It is hard to believe this class has come to an end. I have learned so much over the past month when it comes to online and blended learning. This course did an excellent job of breaking down the different components of creating an online/blended prototype and provided us with the opportunity to engage with the intricate process. After careful consideration, I opted to create a blended course prototype for this class that could support what we learn in class and hopefully push my students to further their learning in French while providing them with different activities that will explore different concepts we learn in French Language Arts. When we…

Building a sense of community and belonging is important in both online and in-person classrooms. Teaching is a profession that is rooted in communication and fostering relationships with one another. Furthermore, it is these two key concepts that are fundamental to building a sense of classroom community. More importantly, “establishing community helps a group of learners bond and work together [which] is particularly important in online courses given the potential for students to feel isolated and alone” (6 Strategies for Building Community in Online Courses, Barkley).   In a blended classroom setting, teachers are fortunate because we have time with our students in class and face-to-face to work on establishing…

Following this week’s lecture, I started reflecting on the topic of accessibility and equity in online and blended courses. Bates mentions that student demographics, accessibility, and differences in how students learn should be considered when choosing media and technology to use with our students (Teaching in a Digital Age). Furthermore, Bates states that “of all the criteria in determining choice of technology, [access] is perhaps the most discriminating” (Teaching in a Digital Age). It is incredibly difficult to ensure students have the same tools at home to access different learning materials online. Educators are not able to confirm if all students have access to the internet, computer, or tablet at…

This has been quite the informative week in EC&I 834! It has been so much fun creating all my material and setting up my module to use with my students in the fall! It is always so refreshing to take the information we cover in class and apply it to our teaching which is what I focussed on doing this week when I got to explore Lumi to later on incorporate into my module with the hope that it would help engage my students with their online grammar lesson in French. My first module focuses on sentence structure. Seeing as my kiddos will be in Grade 2 and Grade 3,…

Welcome to my blended course prototype for French Language Arts – 2e et 3e année!   Course Overview This course will be a blended course prototype that will align itself with French Language Arts class in a Grade 2/Grade 3 French Immersion split class setting and it will be ongoing all year long, with new lessons and activities being uploaded on Google Classroom weekly/bi-weekly depending on the needs of students. The main focus will be literacy development in French (i.e. reading, writing, and speaking) and course content will include pre-recorded lessons in French with some translation in English to ensure all students/families can follow along. Editable worksheets and interactive activities…

After having watched our ADDIE lecture, I started reflecting on my course prototype, what I wanted it to look like, and what purpose I wanted it to serve in my teaching. As I mentioned before in my introduction, I am a French Immersion Teacher and will be teaching a Grade 2/Grade 3 split classroom this year. I anticipate using what I prepare for this class with my future students and hopefully seamlessly integrate this content into my teaching in the fall.   I should start by explaining that French Immersion is centered around the goal of ensuring second language learners/students that have enrolled in the program from Kindergarten to Grade…

Hi everyone!   My name is Valeska and I am a French Immersion Teacher for Regina Public Schools. I have worked for Regina Public Schools since I convocated from the U of R where I obtained my Baccalauréat en éducation française. Over the past 10 years, I have taught Grade 1 at École Wilfrid Walker School, Grade 2 at École Centennial School and I will be teaching Grade 2 and 3 at École Wascana Plains School this upcoming fall. I have always looked for ways to integrate technology into my teaching – even back when I was an intern, I made a huge effort to look for different bilingual apps…

If I look back at my experience with technology in school compared to the experience of today’s youth, it is completely different from one another. Technology has made huge advancements in the last 25 years and it seems that nowadays there is an endless amount of new applications, software, and platforms available for students and educators to use to further the learning experience at school. Artificial intelligence has become a powerful tool that we can incorporate into our teaching repertoire that provides a plethora of educational technology tools for both students and educators. Most importantly, “artificial intelligence has the potential to revolutionize the way we learn and teach” (Edutech Global,…