Launching Another Course... Coming to the End of a Journey

Hello all! My name is Jenn Stewart-Mitchell and this is my 4th EdTech Class (3rd of the Courosbrandt variety) and my 9th class overall.

"Yusss" by Jenn Stewart-Mitchell (via Bitmoji)

Although it's exciting to be almost finished, I'm starting to wonder how I will fill my time when I'm done! Imagine all that time to... relax, watch Netflix, play with my kids, or even workout regularly... Whatever will I do with all that extra time? Run... maybe train for a marathon?? Start guitar or pottery classes? Grow a big vegetable garden? Okay, okay... I'm not finished yet, we're just starting this class, so I shouldn't get ahead of myself. Onward with sharing my reflections!

So who am I? Well to recap what was shared on the EC&I 834 Selfies Introduction Padlet, I am an EdTech Consultant with the Regina Catholic School Division and have been in this role for the last two years. Prior to that I was a Middle Years Teacher and Teacher Librarian with experience teaching grades five to ten over the past... er...um... *several* years.

"All About Me" by Jenn Stewart-Mitchell 

Working in Educational Technology has given me fantastic opportunities to work with many teachers and students from pre-kindergarten to grade twelve. Obviously I love integrating technology into learning, but my first passion actually isn't edtech, instead student driven inquiry and project based learning. Perhaps this is why I was drawn to work in this area, to find ways to help students and teachers learn how to co-pilot learning in our classrooms. In addition to this, another one of my passions is looking at how student voice can be shared in creative ways from blogging and vlogging to digital storytelling. Quite honestly, all the classes I have taken with Alec and Katia, have been quite integral to my growth and professional learning (Although this may sound like blatant flattery to Alec and Katia, I do mean that sincerely).

In this course I hope to:
First, explore the best practices for designing an online and  blended learning course, and to continue my work in developing resources for Digital Citizenship. One of my projects for the past year has been exploring Digital Citizenship from a faith-based perspective. The project is titled, Samaritans on the Digital Road and includes a series of lessons and interactive whiteboard Mimio lessons for grade one to six.

"Digital Samaritan" by Jenn Stewart-Mitchell

Second, I hope to continue my work for grade 7/8 and develop a blended learning digital citizenship course with a faith-based lens in mind.
Since my school division uses Moodle for our learning online programs at the high school level, my goal is to also highlight this as an option for middle years, particularly as a segue to promote online learning for students as they enter high school. Which leads to my third goal...


My final goal is to learn how to use Moodle more proficiently. In spite of working in Educational Technology, I actually have little experience in designing online learning in Moodle for students, as that instruction is part of the Learning Online department. So I am actually pretty excited to learn more about how to design effective online courses, as I think it will definitely assist me in my current position - and if I return to the classroom in the future.

"Highway 6" (CC BY-NC 2.0) by aultcom

That about sums up my goals and a little bit about me... Looking forward to the journey with all of you!