Program Portfolio of
Kirsten Thompson
07:752 Overview of Educational Issues
Instructor: Dr. Tom Skinner
Date: Fall Semester 2014
Transcript Record: A+
Course Outline:
Assignment Exemplars
Memorable Readings
J.M Arseneault, E.S. Orr, C. Ross, R.R. Orr, M.G. Simmering, and M. Sisic. (2009). Personality and motivation associated with
Facebook use. Computers in Human Behaviour. 25, 578-586.
Shea, Virginia. (1997). “Netiquette.” Albion Books. Available online
at: http://www.albion.com/bookNetiquette/0963702513p4.html
Springer Science & Business Media. (2014). Digital Native Fallacy: Teachers still know better when it comes to using
technology. Science Daily. Available online at: www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/10/141020104938.htm
Take Away
As the first course in my M.Ed journey I eagerly anticipated the start of a new adventure but also the teaching style of Dr. Skinner. Having had an opportunity to take three classes with him as part of my B.Ed I knew that his approach to teaching was humorous, terrifyingly frank, and immensely practical; this class maintained that approach. The course centred on the four domains of contemporary educational issues: the classroom, the school, the school community, and the external school community. Participants were organized into cohorts that allowed them to work their way through each domain through a variety of assignments and readings.
The course schedule saw participants attend two day-long face-to-face classes in Dauphin as well as maintain professional participation via Moodle through the length of the course.
Included in my assignment exemplars are: 1) a blog post on the introduction of the Manitoba provincial report card, 2) an essay on the myth of the digital native, 3) an essay on the divergent perspective on the use of social media for professional communication, and 4) a presentation on "Encouraging Student Voice through Social Media".