CITEC 900 Introduction to the Innovative Educators Certificate

My plan is to take the following electives in the order below:

Elective 1: TEC 991 Create a Classroom Website (enroll approx. 12/1/17)

Elective 2: TEC 966 Project Based Learning (enroll approx. 2/1/18)

Elective 3: STEM 903 Sketch Up 3D Learning (enroll approx 2/21/18)

Initial Thoughts

So far, I have been able to easily navigate all tools that we have using, except for the video camera and microphone during our Blackboard session. But, I think that if I use my ipad next time, I will be completely connected. I must admit, I was a little nervous when I first saw the calendar, but I am confident that I will be able to handle the coursework. It is a little nerve racking to be going back to school, but I have to remind myself that the outcome will be well worth it. I think my biggest fear is lack of time!

Thus far the assignments have helped me identify what areas I want to focus on “innovating” in teaching, and that is history. I do want to strengthen my technology skills, so that I offer diverse learning experiences to my students.

I definitely had a big eye-opener when doing research on my final project. I listened to a podcast by Dan Carlin, host of “Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History” podcast, and he made some pretty bold statements. One which of which I knew, and try to teach history with in mind, is that the purpose of teaching history is to gain historical perspective, not remember dates and names. I have been trying to teach this way, but it puts me so far behind, and do not nearly address the content standards that I need to. Another claim he made, that I unfortunately agree with, is that students do not remember history, they do not make the connections to the content to retain the information, therefore we are probably teaching it wrong. I am ok with that, because if we are teaching it wrong, then it needs to change, and I am good with making a change. Carlin, who is not an educator, made other suggestions, such as teaching history from the present- which makes sense, but I feel like I need to see a model of this to understand how it is done- or maybe we will be creating the model?!?!? So, back to that final project- looking to revamp history with some Project Based Learning. There is a framework training, I think in January or early February that I am going to look into going to- hopefully that will help piece the puzzle together. Until then, I will continue to research.

As for my electives- they will be based around my final project. I plan to create a website for the final project, so I will be taking the Website Design first, that way I can get started on the platform of the project. The second course I will take will be the Project Based Learning. This is how I plan to innovate to create a project based course. Lastly, I am taking the Sketch 3D. I choose this course because I had never heard of it and it sounded cool, Possibly a way that students can display their knowledge- we shall see.