It was my first time taking an online class. I did not expect this to be so convenient and helpful. This new format of “face-to-face” communication was neat and engaging. It was such a wonderful experience to connect with my cohort and share our learning with each other. In this blog, I would like to reflect on my learning journey, including the useful tools and resources that I learned from this course, the learning through my weekly blog and my research paper, as well as the knowledge I gained from the group presentations and my peers.
Useful Tools and Resources
I discovered some useful apps that I can use in my classroom. For example, I use Epic! on a daily basis. Epic! is an online classroom library which has over 35,000 books for young children and is free to educators. I play some “Read-To-Me” books during snack and lunch time, and my students love the videos, especially the national geographic books.
Also, I get inspired by some lessons and activities created by Minecraft Education Edition. I will explore more of it during this winter break as some of my students are into Minecraft. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to introduce math and science in a Minecraft world? My students will be stoked!
In addition, I was introduced to Zotero a few weeks ago, but I regretted that I did not watch the video until recently. What an amazing tool! It will be the best reference tool for my future research studies.
Weekly Blog and Research Paper
Blogging is a great way to learn, reflect, and communicate with others. Some of my awesome coworkers use blogs to share weekly update and student’s learning progress and have received positive feedback from parents. The inquiry project of our research paper and the weekly blog post were the best ways to learn “how to learn”, collect information for research studies, and enhance my learning and understanding in current research.
I expanded the knowledge of Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) model and the practice through Lisenbee and Ford’s (2017) theoretical studies. It helped me understand how to choose and use technology successfully in the classroom. I have a better understanding of how to use digital storytelling as a pedagogical approach in the classroom. One of the interesting findings from my research articles is to learn how various methodologies (e.g., qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection and analysis) are used to analyze a research by other scholars.
Group Presentations and Learning Pod
I have learned so much from my professor and my peers during the course. Heidi and I chat all the time about our learning progress. We both use FreshGrade and we often discuss ways to support student’s learning through documentation. Although I changed my research topic to digital storytelling, Heidi has provided many insightful opinions in my research topic. I also enjoyed reading Erica, Lauren and Sarah’s blogs. In addition, I really appreciated and enjoyed having the guest speakers in this course, especially Erica’s guest, Alison Stewart from Aspire! Occupational Therapy & Coaching LTD. She was knowledgeable and provided some great resources and tools for developing fine motor skills in early childhood.
To conclude, I have achieved most of my goals that I set at the beginning of this course, such as gaining more knowledge and understanding about the current research in multimedia learning and expanding my learning experiences in creating a professional learning network. This is the start of my learning journey and there is so much more to learn!
Reference
Mishra, P., & Koehler, M. J. (2006). Technological pedagogical content knowledge: A framework for teacher knowledge. Teachers College Record, 108(6), 1017–1054. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9620.2006.00684.x
