Welcome to Jean Kloppenburg's Personal WebSpace
Nanaimo has been my home since 1984 and in that time I have raised three children, earned my education degree, and obtained full-time employment teaching within my field of art. At this time, it is a family affair at Vancouver Island University with my middle son and daughter also attending. My eldest son is working on his fourth-class engineer ticket with distant learning through BCIT. We are a family of learners and I couldn’t be more pleased.
My current assignment is teaching fine arts at Woodlands Secondary. This is my “dream job” because I am teaching what is dear to my heart. Creativity and being able to express it in all forms is what excites me and there is no greater satisfaction than to bring that out in my students. My job is not without its challenges, which is why I have chosen to return to school to find new and exciting ways to increase student engagement and creativity.
My first paid teaching job involved online learning, teaching ESL to Korean students at 3AM my time. While the hours were not great, learning with and getting to know my students via webcam was rewarding. The experience I gained using online technologies and distant learning qualified me for my first teaching assignment in School District 68.
I began my teaching career at Aurora on Gabriola Island. Aurora was a K-10 learn@home school, unique within the district at that time. We ran a two-and-a-half-day program with learning plans set for each student that adhered to ministry guidelines. School time was social- and theme-based, and most course work was accomplished at home. To date, working at Aurora was the most rewarding teaching experience of my career. My students were self-directed, motivated and highly creative. We practised the distance education motto of “learning anytime and anywhere”.
My positive experience with online learning has shaped my personal attitude towards learning outside a traditional classroom. I have witnessed firsthand successes and failures within an online-learning and distant-learning environment. The constant factor for success were regular face-to-face connections and check-ins with a teacher, whether via webcam or in person. I stress the word "connections" because the stronger the relationship with a student, the more successful that student felt within the learning environment. Students worked closely with me individually and within a group setting. We met regularly, attended fieldtrips and had numerous opportunities for feedback and individual instruction. Failures occurred when students distanced themselves from the learning community. Adrift and eventually floundering, they either left the program or never completed the course. A successful learning environment meant human contact, personal feedback, and motivation to learn.
My view remains that “learning can happen anytime and anyplace” and that the potential for online learning is great, but it does have limitations. Those limitations are teacher access and connection, quality of the courses offered, and assessment for learning. Are students getting a quality education within an online learning environment? How are they required to demonstrate their learning?
I believe in creating a community of learners with an inquiry-based learning style, whether within an online environment or a traditional classroom. Building that community lays a foundation for learning to occur, encouraging students to become self-directed and independent learners. I envision online learning within a K-12 learning environment incorporating “flip teaching”, where the content is available online and the students access it and then practise those skills within a classroom or teacher-facilitated setting, much like the ever popular Khan Academy www.khanacademy.org/about . Teachers working as facilitators can assess the learning and intervene when needed with individual or group tutorials. Students set their own pace and have many opportunities to review and demonstrate their learning.
My question for consideration for OLTD 501 would be: Can our system of teaching in place within our public schools transform itself to reach the new generation of learners that are emerging in our society, many choosing online learning because it provides learning for anyone, anytime, anyplace? If online education is part of that transformation, what will that transformation need to have in place to ensure success for all learners?
My current assignment is teaching fine arts at Woodlands Secondary. This is my “dream job” because I am teaching what is dear to my heart. Creativity and being able to express it in all forms is what excites me and there is no greater satisfaction than to bring that out in my students. My job is not without its challenges, which is why I have chosen to return to school to find new and exciting ways to increase student engagement and creativity.
My first paid teaching job involved online learning, teaching ESL to Korean students at 3AM my time. While the hours were not great, learning with and getting to know my students via webcam was rewarding. The experience I gained using online technologies and distant learning qualified me for my first teaching assignment in School District 68.
I began my teaching career at Aurora on Gabriola Island. Aurora was a K-10 learn@home school, unique within the district at that time. We ran a two-and-a-half-day program with learning plans set for each student that adhered to ministry guidelines. School time was social- and theme-based, and most course work was accomplished at home. To date, working at Aurora was the most rewarding teaching experience of my career. My students were self-directed, motivated and highly creative. We practised the distance education motto of “learning anytime and anywhere”.
My positive experience with online learning has shaped my personal attitude towards learning outside a traditional classroom. I have witnessed firsthand successes and failures within an online-learning and distant-learning environment. The constant factor for success were regular face-to-face connections and check-ins with a teacher, whether via webcam or in person. I stress the word "connections" because the stronger the relationship with a student, the more successful that student felt within the learning environment. Students worked closely with me individually and within a group setting. We met regularly, attended fieldtrips and had numerous opportunities for feedback and individual instruction. Failures occurred when students distanced themselves from the learning community. Adrift and eventually floundering, they either left the program or never completed the course. A successful learning environment meant human contact, personal feedback, and motivation to learn.
My view remains that “learning can happen anytime and anyplace” and that the potential for online learning is great, but it does have limitations. Those limitations are teacher access and connection, quality of the courses offered, and assessment for learning. Are students getting a quality education within an online learning environment? How are they required to demonstrate their learning?
I believe in creating a community of learners with an inquiry-based learning style, whether within an online environment or a traditional classroom. Building that community lays a foundation for learning to occur, encouraging students to become self-directed and independent learners. I envision online learning within a K-12 learning environment incorporating “flip teaching”, where the content is available online and the students access it and then practise those skills within a classroom or teacher-facilitated setting, much like the ever popular Khan Academy www.khanacademy.org/about . Teachers working as facilitators can assess the learning and intervene when needed with individual or group tutorials. Students set their own pace and have many opportunities to review and demonstrate their learning.
My question for consideration for OLTD 501 would be: Can our system of teaching in place within our public schools transform itself to reach the new generation of learners that are emerging in our society, many choosing online learning because it provides learning for anyone, anytime, anyplace? If online education is part of that transformation, what will that transformation need to have in place to ensure success for all learners?