Final ETEC 565 Reflection

by Tobias Blaskovits on July 29, 2009

The last few weeks have disappeared at an astonishing rate. I don’t know if it’s because I have watched my summer quickly disappear from my office window as I work on my MET courses, or if it’s because I have been so caught up with the amount of new technology I have been learning.

Looking back, to when we first began this course my expectations were high. So far the core courses I have taken were predominantly theory with a minimal practical component. I signed up for this course, based on the promise of learning how to use some of the technologies I had only heard about. I am happy to report this course has lived up to my expectations. I am definitely more comfortable with selecting new technologies to use in my classroom, based on a comprehensive framework for making an informed decision. I had never constructed a learning environment using a learning management system prior to this course. I feel comfortable with the use of Moodle for the educational needs of my students. In addition, I am more confident with the use of chat rooms and discussion forums to facilitate learning and collaboration outside of my regular classroom. After completing this course, I have a greater appreciation for the opportunities that social networking tools have to offer in an educational setting. 

Moving forward, I am looking forward to the opportunities that this course has given me. As a teacher, I think that I will be more likely to try new technologies with my students. But instead of rushing into using new technology, I will carefully consider it benefits and apply the appropriate framework to make an informed decision. I am not ready to completely abandon the face-to-face interaction with students in my classroom, which I enjoy. However, I do see myself adding to my teaching repertoire by incorporating more technology and online learning into my classes.

One thing I am certain, is that I am glad to some time to relax before the start of the school year. I hope that the other MET course I have to take will be as enjoyable as this one was.

Please click on the following link to access my final e-Portfolio synthesis.

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Final Moodle Reflection

by Tobias Blaskovits on July 27, 2009

Today I put the finishing touches on my practice Moodle LMS for ETEC 565. I have to admit, when I first found out that I had to produce my own LMS, I was initially overwhelmed. However, by working through the modules in this course and the toolkit activities, made this overwhelming task quite manageable, as did being a part of such an amazing learning community. I would have found it more helpful if the live Moodle seminar was scheduled earlier in the course, as I learned a lot from this session and would have liked more time to build on that knowledge. As it stands, I have completed the required elements for the LMS online course site and thought I would take a few moments to reflect on some of its components.

 

One of my concerns, with the LMS was accessibility. I wanted students to be able to access the course with ease, but at the same time protect their privacy from unwanted guests. Moodle has an excellent feature, in addition to the regular user login, called an enrolment key. An enrolment key is a password that students must give in order to access the course. The great part is the enrolment key can be updated with ease, and can be used for accessibility to various assignments and assessments within the LMS. For example, I chose to include an enrolment key on a modified quiz, so that only those students with the password could access that item. After experimenting with many of the features of Moodle, I feel more comfort in my understanding of LMS and accessibility.

splashThe splash page is the first thing that a user will see after they log in. It usually includes graphics and some short cuts or buttons to various features of the course. This is an essential component of a well-designed LMS. In my Moodle practice site I chose an image of a ‘Moodle World’, since my LMS is dedicated to learning and practicing with all the tools that Moodle has to offer. Also included are some buttons linked to key information such as the introduction, schedule, assignments, and grades. I opted for a simplistic splash page with not a lot of bells and whistles as to minimize the distraction for the user every time they enter the course.

start_upIn my practice approach to my LMS, I did not focus a lot on content. My rationale was that I wanted to ‘play’ with all the features of Moodle and not be concerned with content. When I actually set up my own Moodle course, I can focus on content, with the understanding of the technical tools out of the way. My completed modules although not rich in content, focus on different resources and activities. I have tried almost every option that this version of Moodle has to offer. I have incorporated text pages, web pages, resource links, web links, discussion forums, chat rooms, online assignments, offline assignments, wikis, lessons, glossaries, multimedia, assessments, and surveys.  

 

 

weeksOne of the requirements for our LMS was to program one module for selective release. This is a feature in other learning management systems like Vista, but not part of this version of Moodle. Instead, what I chose to do is use the ‘weekly’ format for my site. By creating modules in a week-by-week format you can hide future modules from the user. With the click of a button the instructor can activate the next week and make it visible to the users. After structuring my Moodle practice site in this manner, I have mixed feelings about this approach. As a classroom teacher sometimes our planning is not exact or unforeseen events interrupt the flow of our lessons. For a veteran LMS instructor who has taught that course previously this may be a great option. When I implement this in my class I will still use the ‘hide’ feature, but build my course module-by-module without the weekly constraints. Although Moodle dose not allow for the selective release of entire modules, it des allow for the selective release of various assignments. I did use this feature for the selective release of the quiz I constructed, and found this to be a useful option. The instructor can set an opening date for the quiz to become visible and end date for the quiz will disappear.

 

In terms of communication within my LMS, I took advantage of every option that Moodle has at its disposal. I included several discussion forums for users to utilize and communicate asynchronously. In addition, I also included chat rooms to be utilized for synchronous communication, and one chat room reserved for a weekly live forum where the instructor can directly communicate with the students at a predetermined time. The ability for students to communicate with each other and the instructor is something that makes an effective online learning environment, as well as something that I have learned to appreciate in this course and others in the MET program.

 

Although, I still have a lot of work to become a completely confident Moodle user. This assignment has given me a great look at the benefits of utilizing a learning management system to create an effective online learning environment based on sound instructional theory.

 

 

 

 

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Reflection of Multimedia Inventory

by Tobias Blaskovits on July 26, 2009

 

Although a painful task, completing an inventory of all the different multimedia in one’s LMS does have its benefits. It is important to consider all of the different types of media (video, audio, text, visuals, live, software, collaborative, and integrated). Multimedia can have a positive effect towards the learning environment by increasing focus, engagement, and create more meaningful learning, if carefully selected (Seimens, 2003). However, it can have a negative effect, and create unwanted distractions if not carefully considered.

This process of logging all of the different media allows the designer to see if their LMS is overloaded with any one particular type of media. Over saturation of one type of media can create an uninteresting and boring experience for the learner. For example a completely text based LMS, is heavily dependant on the motivation of the learner (Seimens, 2003). Although text is easy to produce, it takes the learner a long time to read and thus increases the opportunity for the learner to lose focus.

As a science teacher, I often find that I rely heavily on text to provide students with content. After conducting this task, I see the need for a careful balance in all media types. Video is also a great way of presenting content. The learner gets to ‘watch and learn’ while being stimulated audio and visuals. The problem is that videos are often time consuming or expensive to produce.

Other types of media can improve student interactivity and make them feel like part of the learning community. Designers must chose between synchronous media and asynchronous forms of media. Live forums provide many media formats in one ‘live’ learning environment. Audio, visual, video, and text all come together in one environment. This type of media is very effective for engaging students and facilitating learning. This technology is typically effective for only small groups, can be quite costly and  lacks a ‘knowledge trail’ (Seimens, 2003).

As with many of the choices we must make when selecting which technologies to use, one must make an  informed decision based on theoretical framework. My preference for such considerations is to use the SECTIONS framework as proposed by Bates and Poole (2003). Each type of media is better for some situations than others. In the end, a balance of multimedia must be selected based on students’ needs, ease of use, cost, time, interactivity, organizational issues, novelty, and speed, to create a learning environment that is engaging and effective.

Click on the following link to view my comprehensive multimedia inventory page. 

References

Siemens, G. (2003). Evaluating Media Characteristics: Using Multimedia to achieve learning outcomes. Elearnspace. http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/mediacharacteristics.htm  

Bates, A.W. & Poole, G. (2003). Chapter 4: a Framework for Selecting and Using

Technology. In Effective Teaching with Technology in Higher Education:Foundations for Success. (pp. 77-105). San Francisco: Jossey Bass Publishers.

 

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Social Story Telling Reflection

by Tobias Blaskovits on July 11, 2009

This was a great assignment. I really enjoyed testing all of the different types of social software that is available. I had no idea that their were so many different ways that one could tell a story. There are social network tools that allow users to create cartoons, movies, slideshows, maps, and timlines. I can see the benefit of using such software, as opposed to simple text based writing. Using this type of social networking tools allows for student creativity and will definitely increase movtivation and focus. After checking out all the different tools available, I chose to use xtimelline.com. This social tool allows users to create a visual timeline of events . This tool is very easy to use. You start by creating a title about what your timeline or story is going to be about, type a brief description, and you are off and running. All you need to do is add events. To do this you simply click on the add event button, type the title of the event, enter the date in which the event occurred, add photos or images, and type a little description or story of that event. The tool automatically links the info and creates the timeline. Take a look at the story I created about my son Ashton, and the rationale behind choosing this software, by clicking on the link to my digital story telling page.

 

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Wiki Reflection

by Tobias Blaskovits on July 3, 2009

A wiki space provides an excellent opportunity for group collaboration and discussion. In an online environment, I find the threaded discussion forums easier to follow specific online conversations. In a discussion forum each thread, provides information on that one related topic. A wiki provides a large unified space to assemble and connect many ideas together in a visual webpage format, as opposed to the small discussion window.  Allowing members to contribute to an assignment in a wiki is a great alternataive.

This is different than group collaboration in the typical classroom environment which relies on synchronous face-to-face communiction. This type of collaboration can sometime be hard for students to stay on task, as they can easily lose focus with conversation turning social instead of task related. Quite often, a few students will carry the group in terms of the work load, as others quietly sit back and contribute very little. An advantage to using a wiki, is that quiet reserved individuals have the same opportunity and voice as more outspoken students. In addition, it is easy to see who has contibuted, as individuals must log in to contibute. A teacher can look back through the history to see who has  edited the wiki. One possible challenge of working with others in a collaborative wiki space is that it will take a lot longer to produce a collaborative assignment becuase of the asynchronous nature of a wiki. It can also be very time consuming for an instructor to go and look back through the history of a wiki if they have many groups with many contributions.

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Assessment Tools Reflection

by Tobias Blaskovits on June 28, 2009

Assessment is probably one of the single most important elements of the learning environment to keep students motivated. Quite often assessment is an after thought to the planning of a lesson. Instructors should be careful to ensure that there is a mix of formative and summative forms of assessment. Yes, the frequency of assessment is important, but this does not mean more is necessarily better. You do not have to test or quiz students every class, as there are other ways to assess student learning, such as exit slips, assignments, and written reflections. Equally important the the assessment is the feedback. Constructive feedback can be helpful to facilitate student learning. Compared to the traditional classroom, the online learning environment provides many opportunities to support the practice of good assessment. To read the critique of some of the assessment tools in my Moodle practice course, click on the following link or go to the assessment tools page.

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Communication Tools Reflection

by Tobias Blaskovits on June 21, 2009

The process of choosing the type of communication tools to employ in an online learning environment is not always a simple decision. This decision should not be taken lightly, and should be a combination of both asynchronous and synchronous forms. The choice of communication tools should compliment the type of environment that is being created, as well as the needs of the students. I my case, my learning environment will supplement my regular classroom learning environment. My goal is to create a safe online learning community to facilitate improved student-student collaboration. In addition, I want to reduce the amount of  formal teacher-student discourse, and create a more constructivist learning environment. To keep things simple and yet still effective, I have chosen to use asynchronous discussion forums and synchronous chat tools. To read about the rationale for my selections please click on the following link to communication tools.

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LMS Proposal Reflection

by Tobias Blaskovits on June 7, 2009

I found the LMS proposal assignment quite useful. Quite often educators are thrown into the fire to stay current with the newest “latest and greatest” computer software and technology. Left on our own, many times we choose software or technology, only to find out that it is too expensive, too time consuming, or too tedious to work with. As a result, it easily tossed aside for something else. After considering the theoretical framework from the course readings, and constructing our group rubric, the process of choosing which technology to use can be as simple as asking ourselves a few fundamental questions. Please refer to the LMS Proposal page to read my rationale for selecting Moodle as my choice of Learning Management System.

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Moodle Reflection 2

by Tobias Blaskovits on May 31, 2009

This week I have really been “playing” with my Moodle site. I found it incredibly easy to set up simple pages and links. I also played with making labels for many of the resources created. In terms of initial set up, to get a course up and running, to provide basic information to students, Moodle is very efficient. However, I then tried creating a few activities for my sample Moodle site. I created a wiki, in which students can edit and collaboratively add information to. This again was quite easy to set up. The problems arose when I tried to incorporate my first lesson. After watching a short YouTube video on how to create lessons, I decided to give it a shot. The branch set up and page set up was quite time consuming and took me many tries to get it set up right. Once I had that set up , I had to create my questions pages. The multiple choice, and true or false pages were quite easy to set up but very time consuming. If I had to set up a whole unit for a science of math class the time to create would not be worth the rewards. I also tried to include a short answer style question. This was beyond painful, the “code” needed to be input for the answers, to allow for various responses, is a whole course in itself. I cannot see myself using this feature of Moodle, as I would probably stick to multiple choice style questions. I did like the ability of Moodle to self grade and allow for teacher feedback after each section is complete..

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My First Media Production

by Tobias Blaskovits on May 25, 2009

My first media production was constructed for ETEC 531 using Photostory3. I found the exercise extremely rewarding but a serious amount of time was spent in authoring such a project. Entitled “I am an Artist” this video represents the interaction of art and technology in my life.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBOPBwJfOkQ[/youtube]

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