Task 1: Mapping it out

1993 vs 2003

My love for technology and digital education has been slowly growing since getting my hands on the family computer to the day I bought my first set of VR goggles. I feel like technology is somewhat of a sibling, we have grown up together, faced many challenges and both are continually changing, morphing into something new.

From my first day of school to right now completing my masters degree, I have witnessed technology enter education and change it dramatically. As a student going through this metamorphosis I feel at ease and excited. As a student you get to ride the wave, overcome the challenges with the safety of knowing how to succeed. However as a teacher, this continuing and inevitable process of change is not as comforting. There is still so much uncertainty about how to experience success. Best practice is still being developed, these are shaky, unprecedented times for educators. These thoughts are what motivate and drive my interests in digital education and this particular course. I not only want to learn for myself, how to be a strong educator in a digital world but I also want to be apart of conversations and the rhetoric that will drive future decisions. Inevitably, technology is creating change and I want to have the right knowledge and skills to be apart of the process to ensure it changes education for the better.

The biggest challenge  I will face during this subject is conquering the mountain of knowledge I see before me. I felt overwhelmed just reading Module 1, it is embarrassing to admit, I had to Google the meaning of “Web 2.0”.  In addition, I am a hands-on, trial and error learner so I find it difficult to understand a concept just by reading it. I like to talk things out, create mind maps and apply the knowledge in order to truly understand it. I do believe I will overcome this challenge, by committing to readings, engaging in intellectual conversations with my peers and using new creative mediums to apply and represent new knowledge.

One aspect of my learning that I have yet to address is my current working and living arrangements. I am a Prep teacher at an Australian international school in Sharjah. Our school is incredibly unique as it is the only one in the world that delivers an Australian and UAE Ministry curriculum. The school has worked tirelessly to create a “Third Culture Space” to value both Australian and Emirati cultural and religious values.  The UAE, much like technology in education has developed and grown at an exceedingly fast rate. I thoroughly enjoyed reading through the Digital in 2017 slideshare and was not surprised to see the UAE has one of the highest social media penetration by country. The data accurately reflected what I have witnessed first hand in terms of the expectation to communicate with parents through various social media platforms including Instagram, Whatsapp & Twitter.

Digital in 2017 Les Hoteliers

So what does this all mean in terms of my learning aims and outcomes. As mentioned in my first post I look through Three Lenses, The Teacher, Future Leader and Enthusiast. I aim to interact with the course content by constantly interchanging between these lenses to ensure I maintain perspective and to create unique and well rounded viewpoint of the concepts and topics. My time and experience here in the UAE again adds another sub-lense that I hope will enrich my learning experience.