Background?
I'm Jim Buckingham, an expat Canadian who is living and working in the UAE as an Education Technologist and Data Modelling Instructor / Intro to Information Technology Instructor at Zayed University.
Why am I here?
I'm here because I can "see the writing on the wall" already that competencies in this area are gonig to be increasingly in demand in the field of education as funds become tighter, competition becomes keener and administrators come under increasing pressure to rationalize instructional design. Analyzing the effects of change to all aspects of instructional design is my focus here.
What am I currently involved in?
I'm an advocate of
- online and distance learning
- online community building
- PLNs via eportfolios
- implementing and moderating an online community for EFL instructors in the Arabian Gulf region- TAEDTECH Ning
- coordinating and building resources to support a new course in Introducing Information Technology (ultimate goal is to deliver such a course online)
I'll consider this course a success if it
- promotes networking with others who can share their own perspectives on the subject and can test/challenge mine too
- offers new concepts and tools for directly collecting, analyzing and interpreting data from my current instructional environment
Looking forward to networking with others in joint efforts to learn more about this behemoth of a subject.
I can be followed on Twitter
@buckinsand