Greetings fellow ECI 834 students. I look forward to learning with you over the course of the term!

Who am I?

I am Logan Petlak.

• High school science educator (biology, health science, environmental science).
• Football coach (and track coach).
• Recreational hockey player.
  

  Foster kitten: “Jesse” (now adopted: “Lou”)

• Physical activity addict (weight training, assorted sports)
• Frequent co-foster parent of stray cats and kittens (with my beautiful partner, Kristin).
• NFL/NHL fan.
• Moose Jaw product and resident.
• Lifelong learner and critical thinker.
• Proud Central Collegiate, Moose Jaw teacher.
• Avid gamer and supporter of gamification of learning.
• Open education supporter.
• Student advocate.
• #EdTech enthusiast and;
• Fledgling distance educator.

This course revolves around the final point! It’s not necessarily a fresh topic for me, I’ve discussed it before. How exactly can I bring the Mr. Petlak experience worldwide? Not for personal gain, but to simply aid in the learning of others? Better question, how do I best deliver online education and learning to others? Therein lies my goals for this course:

1. Gain resources and tools to create a distance learning classroom. Then utilize tools to best replicate what it’s like to be in a face-to-face classroom with students (and for students, with me).
2. Connect with other professionals who can provide examples, suggestions and support as I develop distance learning opportunities.
3. Critique and analyze the learning inherent within distance education and what learning may be lost outside of a face-to-face or in-school setting.
4. BONUS: begin developing content for my Biology course as part of our module assignment!

 

In our school, some students are already taking distance education courses. Through informal polling, it has received generally positive reviews! Perhaps it was a shift in thinking but I don’t remember them being offered as much when I was in high school and, in my only distance experience in university, I had a hard time getting engaged without the face-to-face piece…

Fast forward.

When picking where to apply for my Master’s, distance education/universities came up, but I assumed they would hold less validity or reverence than other institutions so I decided against it. Whether it was engagement or validity of distance education, I guess I should’ve watched this video first!

Opportunities for distance education are available for most subjects, at many levels, worldwide. How will I fit into the distance education world and can I provide something that others don’t, and will I stick to my open education-centered morality?

If you were a distance educator, would you capitalize on the potential financial gain associated with private education?

How will your distance classroom work?

Am I foolish to hope that I can almost completely replicate the classroom experience, or is being consistently connected (via email) and using apps/tools like Zoom, Remind, virtual reality, google docs or GAFE to include all of the Google apps I guess (thanks Kyle), and socrative not enough to make it happen completely and becomes a blended learning environment (just shy of a completely online course)?

How will I account for students who don’t have as much access? We know they will be affected negatively, can we supply devices at a distance?

 

Regardless, I intend to close the distance between where I am now, and where I want to be with distance and blended education.

 

Thoughts and comments are welcome!
Logan Petlak