It is interesting how creating a unit on Moodle begins slowly, then seems to gain its own momentum. The work flow is no longer linear, where I consult my design, determine the best tools to meet my objectives, learn how to use them, then create an overview, resource or activity. Now I am doing all of those things at the same time – in full throttle.
Activities 2 and 3 in the “Collaborating in Groups” section took a little more time than I had budgeted, but it was fun to explore the creation and editing process in Moodle. I also gained awareness of the difficulties of getting the desired formatting in the visual editor when cut and pasting content into topics, pages and fora. For example, there are numerous places where I can’t add a space or control the text that I highlight for headings. My colleague at work warned me that Moodle can get pretty clogged-up with necessary code imported from other applications. He showed me the icon for removing the code. I’ve switched to writing all my text in simple text mode.
It was also enjoyable creating the case studies of the sorts of characters that many teenagers encounter in group work throughout their school careers. I used the cases in the Oakley et al., (2004) paper and the Song et al., (2007) study for the free-loader and the sucker, then tweaked it to represent a profile that I know many students in my school would recognize. The other two cases were my own creation. My hunch is that most students will identify with these personalities; however I’m a little worried that some will have an aversion response that interferes with the activity. I’ll have to find that out for real in September.
Creating the activities for students to practice geographic inquiry by collaborating on a GIS map did not go as planned. I have to give a nod to ESRI here for emphasizing that introducing too much too soon with ArcGIS will have a negative impact on almost all students, and that a gradual scaffolding process over time works best. I was disappointed because I really want to introduce the inquiry process by providing them with the opportunity for success with the technology in the introductory unit.
The solution came as I noodle around ESRI’s ArcOnline site and discovered the story map Apps with numerous examples of the various tools for presenting GIS maps with images and media. I realized that the 5 steps of geographic inquiry could be applied easily in this format by linking photographs to map locations and creating a narrative. It is one of those serendipidous moments where a road block in the planning necessitates a change that improves the original design.
All of the main elements are now in place for my online introductory unit. I’m off the radar now for 2 days to celebrate my 25th anniversary. When I return on Thursday, it will be polish and documentation time.
Oakley, B., Felder, R. M., Brent, R., & Elhajj, I. (2004). Turning student groups into effective teams. Journal of student centered learning, 2(1), 9-34.
Song, L., Hannafin, M. J., & Hill, J. R. (2007). Reconciling beliefs and practices in teaching and learning. Educational Technology Research and Development, 55(1), 27-50. doi:10.1007/s11423-006-9013-6 .