Flight Path

Mary Sikkes

University of British Columbia

ETEC 565A 66A (Learning Technology Selection Design and Application)

Master of Educational Technology, University of British Columbia

Contact: tsikkes@sd54.bc.ca
 Hello, my name is Mary Sikkes. I was originally trained as a secondary English teacher,

but have spent little time teaching in that subject area. I have had a variety of teaching

experiences throughout my fifteen year career, beginning as a Teacher-on-Call, then holding two

short term elementary positions (one primary and one intermediate) before accepting a full-time

position as a learner support teacher in a secondary school for eight years. During my time in

learner support, I worked closely with students to integrate assistive technology to support their

learning. It was during this time that I began to realize what an incredibly important role

technology could play in differentiating learning. After my time as a learner support teacher, I

spent two years teaching secondary English where, at the time, I felt I was able to integrate many

technological accommodations into my classroom. Since moving to elementary three years ago,

I have struggled to integrate technology effectively into my daily classroom activities. I have

realized that at a secondary level, I used digital technology primarily as a reading and writing

support, but lacked the skill to incorporate engaging and meaningful digital technology

applications into my daily routine. At this point, I also realized that if I planned to continue

teaching for the next twenty years, then I must gain a deeper understanding of how to incorporate

technology to create an interactive, engaging, and meaningful learning environment for my

students. As Jenkins et al. (2009) point out in Confronting the Challenges of Participatory

Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century, "simply passing out technology is not enough" if

students are not supported in learning and understanding how to use digital technologies

effectively (p. 17). This was why, two years ago, I decided to join the UBC MET program.
In World Class Learners: Educating Creative and Entrepreneurial Students, Yong Zhao

(2012) discusses the fact that, The new survival skills effective communication, curiosity, and

critical-thinking skills are no longer skills that only the elites in a society must muster; they

are essential survival skills for all of us (Wagner, 2008, p. xxiii) (p. 8). Zhao goes on to explain
that Wagner (2008) observed that the longer our children are in school, the less curious they

become (p. 10). One of my key goals for ETEC 565A is to learn new skills and resources that

will increase engagement and motivation for students, and will perhaps allow them to explore

their creativity on a new level, supported by digital technology and while developing 21st

Century skills. Through my own learning, I hope to increase my ability to model digital

learning, citizenship, and responsibility while inspiring students (ISTE, 2008). In addition to

this, I am interested in increasing the amount of collaboration and interaction between peers, and

the amount of one-on-one time students feel they are receiving directly from me, especially in

terms of sharing their thoughts and ideas, and developing their writing process. As Chickering

and Ehrmann (1996) state, Frequent student-faculty contact in and out of class is a most

important factor in student motivation and involvement and Good learning, like good work, is

collaborative and social, not competitive and isolated. Working with others often increases

involvement in learning. One way I envision this happening is through a classroom blog where

students can work up to a point where they are able to independently contribute to the blog both

at school and from home. I have talked with the technology head in the school district where I

work and have had Moodle recommended to me as it is a platform that our district supports. I

have never used Moodle to support a class before, so I am very keen to learn more about this

Learning Management System.

In terms of resources, I feel that there are three key areas where I will be developing and

gathering resources. The first is through the Pot of Gold link that has been provided through

the ETEC 565A course site. Pot of Gold offers links to an incredible number of resources,

many of which I have not heard of before, so I believe this will significantly contribute to my

learning. The second resource will be my peers and professor in this course. I find digital

technology can become overwhelming due to the fact that there seem to be almost endless
resources, and I lack the skills and experience to know what to look for in a valuable or highly

useable resource. By collaborating and learning from my peers, I have the opportunity to learn

what has worked well for others before committing to a resource myself; Students are not

guinea pigs, and reliable and sustainable service is more important to them than the glitz and

glamour of untried technology (Bates, 2015, 8.3.4). Finally, I enjoy learning through

experience, so I believe the greatest resource this course will provide me with is the ability to

navigate through and interact with new platforms and systems in a supported environment, as we

progress through the course.

Throughout the MET program, my beliefs around the integration of digital technology

into the classroom have changed fairly significantly; however, I have felt the emphasis in most

courses has been primarily on concepts and theories related to the use of technology to support

education. While I am thankful for the understanding I now have of these concepts and theories,

and for the research background to support integrating my learning into practice, I am finding

that my interest now lies in developing my technology-based skills. I continue to be more

confident writing a paper about the importance of educational technology than I am actually

integrating those same technologies into my classroom; my beliefs and my behaviours are

not yet in alignment (Heimlich & Norland, 2002). My greatest hope is that I will finish ETEC

565A with greater confidence in my ability to integrate digital technology effectively into my

own classroom, thereby creating a more inclusive, engaging, creative, and inspiring learning

environment for students.

References:
Bates, A.W. (2015). Chapter 8: Choosing and using media in education: the SECTIONS model.

Teaching in a Digital Age. Retrieved from

https://opentextbc.ca/teachinginadigitalage/part/9-pedagogical-differences-between-media/
Chickering, A.W., and Ehrmann, S.C. (1996). Implementing the seven principles. Technology as

Lever. Retrieved from http://www.aahea.org/articles/sevenprinciples.htm

Heimlich J. E., and Norland, E. (Spring, 2002). Teaching style: Where are we now? New

Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, 93, 17-25. Retrieved from

https://connect.ubc.ca/bbcswebdav/pid-4127218-dt-content-rid-

20926805_1/courses/SIS.UBC.ETEC.590.66A.2017S1-

2.85758/ETEC590/lessons/lesson01/docs/TeachingStyle.pdf
Image of swan taking flight. (n.d.). Pixabay (CC0 Public Domain). Retrieved from

https://pixabay.com/en/swan-take-off-bird-flight-nature-630142/
International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). (2008). Standards for teachers.

Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/standards/standards/standards-for-teachers

Jenkins, H., Purushotma, R., Weigel, M., Clinton, K., & Robinson, A.J. (2009). Confronting the

challenges of participatory culture: Media education for the 21st century. Cambridge, MA:

The MIT Press. Retrieved from

https://mitpress.mit.edu/sites/default/files/titles/free_download/9780262513623_Confronti

ng_the_Challenges.pdf
Zhao, Y. (2012). World class learners: Educating creative and entrepreneurial students.

Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.