Author Archives: Katie Schultz
Che and Katie – Content Module and Digital Story Reflection
This is a combined reflection from Katie Schultz and Che Katz who worked together on this Project.
Together, we built the online learning environment for a blended format course called International Development: Anthropological Perspectives in Moodle. This course is an elective undergraduate course offered by the School of Anthropology for second or third year students. The online environment was developed on behalf of Dr. Into Goudsmit who is the Instructor and Course Author. The blended course comprises a weekly mix of face-to-face lectures and tutorials, readings, online content, and assignments. We developed the first three weeks of online content for this eleven-week course.
Despite the significant influence anthropologists such as Jean Lave have had in educational discourse with her theory of situated learning and the subsequent impact this has had on approaches to online learning (Jean Lave & Etienne Wenger, n.d.), it is surprising to discover that in the discipline of anthropology itself, the use of technology for 21st Century teaching, as defined by Bates, remains rare (Bates, 2014). The notable exceptions are Visual Anthropology and the emerging field of Digital Anthropology, that both harness technology in more profound ways. The limited literature that does exist, indicates that online learning can deepen anthropological understandings and competencies (Kelly, 2014; Khalikova, 2017). Moreover, the ubiquity of mobile devices in lower and middle-income countries, and the way this is being harnessed for international development (Rees, 2016) made it obvious for us to integrate a digital component into this course. Continue reading
Che and Katie
This is a combined reflection from Katie Schultz and Che Katz who worked together on this Project. We developed our course for International Development: Anthropological Perspectives in the Moodle Learning Management System (LMS) which is based on an actual course currently being developed as an elective for year 2 and 3 undergraduate students in the Faculty of Anthropology at Goldsmiths College, University of London. With permission, we have adapted the course for a blended format and supplemented it with our own work. The blended course format includes face-to-face plenary lectures and tutorial which are supported by online activities that reinforce learning and encourage student engagement. It is assumed that students will spend 7 to 8 hours a week on course related activities, including but not limited to: (i) attendance at lectures, (ii) participating in tutorials, (iii) completing essential readings, and (iv) completing online activities. The referencing systems and other instructions comply with Goldsmiths College, University of London requirements.
We selected the Moodle platform to deliver this course for the following reasons: Continue reading
Katie’s Reflection on LMS Rubric Selection
The process of preparing a rubric for Athabasca University’s new Learning Management System (LMS) was helpful in exposing the fact that a single framework could never meet the needs of every institution. Nor could a single framework meet the needs of one institution over time as needs and priorities are constantly changing. For example, when Athabasca University began contemplating the need for marketing their courses in South East Asia, it was clear that the direct demands placed on their current LMS would change, such as the need for functionality over low bandwidth internet and meeting security and accessibility regulations in different countries (Squires, 2017).
Flight Path – Katie Schultz
I am not a teacher. I once thought that I would be, but after completing my Bachelor of Education in Secondary Sciences I decided that it was not for me. However, education is a passion of mine and I hoped to remain in the field in some capacity. Shortly after graduating, I got a job at the University of Alberta working in Student Services which afforded me a few opportunities to develop media for students, like a monthly newsletter and an interactive program planning tool. This experience emphasized my technological skills and exposed my love for creating media. Because of this, I decided that I should pursue a career that would allow me to construct technologically-delivered educational content. I wanted to become an e-learning designer. Continue reading