EDTECH Research

This assignment brought back memories of grad school.  Sifting through article after article, day after day, was my life.  I wish I had known about Google Scholar and linking it to the university library.  I also wish that I had known about Google Docs and the citing feature.  Though it did not give me a spot on, error free APA citation each time, it would still have made my life much easier, especially when I was compiling a reference list of the 40+ sources that I used for an independent study.  I think that I had convinced myself that I enjoyed the intricacies of writing APA style citations up until the second that I first clicked on the "cite" button in Google Docs.  

Reading the primary literature at the intersection of the fields of Educational Technology, Teaching English as a Second Language, and Applied Linguistics was eye opening.  I had, for so long, ignored and was completely disinterested in the field of computer assisted language learning.  After taking in the lit reviews, data, and results, I realized that many tools, or should I say many effective tools are available for teachers in the field of ESL.  I was amazed at two specific findings: (1) that the use of blogs and wikis does actually have quantitative and qualitative data to support use in the classroom and (2) that researchers have already developed field-specific, web-based tools to support ESL writing classrooms.  Although these findings did show me the promise of using these technologies in the classroom, I thought about one foreseeable problem: Most of these studies were conducted in classes composed  of linguistically and culturally homogeneous students.  My classes are usually linguistically and culturally diverse.  I have not yet found any research addressing this issue.

Overall, I found this exercise useful.  It reawakened my interest in research in general and started my interest in educational technology as it applies to ESL.  

Here is my paper: Annotated Bibliography

RSS in Education

Learning about ways that educators are using RSS was an eye-opening experience.  Prior to this module, I didn't even know what RSS stood for.  I'd seen the little, orange RSS icon millions of times before and never even thought twice about it.  I had no idea that something that could make my life so much easier was literally a tiny orange icon that I had overlooked a million times while I was reading articles on the NYT and NPR.  Needless to say, I installed Feedly and am now addicted to it.    

RSS in Education was a tough assignment!  I initially thought about ways to use RSS with the students I teach: international students who are completing their freshman and sophomore years of college.  After playing with several ideas that I thought would not be very effective for use in the classroom, I switched gears and thought about my colleagues, who like me teach academic reading and writing using a content-based language teaching methodology.  Consequently, I decided that my target audience would be my colleagues rather than our students.  As I mention in my video, one of the most time-consuming parts of teaching content-based ESL is searching for reading materials to supplement the themed units in our textbooks.   My video tutorial explains a way to simplify this search by using RSS to collect content from newsfeeds and blogs and to organize the content to coincide with each of the themed units in "Q:Skills 5 Reading and Writing" (a content-based textbook that many ESL writing teachers use).

I have to say that learning about RSS and ways to use it in education was not nearly as difficult as creating the video tutorial using Camtasia Studio 8 as this was my first real experience with video editing software.  I chose Camtasia since I have had, literally, about 30 minutes of prior experience using it at a faculty development workshop, and I thought that that tiny bit of familiarity with the program would help me somehow.  I was wrong.  The only aspect of Camtasia I was familiar with was the name "Camtasia."  

I apologize in advance for any editing "issues" my video has.  

Here it is: RSS in Education

Elements of Educational Technology

Before reading "The Definition of Educational Technology," my understanding of educational technology or any technology was very limited (not that it isn't limited anymore, though I feel a bit more enlightened).  My encounters with technology in general prior to the reading or the first week of this course for that matter were limited to a facebook account which I closed over two years ago and figuring out that my smartphone has a flashlight function.  Honestly, this is not exaggeration.  As far as educational technology goes I'm embarrassed to admit that my experience is limited to the occasional powerpoint presentation and attempting to set up a wiki for my writing class, which incidentally didn't exactly pan out, and hearing my students talking about "googling" the answers.  Some second-hand experience include listening to some colleagues talk about having their students use threaded discussions and hearing about a program called Camtasia.  I attribute this ignorance partially to my resistance to technology and the fact that the college at which I teach still utilizes chalk, blackboards, and overhead projectors.  Again, not an exaggeration. 

After reading AECT's definition of Ed Tech, which superficially looks fairly self-explanatory, and then reading the in-depth descriptions of each of the definition's core elements, I discovered that Ed Tech is not just power point presentations, facebook blogs, and "googling" it (the understatement of the week).  It is a field not only merging education and technology but also one that is informed by philosophy, ethics, sociology (e.g. critical theory or postmodern stances on ethical practice), and psychology, to name a few.

The assignment of choosing what I thought was the most important element in the definition of Ed Tech really functioned to show me more about my own teaching philosophy and the kind of teacher I strive to be than anything else.  I chose the term facilitating as it seems to be the most basic, foundational characteristic of what being a teacher is and how the tools that educational technology provides should function.

Link to "Elements" Google Doc

Welcome!

Hi, everybody.  My name is Alex Ibaraki.  I'm a teacher in the ESL department at Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, CA.  I teach academic reading and writing, advanced grammar, and academic vocabulary.

I earned a BS in Biology and an MA in English with options in Teaching English as a Second Language and Rhetoric/Composition both from Cal Poly Pomona. I'm pursuing this Master's degree because I want to find new ways to engage my students in on-ground classes, teach online courses, and overcome my paralyzing fear of technology.
. 

Outside of teaching I enjoy hanging out with my family, trying new food (and drinks), being health conscious, running, reading, and playing the piano.

I plan on using this learning log to organize, share, and reflect on the artifacts that I develop throughout this program.