USING D2L AS A BLENDED LEARNING PLATFORM FOR SNC1D AND SPH4U

Futurists predict that those who work in jobs that require lower education and lower skill sets have a higher chance to have their jobs lost or restructured while those that require greater education or are highly skilled will be less affected. There is a growing urgency now because the discussion has moved from the theoretical to the observable. It is in this backdrop that Michael Fullan proposes a rethink of the delivery of education and a retooling of its goals and its measurable outcomes to create a school system that will properly serve Ontario’s students in the years to come. Fullan’s main concern is not that the current system can not produce students who will thrive in the new economic structure. His main concern is that the current educational system will never produce enough of these students unless it rethinks its pedagogy and embraces technology to allow increased individualization and relevance of education to today’s learner. He calls this convergence of pedagogy, technology and the necessary skills to enable change as the Stratosphere. The main focus of my catalyst is to explore the benefits and potential transformative instructional properties of blended learning using the Ministry of Education’s elearning platform D2L to fulfill Fullan’s vision.