In my semester class, Interactive and Multimedia Learning Theories, I engaged in a self-guided inquiry, researching topics suitable for my practice as a grade one French Immersion Teacher. I researched topics that I was interested in and blogged each week, posting various research articles and suggested multimodal tools that could be used in an early childhood classroom. This reflection is a sharing of my learning journey in this class and a brief summary of some of the key takeaways.
I enjoyed working collaboratively with my pod members, Erica, Lauren and Megan. We met weekly to discuss our inquiry, to ask questions about our blog, and engage in good conversation about our learning processes. This format was beneficial since we had the opportunity to share what we were learning and the tools we were using, to clarify any questions, and to provide valuable feedback to each other.
I learned how to blog! This was my first experience blogging and I plan to continue to use this tool in my practice. The process of blogging encouraged me to research topics that I was interested in and share my feedback and learning from the research I reviewed. I managed to post a weekly blog post that summarized various scholars’ findings. I was able to review research that was delivered through multiple mediums, such as Ted Talks, scholarly review articles, and other blogs. This helped to expand the ways that I am able to gather information relevant to my practice. I also enjoyed reading my pod members blogs! Erica, Lauren and Megan provided insightful topics that engaged me throughout this course. I was fortunate to have worked and collaborated with these talented teachers, and I benefited from discussing their research with them.
This was my first experience with an online class. Meeting weekly for class was a good way to connect with the cohort, share our processes and understanding of the class topics, and engage in deeper understanding. I especially enjoyed having guest speakers discuss how they use technology in the classroom and I feel that I benefited from hearing about the speakers experiences and knowledge. A speaker that resonated to me was Erica’s guest, Alison Stewart from Aspire! Occupational Therapy & Coaching LTD. She provided our cohort with insightful and practical knowledge to help fine motor skills for early year learners. Stewart provided essential tools that can be used to assist students struggling with fine motor skills but markedly those with lack of physical strength and coordination, visual impairments, the fear of failure, or individual disorders (e.g, ADD). This resonated with me as I have noticed several students in my classroom that struggle with fine motor skills and this presentation provided me with tools that I can use to assist my students.
This class has helped me to improve my abilities using technology and communicating using a digital format. I enjoyed reviewing articles that discussed various modalities that were proven to be essential for an Early French Immersion classroom. The multimodal process that I chose to focus my research on is digital technologies. My research demonstrated key evidence that digital technology enriches French literacy in ways that written processes cannot. It also proved to connect school to home, encouraging more parental engagement in student learning. Essentially, digital tools (e.g., video and audio recordings) can help teachers support and enhance literacy in the classroom and at home especially for the shy and reluctant learners. Recording student voice helps with their pronunciation and reading strategies, while providing constructive feedback and involving parents to participate in their child’s learning. Students can also record reading at home in a space that they feel most comfortable. These practices are key takeaways that I will apply with my students.
As I sum up my reflection, I want to acknowledge that although this course was not face-to-face, I nevertheless managed to feel immense support from my peers and remained connected to my cohort. My pod members worked as a team and provided constructive feedback on weekly assignments. Our discussions were meaningful, celebrating and sharing our successes at school and for this course. As for my research on enhancing literacy development for EFI, this is a continuous journey that I will embark on, and I am confident that my takeaways from this class are a solid start to further research.
