MSU2011: Looking back and forward

Day 10.. the final day of the on-site meetings before the students go on-line for four weeks. It has been 2 weeks of interesting, active and dynamic activities. This morning some readings are discussed, such as the recent (2011) paper on of Punya Mishra, Matthew Koehler and Danah Henriksen on "The 7 trans-disciplinary habits of mind: Extending the TPACK framework towards 21st Century Learning".

But most of the activities today are looking back at what has been learned and looking forward toward what should happen in the next four weeks.

For instance, the students have to sketch out their own personal learning network and they have to list all the technologies the encountered during the last two weeks. An impressive list!

But it's also imprssive what has to be done in the next four weeks.. each group has to explore some key topics in technology & education and write about these topics individually in a wiki. The topics are

• Developing information literacy, technology skills (in students)
• Meeting the diverse needs of your students, assistive technologies, particularly through the idea of Universal Designs for Learning (UDL)
• Social and ethical uses of technology (particularly digital equity, intellectual property, and copyright) and healthy practices in the use of educational technology
• Using Technology to Facilitate/Develop Creativity and Critical Thinking Skills in Students
• Using Technology to Engage in Professional Development & Leadership

This could become a very interesting resource for many of us!!

Everything that will be posted in the wikis can be used while writing a technology based grant proposal for transformative learning. And next to all these things each student has to develop a personal web portfolio and write a final reflection paper. These are all individual assignments, but the students do have the chance of course to talk (virtually) with each other and they have the opportunity to talk either face to face (here on campus) or online (Facebook, e-mail, skype, twitter) with the instructors.

And.. at the end of July every student will come back to MSU. They will present everything that they have done this summer in a "science fair": each group chooses a location in the room and set their presentation up and each student (and instructor!) has the opportunity to look around. I wish I could be there too... Maybe we can set up a connection so I am able to see the science fair virtually??

All MAET students & instructors (and guest..)