ETEC 565A Jan 2018

For the Course Introductory Module assignment, I have chosen to work in Canvas and design a module of the course I have recently developed and have just finished teaching at the University of Manitoba. This is one of the online courses for their TESL program: Resource Development and Integration. I have changed a few activities based on my own reflection after teaching this course as well as requirements for this assignment.

I have invested a lot of time in combining best pedagogical principles and overall course design, trying to make it aesthetically pleasant and pedagogically sound.

While working on the introduction to the course, I focused on including all necessary information students should have when the course starts.  As the course is focused on learning resource integration and development as well as using educational technology for teaching ESL, I provided all necessary tools students will need to use during the course as well as short guides on how to use them. I have also included a detailed syllabus and a welcome letter from the instructor.

My introductory activity, Getting to Know Each Other, includes creating a comic strip, a song playlist (explain why these songs speak to you), or a video that tells a little something about learners. I have provided suggested tools and included my own video as an example for my learners. It is interesting that I created this video in one of my MET courses, and now I have found a good use to it.

It was a surprise to struggle with embedding images as I use Canvas on a regular basis and have never had any problems with that. I have also struggled with creating a good look of the pages as I was not given rights to add CSS or custom template to my course. I found a way out: I had to use my work server to host my images so that I can make them show in the course. Embedding the images from files in Canvas did not work. I had no problem embedding a YouTube video.

As I am used to backward design (we use it while designing our courses at my workplace), creating assessments while working on the introductory module was not challenging for me. I have chosen a combination of summative and formative assessments and worked on rubrics (evaluation criteria). The challenge was to think how to meet this assignment requirements and not to break the logical flow of the course as well as reflect my pedagogical views on how and when the quizzes should be used.

I have chosen various tools that support interactions in the course: discussions, Piazza (Q&A platform), Twitter, Blogger and Tutela. Some of these tools allow synchronous communication, others – asynchronous communication. I have not previously used Piazza in my courses, but conducted a thorough research on this tool benefits and drawbacks as well as had interviews with the faculty who used it in their courses as per my recommendation. This tool makes it very easy to get a discussion going as well as help students to learn using the power of community. Its functionality reminds me of Mattermost, but makes searching through posts easier (to my view) and provides opportunities for learners to create wiki pages. Integrating this tool offers me a new way of facilitating teaching and learning and provides meaningful opportunities for feedback and support for learners throughout the learning process (Anderson, T. (2008a).

Tutlela and Twitter offer opportunities for students to build their professional network, share their learnings and meet with the instructor synchronously using a web conferencing tool (BigBlueButton) available through Tutela. I agree with Bates that social media can help learners develop core competencies such as collaboration, digital literacy, critical thinking, problem-solving, self-directed learning, networking, knowledge management and decision-making (Bates, 2014). According to November, Twitter seems to be a great way to develop a professional learning community, whether it’s just by observing and following others who provide resources or by personally participating through tweets (November, 2012).

I have also integrated peer reviews in my course as I believe they can increase the quality of student engagement in learning tasks (Gibbs & Simpson, 2004, p.8). Online course allows thinking time for students before they are ready to provide feedback. According to Chickering & Gamson, students need frequent opportunities to perform and receive suggestions for improvement. … Students need chances to reflect on what they have learnt, what they still have to learn, and how to assess themselves.’ (Chickering & Gamson, 1987). According to Bates, students can extend their learning by participating in both self-assessment and peer assessment (Bates. T. , 2014), and I tried to incorporate these pedagogical techniques in my course.

In addition to peer feedback on assignments, I have allowed using “like” button for discussions and Piazza postings. While designing the course and its assessments, I wanted to motivate learners to provide peer reviews; I have decided to make them required but ungraded.

Major assessments in the course allow to students to apply knowledge and skills they have gained to evaluate and create their own learning resources using relevant technology.

Overall, I relied on best pedagogical principles and methods as well as course objectives and chose technology that I feel works well with them.

References:

Anderson, T. (2008a). Towards a theory of online learning. In T. Anderson & F. Elloumi (Eds.), Theory and practice of online learning. Edmonton AB: Athabasca University. Retrieved from http://www.aupress.ca/books/120146/ebook/02_Anderson_2008-Theory_and_Practice_of_Online_Learning.pdf
Bates, T. (2014). Pedagogical differences between media: Social media. In Teaching in digital age, Chapter 9. Retrieved from http://opentextbc.ca/teachinginadigitalage/chapter/9-5-5-social-media/
Gibbs, G., & Simpson, C. (2005). Conditions under which assessment supports students’ learning. Learning and Teaching in Higher Education, 1(1), 3-31. Retrieved from http://www.open.ac.uk/fast/pdfs/Gibbs%20and%20Simpson%202004-05.pdf
November, A. (2012).  How Twitter can be used as a powerful educational tool. November Learning [Weblog] Retrieved from http://novemberlearning.com/educational-resources-for-educators/teaching-and-learning-articles/how-twitter-can-be-used-as-a-powerful-educational-tool/

This was the first time that I have designed a course using an LMS and I really enjoyed the process overall.  I am currently a teacher on call and don’t have a class to design a course for, so I decided to create a course for those interested in learning the fine art of landscape photography.   

As a professional landscape photographer myself, I get asked all the time how to make a career out of photography and how to take better photos.  I wasn’t sure what direction I wanted to take this course at first, but I decided that the most useful would be to make it a beginners course and scaffold the learning so each module would build on the previous.  The goal is to teach one fundamental skill and then have students go out and practice that in a landscape setting and come back to share their work each week. 

I designed the course using Google Classroom not really knowing anything about it.  In hindsight, it probably was not the best LMS for the job because it did have a number of limitations. One of the biggest limitations was the lack of a built in central discussion board. I was hoping to use something that everyone could post their work to on a weekly basis, similar to a discussion thread in Blackboard and then have people comment on it.  The best that I could work out was a way for students to create their own post on the “Stream.”  This “Stream”, which is similar to a Facebook feed, would likely become quite cluttered as more and more posts were added to it.

For the Introduction/Ice Breaker I wanted everyone to share a photo of themselves and tell me a little bit about their background, but I also wanted each person to share their favourite landscape photo that they’ve ever taken. The reason for this was that first off, I wanted to see what they thought constituted a good landscape photo and second, for it to act as a starting point to future improvement. I specifically pointed out that I didn’t care if it was taken on an iPhone or wasn’t perfect, that I wanted to hear more about the story behind the photo and why it was so special. I love hearing the stories behind a photo, even if it isn’t the most technically perfect photo.  There is a real beauty in the emotions and feelings that a photo can retrieve for people.

For the assessment piece I was curious to try Google Forms to create a quiz since it was easily integrated with Google Classroom.  Although the quiz was a fairly basic way of assessing understanding, it was a valuable tool to test out to see its limitations.  It worked fine to create a simplistic quiz, but to really get an understanding of students’ progress and to give some type of feedback along the way, I decided to have them submit a photo each week to be assessed. This is in line with research that claims that frequent assignments and detailed (written) feedback are central to student learning (Gibbs & Simpson 2005).

I also had them create a digital portfolio of their work as a final project.  I thought that this would not only help them to see their progression over time, but that they would have something they could physically use to pitch to brands or clients in the future to get potential jobs. As Bates points out as well, the use of portfolios encourages self assessment and reflection as well as being useful for formal assessment purposes (Bates, 2014). I know that for me, tests don’t really help me retain the information. I prefer hands on assignments. This is backed by Gibbs and Simpson who found that a combination of coursework of varying types and examinations produced better average mark rates than did examinations alone. (Gibbs & Simpson, 2005)

Overall, I was very pleased with the results of my LMS. I’m not sure that I would use it at this point for a course, but I could definitely see me taking pieces of it and potentially creating something like it on a different LMS. 

Thanks for reading and viewing.

Bates. T. (2014). Teaching in a digital age. Retrieved from http://opentextbc.ca/teachinginadigitalage/chapter/5-8-assessment-of-learning/

Gibbs, G., & Simpson, C. (2005). Conditions under which assessment supports students’ learning. Learning and Teaching in Higher Education, 1(1), 3-31. Retrieved from http://www.open.ac.uk/fast/pdfs/Gibbs%20and%20Simpson%202004-05.pdf

(Tl;dr —  Moodle seems to have two main weakness: age and too many choices.)

For this assignment, I explored Moodle as a potential LMS.  It was an adventure of endless clicking!  The intended participants were grade 11/12, enrolled together in a cohort of 23 to 25 students that combines four courses into a blended-learning model, STEM project based learning (PBL) program.  The urban school has a population of 800 students with a broad socio-economic range.  The program is elective, but sought out.  In general, the students have a sophisticated conception of learning as being active and based in understanding.  There is adequate technology available at the school, including laptops, high speed internet, and iPads.  Approximately 80% of students have personal mobile devices and about 90% have access to high speed internet in the home.  The two-semester course is divided into seven modules; a course introduction, and six projects that range in length from four to six weeks.  There are two team-teaching instructors; one for the academic math and physics, and one for the electronics and robotics technology component.   Continue reading →

I developed a fully online course of the first Unit for a teaching financial literacy to youth program based on the Money and Youth curriculum devised by the Canadian Foundation for Economic Education geared towards Grade 8 students.

Using Google Classroom as the main vehicle for interaction with the students. Students will be encouraged to interact with the professor via posts and emails, with other students via general and directed posts, and with the larger local community through activities and assignments.

An introductory activity will be used to better understand the cultural and specific backgrounds of each learner (Anderson, 2008). There are areas of the course that will permit a glossary to be developed so multiple students can add words and terms that may be unfamiliar and links of others areas that students can use to get more information.

Assignments will build on how students most effectively learn financial concepts including realistic investment programs and interactions with the larger community (Totenhagen, Casper, Faber, Bosch, Wiggs, Borden, 2015).

An online quiz will be used at the end of the Unit as a summative assessment of the key learning items. Multiple choice questions will be used for the more objective type knowledge questions and short answer questions will be used for more intellectually intricate questions (Bates, 2014).

In general, I would say the most difficult portion of creating a course (I am new to this creation bit) is understanding when to stop editing. I found Google Classroom limited in some ways but I learned to work around it. I still didn’t find the appropriate balance between what I would have liked to communicate (and how) and what the platform let me do. I am encouraged to learn more about all the other platforms!!

References:

Anderson, T. (2008a). Towards a theory of online learning. In T. Anderson & F. Elloumi (Eds.), Theory and practice of online learning. Edmonton AB: Athabasca University. Retrieved from http://www.aupress.ca/books/120146/ebook/02_Anderson_2008-Theory_and_Practice_of_Online_Learning.pdf

Bates. T. (2014). Teaching in a digital age. Retrieved from http://opentextbc.ca/teachinginadigitalage/chapter/5-8-assessment-of-learning/

Totenhagen, C. J., Casper, D. M., Faber, K. M., Bosch, L. A., Wiggs, C. B., & Borden, L. M. (2014). Youth Financial Literacy: A Review of Key Considerations and Promising Delivery Methods. Journal of Family and Economic Issues, 36(2), 167-191.

doi:10.1007/s10834-014-9397-0

I have chosen to revise a course I will be teaching in the coming months, IMHA 514 Interprofessional Practice. It is one of six courses in our Interprofessional Mental Health & Addiction (IMHA) Post-Degree Diploma IMHA – Camosun College. The course requires significant upgrades due to recent changes in the IMHA Program curriculum to reflect the shifting knowledge and skill required of gradates in the field of mental health and substance use services.

Course Description

This course focuses on skills, knowledge, and values necessary for interprofessional practice in mental health & substance abuse services. Students will examine the responsibilities and obligations of the professional with emphasis on self-reflective and ethical evidence-based practice, including legislation and policies affecting the care of persons with mental health and/or substance use challenges.

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of IMHA 514 learners will:

1. Demonstrate responsible and ethical decision-making in interprofessional mental health and substance use environments.
2. Take responsibility for decisions and actions, and evaluate the effectiveness of these in collaborative care settings.
3. Articulate a philosophy of practice as an interprofessional mental health and substance use professional as it relates to the support of individuals and families.
4. Use effective and appropriate advocacy skills and strategies to advocate for individual and family supports and services.

The IMHA Program is delivered in a blended model; each course includes face-to-face (f2f) content at the beginning, middle, and/or end of the course, with a majority of the content delivered asynchronously online through Camosun’s Learning Management System, Desire2Learn (D2L). When the Program was first developed in 2007, we explored course delivery options, including traditional f2f, completely online, and blended formats.  We determined that a blended delivery would best match learning activities for the knowledge and skill-sets required in the field of mental health and substance use services. Our sources for guiding the development of the courses included Boettcher and Conrad’s Moving Teaching and Learning to the Web (2004).

Over the years, we have tried different ratios or f2f to D2L, sometimes without any f2f instruction in a course. Continued student and faculty formal and informal feedback has resulted in the current delivery, whereby f2f seminars provide a forum in all courses for students to develop their interpersonal skills and intervention strategies for supporting clients. The majority of students have indicated that they appreciated the f2f components to enhance their educational and community experience in the cohort. For example, they have shared that the direct in-the-moment guidance offered by faculty and peer feedback was instrumental for making adjustments to improve their application of skills.

A more recent exploration of the literature for this ETEC 510 assignment determined that blended delivery continues to be highly favored. Based on a study to determine potential factors related to student satisfaction with online courses, Beqiri, Chase, and Bishka (2009) recommended that “schools and universities lean toward a blended course-delivery mode (with some face-to-face component) versus 100% online delivery” (p. 99). Dukes, Waring, and Koorland (2006) found that “studies have demonstrated that blended instruction can positively affect numerous aspects of the academic experience . . . faculty reported greater flexibility with course development, increased contact among students and instructors, and better integration of inquiry-based instructional methods” (p. 153).

Although the majority of students in the IMHA Program have lived on Vancouver Island, we often have students join us from off-island; for example, the current cohort includes students from Port Hardy, Vancouver, the BC interior, and Calgary, AB. To help reduce travel times, we have scheduled on-campus mandatory days as intensives that cover two courses in the same week. We have also designated some face-to-face days as optional for long-distance students; they are accommodated through the use of Skype to connect to students on-campus. On occasion, we use inter-campus video streaming when we can arrange for students living near a post-secondary institute to connect to the Victoria campus.

We believe it is important to help all students feel connected in our cohort model, especially in the interprofessional practice course because we are facilitating the development of knowledge and skills to be effective in collaborative teamwork. Students come with a variety of work and educational experiences for which we want to encourage an appreciative community of learners that benefit from each other’s perspectives and engage in healthy communication as will be expected when they are graduates in the field.

This course includes two categories for graded assessment:

1. D2L public discussion forums and private personal reflection postings 66%
2. Student Directed Learning project and presentation to peers 34%

The discussion and personal reflection postings provide opportunity for students to not only demonstrate their conceptual skills and integration of the course content, but to be a contributing factor in each other’s learning. Anderson (2008) recognizes that this type of assessment becomes a “reflective task” and students “use their posting . . . as evidence of their understanding of content concepts and intellectual growth during the class” resulting in “quality contributions” (p. 287). The intention is to help students be responsible for their learning, which informs the final student-directed project.

The Student Directed Learning assignment is aligned with the course outcome of developing a philosophy of practice. Students will develop a rationale and supporting documents to design and develop a project that reflects their learning needs; they will share their projects during the final seminar in a context or interprofessional education. This final project is a form of summative assessment in which students incorporate aspects of the course content through a personal lens for professional development. It is criteria-based in which students receive a set of guidelines that include required elements of the project (e.g., slide presentation, educational document), and the expectation it is relevant to their own and their peers’ learning needs. This is an integral aspect of the assignment to engage students to be motivated by and respond to their self-assessed learning needs. Although the course material is important to meet all learning outcomes for the course, students at this post-degree level of diploma studies benefit more from this type of assessment than an exam, as has been previously used. As Gibbs and Simpson (2005) recognize, “students tend to gain higher marks from coursework assignments“ (p. 6) and that average marks were higher when there were no exams but only coursework. They also determined that assignment-based courses resulted in a higher quality of learning (p. 7).

In addition to graded assignments, students also complete Critical Thinking Moments to consider application of the materials to self. These are strategically placed throughout the modules for students to pause and consider the application of concepts to self as emerging workers in mental health and substance use services.

References

Anderson, T. (2008). Teaching in an Online Learning Context. Theory and Practice of Online Learning. Retrieved from: http://www.aupress.ca/books/120146/ebook/14_Anderson_2008

Beqiri, M. S., Chase, N. M., & Bishka, A. (2009). Online Course Delivery: An Empirical Investigation of Factors Affecting Student Satisfaction, Journal of Education for Business, 85: 95–100. Doi: 10.1080/08832320903258527

Boettcher, J. V., & Conrad, R. (2004). Faculty Guide for Moving Teaching and Learning to the Web (2^nd ed.). Phoenix: League for Innovation in the community College.

Dukes III, L. L., Waring, S. M., Koorland, M. (2006). A The Blended Course Delivery Method: The Not-So-Distant Education. Journal of Computing in Teacher Education, 22(4) 153-158.

Gibbs, G., & Simpson, C. (2005). Conditions under which assessment supports students’ learning. Learning and Teaching in Higher Education, 1(1), 3-31. Retrieved from http://www.open.ac.uk/fast/pdfs/Gibbs%20and%20Simpson%202004-05.pdf

To reinforce and consolidate my learning on Learning Design, I have decided to leverage Assignments 3 & 4 and develop a course on Learning Design for the Humanitarian Worker. This approach allows me to reflect on my own learning within ETEC 565G, but also consolidate my learning outcomes from other MET courses, specifically ETEC 565A on Culture in Virtual Learning Environments, ETEC 510 on Design of Technology-Supported Learning Environments and ETEC 512 on Learning Theories. The course intends to be a resource for the Humanitarian professional responsible for building the capacity of their colleagues in the workforce. The aim is to provide structured support as they design learning experiences.

Having worked for an international development organisation myself, I’m able to understand the basic processes and challenges faced by employees in undertaking professional development opportunities. Save the Children also provided a wealth of insight into Learning & Development processes within international humanitarian agencies through their freely available webinars. To develop this course, therefore, I have had to create a set of assumptions about the learner uptake, such as having been nominated and supported by their own line managers and/or organisations, and having the motivation to improve their Learning & Development practices to create improvements.

To complete Assignment 3, I found myself going back and forth between two phases for a few weeks: exploring and tinkering with edX edge functionalities and researching the intended learner – the Humanitarian Professional. In the end, I realised that this barrier I was facing was due to a common trap that Learning Designers, myself included, find themselves in: choosing a platform before understanding the learner and the learning context.

However, designing for the adult learner in general, I was able to rely on the work of Malcolm Knowles (1970) on andragogy and emphasise the need for the learner to self-direct their own learning and to connect their learning experiences with their own professional practice. Similarly, I believed in the value of a problem-based learning (PBL) approach (Schwartz, n.d.) that will allow learners to perceive the course as a useful resource to improve and complete their existing professional work, as opposed to an ‘add-on’ that could eventually be disregarded in favour of other competing tasks. Once I had these principles clearly stated, I was able to consider the interaction and assessment strategies suitable for the busy adult learner. In the end, using the Backward Design approach, I opted to have learners develop a Course Plan as their primary course assessment. The development of this Course Plan will prepare them to execute an actual earning solution based on an authentic learning need that they themselves have identified in their own professional context.

Having discovered that the Humanitarian workforce is largely diverse in terms of exposure to stress and trauma, completion of post-secondary education, country of origin and country of work, and work environments and organisational culture (CHS Alliance, 2017; Lopes Cardozo, et al., 2012; Russ, 2014), these significant points of departure in diversity created a greater need for me to apply a self-directed learning approach, supported by self-assessment strategies to empower the learners, and meet them where they are at. edX Edge allowed for this type of self-assessment, with some constraints, and provided limited space for learners to share and discuss their work and portfolios. I considered the idea of peer assessment which could encourage the cross-pollination of knowledge between professional learners but decided against this due to the consideration of their workload, and instead opted to use discussion forums to build a sense of community. Overall, I was able to leverage edX to allow learners to self-assess their participation based on a rubric. Similarly, to empower learners to take charge of their own learning design, self-assessment of their Course Plans as they progress through the course is also used, with a mechanism for tutor-assessment to provide feedback and corrective/formative guidance.

Participation in discussion forums is also highly encouraged, which is reflected on the heavy weightage in overall assessment (25%). The importance of ongoing reflection, especially in relation to their peers in the same professional sector, can improve learning and enhance professional practice. Guidance with the norms of behaviour in discussion forums is provided, highlighting the principles of respect and curiosity, especially due to a significantly diverse learner group.

Finally, course reflection is also heavily reinforced in the overall assessment (25%) to encourage learners to bridge the gap between their existing knowledge and their goals in their professional and personal development.

I’m very much looking forward to developing the modules for Assignment 4, and seeing what other reflections in Learning Design comes up!

References

CHS Alliance (2017). Building an organizational learning & development framework: a guide for NGOs. Retrieved from: https://www.chsalliance.org/files/files/L%26F%20Framework%20-%20Final.pdf

Knowles, M. (1970). Andragogy: An emerging technology for adult learning. Retrieved from: https://www.nationalcollege.org.uk/cm-andragogy.pdf

Lopes Cardozo, B., Gotway Crawford, C., Eriksson, C., Zhu, J., Sabin, M., Ager, A., . . . Simon, W. (2012). Psychological distress, depression, anxiety, and burnout among international humanitarian aid workers: A longitudinal study. Plos One, 7(9), e44948. 10.1371/journal.pone.0044948

Schwartz, M. (n.d.). Engaging adult learners. Retrieved from: https://www.ryerson.ca/content/dam/lt/resources/handouts/EngagingAdultLearners.pdf

Russ, C. (2014). Enhancing Learning & Research for Humanitarian Assistance. Global survey on humanitarian professionalisation. Retrieved from: http://euhap.eu/upload/2014/06/global-humanitarian-professionalisation-survey.pdf

This was my first time using Canvas. It was also my second time building a virtual classroom. And it was my first time doing the work totally alone (thanks to the Oak group for their support!).

My objective was quite simple: I wanted to build a short course for PhD students and early post-docs that would expose them to the theories and practicalities of the research-policy communication. My objectives were as follows:

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Joyce Kim and I completed assignment three together, and we are in the process of completing assignment four together as well. Joyce and I have complimentary skills as I have experience in information architecture, as well as post-secondary instructional design, and Joyce has extensive teaching experience. This is why we chose to develop an introductory post-secondary writing course in continuing education, as we believed it would be relevant to our career paths.

Joyce and I worked in Moodle for this project. Overall, we feel as though Moodle worked well for our project. There are limitations to all LMS systems; however, we were able to accomplish a design and layout that we feel fits well with the constructivist, inquiry-based, student-centered environment we were aiming for.

Because of the subject-specific and also personalized nature of post-secondary writing, we felt as though focusing on constructivism to guide our content and design was appropriate in order to give students the opportunity to explore the content and build on their prior understanding through activities and discourse with their peers. We used Ernst von Glaserfeld’s work as a guide for our design. We want to encourage our students to problem solve and to skillfully reflect on their learning (Glaserfeld, 2008). As there is more than one effective way for students to research and write, there is more than one Truth (Glaserfeld, 1995, p. 4 & 9). We want to give students a choice in how they engage and discover postsecondary writing, while still offering structure in the course design. As well, we want our students to gain social emotional competence (through social constructivism), as, through social interaction, learners further engage in reflection and knowledge building (p. 7). To aid in this, we use a discussion board as a foundation for peer-to-peer discourse. Our first discussion board, the Introduction, helps students build an online community. Our second discussion board post is designed to help students gain skill in reflective learning processes, which is an important aspect of constructivist learning. As well, through the use of a discussion board, students gain further experience in writing at a post-secondary level. While our course focuses on writing academic proposals and papers, we are expanding on academic discourse through peer-to-peer discussion and reflection.

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Paige and I worked on this project together. The reflections are therefore divided into two sections: group reflection where we have provided a rationale for our pedagogical and assessment approach, and individual reflection in which I have described my own experience creating the course and working with the LMS.

Group Reflection

We have designed the course using constructivist and active learning approaches (Chickering & Ehrmann, 1996). As the course is on writing, we wanted to provide students with ample opportunities to practice writing and apply the principles they learn in the course. For this, we have created a variety of interactions and activities that utilize social constructivism for students to discuss their ideas and improve overall writing abilities (Fitzgerald & Ianetta, 2016, p. 33). Our intention with creating a purely online course is for students to build a community of practice that is learner-centered but also socially constructed. Thus, there is an opportunity for students to develop their own authentic writing voices while gaining from the input of peers and the course instructor. This is why students have plenty of opportunities for feedback and discussion but also complete the major assignments by themselves.

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According to Yook-Kin Loong & Herbert, (2017) teachers are expected to use all forms of technology in the classroom in order to improve the learning process using all forms of Information and Communication Technology. Therefore, use of ICT pedagogy in learning is due to the fact that teachers are becoming more confident in using ICT in the classroom. The use of games at the primary level, social media, and multimedia production in middle school and above is becoming the norm in many schools.

However, in my role as ICT teacher and integrator in a primary school, I found that we, as teachers, are still somehow far away from the latest trends, software, and applications that we should use in the primary classrooms, as the updates and the modification of games and software are rapidly changing.  So, I have created a proficiency course that is targeted to teachers on how to successfully integrate ICT pedagogically in the classroom.

The course will help boost the teachers’ confidence to use technology in the classroom as this course is hands-on. Teachers are expected to use the software, applications, and multimedia production tools within 8 weeks. The course is 100% online. It is delivered using Google Classroom as a Learning Management System where a teacher can and are expected to learn how to use Google Classroom with their students in the upper primary level.  Google Classroom requires a certain level of proficiency in reading, typing, and using email, that it is not really suitable for students below third or fourth grade. According to Bates (2014), there are many factors to consider in choosing the correct LMS and that is where Bates created a model called SECTIONS stands to guide course administrators and creators on how to choose the most useful LMS for both the deliverer and the receiver.

Karagiorgas & Nieman (2016) mentioned that the rise of gamification started in Google trends as a term and google research tools are responsible for the popularity of the of gamification. In addition, they explain both categories of the games that are used in education in general as gamification which uses game-like features such as levels and points. The game is used to learn a subject or a strand of a subject, for example, multiplication or the use of punctuation. While game-based learning approach is where some games provide solutions, practice, or training on a subject such as a word bingo or video games in languages studies.

In this course, I want to focus on explaining how to use some games that are very popular with this cohort of students in order to get the students engaged in the learning process. Mathematics and Language use is being reported within my school as boring subjects that have no drill, and practice that is fun and engaging. So, I have chosen to deliver to the primary teachers in this course the use of Games such as Minecraft, Lego, and introduce the implementation of a great classroom management application called Dojo.

On the other hand, I was thinking to use Google classroom because of the hands-on assessment that I was looking to assign to the participants in order to get the best out of them in terms of using the software themselves so they can have the confidence to utilize it in their classroom. I have designed a variety of assessment that we, as teachers, really use in a classroom. So, I have chosen an individual assignment as a personal project that teachers can select from any subject with which they feel comfortable. Then we have included a group project where we try to foster the collaboration in the classroom among the primary students. The quiz is a way that primary school teachers can get some numerical data.  Finally, we designed a case study assignment where, as a teacher, we find some issues within the classroom that are out of the norm, so we seek advice and we try to accommodate this case if it is a student-based case such as a talented student or a challenged student. The participant should choose one case and report on it and investigate the use of ICT in this case and how they can help this student or issue. Therefore, I chose the second option of the assignment to make sure that I am including a variety of assessments. These tasks have success criteria and grading system.

Finally, participants will be able to have access to all the tutorials to every software or app that was included in this course for personal records in the future.  I used Google Forms for quizzes and course evaluation by the participants. It is a great tool for participants to use so they can re-use it in real life with their own students.

In sum, I am trying to create a course that is fun, engaging, and with lots of interaction for primary teachers as if they are the real primary students that would use these tools and develop these skills on one hand and enriching the ICT pedagogy of the primary teachers it the classroom, on the other, so they can be confident when using these tools with their students. The choice of LMS was familiar and popular among school teachers and the assessment was hands-on projects and activities.

References

Bates, T. (2014). Choosing and using media in education: The SECTIONS model. In Teaching in digital age. Retrieved from https://opentextbc.ca/teachinginadigitalage/part/9-pedagogical-differences-between-media/

Karagiorgas, D. N., & Niemann, S. (2017). Gamification and Game-Based Learning. Journal of Educational Technology Systems, 45(4), 499-519. doi:10.1177/0047239516665105

Loong, E. Y., Esther Yook-Kin Loong, & Sandra Herbert. (2). Primary school teachers’ use of digital technology in mathematics: the complexities. Mathematics Education Research Journal, , 1-24.

Design decisions

Before I could begin to design my online course, I had to figure out how I could effectively integrate it into my current teaching context. My first obstacle is that I teach grade 6, which means that students are coming to school every day and they are going to access whatever type of course I design mainly from within my classroom or the computer lab in the school. When discussing how to make technology choices regarding student access, Bates (2014) states that “no matter how powerful in educational terms a particular medium or technology may be, if students cannot access it in a convenient and affordable manner they cannot learn from it” (266). In addition to designing for an elementary setting, I work in a community where students have little to no access to computers, tablets or phones outside of school. If they do have these devices, they are shared between many siblings and usually have poor Wi-Fi connection and limited data. Homework is also never assigned because it is not part of the school/community culture and this restricts the opportunity for completion of tasks online and outside of school hours. After taking all these factors into consideration, I decided that it would be unrealistic to design a fully online course, so I chose a blended learning environment instead. Every feature of the course is available online, from lessons to assignments to discussions boards. However, students can also interact with myself and their peers face-to-face during class time. Continue reading →

Intro Module Reflection

For this assignment I chose to work with Google Classroom. I focused my course on the Newfoundland and Labrador grade 3 Science curriculum of Plant Growth and Changes (Education and Early Childhood Development, 2017). I have never had to do anything like this before and honestly didn’t really know anything about Google Classrooms but decided to use it because I’ve heard of others using it at the age level of which I teach (primary/elementary). I think that in the future this is something that I’ll be able to use as a tool in my classroom! Continue reading →

For this assignment, I decided to create an orientation course for our incoming Canvas Tech Rovers (CTRs) to prepare them for the job. CTRs are co-op students that we hire to assist with the Canvas transition project at UBC. The CTR program started in September 2017 and the first batch of co-op students are finishing up their co-op terms in April. We are preparing for a new intake of CTRs as replacements and I thought it would be a good opportunity to develop an orientation course for them.

The introductory activities for this course are primarily focused on student-student interactions and consists of two parts. The first part is asynchronous where every CTR does a self-introduction on the discussion forum either in text, audio, or video format. This is an opportunity for other CTRs as well as myself to learn more about them. The second part is synchronous and it is the “Meet Your Mentor” activity where the incoming CTRs are paired with the current CTRs. This is an opportunity for them to ask questions and hear about the experiences of what the job is like from another peer. They then summarize what they’ve learned and share it with the other CTRs on the discussion forum. Through these interactions, I hope the students are able to, as Anderson (2008a) describes “transform the inert information passed to them from another and construct it into knowledge with personal application and value”.

Continue reading →

My reflection will focus on two main aspects: reflection, as the “teacher” of the course and, as a learner.

Background about the course

This is a course for our learning technology community. The members are faculty, not students. Face-to-face meetings are the main focus of the community.

The Canvas space was originally set up for session notes and slides, as well as for our members to experience Canvas as a student. At the University of Auckland, we cannot have “fake” students or manipulate student enrolments in Canvas. But, the Canvas student view does not offer a true student experience, especially for external (LTI) tools. As such, I intend to use the Canvas course space to provide a student experience for the members.

I hope to turn it into a community space, with more online resources for those who are new, or have missed the meetings. I do not expect high participation rate, but I have to start somewhere. Continue reading →

Time was needed to familiarize with the Moodle course management system, where help extensions (eg. Moodle docs) were overwhelming being too specific. Content was added within previews and not on actual pages, causing some frustration before sorted out by trial-and-error. With no single best media for online learning (Anderson, 2008), exploring functionalities over what works and does not is gradually adopted into pedagogical repertoires, helping to address existing and emergent needs. For instance modularization enables self-paced learning, able to jump back for review to maintain student engagement. Ciampa (2013) further describes learning in the mobile age as self-directed, building motivation through challenge, curiosity, control, recognition, competition and cooperation. Teachers always strive towards best use of whatever technology at hand, where Moodle requiring little training satisfies Bates’ (2014) reliability and robustness criteria, able to begin study within 20 minutes of logging on. Unfortunately the equation editor was far too cumbersome, resorting to Microsoft Word and inserting formulas as screenshots. Pictures certainly are more difficult to edit than text, though already possessing the know-how to work around constraints is extremely practical. Creating quizzes was actually the most natural, having experience writing questions into a test bank to be subsequently reordered thereafter.

Students can interact with teachers in the ‘General’ window, receiving ‘Announcements’ for important dates, while entering (a)synchronous chats through ‘General Queries’. Upon viewing through program topics with ‘Course Outline’, learners complete an introductory questionnaire with ‘Student Information’. Approximately one of every question type (eg. Check Boxes, Date, Dropdown Box) was included for this survey. Learners then work through ‘Safety’ reading through ‘WHMIS 2015’ content, followed by three question types (eg. Matching, Essay, Numerical) to check for understanding. A minor ‘Safety Quiz’ follows to review matching pictograms, examining ‘Timing’, ‘Grading’, ‘Layout’, and ‘Appearance’ options. The second topic on ‘Measurement’ begins with a lesson page on ‘Unit Conversions’, followed by six numerical practice questions. A subsequent content page introduces ‘Uncertainties’, followed by seven practice activities, ranging from ‘Matching’, ‘Multichoice’ and ‘Numerical’ with appropriate jumps. The third ‘Graphing’ topic introduces ‘Graphical Techniques’ as a lesson, checked with a multiple choice question. A wiki activity follows, where students practice graphing sample data using Google Sheets, interacting with each other for collaborative peer review. Finally, a ‘Measurement Quiz’ on unit conversions and significant figures is taken, examining varied question types along with assessment based on the specified criteria. Functionalities to control ‘Question behaviour’, ‘Review options’, and ‘Overall feedback’ grade boundaries are incorporated, to be partially graded automatically pending question type.

Reflecting on effectiveness using ISTE (2017) standards, Moodle leverages equitable access towards student empowerment, accommodating variability with authentic real-world learning experiences. The ‘Google Sheets’ wiki for example invites learners to apply graphical techniques by collecting sample data to practice graphing with technology beyond hand plotting. Wikis are evolving collaborative platforms where students can participate in assessment-as-learning, or even connect with professionals in the field. Like other course management systems, Moodle enables accessibility from off-campus locations, innovating learner-centred pedagogies to overcome time and content limitations with traditional instruction (Diaz et al., 2009). Although Moodle too is perhaps inflexible compared to newer cloud technologies (Porto, 2015), it does provide sufficient variety to be customized towards social context. Moodle can offer immediate feedback when it still counts that is forward-looking, detailed and facilitative to build self-efficacy (Gibbs and Simpson, 2005).

References

Anderson, T. (2008a). Towards a theory of online learning. In T. Anderson & F. Elloumi (Eds.), Theory and practice of online learning. Edmonton AB: Athabasca University. Retrieved from http://www.aupress.ca/books/120146/ebook/02_Anderson_2008-Theory_and_Practice_of_Online_Learning.pdf

Bates, T. (2014). Choosing and using media in education: The SECTIONS model. In Teaching in digital age. Retrieved from https://opentextbc.ca/teachinginadigitalage/part/9-pedagogical-differences-between-media/

Ciampa, K. (2013). Learning in a mobile age: An investigation of student motivation. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 30(1), 82–96. Retrieved from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jcal.12036/epdf

Diaz, V., Garrett, P.B., Moore, J., & Schwartz, C. M. (2009). Faculty development for the 21st century. Educause Review (44)3, 46-55. Retrieved from http://er.educause.edu/articles/2009/5/faculty-development-for-the-21st-century

International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). (2017). Standards for teachers. Retrieved from https://www.iste.org/standards/for-educators

Porto, S. (2015). The uncertain future of Learning Management Systems. The Evolllution: Illuminating the Lifelong Learning Movement. Retrieved from http://www.evolllution.com/opinions/uncertain-future-learning-management-systems/