EDIM 508 u01a1 From BASIC to native...is it possible?

Hello everyone...
My name is Fiona Clark and I am a high school science teacher, primarily teaching chemistry with some physics and food science thrown in for extra fun!! I have been teaching at a rural high school in Nova Scotia, Canada since 1995 with two small breaks (back to school for a year and teaching in Bermuda for a year). I am very lucky to be involved with the International Baccalaureate program which really allows students to develop the skills that are necessary for them to become lifelong learners.

In my spare time I like to stay active, do yoga, play badminton and play volleyball, cook, drink wine and travel. I am getting rather excited about my trip to China on August 5th....so will be working madly to get everything done before then!! I am also doing the Digital Storytelling course at the same time so hopefully will find time to do it all and relax over the summer vacation:)

After reading the introductory readings I think that I have a lot to learn about all forms of media and how I can incorporate them into my classroom to make learning more realistic for my students. Technology has changed the science of chemistry immensely in the past one hundred years and media has changed the face of education over the past twenty years. I am really interested in finding practical ways to include media in my classroom to enhance my teaching. I definitely see the importance of changing my status from immigrant to native. My comfort level and understanding of media changed greatly since the time of getting the clock to stop flashing on the VCR and writing tic-tac-toe programs with BASIC and I cannot wait to learn more.

I see all three of the course objectives as being important ones to include in my teaching repertoire. They are also three uses of media that I am not familiar with at present. I look forward to learning lots and moving closer to getting my landed immigrant status!!