IDEA CREATION: Finding an education technology issue, topic, or theme has been a challenge for me at first. I thought about many different areas which could be researched and explored further but none really struck a chord with me until we were shown a bunch of sample projects from MEd students of a previous cohort during one of our zoom meetings for EDCI 515. This is where I saw the website created by Jeremy O’Shea, INDIGENIZING SHOP, which accompanied his paper “Implementing Indigenous Education with Technology Education in British Columbia”. During one of our breakout rooms, a further discussion with Leslee inspired me to further engage in the idea of creating a website myself.
EXPLORING THE IDEA: I have several ideas as to where to potentially take this topic. Being in the north we are very limited on options for purchasing resources for our classes/shops so I thought about creating a website for us local Tech Ed teachers to utilize as a platform to share our resources. This could provide a place for all of us to refer to for local shops for supplies, with a description of what can be purchased where, as well as another place for online resources/websites. In addition to physical resources, I could create tabs/sections for each of our disciplines (Wood/Metal/3D Printing/Robotics, etc) where I can design a template for project plans to be uploaded and shared amongst ourselves and students. Another section could include a place for all of us to showcase student projects or potentially to post ePortfolios if we go that route. Of course, now a lot more ethical concerns will come into play due to privacy concerns for students.
ACCESSING THE IDEA: Of course, whatever is created needs to be accessible to other colleagues, as well as students. I could develop all of this through Google Classroom as our district uses this platform and all students have access to it. There are limitations though, such as the fact it is only accessible if you are within our local network (have a gmail account through us as an active student or teacher/employee). So if you leave the district for other employment or as a student and graduate, you will no longer have access to this resource. Another option could be to create it as an actual website and have it hosted somewhere else. Either way, there are many considerations to take when making a decision for this.
IDEA RATIONALE: The main reason for the need of such a resource is the fact there are many issues related to northern and rural communities within education. Resources for teachers and students in more remote, rural communities are drastically more scarce than our counterparts in other more populated regions of the province so an opportunity for more resource sharing is needed. Northern and rural communities face more challenges in teacher development and professional development. Further, and simply due to smaller numbers of professionals within small communities, there are less opportunities for colleague collaboration within a specific topic.
IDEA CHALLENGES: My primary challenge with this project topic is where to take the research. As this is a very specific and localized issue, I am going to have to be creative in my research. Perhaps focussing on issues related to northern and rural communities would be my main ideology for this project and then I can spread from there to iterate the dire need to further develop this resource.