Here's the deal. Before my practicum this past fall, I had created two Google sites for each of my two classes, anticipating using them to supplement and organize my instruction and assessment. A week into teaching, I abandoned this in favour of using D2L, but the shells for my classes were registered through my mentor's account (as a student teacher, I had zero D2L privileges, though I did manage to get a CBE email account). This was a great experience. I was happy with how I used D2L and am interested in learning the system even better (e.g., aligning module components or tasks with rubrics, grades, learning objectives, etc.). Having finished my practicum, of course I no longer have access to the wonders I built in D2L, so I spent most of today constructing a new Google site that actually serves my present and future needs better than my first two sites. I like how it's turning out and it's something I think I'll keep using to share course information. (Check it out here.)
Despite my opening statement, I'm actually far from resentful or bitter about having to rebuild. I take great pride and joy in developing information management systems, whether that's through SharePoint, D2L, Redbooth, Google Apps, Weebly, or other tools. I think it combines my love of building and design with my love of information and collaboration.
When I was younger, I was constantly constructing environments. I was a Lego-maniac. I'd use Eggo Waffle boxes and other materials I gathered to construct doll houses (the dolls themselves, beyond dressing them or styling their hair, were boring). I built all sorts of forts and mini-treehouses. I'd design urban or geographical landscapes for boardgames, stories, or other simulations. I would rearrange objects and furniture in my room on a semi-regular basis (and still do) to suit my new sense of organization or aesthetics. Knowing my love of design, my parents bought me 3D Home Architect for my thirteenth birthday and I became obsessed with the idea of becoming a residential architect and/or interior designer.
During early adulthood, I loved the urban anthropology course I took and especially the video we watched on designing public spaces. I've become familiar with principles of Crime Prevention through Environmental Design. I recently watched a fascinating documentary on the future of cities. I have thoroughly enjoyed all of the discourse and resources surrounding Universal Design and the Capability Approach. I also took - like a duck to water - to using Visio for modeling business processes and mapping both spaces and communications. Additionally, I had the privilege of being able to pursue my interests in cognitive and physical ergonomics: configuring spaces and tools around the activities and bodies/minds performing them to make those activities easier, safer, and/or more enjoyable. At the heart of it, I think, also lies a Marxist mentality I didn't know was there: that our material existence, to a large extent, constructs our worldview.
Entering into public education, I am fascinated by the role that design plays learning, whether it has to do with the physical environment or the virtual one. It's sometimes discouraging to recognize how the present designs often serve to undermine learning. Think of the terrible aesthetic and ergonomic experience you had in school due to oversight, budget issues, or the legacy of the industrial revolution. Think of how much time and energy you've wasted searching for or reproducing information for yourself or others (repeated instructions, list-making, buried files) or being exposed to information without retaining anything (death-by-PowerPoint, technological-multitasking, an overflowing email inbox). Imagine how much more horrible this is for anyone with physical, learning, and/or cognitive disabilities. I want to make rich and rewarding experiences (of which learning plays a major role) more accessible to people.