What?
Task 2.4: Top Tools for your context. Develop a top 10 list of e-learning tools for your context using the format provided below.
Outcomes
A set of learning tools for use in your learning designs, including the rest of this course.
Time - Approximately three to four hours to research the technology tools, build your list and post it to the forum.
This task made me reflect upon the top tech tools that I use as an Edtech Director and Edtech Coach. In looking at my current favourites, I tried to separate the list based on two categories which I found difficult to do at times due to overlap.
Education - Mainly used within my role as an Edtech Director & Edtech Coach
Professional & Personal - Mainly used for professional and personal learning, and general organization.
So What?
Over the space of four years, I have changed from a Grade 4 teacher, to an Edtech Coach and now an Edtech Director. As this change has occurred, so has my use of various tech tools. Below are some of my takeaways.
As pivotal tools to help me connect with others both professionally and personally, Twitter & Feedly used to be at the top of my list. While they still feature around the middle of the table I was surprised that they had
Top spot goes to Google. This wasn't a surprise but what did get my attention was the range of G Suite tools that I rely on everyday. With greater data regulations coming into play, I do wonder and hope that Google are playing their part. However, if they are not, what am I doing to develop my knowledge and skills in the area?
Seesaw - Having been thrust into Distance/Home or Emergency learning due to COVID-19, our kindergarten & elementary relied heavily on Seesaw. While there are certainly mixed feelings about this student portfolio tool, for the most part, it enabled us to effectively do what we wanted to do. In addition, the people at Seesaw had a whole lot of learning to do and problems to solve on the fly which I believe they were successful in.
The once personal social media tools, WhatsApp & Messenger, have now started to invade my professional life and the line between professional and personal is becoming blurrier! Even as type, I am messaging colleagues and vendors via these platforms and this is no doubt due to their universal use.
When I came to the end of the Top 10, I was left with a few apps that I felt needed a mention so these were added to the 'Honourable Mentions and/or Newbies for Me!' section. Some interesting additions to this is Optimize & Blinkist which I am using to help me hack the crazy amount of recommended personal and professional books that I have.
A note to self, while the suggested time for this activity was 3-4 hours, I certainly took a lot longer. Adding hyperlinks, reviewing content, continual research, reflection and formatting all added time.
My Top Ten
Now What?
Based on my top tech tools a big aha moment for me is my lack of connectivity with others and carefully curated content. Ravenscroft (2011) outlines how connectivism can provide learners with the opportunity to “develop and exploit connections for learning” (p. 1) which is what I want to do more of.
Connectivity - By not regularly using Twitter and Feedly, I feel that I am not as "current" as I used to be. Twitter & Feedly provided me with a means to connect, collaborate and communicate with others to up-skill myself, but also to support the learning of others. Like most things, you get out what you put in and I certainly used to leverage these tools for the above reasons. Creating positive habits by daily checking in, posting, and embedding myself in chats, reading and updating my curated list are areas that I need to work on.
In staying connected in the above ways, and outlined by Siemens eights principles of connectivism I plan to continually challenge my thinking so that it is current with a focus on best practices in the world of Education, and Educational Technology.
References
Ravenscroft, A. (2011). Dialogue and Connectivism: A New Approach to Understanding and Promoting Dialogue-Rich Networked Learning. International Review Of Research In Open & Distance Learning, 12(3)
Siemens, G. (2005). Connectivism: A learning theory of a digital age. International Journal of Instruction Technology and Distance learning, 2(1), 3 - 10)
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