Learning experience, skills development and knowledge construction
Summarize your ePortfolio front page postings: compare your initial plan and your preliminary results with the ETEC 565a course.
My initial plan for this course was based mainly on the course description: ““ETEC 565A is an online seminar that provides several theoretical frameworks to assist educators in evaluating, selecting and using various learning technologies. Students will gain hands-on experience using a range of learning technologies and platforms: web-publication, course management systems, communication tools, community and collaboration tools, multimedia, and social software tools. Students will complete a number of small assignments using different learning technologies as well as a larger project in which they bring several of these technologies together to design materials and activities to support student learning.”
Using this description as a starting point, I described how my initial interest and greatest goal was to improve my use of what I then called “course management systems” (I now refer to them as Learning Management Systems, a small but important change in focus!). Our school uses Moodle, and I wanted to build some coursework and try new tools within that LMS to improve how I currently use it in my position as a science and IT teacher at a Vancouver Independent school. I had been using Moodle primarily as a series of ‘links’, and have learned, through the assignments and feedback (from the instructor as well as classmates) that an LMS is not simply a ‘delivery platform’ for students to download information. It can be an important way of engaging with the teacher, with their coursemates, and most importantly, with the material itself. It can be a very useful guide to help them build understanding, as well as foster an online community – something they will need to learn more about as time goes on. I also feel it is important that LMSs pay close attention to design and aesthetics. This course has strengthened my resolve to ensure that students are using the LMS not because they are being ‘forced to’ use it, but rather because they enjoy the simplicity and ‘look’ of the interface, and enjoy communicating and collaborating online (with discussion boards, for example) via my course LMS. At the same time, course readings have given me more food for thought to analyze the use of LMSs. Coates, James & Baldwin (2005) argue that, “It is important that steps are taken to identify how online LMS can be used to augment and complement rather than substitute for an institution’s core teaching objectives.” I will be paying closer attention to whether or not my school, “ …adopt and deploy LMS in ways which are open, inclusive and educationally informed” (Coates et al, 2005).
I had also stated my goals of improving my use of digital tools, such as Google apps. I work in a 1-to-1 program, where students are provided with laptops. I have also spent the last few months building iBooks for my students, and the coursework has given me a lot to ‘digest’ in regards to the implementation of such tools. When building complex projects, I really appreciated Bates use of the term “ADDIE”, and will be looking towards this framework in the future:
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Nel, C., Dreyer, C., & Carstens, W. A. M. (2010) describe how “technology selection [is] part of the design process” and this gives me reason to focus on “criteria for classifying and evaluating educational technologies” as well as the “reasons for using [chosen] technology”. By giving heed to this advice, I can achieve on the sorts of active learning and engagement that I wish to provide.
Summarize your experience working with the different LMS platforms and digital tools in this course. Which of your newly developed or improved technological skills contribute to your professional and academic activities? Which of you designer and ascetic preferences and instructional values have been transformed, or acquired in the process ?
It was very useful for me to build some sample coursework using the Moodle interface, since, as I mentioned, our school uses Moodle as our primary LMS (although teachers have been given the freedom to use other platforms). The feedback from my peers in this course, and from my instructor, has been invaluable. I hadn’t considered, for example, the colour scheme and its legibility for students who may have trouble reading or seeing material. I took a look at the courses I currently run at my school (ICT 8, ICT 9, Science 8, Science 10, and Biology 12) and ended up refreshing the overall ‘look’ of some of my pages (I adjusted the colour palette of my ICT Weebly site http://mrqict9.weebly.com/ so that it is ‘easier on the eyes’).
The various digital artifacts that we produced in this course, such as the videoscribe and Prezi, gave me some new ‘ammunition’ to use for my course assignments! I have seen student work produced using Prezi, but had never built one of my own. I can now critically examine their work with a better understanding of how they built such artifacts, and how they can be improved. I will also be focussing on giving students assignments like stop-motion movies in my own assignments; I want to encourage them to use more digital tools and collaborative online activities rather than the fairly simple self-marking quizzes and “paint-by-numbers” style assignments that I had been using a bit too much of in recent years. This has been a boon to my teaching, as I can now focus on getting students to become more involved in their learning, to think more critically about the design and aesthetic of their work. I can encourage and develop the sorts of 21st century skills that I feel it’s very important that they embrace.
Evaluate the quality of your learning experience. Consider how valuable for your learning and knowledge construction was the role of such course components as (1) the reading materials, (2) the discussions themes and questions, (3) the individual and group project work, (4) the range of LMSs for experimenting with and creating course projects. Have you been experiencing any unexpected, emergent effects as a result of your course activities, what that was?
I found many of the readings to be very relevant and important to my current role as a teacher of ICT and science in a one-to-one laptop independent school. The readings from Bates (2014) online book were particularly useful, especially as it pertains to MOOCs and online instruction. I have just finished teaching an online Grade 8 ICT course and there were many insights from this book (and references it made to other research) about how to conduct online courses to maximize benefits to learners. I was also very interested to read about how best to implement teaching and learning using an LMS like Moodle; our school has a site license and I’m always lookng for ways to improve my course sites. The assignment that had us create an introductory and follow-up course unit using Moodle was very valuable, as I was able to use some of the skills I had already developed after using Moodle for several years, and get feedback on this, in regards to usability and the overall aesthetic of my interface. I was able to make adjustments and get further feedback from coursemates, and I have used this feedback to clean up and improve the course LMSs I currently use.
One unexpected experience was in using WordPress to build my e-Portfolio. In one project I use for my ICT 8 course, I have students work together to build a WordPress site for their Advisory group. Now that I have experience building one myself, I can better help my students and ‘troubleshoot’ with them. I still prefer Weebly, as its interface is much simpler, it seems more flexible, and has nicer (and more varied) themes to choose from. My students use Weebly as part of their “Compass” program; they will be updating their personal site as they make their way through high school. That said, I think experience using a different platform such as WordPress exposes them to the varied way in which blogs can be written, edited, and published.
Was having an open access WordPress version of the ETEC 565a in addition to the password protected discussions and assignments submission pages on Connect beneficial to your experience in this course or did it have no impact?
The impact on my experience was mainly neutral, though slightly negative in this regard. I do feel that the WordPress site was a bit complicated in its overall layout; it was difficult to navigate and cross-reference with regards to due dates. To adequately follow instructions and links for Assignments, Readings, Posts, etc it was sometimes necessary to cross-reference and seek advice from classmates to straighten out what was sometimes conflicting and contradictory information. I feel that it would have been better to create a Google Calendar for all assignments, posts, etc for people to access so they could follow along and not miss anything. Cutting down on the number of links on the left-hand pane on Connect, as well as the number of drop-down (and drop-downs from the drop-downs!) on the WordPress would make things a lot simpler from a navigational perspective. I’m not sure the WordPress is necessary, if the Connect site could be tailored to suit a more aesthetic and intuitive design. Perhaps the design I used on my own LMS would be a good model; one in which modules are laid out in a grid/table, and nested in each Module students could find all readings. Discussion posts could be nested under one link, as well as Assignment dropboxes. Just a thought!
What, you think, did not work well or has not been properly organized in this course?
I have described some of my difficulties in the previous section; my main problems were the overly complicated links and navigational difficulties associated with WordPress. However, this was not a detriment to my overall learning and appreciation for the materials themselves. I got a lot out of this course in regards to my goals for improving online learning and using the Moodle LMS in my own profession. I gleaned valuable feedback from course mates, as well as great contacts (and Twitter handles!) that will be useful going forward.
Would you prefer having only the Connect course site with all the activities and contents accessible in one place?
I do think that cutting down on the number of links and ‘streamlining’ the course would be helpful. A clear timeline and layout for the course would be appreciated. Whether or not this can be done with Connect or not, I’m not sure. I didn’t use Connect as an LMS (I’m now wishing I had chosen more than just one LMS, as a means of comparison, even though our school only uses Moodle – for now) so I’m not sure how flexible (or not) it is when it comes to overall structure and user interface. WordPress may afford the needed flexibility, but it does need to be built in a way that affords greater simplicity and organization. Its current layout has too many menus that are confusing to put together and intimidating in regards to overall organization; making sense of each unit, module, assignment, reading, etc becomes a process of cross-referencing and mental linking, and I think it could do with a re-shuffle. The learning curve seems needlessly long. The learning curve does ‘steepen’ with time and once I was able to make the necessary connections I was able to figure out how everything was put together, and I enjoyed the last half of the course immensely. I look forward to implementing some of the great ideas I gained from this course into my profession, and sharing with others; I’m handing off the ICT 8 online course to a colleague. It’s just as well he already has his MET!
References
Bates, T. (2014). Chapter 4: Methods of teaching with an online focus. Teaching in a Digital Age. (online book)
Coates, H., James, R., & Baldwin, G. (2005). A critical examination of the effects of learning management systems on university teaching and learning. Tertiary Education and Management, 11, 19-36. doi:10.1080/13583883.2005.9967137
Nel, C., Dreyer, C., & Carstens, W. A. M. (2010). Educational technologies: A classification and evaluation. Tydskrif vir letterkunde, 35(4), 238-258. (PDF)