[I have selected an image I shot from my Dad’s trapline in Mayo, Yukon, where I was raised. Mayo is a small community some 400 kilometres north of Whitehorse, located at the confluence of the Stewart and Mayo rivers, on the traditional territories of the Na-cho Nyak Dun. Being raised in a small remote community has given me strong ties to the land, and also has allowed me the opportunity to develop many life skills that may not have been available in a more urban environment.]
My name is Ryan, and I teach in beautiful Christina Lake, BC, in School District 51 (Kootenay-Boundary). I wear many hats, primarily as a classroom teacher for grades 2-7. I teach Math to the grade 2s and 3s, and grade 6s and 7s, French to the 4s to 7s, Language Arts to the 4s and 5s, and PE to the 6s and 7s. In addition, I am one of the district coordinators for computational thinking in the district, so I organize and facilitate distribution and training around district technology; lots of fun!
I have had lots of experience with educational media; I actually have a degree in journalism specializing in broadcast communications, and worked shooting and editing video for a few major networks in my former life. During my teaching program, I worked as a tech aid to the education program at UBC, as well as shooting and editing video projects, and I also created and maintained the cohort website (now defunct, I believe). I utilize tech daily with my class, from assistive technology to coordinating student independent learning.
I am really looking forward to this course, and I hope to experience new avenues to incorporating tech effectively into my practice, potentially with tools I have not encountered or used yet. I have discovered that the collective mind is an amazing resource, and I cannot wait to see where this will take me.
For your edification, this is one of my favourite pieces that emerged out of an early course in TRU. Amy Cuddy is vulnerable and funny, and I show this video to my students every year.
Take care!
Rolly de Juan
Hello Ryan,
It is great to meet you. You bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to this course. I believe this is a great opportunity for our class to harness experiences from each other as we learn collaboratively. I look forward to learning with you.
All the best,
Rolly
Ryan MacGregor
Thanks for your kind words, Rolly. I am looking forward to bringing together perspectives beyond the teaching profession; very excited on a professional level to see where this goes!
Keith Webster
Hi Ryan,
Good to have you in the course. I think you’ll find a lot of stuff to fill in the corners around your experience (particularly on the theory side). I’ve had the good fortune to work with several professional video and broadcast specialists over the years at RRU and UVic (we used to broadcast on Knowledge Network for some of our courses). At Royal Roads we have a photographer/videographer who has mounted several exhibits of his work and another producer that developed content while working for the Smithsonian channel.
Our next focus for video development at RRU is helping instructors up their game for simple videos. Things like combining clips, transitions, lighting and audio that are important in getting to that 80-90% level.
Keith
Ryan MacGregor
Sounds excellent, Keith! I am looking right now at using my Smartboard recordings to reach students who are in quarantine right now, particularly as it allows me to ‘livestream’ math demonstrations. Of course, this week, my laptop crashed, but I am up and running again! The neat thing is it also allows me to create an archive of techniques to upload to a hosting site, so I can link to them through emails, Googleslides, etc. I am very curious as to the different pros and cons of different software.
Cheers,
R