Learning and Technology – Page 2 – Reflections and Connections of a Grad Student

Too Many Shiny Boxes

August 12, 2015 • mvstoller

Thesis? Research Paper? Thesis? Research Paper? Thesis? Research Paper?

Many thoughts are swirling around my head regarding my research plans and where I hope to go in this master’s program. Elizabeth, our amazing and inspiring instructor, told us that once we have decided on our thesis/ research topic to be wary of shiny boxes (big ideas, big plans, ways to solve the worlds problems) that are inevitably going to appear. She told us that we need to put those boxes away, and save them. But right now, with no shiny box at all, I feel like I am in Tiffany’s and I want one of everything, but I can only choose one. There are too many shiny boxes to choose from! And with every new reading, every new search, more boxes appear trying to tickle my fancy. When the time comes, and I am ready, I want to make sure the box I choose is super duper shiny, at least to me. Because I know that the box I pick is going to get lugged around with me everywhere I go for a long time. It is going to get tossed around and maybe even thrown at a few walls. It will likely become dented and have a few scratches. It will become worn and lose some of its lustre. But what I hope, is at the end of all this, I can still see the shine through all the wear and tear it has gone through. Which brings me right back to the beginning.

Any time I think that my concerns and anxieties are mine alone, I need only to read my fellow cohorts blogs to remind myself that I we are all in the same tippy boat called grad school. Reading Sarah’s blog (see link on other blogs page) showed me how we are thinking on very similar wave lengths. I feel like I am just beginning to scratch the surface of all these new ideas, theories, theorists, pedagogies, emerging theoretical frameworks, advances in technology, and yet need to narrow down my research topic sooner rather than later. I am reminded of the song ‘Do-Re-Mi’ by Rogers and Hammerstein from the movie Sound of Music (1965). It talks about how you have to learn each note before you can start putting them all together to make a tune. And then you can finally add words so that it means something. I feel like I am just learning the notes but already need to know the name of my final song.

So many ideas and different paths, which one do I choose? I just finished reading 6 articles for the last assignment in ‘Introduction to Research Theory’ and was energized and inspired by many of the articles I read and they have given me many ideas and I think I have at least narrowed down my topic selections. The topics I am thinking of are:

Gaming in elementary education and the benefits/ barriers/ impact on student learning.

Project based learning and, again, the benefits/ barriers/ impact on student learning.

Reggio Emilia approach and how integrating technology fits into the philosophy.

Teacher barriers to implementing project based learning/ global collaboration/ 21st century competencies

I also struggle with the notion of uniqueness. How can I do something new and different and something that will matter?

I am still a ways away from figuring all of this out, but I do feel that I am getting a little closer. In connectivist fashion, I think I will turn to my network and see what information I can gather and what advice they can give. Wish me luck!

References:

Rodgers, R. & Hammerstein II, O. (1965). Do Re Mi [Recorded by Andrews, J. et al.]. On The sound of music [Youtube] Retrieved from https://youtu.be/ps52qEFiLbg?list=RDps52qEFiLbg

Picture Retrieved from: http://yourweddingbling.com/?p=80

Response to Lori’s Blog

August 11, 2015 • mvstoller

This is my response to a blog post written by one of my fellow MALAT students. The original post can be found at: http://lorikreflecting.blogspot.ca

I think that there are many of us who will be blogging about the residency and how we all had to come to trust the process. As was evident in the final day, when we reflected on our time by writing words on rocks, we relied heavily on each other help get us through. There is something very tacit (a new word in my vocabulary!) about the empathy we feel to others in a situation similar to ours and how we are comforted by knowing that others understand what we are going through. Like you, I also have a friend who has completed an RRU degree and did two residencies. She has told me more than once, as I lamented about the amount of work I needed to do while others were going to the beach/ lake/ pool and sipping wine/ beer/ margaritas, that it will be worth it in the end. This has been an immense help since the end seems a very long way off right now.

There were many times when cracks of doubt began to appear and the ‘imposter syndrome’ crept into my psyche. I clearly remember sitting around the table on one of the first days and listening to the instructors speak about learning theories, theorists and assignments and expectations. The feeling in the pit of my stomach, that I was in a situation I had no business being in became almost unbearable. I felt like an imposter, someone who had no business being there and wondering when I would be found out. This led me to an article in Forbes magazine on just that subject. I felt much better after reading the following section:

“Impostor Syndrome is the domain of the high achiever. Those who set the bar low are rarely it’s victim. So if you are relating to what I’m sharing, then pat yourself on the back because it’s a sure sign that you aren’t ready to settled into the ranks of mediocrity. Rather, you’re likely to be a person who aims high and is committed to giving your very best to whatever endeavour you set your sights upon. A noble aim to be sure.” (retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/margiewarrell/2014/04/03/impostor-syndrome/)

Yes! I reminded myself, I did start this because I wanted to better myself and achieve something that I knew was going to be hard and not always easy. I was able to pull myself out of the rut i was in and keep going, but I am not sure it would have been as easy if there had not been others around who were vocal about their similar feelings.

This is not a case of schadenfreude, a feeling of enjoyment that comes from seeing or hearing about the troubles of other people, but one of empathy, the ability to experience the feelings of another person (http://www.merriam-webster.com).
We all need each other and I hope we continue to look to each other for help, support, laughter and funny youtube videos. Because not everyone understands what we are doing here. Like my friend who asked me if this program was to learn about using the SMART board in the classroom. Yes, I replied. Exactly.

There’s No Place Like Home

August 2, 2015 • mvstoller

“There’s no place like home” (Dorothy, Wizard of Oz, 1939)

Waking up this morning in my own bed did feel heavenly, I cannot lie. But as I reflect on this residency I feel blessed and proud. Like Dorothy, I met an amazing cast of characters on my journey and each played a part in making this residency a success.

They made me laugh till I cried, motivated me when I was low, and hugged me when I missed my kids a little too much. Like Dorothy’s friends, I could not have survived without my brain, heart and a little courage. I used my brain in ways I never have before, and now words like epistemology, phenomenology, and hermeneutics (almost) roll off my tounge. I know I will feel much more comfortable at parties with this new vocabulary in my back pocket.

My heart broke a little leaving my girls but their words of encouragement and showing them it is never to late to fulfill a dream is priceless. I also left a small piece of my heart at Royal Roads, its beauty was unmatched and the runs I took in the forest were grounding and mindful. It was truly a magical place. And even though the trees didn’t throw apples at me, the certainly did talk to me. I was most definitely glad that I had courage or I don’t think I would have made it through. I reminded myself that I can dig deep when necessary and do things that I am not inherently comfortable doing.

I tried to figure out who would be my Wicked Witch of the West on this journey which was difficult because there wasn’t anyone I didn’t like. What was cruel and mean and latched on and didn’t let go until you did what it asked? And then it hit me, like a house falling on me in a tornado! APA!

Like Dorothy, I have been changed. Thank you to all of you who were a part of it.

I look to the next two years as years of continued growth and transformation.

Career Change?

July 30, 2015 • mvstoller

This week in residency we were fortunate to have a graphic recorder come to document our debate. Which, by the way, our team won!!!!

Anyway, I digress.

After the debate, we were given the unique opportunity to try our hand at graphic recording. “Graphic recording (also referred to as reflective graphics, graphic listening, etc.) involves capturing people’s ideas and expressions—in words, images and color—as they are being spoken in the moment” (World Cafe). We were given 5 different shapes to use. A circle represented wholeness, a triangle represented a goal, a spiral represented change, and a rectangle represented support, such as a person or a community. With that, we also learned how to draw a simple person. With these basic tools we were given the task of using theses symbols (and any others you chose to include) to graphically represent our journey to Royal Roads University.

This is what I came up with (see if you can figure out my journey!):

Just to help out a little (and so I remember years from now), let me explain my thinking. First, I started out not quite whole. Something was missing but I didn’t know what. I knew I needed a change but I didn’t know what that change was. So I asked my support system for their input and advice. And then, I had an idea! Grad School! I explained to my family my need for change and that I had an idea of what I wanted to do. I asked my family if the would support this change and they said yes! After I had applied and had been accepted, I thought to myself, what was I thinking?!?! I started my Master’s program, and arrived at Royal Roads feeling very alone. But then, I started to build a new support system with my instructors and cohort classmates and I felt that the goal was attainable even though it still looked very far away!

This was a reflective experience. It wasn’t as easy as it may look, but I truly enjoyed using my creative side and communicating my thoughts with a different medium. I also liked having something to keep from this experience and thought that this could be a great exercise to use in the classroom environment. It could be used for creating timelines, either of students lives or a historical event. It could also be used to reflect on a chapter in a book that the class is reading. How cool would it look if each chapter was done like this by a different student and then displayed as a summary of the book. One student could do the graphic recording, while another did the written summary!

Although I have a feeling that a career as a graphic recorder is not in my future, I see many benefits of finding ways to build it into my practice as a reflective tool.

References: http://www.theworldcafe.com/key-concepts-resources/graphic-recording

Busting Out – Field Trip!

July 25, 2015 • mvstoller

This first week of MALAT residency at RRU we had the opportunity to go on a field trip to two unique places. The first was Open School BC. Open School BC designs, develops and distributes educational resources. We heard from a number of their project managers about projects they have, or are currently, working on. There were projects to design K-12 resources, and projects for the public sector.

I was captivated by the visually appealing designs, varied project themes and also inspired by the use of innovation and technology to produce education and training resources that fit with the outlined outcomes. It was evident that this was not always an easy task. This was a eye opening workplace to see as I have, at times, worried and wondered about career possibilities outside of the traditional school environment. This showed me that there are outside possibilities that would compliment my creativity and passion for technology.

The Open School BC website says that “With over ninety years of distributed learning experience, Open School BC continues to grow, keeping pace with evolving educational technologies and practices in support of Learning 2.0”. From our brief experience, I would agree with this. I was impressed with the innovation and creativity and from listening to the project managers, could see how well they understood their client and their particular needs.

I was especially interested in the new resource being developed for teachers with respect to the Historical Wrongs Curriculum Revision. “In the Grade 5 curriculum, learning tools will be used to deliver a major unit on Chinese Canadians in the “Immigration and Development of Canada” section” (Education Supplement). The website that has been developed looks amazing and seems to have a wealth of information for teachers. The partnership with the Royal British Columbia museum is a complimentary connection and the artifacts that will be within the website look interesting and plentiful.

One question that came to mind as I was looking through this though, was whether there had been any consideration of making the website more student, as opposed to teacher, centered? During the past three weeks I have been learning, reading and researching learning theory and have been reflecting on which of these most resonate with me and align with my epistemological ideals. When looking at constructivism, a theory I strongly align myself with, students are encouraged to take ownership for their learning with the teacher acting more as a facilitator and guide. Constructivists strongly support experiential learning models and there is evidence that when designed properly, authentic learning experiences are highly engaging for students and lead to better long term memory (Bates, 2015). I wonder if there are experiential learning opportunities within the curriculum revision since this was the perfect opportunity to include more aspects of a 21st century competency model including collaboration, critical thinking and authentic learning.

When the website is available I will be very interested to look at it in more detail. I think there was amazing opportunity here to design learning experiences that fit with constructivist learning theory and the inclusion of technology tools.

References:

Open School BC Website: http://www.openschool.bc.ca/about.html

Bates, A. W. (2015). Teaching in a digital age. BC: Campus.

Education Supplement: http://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/governments/our-history/chinese-legacy-bc/legacy-projects/education-supplement

Connecting the Dots

July 22, 2015 • mvstoller

I wanted to explore the idea of using a Buddhist philosophy in education and how this might impact my personal mindset, my teaching practice and my students learning. As I reflected on some of the principals in Mindful inquiry in social research (Bent & Shapiro, 1998) and on the learning theories we are studying in LRNT 501, I made some interesting connections and felt like I was starting to ‘connect the dots’.

“Through the practice of compassion and right conduct, pay attention to the suffering of sentient beings in the world, and ask yourself what kind of inquiry and action would diminish that suffering” (Bent & Shapiro, 1998, p. 52).

When I re-read this, it made me think of a project the grade 4 students did this year. It is an example of how inquiry learning, when allowed independence and openness, can lead to the diminishing of suffering. We were looking at the elements of a newspaper and, specifically, writing a newspaper article. It was early December so we decided to write winter or holiday related stories. The project took on a life of its own as the students got more and more engaged and worked hard to make their newspapers look as authentic as possible. They ended up with articles, classified ads, word searchers, weather reports and comics, to name a few. The students wanted their newspapers to reach a farther audience and to be seen by more people. They thought back to our initial discussion about newspapers and asked if they could sell their newspapers. Then, they thought about those who were not able to have a wonderful holiday season, as they were going to have, and proposed that they donate the money that they made from their newspapers to the Christmas Cheer Board, an organization that helps give holiday hampers to those in need. The students got very excited about this and put a lot of effort into selling their newspapers and making their papers as polished as they could be,

I though of this project in particular because it begins to connect the two courses that we are taking now: learning theory and introduction to research. If I were not trying to teach within a constructivist learning environment, would my students have been as likely to have thought with their hearts as well as with their heads?

“With regard to inquiry, this can be taken to imply that love and compassion are the underlying attitude that we should take toward all beings: that our knowledge should be generated from within such an attitude” Bent & Shapiro, 1998, p. 167).

I understand that the knowledge the students gained about informational writing was not generated from an attitude of love and compassion but I would argue that teaching within a constructivist model allowed students higher level thinking and they thought about the process they were going through, without just thinking about the end result. And because the end result was open ended, students were given the flexibility to construct their own knowledge of what the purpose of the newspaper would be and what type of article they would write. In the end, in a small way, they did elevate the suffering of others and used their love and compassion for others to drive their learning.

Bent,V.M., & Shapiro, J. J. (1998). Mindful Inquiry in Social Research. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage.

Research and Blogging

July 16, 2015 • mvstoller

When I think of blogging, I think of classroom teachers communicating with parents and other like minded classrooms in an effort to open up the conventional classroom walls and have fun showcasing learning. I have been blogging as a teacher and with my students for a number of years. It has been very successful in making students more engaged in their learning and in having more open communication with parents.

I have used my classroom blog as a platform to showcase students writing, having others critique and comment on their efforts to have a more authentic learning experience. Personally, I have also used blogs to get information on a subject or see someones opinion on something. For example, when I decided that I wanted to make my own French Macarons, I found a blog with recipes and tips and tricks. I had not previously thought of how blogging and research could go together. Blogging seems very informal, and research very formal. So I decided to do some investigating around blogging and research.

I first found an interesting article published in the Guardian by Thomson and Mewburn (2013). The did a small scale quantitative research study to try and understand why academics blog and to see if their finding fit with the current description, that academics blog to “bridge the apparent divide between academia and everyone else”. This was not what their research confirmed. What they found, was that most academics were blogging for their peers as opposed to the general public. That seems to fit with the purpose of this blog, to reflect, connect and share ideas with other members of a learning community. From looking at some other academic blogs, and even blogs in general, I related to the analogy the authors made of bloggers “talking together in a kind of giant, global virtual common room”. They pictured a room of like minded individuals sitting at different sub topic tables and talking about issues that interested them within their given fields of research and interest. They also concluded that these were usually safe and friendly spaces where people felt comfortable sharing information in a platform that was not as formal. This seemed to correlate to what I had found in my informal investigation.

Interestingly, as I tried to look for further studies as to why academics blog I kept coming upon this same study (which was published in Studies in Higher Education in 2013) and could find no others to confirm the findings.

But then I came across an article that stopped gave me pause and reflection. The article, also in the Guardian, was from PhD student Lucy Williams and told about how she started academic blogging and the great benefits it gave her. She used her blog to share information about her current research, allowing her to discuss and debate her ideas with people around the world. But then, she goes on to describe when a friend sent her an article he thought she might be interested in. “When I opened the article, I was surprised and horrified, to find a post I had published on my blog just weeks earlier staring back at me, with somebody else’s name placed at the top. Worse still, I found the same post reproduced on other sites, under the name of more authors” (Williams, 2013). She tried in vain to have her work correctly acknowledged and eventually stopped blogging. She concludes by saying that although she likely will blog again, “until something is done to confront the shameless exploitation of the work of early career academics, it can’t be anything I mind losing” (Williams, 2013).

This story shows the potential negative side of blogging and sharing your research and ideas. There is very little ‘policing’ on the internet and it can be difficult to be confident that what you say won’t be used by someone else. This is just the beginning of what could be a much bigger discussion on this topic. Certainly it is an important discussion to have.

Sources:

P. Thomson and I. Mewburn (2013, December 2). Why do academics blog? It’s not for public outreach, research shows. [Web log post] Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/blog/2013/dec/02/why-do-academics-blog-research

L . Williams (2013, December 4). Academic blogging: a risk worth taking? [Web log post] Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/blog/2013/dec/04/academic-blogging-newspaper-research-plagiarism

Becoming a Researcher

July 14, 2015 • mvstoller

I am not a researcher.

Until a week ago, I had not been a student in over a decade. In fact, I had been the teacher. But I have always been a student of education, particularly elementary education. I am continually learning new strategies and implementing new ideas. Being passionate about making education better is ultimately what drove me to pursue graduate studies.

But, I am not a researcher. As I started to read the assigned book Mindful Inquiry in Social Research, I quickly felt overwhelmed by the language and the content. But I persevered, frequently re-reading sections, and eventually the reading got easier and I was able to start reflecting and anticipating how I might become a researcher. As I read particular sections I became excited and empowered at the prospect of conducting my own research and started to wonder how I might make a significant impact to others, and ultimately, to myself.

As I continued to read and reflect, two things struck me emotionally. The first was a passage from grad student Linda Ford, where she talks about how understanding the diverse traditions in research can open up our own personal understanding. Before this reading, I usually saw research as something that was done with little emotion or connection to find out something that may or may not be used for anything meaningful depending on the outcome. I identified with, and was inspired to “read about research strategies which aimed at understanding, not explanation, at uncovering meanings instead of observing behaviours, at exploring the person’s experience of events instead of just the events” (Bent & Shapiro, 1998, p. 68-69). This resonates with my experience as a teacher and building meaningful relationships with students in order to better understand their needs and why they do what they do. I understood her definition of learning vs knowing with learning being outside of oneself and knowing being inside. I began to see that I have been doing research everyday that I have been teaching, and using this knowledge to improve myself and my students learning experience. I am still not able to see myself in the first person as a researcher, but I feel I am closer to that goal as I begin to establish my own set of needs and values as an eventual researcher.

The second thing that struck me was the idea of mindful inquiry. As I read, it all just made sense. The idea that researching in a mindful way allows for openness which can lead to discovering what is there as well as the potential behind what is there already. Many times when I have implemented something new in the classroom, particularly technology based, I had an idea of where I thought the learning would go. Teaching in an environment of inquiry, which is the model in my school, allows openness by teacher and student to pursue directions that were not previously known when the work started. This openness has lead to great learning and discovery by students, both curriculum based and beyond. It has also increased student enjoyment and sense of empowerment as they feel they are a part of their learning journey. I can see how important this openness would be in researching mindfully, allowing both doors and windows to open. Perhaps more difficult, but the potential would seem infinitely more interesting and complex.

I am not a researcher, but I am excited to become one.

Reference:

Bent,V.M., & Shapiro, J. J. (1998). Mindful Inquiry in Social Research. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage.

Let’s start at the very beginning

July 14, 2015 • mvstoller

Welcome to my wondering and wandering blog. This blog is the beginning of my journey as a MA student in learning and technology at Royal Roads University. Over the past week, I have been equally terrified, exhilarated and overwhelmed. Terrified that I can get all the work done to the standard it needs to be, exhilarated to be jumping feet first into a new phase of life based around a topic I have become very passionate about, and overwhelmed by the steep learning curve that comes when going back to school after more than a decade away.

This blog, I hope, will reflect on my learning, and be a space where I can grapple with the many questions and new understandings that come with new learning.

This feels about right