I created a module of content on “Culture & Expectations” in my “ESL Teacher Training 101” course in Google Classroom. This is the second module in the course and runs immediately after the introductory week, so I wanted it to begin exposing learners to some of the key concepts that will underwrite the rest of the course: communication essentials, releasing expectations, and intercultural interaction. The content includes some brief text, a video, external web link, my digital story, a short quiz, and discussion.
For the digital story, I chose to use Storyline software to create a brief interaction that allowed learners the opportunity to explore the communication process. The platform appealed to me as a way to make what could be a simple diagram dynamic and interactive (Siemens, 2003). Storyline is also a learner-driven model in that the user must be engaged and click “next” as they move through content. Ideally this will help to spark active engagement as students explore the content themselves as opposed to more passive reading. The story is positioned midway through the module and will break up some of the other text elements with a more memorable and unique structure (Siemens, 2003). Unfortunately, I was not able to embed by Digital Story in the course content which may detract from its effectiveness by reducing the ease of access for students (Boyes et. Al., 2005).
One issue I encountered in the earlier development of my course was in terms of facilitating a discussion forum. Google classroom has the option to post a question for students to respond to, but this might prove insufficient in the scheme of my course. For this module, I chose to create a slack room for students to share their impressions and respond to my prompts. While the requirement to switch between platforms does slightly complicate the structure, I think that the more user friendly discussion platform outweighs the inconvenience.
Works Cited
Boyes, J., Dowie, S., & Rumzan, I. (2005). Using the SECTIONS framework to evaluate flash media. Using the SECTIONS framework to evaluate flash media, 2(1). Retrieved from http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.186.6505&rep=rep1&type=pdf
Siemens, G. (2003). Evaluating media characteristics: Using multimedia to achieve learning outcomes. Elearnspace. Retrieved from http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/mediacharacteristics.htm