Hello everyone,
Sorry for the late post; it’s been a hectic start to the month and I can’t seem to keep up. Please call me Basia. I was raised in Canada to a Polish family, and have been living in Japan for almost half a decade. Polish is my first language so I am not very confident in my English; please forgive any strange sentence constructions in the comments or odd pronunciation in audio files.
Japan is 9 hours ahead of standard time, which makes it 16 hours ahead of Vancouver. if we work together, I hope we can find time to chat!
I am currently taking two MET courses: 522 Ventures in Learning Technology, and 510 Design of Technology-Supported Learning Environments. It’s a bit busy paired with full-time work, but the situation is unavoidable and I have a time limit to finish the MET program. My work environment doesn’t allow for much educational technology. I have access to a computer, projector, and whiteboard in the classroom, and my students have restricted-access PCs and no experience with other technologies. More than using tech as a way to support their learning, I hope to challenge them to be more adventurous with technology and learn to use tools they have never used earlier.
A recent interest of mine has been in the design of educational materials; from worksheets to computer programs. I subscribe to the idea that “good design is invisible”, and believe that small changes in font choice, layout, colour, and animation can have a significant impact on students’ learning. This is something I would like to learn more about in 522.
Building on this idea, I am sure many people here know about Froebel’s Gifts – the developmental toys that influenced some of the world’s most famous architects. The sentence prior has a link to an article and podcast about them if you haven’t heard of them before. Many of my coworkers have young children and we’ve talked about children’s developmental toys before. In our increasingly digital world, of course such materials are still relevant, but I think adjustments can be made to supplement development of 21st century skills. If you have any ideas about “modern” Froebel’s Gifts (AR cards?), please share them with me. How should the original underlying principles be built upon to accommodate our changing society?
Let’s have a good semester,
Basia