Photo courtesy – Aaron Burden – Unsplash
Self Assessment #1 – Mark Desautels – Oct. 2022
After some reflection, I have decided to give myself a 9 out of 10. I just think that giving myself a 10 seems a bit too presumptuous. The following ramble is my attempt to justify this. To begin with, my attendance to this point has been perfect, so that works in my favour. I am thoroughly enjoying all aspects of the course to this point, which makes it easy to be here every class. That and the fear of missing out compel me to attend. Truthfully, I find the subject matter extremely interesting, and am looking forward to learning how to utilize different aspects of the technology moving forward. Being more of a Tradesperson, and less of an Academic, I have found some of the subject matter a bit difficult to understand, but feel as though I am learning and progressing, and I try to stay involved in each class and contribute when and where I can. Although I have not yet begun to develop the WordPress side of the course, I have dabbled in H5P a bit now, and am eager to continue using this to enhance my course delivery. I have mentioned before that much of what I do is dictated by the curriculum handed down by the ITA, but within the course guidelines, I feel there is opportunity for these teaching and learning tools, and am looking forward to developing some of my own using these technologies. I am also excited to involve myself with and expand on the WordPress website idea. I have always been able to muck about and fumble my way through a lot of this computer “stuff”, but am very interested in learning WordPress and everything it has to offer, correctly.
From the beginning of this course my goal has been to expand my knowledge and understanding of some of these technologies that are available to us, and learn if and how I could best utilize them with my students. Even at this point in the course, I feel I have made substantial gains in my “technological comprehension”. In closing I feel confident in giving myself a 9, not because I have learned it all or know it all by any means, but I am giving it my best shot every week without fail.
Self Assessment #2 – Mark Desautels – Nov. 2022
I am giving myself a 10 out of 10 on this, my second self assessment for Technology for Teaching and Learning. Although I’m not sure if the portfolio and the assignments within are exactly what are being asked for, I have spent many long days and even a few sleepless nights creating and refining. I have attended every evening of the course and participated when and where I felt it was relevant. I kept up with, and actually looked forward to the weekly readings, which I found extremely eye opening, particularly the Turnitin read. I have copied and kept almost all of the readings to be able to review. I have attempted many of the technology platforms, and I was successful in creating several projects. By working on and developing these projects, I have become much more familiar with the different platforms, and feel that I can navigate through many of these technologies. As a side benefit of using some of these technologies, I have had to work in Moodle, which is something I had yet to do, and so have become slightly more familiar with it, which is something I will expand on in the near future. I feel I was successful at building a website in WordPress, which was exciting, as well as developing a Kaltura presentation that is completely usable in my classes going forward. I also made a podcast, which is something I would have never foreseen. I don’t like to listen to my own recorded voice, so that in itself was a major milestone, and that applies to the Kaltura project as well. With the other platforms, it may take some time to create something that is usable in the trades classroom, but now I have something to work with. All in all, this course has opened doors to new and exciting methods of teaching which will serve to enhance my abilities as an effective instructor. I would like to add that none of this would have been remotely possible if not for the guidance and direction of Jamie and Brenna, I have enjoyed every excruciatingly brain draining minute. Thanks very much to both of you!