digichat

will soon post details of 522 course

http://moodle.met.ubc.ca/mod/resource/view.php?id=2889

A splash page what is that is the question I asked myself, but then I know with this ETEC Course I am learning new skills and technology each module. After research I tried to complete the assignment it took me more time than it should because I started to create the page before thorough research.
The splash page is the first page In the MOODLE that shows icons that link to main content or other pages. Using animated icons or any icons make the learning Module attractive, interactive and it reduces the use of using too much text.

Completing this assignment allows me to focus on the content, context, of the course as well as the interactivity, how to give students feedback, ease with which students will be able to operate in this learning environment.

I have learned to include web 2.0 tools before in my teaching I did not because I thought about the lack of resources and the effort it would take to practice before implementing and I gave up on the idea. With this exposure to writing online courses and using web2.0 tools I will integrate these tools in my learning environment.

Bates and Poole (2003) made a comprehensive argument in SECTIONS regarding the appropriate us of technology for the classroom. The point of transferring the same principle to other areas that will provide efficient service for students is awesome.

The seven principles by Chickering and Gamson’s (1987) put things in perspective. If our students are to be successful then as educators and policy makers we must judge how best to engage them in constructing their path to success. Doing so will help us to be marketable, efficient, remembered, but most importantly our methodology will succeeded us.

Theses seven hallmarks are universal to the success of any teacher or institution. The entire world is a spider wed of interaction and interactivity via technology. This technology will herald future generations, therefore, the onus is on us to get it right so the generation that we face will have quality hands-on skills and knowledge to transfer to the next.

Life is dynamic and our actions are marked by reactions and counteractions, it is in our best interest to ensure that the novelty of us (technology immigrants and novice) learning to apply the use of wed 2.0 at least meets the standards set out by Bates and Poole.

Definitely for me I have to start from the beginning. First let me reflect on two components of SECTIONS:

S- students differences with respect to learning technologies I can hear the cries from the novices in this course. Shout louder they will help us. What computer skills are students expected to have when using technology? Where are they from? Where will they be taught?

E – The attention span is limited according to our physical and social development and may I add technology. Everything is fast paced and so if you can not keep with the trend its ahead and you may become obsolete. With this in mind for technology to be infused in the curriculum one must consider how easy it is for the user with many things to do and so little time. What is the design interface between the material and the user? What software to engage learners to continue to hold their attention for them to construct knowledge?

Bates & Poole., (2003). “Framework for selecting and Using Technology.” In Effective Teaching with Technology. San Francisco:Jessey-Bassy.

This was my first experience designing assessment for online course. It was truly a learning experience for me, learning which involves frustration, anxiety, discovery and the list continues.My attempt to write the course made me realize that moodle contains a feature that allows students the possibility of more than one attempt with the possibility of using the highest scores good for test takers. My concern will this help the student to master the content or will it just serve as a means to an end where test takers can memorize the contents of the test then return wit the correct answer to improve their grades.
Another aspect of the assessment was shuffling the questions; I did not like that idea of shuffling objective and subject items. In my opinion it will be distracting for the test taker. I must say I like the initiative of immediate feedback which is very import to learning as pointed out by Gibbs and Simpson (2004-05). However, I found the many fields of feedback that is required in the assessment to be tedious. To say the least it was very difficult figuring out how Moodle works and how to fix the test when it did not work according to how I think it should. Boy did I sweat.

In my planning to set up the course in Moodle I choose a course I thought was exciting and would lend it self to highlight the discussion board, and other aspects of moodle. That was a good idea until it was time to set up the assessment, I could not figure out how to set up a portfolio since the course is assessed using authentic assessment and two the requirement was for us set include objective and subjective items.

Let me quickly point out some things about moodle that I like, it allows the flexibility and control to the developer/instructor in terms of methodology, feedback and ongoing assessment. The instructor has the flexibility of choosing when and where in the course to use all sorts of interesting and challenging technology to capture students and get them actively engaged in the learning process. Through the use of discussion boards, chat, wikis, and a myriad of other communication tools the instructor can give feedback and engage in formative assessment.

I choose to use a course from my college syllabus so I can get practice to help me in the future to set up on line courses. Despite the challenges I am not swayed I will be involve in online courses may be I will start by integrating online course as part of a blended approach until I am comfortable going the full hundred yards.

Gibbs, G. and Simpson, C. (2005). “Conditions under which assessment supports students’ learning.” Learning and Teaching in Higher Education Accessed online 11 March 2009 http://www.open.ac.uk/fast/pdfs/Gibbs%20and%20Simpson%202004-05.pdf.

Project Title: Using MOODLE to facilitate methodology in teacher Education through distance learning.

Duration of project: 5 years

Background

Since Sam Sharpe Teachers’ College is the only territory institution in this part of the island and people are requesting that we provide them with educational opportunities. Several of whom have, for personal reasons chosen to attend this college and not relocate to sites where the neither of the three universities are. If we (Sam Sharpe) use LMS preferable MOODLE, we will be able to deliver courses to a wide cross section of people. In using this LMS we will be accepting the mandate that the government has issued to keep the nation on the cutting edge of technology. As a training college we are can continue in this endeavor to facilitate teachers who would have learn these necessary skills and on enter the schools, ready to facilitate students active engagement with these technical skills.

Objective: The goal of this project is to provide training in education for in service teachers from all parts of the island, as well as teacher trainees. The project has a dual purpose – providing the teacher trainee with the requisite technological know how and for the trainee to integrate these skills in his/her practice assisting children of early childhood, primary, and secondary schools to understand and manipulate technology comprise web2.0. MOODLE will help us accomplish this task.

What is Moodle

Moodle which means Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment is a Course Management System (CMS), also known as a Learning Management System (LMS) or a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). It is a free web application that educators can use to create effective online learning sites. It offers Chat, distance education, Blogs, asynchronous activities, multitasking. Online testing, grading management system, side way communications, multimedia communication, live data streamline and more.

The MOODLE Advantage

It is an open source which provides ease of use by faculty and students. The systems is a strong grounding in social constructionist pedagogy and its program operates without modification on Unix, Linux, Windows, Mac OS X, Netware and any other stem that supports PHP language.

Allow even non-technical teachers to set up and maintain a Web site where students can log in, access course information, interact, share, and teach others. it saves me time and paperwork.

The software is used all over the world by independent teachers, schools, universities and companies free, its flexibility and ease of use helps bring LMS technology within the reach of those with limited technical and financial resources.

Disadvantages of using MOODLE

The program is difficult for normal users to install and use. More than 66% users of MOODLE identified themselves as teachers, on-line learning researchers or educational administrators.

MOODLE comprise many technical words and requires skilled technicians to install and use this LMS. In addition a course designer to work along with the technician and the teacher to create materials for course is also needed. Users must learn how to install and use MOODLE. Forums hold a great deal of information but nearly all forums are in the English language.

Outcomes

It is my aim that participants will become life long learners of the technology and build communities of learners using the LMS platform MOODLE. That learners use the tools effectively and continue to share their knowledge within a learning environment..

Project Budget Summary

MOODLE is a low cost LMS most what is needed are people who are willing to explore including a facilitator/instructor and a community of learners. However, if we are to consider hosting the site we will need the following:

Evaluation

I have chosen to use SECTIONS by Bates and Poole as well as the seven principles to select MOODLE as the best LMS platform to use and so I will use same to evaluate it effectiveness during and at the end of the project.

1. Based on Chickering and Ehrmann seven principles the evaluation will assess how frequently contacts are made among staff and students, reciprocity and cooperation among students, whether or not students are utilizing active learning techniques, if feedback are given promptly, students are on task and communicates high expectations and finally if there exist respect for diversity of talents and ways of learning.

2. Bates and Poole Model

How appropriate is the technology for this particular group or range of students? How easy is it for both teachers and students to use? How reliable and well tested is the technology?  What is the unit cost per learner? What kinds of learning are needed? What instructional approaches will best meet these needs? What are the best technologies for supporting this teaching and learning? What kind of interaction does this technology enable? What are the organizational requirements and the barriers to be removed before this technology can be used successfully?  What changes in organization need to be made? How new is this technology? How quickly can courses be mounted with this technology?  How quickly can materials be changed?

Reference:

Bates & Poole. (2003). “ A Framework for Selecting and Using Technology.” In Effective Teaching with Technology. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Chickering, Arthur and Stephen C. Ehrmann (1996), “Implementing the Seven Principles: Technology as Lever,” AAHE Bulletin, October, pp.  3-6.

etec565agroup4rubric1.pdf;

Digital Story

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I must say although time is required tin the construction of and engaging social media tools that exploring the tools it using these tools help to build a community. One aspect of One True Media is the comment section. After posting your presentation viewers not only observe but they have the opportunity to respond. I was fascinated by the ease with which one could upload and publish information and graphics. All tools publish information quickly and are attractive to draw readers to look at the information. I chose to use one true media as it as features for uploading information, graphics, can be used to publish videos, movies, slide show, can upload and down load music to enhance presentation can be linked to other social tools like flickr, vijvi, and so on. One can also email their creation to friends and relatives embed in another document, and it has its own gallery where ones creation can get immediate publicity.

Once the story was formed and a picture identified and up loaded three quarters of the job was done. I was a little bit frustrated at some points during the creation of “Emotional” my presentation when I missed a step in the process and could not embed it to my blog.

Emotional is a story that I intend to use with my college students in psychology courses as well as other arts and humanity courses. One True Media helps this story to come alive and get people to respond to it immediately. In this story a combination of music, pictures and words formed a story which viewers can respond to without bias or prejudice. The fact that the tool allows one to upload music is an advantage to which gives the story a stronger message .allowed the story. The timely way in which the information is presented is very appealing than the traditional method of reading or viewing a book or video this is interactive and engage readers in the story telling process.

Chickering and Gamson (1987) encourage the need for students to cooperate and reciprocate as well as for faculty to engage students in active learning. Social media encourage students to develop friendships which are a good platform for collaborative learning. Content will be reinforced as students learn they will spread content not only by word of mouth but also by using social media. We learn best by using our senses and social media tools help us to learn by looking at pictures and graphics very appealing to the eyes. Also it appeals to our sense of listening, touching and emotions. As a user of social media it provides the opportunity for one to demonstrate skills and talents and use their expertise to assist others. Chickering and Ehrmann (1996) emphasized the importance of respecting students’ talents, skills and talents despite diversity. The relevance of Bates and Poole (2003) accessibility of the tool for learners, the cost, interactivity and instructional approaches that will best meet the needs are very essential when deciding the type of technology to impart instructions. This blue print supplied by Bates an Poole (2003) helps to highlight the that social media are interactive, once students have access to internet they can login to social tools, most tools are free or free for a period of time and social media is universal. Once connected the world is at your finger tips, communication, sharing of ideas, information and so on are done via social tools.

To engage students to access these tools we begin by wetting students’ appetite getting them to view and explore the tools and later create material for class via the social media. Video is an important medium and it is fast becoming a friend to the students we can use this s to motivate students interest in content material. Students will need to know the terms use and what they mean by authoring, editing, publishing, managing administrating and so on. Registering just allows the individual to login and view maybe downloads but they will not be able to contribute content. Authoring allows them to post content, editing allows users to post and change or adjust, while publishing allows user to do all the above, review and decide when the article is ready for others to view. The manager and administrators are concerned with the technical side of things. Students can choose to engage in authoring, publishing and editing as time progresses the more technical aspect of social media.

The relevance of social media in our time is evident by the regularity in which students engage the tools. It has become the norm for students to engage in activities that involve blogs, twitter, chat, face book and other forms of Social media. This is behavior is subscribe to by students the world over, no one wants to be the outsider, therefore if this is the medium for transmitting content then students especially will respond positively. Besides social media allow students to do what they do best have fun, chat and engage in the spread of information. I have always encouraged my students to create, and invent things, knowledge that I have never seen before and it is my firm belief that through the use of social media the creativity and talents many will come forth.

Social media has change our world, our students have become active participants in the learning process, they have become innovators and experts, they have initiated changes the world over and through social media they will continue to share and develop ideas and new phenomenon. Copy write was a key issue when I was exploring the tools I will need to read more on copy write for using and publishing within social media it all sounds complicated, scary and something that will be time consuming if not dealt with properly and early at the beginning of authorship.

Reference

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 Su

Chickering, A.W. and Ehrmann, S.C. (1996). “Implementing the Seven Principles: Technology as Lever,” American Association for Higher Education Bulletin, 49(2), p. 3-6.
http://www.aahea.org/bulletins/articles/sevenprinciples.htm

Chickering, A.W. and Gamson, Z.F. (1987). Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education. American Association for Higher Education Bulletin, 39 (7), p. 3-7.
http://www.aahea.org/bulletins/articles/sevenprinciples1987.htm

It was relatively easy for me to set up wimba based on the information in tool kit. I was able to set up connect with the instructor and fellow learners in the live chat. In formation is clear instructions makes setting up easy to do. In my interaction with moodle I faced some frustration in setting my course unlike vista the information guide (cue)is not as easy to understand and so in inputting information sometimes I was not able to retrieve.

Setting up the assessment was the most challenging part of setting up the course. I was not able to view a lot of the information that I had inputted and so in my determination to be successful I did it over and over and over.

The tool kit information, members of the learning community were quick to offer help and the tools in Moodle that worked well for me include. I wish I had done this course while college was still in session to get the students to experiment or pilot the course that I am writing. However, I will be asking students to use this medium next semester.

The surprise is the ease at which the instructor can work after setting up the course. Also I realize that setting up a course is not as difficult as I thought it would be but then I had help, all the persons especially the instructor of this course. I love this course and am anxious to implement these tools in my class.

Looking back at my experience of working with others to a wiki site has helped me to realize the short comings as well as the advantages of collaborating within cyberspace. I must admit that I was a bit late for this activity however; one advantage of using this forum is that one can make their contributions at time convenient to them. It depends on how this is viewed it can easily become a disadvantage also. The wiki can be compared to a page in a book, one is able to view the thoughts and ideas of the other participants which save time and it makes easy to navigate and read.

Another benefit of using wikis allow others to edit previous work done. This editing can be done by any one in the learning community. Wikis makes working together quick and easy. It can be difficult to keep tract of discussion in a wiki. However it is a great medium for engaging in collaborative work.