Fall 2018 First Class Meeting

Getting Started

My little bump in the road

So I must admit that it had been several months since I had launched ZOOM as the host or instructor. About ten minutes before the class was to start I launched everything up that I was going to need for the class session and then started the meeting in ZOOM. I have done this dozens of times but for some reason everything seemed different or out of place and it took me a few minutes to get my bearings and begin interacting with those that had joined early and start helping out those that were having difficulty joining.

This was a gentle nudge or reminder of how the participants must have been feeling as some of them joined a distance course via video chat for the very first time and other like me had spent some time away from the environment. A little nerve racking and a little hard to swallow but a good dose of perspective right from the start.

Welcome, now why are you here?

The introductions went much the way they would at the beginning of any course at the beginning of any semester. As we each describe our status as student or educator or both we found that our technology backgrounds and experiences were all over the place. As we took a look at some of the data gathered about our group from the needs assessment we discovered that much like any workplace or school setting we all brought backgrounds and experiences that make for lively discussions.

Here is where we will start the semester...

Rate Yourself as a Tech User

Rate Yourself as a Tech Integrator

There was a slight difference in where participants rated themselves in the survey and how they described themselves during their introductions. Regardless of the starting point we are all on a journey of professional and personal growth.

Asking Good Questions and Finding Better Answers

I introduced the idea that the only 'stupid questions' are the ones you do not ask. One of the key goals of this course experience is to be able to ask good questions. In order to do so you have to build up your background knowledge concerning educational technology applications. In order to find better answers you must consider how you learn best and how you move toward proficiency or even mastery of a topic. The discussion turned at one point about learning how to learn a topic we will revisit often as we grow our technology knowledge.

There was a really solid exchange of ideas as we discussed the seven International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) Standards for Educators. Without any prior instruction on the standards, participants were asked to weigh in on what each of the seven key words meant to them. Remarkably, the learners showed great insight into how those terms applied to educational technology and we seem to have a strong foundation to build from during the semester's experiences.

I, for one, am really looking forward to it!