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- The advent of blended learning, hybrid classes, and flipped instruction.
- The establishment of communities of practice, blogs, and wikis.
- Open education resources.
- The increase in choice, control, and independence of learners.
- Asynchronous teaching and learning.
- New forms of assessments.
- Self-directed learning.
The component that I would really like to try with my students is the example of ePortfolios that were implemented by the Faculty of Music at Wilfrid Laurier University. My role as a technology teacher and our district's use of Google in the classroom afford my students the opportunity, hardware, platform and resources to create their own ePortfolios. While my students are considerably younger than college age, the overarching ideas are applicable at any age. Students can use the Blogger pages they have set up and reflections they post in a similar way, or we can modify the structure of their blogs and use Google Sites instead. My students can report on their activities and progress, set goals and strategies, compile a full list of their technology work, and have guided discussions with me at the end of the rotation. Grant Wiggins supports this in his discussion of 'Understanding by Design' when he asks the educators in the room to come up with a mission statement for their course and answer the question, "What is the point?" We could do the same for students, and ask them what they think the goals of class/courses/tasks are. Some specific things I'd like to try in conjunction with ePortfolios:
- Set and record goals and strategies, both academic and personal, at the beginning of each marking period.
- Have end-of-course 'exit' discussions with each student and use their ePortfolios as a guide.
- Discuss ePortfolios with teachers at my school and at the Grade 7/8 school; I cannot guarantee continuity but it would be good to have teachers who will have these students know about this compilation of work.
Bates, Tony. "A New Pedagogy Is Emerging... and Online Learning Is a Key Contributing Factor." Contact North. N.p., n.d. Web.
"Grant Wiggins - Understanding by Design (1 of 2)." YouTube. YouTube, 28 Feb. 2013. Web.
"Grant Wiggins - Understanding by Design (2 of 2)." YouTube. YouTube, 7 March 2013. Web.