Kristen's Learning Blog

Ontario's e-learning strategy is to provide Ontario school boards, teachers and students with tools and resources they need and can use to support learning and instruction. The learning strategy can be found on the   ministry's website . It has 4 technological components:   Learning Management Systems   (LMS) , Ontario Education Resource Bank  (OERB) , E-Community Ontario , and the Seat Reservation System   (SRS) . Essentially the LMS is the virtual classroom. Teachers post the instruction tools (power points, videos, discussion questions, assignments, rubrics etc) to the LMS and students work through the units and lessons.  The OERB is a great resource for teachers and students. Teachers can search lesson plans for different concepts and units. Students can login and find different resources as well.  The E-Community allows teachers all across Ontario to have a place for discussion, collaboration, and resource sharing.  The SRS all...

The Substitution, Augmentation, Modification and Redefinition or SAMR Model is a guideline for educators to use as they make fundamental changes in their teaching and assessment practices through the use of technology. The higher the level the greater the educational benefit for the student. This central idea is what schools, system leaders and teachers need to remember as they begin to make shifts in their pedagogy. If schools want to promote the adoption of one of the models there are a few considerations they need to make. To begin, they need to educate their staff members on what SAMR is by providing PD opportunities related to both   learning about SAMR and putting its ideas into place . People fear change. Many teachers fear technological change. So, if schools want their teachers to make the change they need to educate them, give them example and  time to practice concepts on their lessons so the fear can replaced with confidence in their lessons and abilities. ...

The Dream Let's paint a picture! You walk into a classroom, each student has their laptop, it's charged or plugged into one of the many charging stations in the room. They login to their computer and immediately open up their Google Classroom so they can see the agenda for the day and start the brain teaser or intro activity that is already set up for them as we wait for the rest of the students to trickle in. It's a nice picture. A classroom where students are safe and responsible. They show their initiative and it's 1:1- they all have their own devices. I don't need to worry about a student who doesn't have a phone or a computer at home to finish their work.  Let's paint another picture: it's an inquiry project. The students can research, uncover, and learn something they are interested in. It might be a 20x projec t  or an inquiry project where they are engaged and inspire others around them. The teacher is a facilitator: a source to get ideas ...