and focus my energies on creating opportunities for students to engage in ‘world building’.
While this ‘lesson’ will essentially occur over the course of a few days in my classroom-teaching reality, I am hopeful that the choices I have made will help me accomplish the criteria within the ECI 834 project. With this being a blended course, students will be able to use their 1:1 technology provided by the school to access and explore EdTech that allows them to create a Science Fiction world–with the support of a face-to-face teacher as they progress through the semester.
I hope to keep inspired to continue to build this Moodle to its full potential, even after the course is over.

 Here is what I have come up with so far! The reality of this project is that it will be ever-changing as I learn and work within structuring successful modules for a blended learning class in Creative Writing 20. I am looking forward to hearing your thoughts on how I can turn this dream into an EdTech-integrated, blended-learning reality.

Course Profile: Here We Go!

I find that Creative Writing 20 is an engaging elective course option for students outside of the mandated ELA courses and will be a good foundation for my project.
I am hopeful that this course will be able to reach its potential for EdTech integration in a blended learning environment.

Course Timeline: this course will take place in a single, ‘typical’ high school semester (i.e., Sept-Jan, Feb-June)

Insight(s) that inspired need for instruction: 

• Creating safe spaces for students to share their creative writing in all stages of the writing process

• Creating safe spaces for students to receive feedback on their work in all stages of the writing process

• Creating interactive and digital spaces for students to explore various ways to engage in all stages of the writing process (ie. creating, drafting, workshops, revision, peer and self feedback, etc.)

Target Audience: The Creative Writing 20 curriculum requires both* Grade 10 ELA as prerequisites. Therefore, the target audience would be any student who has met that criteria (likely in Grade 11 or 12).
*this may be subject to change due to recent curriculum renewal and changes in graduation requirements.

The outcomes of Creative Writing 20 for the 2 course prototype modules:
CW20.6: Compose a variety of written short fiction texts that explore identity and social responsibility
CW20.10: Establish goals and plans for language learning and use relevant to Creative Writing 20

The Modules: A (very) *Brief Overview
*please see the ADDIE for details

module 1: Creative Writing: Science Fiction unit introduction

• this module will host a lesson from the Science Fiction unit consisting of: Introductory notes available both on moodle and in person, peer-collaboration review activities via lumi, world building with ai and other edtec apps/programs*, and a Small short story excerpt assessment
  *I am still searching for some fun, free apps/programs for students to use to help with their world building – any suggestions are happily welcomed 🙂

Module 2: Creative Writing: Writer’s Workshops (Science fiction unit – initial assessment)

• this module will host a lesson wherein students will engage in a peer-peer (pair) writer’s workshop for the assessment attached to Module 1 within the Science Fiction unit

• This will be a necessary part of the course as writer’s workshops are a crucial part of not only the writing process, but also building classroom community

Learning experiences & Activities for creative writing 20 (Overall course prototype)

• lectures – genre-specific notes, interactive videos via lumi to enhance concepts

• student-led writers workshops

• use of ai and edtech apps to help with world building

• creative writing time for various stages of the writing process

• peer-collaboration (brainstorming, sharing, collaborating, etc)

• mentor texts: used for analysis, inspiration, and modeling of various genre-specific concepts

Major platforms (LMS & EDTech) *the ADDIe goes into detail on how each item listed below will be used throughout the course

• Moodle

• Google Drive

• Edsby

• Canva Pro

• Lumi

• Google (as search engine)

• ChatGPT

• AI – image generation

• *EdTech: I am currently looking into free apps and programs that students would be able to use to assist in creating the visuals, characters, settings, maps, etc of their worldbuilding journey.

Attendance
While this is a blended course, students are expected to be in attendance for our face-to-face class period and the Moodle will be used to compliment what is being done in this environment. That being said, students will be able to access 95% of the materials on the Moodle, and via Edsby, in order to stay caught up in class if they are unable to attend class for any reason. What absent students will miss out on, is the face-to-face engagement that occurs in the class through free writes, quick writes, student dialogue, etc. which is difficult to replicate on the Moodle in this particular course’s blended structure.

Assessments
The assessments throughout this course will be both formative and summative. In the context of the two modules, the assessments are as follows:

Module 1: Introduction to Science Fiction Writing (Lesson 1)
Formative: ‘Introduction to Creative Writing: All About Me & this Genre’; free writes/quick writes associated with science fiction writing prompts; Lumi Activities on the Moodle (i.e., introduction to the genre, etc); exploration of apps, programs, and AI to build the science fiction world that will be the basis of their story (see summative assessment below)
Summative: 1pg short story excerpt using the ‘world building‘ material they created throughout the course activities 
Module 2: Writer’s Workshop (Lesson 2)
Formative: engaging in Writer’s Workshop process (providing critical and constructive feedback to their peers’ writing via the ‘Workshop’ feature on Moodle & be able to speak to the feedback in face-to-face dialogue with their peers upon returning to class)
Summative: 1 revised copy of piece submitted to the Writer’s Workshop that communicates use of feedback (peer, teacher, & self); 1 Video Reflection: demonstrating growth throughout the workshop process, reflecting on ‘Final Workshop Piece’ – this will be submitted in company to their story  

Students

• English Language Learners:
  – Use of 1:1 technology (Chromebooks) will be a helpful aid (i.e., EAL, etc).
  – As well, students who require or prefer using speech-to-text/text-to-speech apps/extensions will be able to use them throughout all course work.
  – All learning support materials (i.e., Lumi videos, YouTube videos, articles, etc) will be close-captioned for additional support.
  – if any additional accommodations are needed, it will happen on a case-by-case basis
• Personal/Cultural Considerations:
  – any ROAs will be utilized so as to ensure individual student success
  – this is an elective course and therefore there are not as many ‘readily-available’ or ‘mandated’ materials. Sourcing out ethical examples for mentor texts will be a high priority
  – safe space is a clear structure and set up for a course like this to be successful due to the vulnerable nature in which students may feel themselves in due to sharing their personal writing creations
  – in the video reflections, students do not need to show their face at any point, they can be purely audio-based.
  – students will be encouraged to explore a variety of materials, perspectives, voices, etc. through the mentor texts that we use throughout the course. It is the hope that this will bring a harmony to the community of writers.
  – if any additional accommodations are needed, it will happen on a case-by-case basis to support student success!

Closing Remarks

I found this incredibly difficult to narrow down. It was almost easier for me to plan out my entire course and then pick and choose what I could manage in the timeframe to meet the criteria of the project. I feel as though I’m not doing the vision I have for the course justice, and it’s difficult when I know that things that are perfectly clear in my head are challenging to translate for someone else to understand – especially in the format of a course profile via this blog post.

It is my hope that I have provided enough information for my vision to be clear to you as a reader. I am looking forward to your feedback, thoughtful critiques, and constructive criticism as I venture into the designing of the course!

I find myself overwhelmed with how vast the world of online learning really is. When completing the course readings, there were at least 6 definitions that were new to me and a few where I recognized that I have been using the incorrect terminology. 

Different modalities are in fact not as synonymous as they seem!  

Technology Integration: Secondary & Undergraduate

In my experiences and exposure to the digital age through the education industry, I would say that it was limited as a secondary school learner, and became more prevalent through my undergraduate years. I remember taking ECMP355 (at the time this was a face-to-face ed-tech course) and in other Education courses, various educational technologies were scattered throughout the various assessments such as blogging, online engagement through discussion forums, fieldwork, and e-collaboration for group projects and presentations.

Technology Integration: Graduate Studies

In my graduate studies, I have been afforded the opportunity to take most of my courses online which has been a wonderful to balance my personal life with academic demands. With living ~70km from the University, online courses have allowed me to engage meaningfully with the content and my class colleagues from home (and not have to travel for a face-to-face class during these treacherous winters we can have). My online graduate courses often consist of: pre-assigned readings to prep in advance of class, a small lecture and review of materials, move into breakout rooms in Zoom for small group discussion, and then engage as a large group in discussion at the end of the class. I find that this reflects a traditional face-to-face class structure, but adapted for a synchronous learning environment. As a learner, that model works for me and while some might say it’s not necessarily engaging, I would beg to differ. The conversations, especially within a graduate-level course, can be rich and insightful. Engaging with other professionals over shared content and experience is rewarding.
However as a teacher, I find that I try to stray away from this structure to create  engaging experiences for my students (hopefully they see it that way??) that involve a multitude of teaching practices, strategies, and the intentional inclusion of EdTech. 

Technology Integration: Personal Practice

The integration of technology became more prevalent in my teaching after the Covid-19 Pandemic. I think that this is likely due to having some time to experiment and a drive to ensure that within the limits of accessibility, students were being sent meaningful work to keep them a part of the learning processes while most of what was ‘normal’ existed out of joint. When I began teaching 10 years ago, I was hired by a division that provides 1:1 technology to each student by providing them with a Chromebook when they enter high school. While this device has its flaws and limitations, it is a gateway to more EdTech opportunities in the classroom. This device was a life-saver for the most part during the pandemic and is one that I know was unique to our division. At this time, Google Classroom was our LMS and was used by most teachers due to its ease of use and accessibility; prior to the pandemic, our division had pitched Moodle as the new LMS and many educators moved to this platform. We are now working within Edsby as our new LMS.

Technology Integration: Reflections on Course Readings 

In reflecting on my Covid-19 teaching years, I appreciate how Ervine makes the distinction that remote teaching differs within the context of the Covid-19 pandemic due to being an emergent response to abrupt societal change and expectation of schools and learning. Ervine (2020) states that it’s important to know the difference between remote teaching and emergency remote teaching “so that criticisms of emergency remote teaching practices–especially from educators who have low digital literacy levels–are not generalized as online learning as a whole”.
Most educators I know found it difficult to pivot to online teaching/learning in the rush to find a solution–who didn’t? The learning environment changed, the expectations were in continuous shift, and supports were in a constant strain. What what happening with emergency remote online teaching didn’t do this modality, and its potential as a tool, justice. This was well understood by myself and my colleagues. This is where I saw Bates’ propositions that if the classroom didn’t evolve to fit the digital learners, then that classroom was essentially the same–just now available online. This concept then also does not fit the definitions provided by both Ervine and Bates in terms of the definitive differences of the various online modalities and the pedagogies required for their success when implemented. 

Technology Integration: Are there limits?

I find there are limitations for me in exploring the modalities of online teaching and my pedagogy in this area while teaching in a typical brick-and-mortar classroom. However, I know that while these limitations are present, what I have learned this week is that blended learning does not necessarily mean that the learning consists in an obvious and equal divide of “in-person” and “online” teaching and learning experiences. I wanted to use the readings from this week to reflect on the ways in which I try to incorporate Educational Technologies in the classroom as a means of seeing where I am at within the concept of incorporating blended learning. With this being my first post, I hope that this list is only the beginning of the ways in which I can further grow and understand online learning environments and the opportunities that exist within them. 

When reading the assigned materials for this week, I recognize that I am behind in the ‘EdTech’ world (re: understanding modalities and their various pedagogies) and have some catching up to do–this class is the start of that process.