Who+Am+I+as+a+Learner?

__**Who am I as a Learner? **

__ I am learning to become a self-directed learner and I am finding it to be a confusing and challenging task. This will certainly be an exciting challenge to meet. In reflecting back on how I have learned or prefer to learn, I believe I like to learn by looking at examples. I like to see how things are done before I try to do it myself. I am used to having teachers or clients tell me how they would like me to complete projects or assignments. I work best when there are guidelines or examples set for my projects. Becoming a self-directed learner means that I will be setting my own guidelines which is something I am not accustomed to doing.

I am learning about technology and its use s an educational tool. I have always been a quick learner when it comes to technology but the more I learn through this course, the more I realize how little I actually know. I have never heard of WIKIs, Google Doc, Twitter, Ning, and so on….. I am amazed at the new educational approaches to using technology in education. The paperless classroom is starting to happen and to me, that means a totally new way of thinking will be involved with pedagogy. A “new school” approach to education is about to happen and it is exciting to learn about new possibilities to educate. I teach band in elementary schools in the north end of Surrey and have been thinking constantly how I might use technology in my band classes. I am challenged by a number of road blocks but I must think of ways to bypass them. Some of the challenges I face are, teaching an average of 4 different schools in a day with a 45 – 50 minute class at each school. Some of the schools I teach band at do not have a dedicated music rooms and require moving tables and chairs before we can begin each class, then replacing everything at the end of class. On average, 5 - 10 minutes of each class are spent getting ready start and 5 minutes at the end of class are used to clean up. The neighbourhoods I teach in also have socio-economic challenges. Many families do not own computers and if they do, many of them are very old. Many of the students I have in my classes do not have very good study habits and some are not supported at home. Several families cannot afford to rent a band instrument for their child. With these challenges in mind, it seems that frequent access to technology will be difficult for most of my students. To gain benefit of the using technology while teaching my students will mean looking at a creative approach to making it a part of my teaching. I am still looking at possibilities of how I can best use technology but want the students to be able to use technology to support their own education.

I have recently joined many groups on the internet. I have searched for groups that are comprised of band teachers that use technology and have found a few groups that I can use as a resource. I have introduced myself to a few of these groups but have not had the time to become a contributing group member. I have not had much time to get deeply involved or investigate these groups but I think they may help me find creative ways to get around some of the road blocks I have mentioned. At present, I have been telling students about various websites they can visit to help with their music education and am hoping to bring the bands into a computer lab so we can look at some resources together. Before I can take my classes into a computer lab, I will need to spend more time planning and investigating websites to present to them.

The more I am learning, the more I have to learn. This course has really opened my eyes to new technologies and my biggest challenge is to be able to use technology effectively in my teaching situation. My future brings creative planning to bring technology into my band classes and scheduling computer times that will not conflict with other classes and preparations of our own performances.