Covid-19 is to blame for a variety of changes we have seen in our daily routines. Careers, mental health and financial budgets have all be affected by the ongoing pandemic, as we slowly reach the 1-year anniversary of the original "shut-down". Although WBCs (web-based courses) existed prior to Covid-19, they have become a necessity in current times.
Our #I4Ed class was fortunate enough to hear from Chris Fredrickson and Shannon Magee, both involved in Manitoba Education's web-based courses and distance learning program.
From the Government of Manitoba website, Manitoba education supports WBC development and delivery in a number of ways:
management of web-based course development provision of a provincial Learning Management System (LMS) licence and maintenance of a course server
provision of access to the LMS for teachers for course delivery and development
management of requests for access to web-based courses
training in use of the LMS and online pedagogy for online teachers
support for existing teacher users of the LMS
In terms of the presentation put forth by Chris and Shannon, the most notable information I took out of it was the teacher-facilitated versus student-facilitated learning. The comparison between the two made me think back to when I was in high school. The path my thoughts took me down, was familiar in the fact that I realized how much it has changed since I graduated high school - which is only six years ago. I immediatley thought back to my first placement in Carberry, where my C.T. used an app/program called Remind. I had never seen anything like it when I was in high school, where students are sent reminders for due dates or assignments on a consistent basis. It also provides a platform for students to ask questions and chat with the teacher in a professional manner.
Another point Chris and Shannon made, was related to teacher-facilitated learning. In high school, there was no such thing as iPads or an "iPad cart". We strictly relied on the availability of the computer labs within our high school. As I go back to student-teach in high schools, I see the amount of technology available for students to learn, and in all honesty, it blows my mind. Maybe if the technology available today was accessible 6+ years ago, my grades would have been a little better!
Awesome blog Matt, the students these days are lucky they don't have to have the stress of booking a computer lab or sharing the 3 communal desktops in the classroom. I certainly wish we had laptop carts back in the day!
ReplyDeleteGreat post, Matt! I have been out of high school for a couple more years than you, however, similar to you, the use and availability of technology available in school can still be tough to wrap my head around. Not only with laptops available for students but even being able to utilize smartphones and their apps in class, this could never of been a thought while I was in school.
ReplyDeleteGreat post here! I completely agree with when you said maybe your grades would have been better if you had the same technology then as kids today have. The amount of resources they have is amazing! But I'm very thankful now as teachers we get to utilize it for the next generation!
ReplyDeleteAwesome post Matt. I like the idea of the app Remind. I feel like I could use that app right now with all these assignments coming up. I too would have liked more technology back when I was in Elementary/High school. I hope to be able to implement technology in to my classroom as often as possible.
ReplyDeleteGreat post Matt! That remind app would have been really helpful for me in high school as I was always forgetting due dates or lost the paper where I wrote them down.
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