ETEC 520 - Planning and Managing Learning Technologies in Higher Education
As mentioned on the Keystone Species introduction page, this course is set apart from the others because it caused me to consider the option of doing a PhD (albeit after a bit of a break). When I entered the teaching profession I believed, as many teachers do, that the path between that time and retirement was pretty clear. Teach for a few years, get my masters, teach for a couple of more years, become admin, move up to principal, retire. I'm not sure why we as teachers see our career path as very linear, when there are so many opportunities out there. They say that the average person will change careers something like 8 times over their lifetime. Yet we teachers have a tendency to stick to one (maybe two if we move to admin). I think I first realized that my path didn't have to be linear when I took my leave of absence to work in Costa Rica. My positive experience there opened my mind so that when I came back and enrolled in ETEC 520 I was receptive to new ideas.
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Artifact #1 - A Vision for E-Learning
While the focus of the course was on Higher Education, for this particular assignment I was given permission to create a vision for E-Learning for my own school. I enjoyed this process much more than I thought I would. I felt mentally stimulated through the process of conducting an environmental scan of technology at the school and gained a great deal of satisfaction from creating a vision that would work with it. I enjoyed the challenge of identifying implications and organizational changes that would have to occur for my vision to be fulfilled. Oddly I found that I was really excited by the strategic planning component of education. This started me thinking that maybe this was a path that I might one day want to pursue, whether it be at the school administration level, or the Ministry of Education level.
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Artifact #2 - Critique of UBC's Tech Plan
This was a group project in which we critically examined the planning process for technology at UBC and the ultimate reorganization of the DET. It was interesting to take a critical look at the very institution that I was studying at, and at a process that our course instructor had direct involvement with. Again, while I found the process challenging, I was stimulated by this process and found enjoyment in trying to wrap my head around these complex issues. I find it interesting how sometimes things that people say in passing, can stick with you. We had a group member that was particularly challenging to work with, and in the process of determining how to deal with the situation one of the other group members said that I should go into politics because of how diplomatically I was able to frame the situation. While I may not have aspiration to run for a political seat, her comment stuck out at a time when I was already considering the possibility of one day working on policy at the Ministry level.
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Artifact # 3 - Government Report on E-Learning Policies
This course finished with a project that served to yet again reinforce the thoughts that I had been having. We were asked to take on the role of an advisor to a hypothetical new Minister of Advanced Education who was wishing to know the role of government in establishing provincial policies for e-learning and the regulation surround for-profit e-learning programs from outside of British Columbia. This paper allowed me to more thoroughly investigate B.C.'s current visions and how they fit with current trends in educational technologies. Again, I enjoyed the process immensely and could see doing more of this in my future.
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Final Reflections for ETEC 520
I don't know whether I will ever actually work at the Ministry level, however this course served to open my eyes to other career path possibilities beyond the traditional teacher-vice principal-principal one. This course may not have impacted my day-to-day classroom practice, but it has impacted my own personal practice. I feel that this course has allowed me to be more receptive to alternative opportunities that come my way as well as motivated to seek out different options.
I don't know whether I will ever actually work at the Ministry level, however this course served to open my eyes to other career path possibilities beyond the traditional teacher-vice principal-principal one. This course may not have impacted my day-to-day classroom practice, but it has impacted my own personal practice. I feel that this course has allowed me to be more receptive to alternative opportunities that come my way as well as motivated to seek out different options.
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References
© Long, J., (2010). Pasoti in the Children's Eternal Cloud Forest [photograph].
© Long, J., (2011). Quetzal at La Creativa [photograph].
Long, J., (2013). A Version for E-Learning. (Unpublished graduate work). University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
Long, J., (2013). Government Report on E-Learning Policies. (Unpublished graduate work). University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
Underhill, D., Collie, L., Bos, J., & Irons, J., (2013). Critique of UBC's Tech Plan. (Unpublished graduate essay). University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
© Long, J., (2010). Pasoti in the Children's Eternal Cloud Forest [photograph].
© Long, J., (2011). Quetzal at La Creativa [photograph].
Long, J., (2013). A Version for E-Learning. (Unpublished graduate work). University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
Long, J., (2013). Government Report on E-Learning Policies. (Unpublished graduate work). University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
Underhill, D., Collie, L., Bos, J., & Irons, J., (2013). Critique of UBC's Tech Plan. (Unpublished graduate essay). University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.