Lift-Off: Geography 12 Online on Moodle
Visit the site: http://moodle.met.ubc.ca/course/view.php?id=593
Username: student66b Password: @Student66b
I am creating this online course shell and introductory unit as prototype that I can modify to a blended delivery model for my Geography 12 class this fall. I have used a class website in the past, where students can access information and content, but the prospect of using an LMS to integrate most elements of the ICT that I incorporate into my courses is one that I look forward to. I have also used extended Problem-Based Learning units with blogging software on two occasions with mixed success. I have since learned that assessing students beliefs about knowledge and learning, as well as scaffolding group skills and the PBL process are highly recommended when approaching Constructivist practice fields online. I used the Backward Design process in the planning stages of this unit. It is the most effective means of aligning all stages from understandings to performance and assessment. Elements of Driver and Oldham’s (1986) Constructivist Instruction Method (CIM) have also been considered. My personal goal in creating this Moodle introductory unit is to use what I have learned in my teaching practice and through my MET coursework and research to design a well-considered and fully operational online Geography 12 course for immediate use.
I chose Moodle as an LMS for my course because it is free, extensively supported by forums and videos online, and it does not store student data on servers outside of Canada – as mandated by the British Columbia Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FOIPPA). My experience is that students appreciate having 24/7 access to a course website but dislike having to visit multiple platforms to upload their work, participate in forums and check their grades.
Unit Structure and Site Design
The online delivery of this course is based on a clean website look and feel with 2-click access to all elements wherever possible. The amount of text in a given section has been limited to maintain this “at a glance” function and reduce text clutter. More detailed information and content is located on information and activity pages indicated by icons at the bottom of each section. Eight gear buttons at the top of the site are quick links to frequently accessed course features. They are: forums, grades, activities, updates (announcements), schedule, Q & A, e-portfolios and instructor email. Moodle tools are used throughout the site with links to external digital tools where specific functionalities are needed, such as presentation apps and online geospatial technology platforms. The course is structured into units that fit into the 3-term grading schedule of our school. These units span various weeks indicated in the course schedule and calendar. All unit sections display content in the form of text introductions, images, videos and embedded web tools. Students will spend a long time on this site over the course of a year, and it is important that their user experience is welcoming, simple and intuitive.
Achieving Unit Objectives Through Design, Online Delivery and Tools
I want my students to experience success with geographic tools in a collaborative exercise as early as possible in the course to proactively deal with common student pedagogical issues and to widen their perspectives on geographic thinking. The first section provides an orientation to the unit, an instructor greeting link and a student introduction ice-breaker on Padlet. The unit objectives are also listed here. Students will:
- assess individual beliefs about knowledge
- identify and assess conceptions of student and teacher roles and responsibilities in the learning process
- evaluate student perceptions of collaborative group work
- demonstrate an understanding of the process of geographic inquiry by creating an online geospatial map in teams
Objective 1 is critical to the success of my course. In my past PBL units, student’s expectations about knowledge, learning and their negative experiences with group work interfered with their ability to engage in the course. The first three activities in this unit are designed to have students assess their own beliefs and conceptions on these subjects and consider opportunities for change. All three involve a motivational survey activity as an orientation exercise. Activity 1 aligns with the first objective. Here, students read a brief description on epistemology, then watch a Ted Talk video the presents the differences between people with a fixed or growth mindset. Next, they complete two likert-item questionnaires using the Moodle tool to assess their beliefs on knowledge and learning, and their personal learning preferences. This tool allows them to determine patterns in their responses that help them to gain an awareness of their expectations. Although there is no report generated or rating provided, the process of taking the surveys is self-reflective. The forum tool is used for the first time at the end of this activity. It allows students to clarify and exchange views with others as means of evaluating various perspectives on learning.
The second objective is reflected in the next two sections, Collaborating in Group 1 & 2. Part 1, follows the same process and tools as the previous section with the exception that the survey links to an external tool. This was necessary because Moodle questionnaires do not have a ranking option, which is needed for this exercise. This item is a modified version of the National Association of Colleges and Employers 2015 Job Outlook Survey that identifies the skills most sought-after by employers in the 21st Century workplace. Their results are posted to a link that is only viewable once students have checked-off that they have completed the survey. The ‘restrictions’ function is a useful option that is available in most of the Moodle resources and activities. It reminds students that there is an important sequence to interacting with certain course elements. In forum 2, they must share ideas on developing collaborative group skills.
Moodle tools allow for an effective jigsaw activity in part 2 of this section. After a brief text introduction, learners familiarize themselves with 4 cases describing character profiles commonly experienced by groups in a face-to-face school settings. Once the class is populated, Moodle allows groups to be made within the forum tool. Students are grouped by case study, asked to discuss the behaviours presented and generate solution strategies. Groups are re-configured in Forum 4, where members report on their case and conclusions to everyone. Original groups reform in forum 5 to share all strategies presented and to further discuss group issues. Student’s first reflection follows this step where they are responsible for applying their knowledge in the form of rationalized recommendations for team policies. It is also a space to self-assess their own group behaviour. The assignment tool allows this item to remain private and links any numeric or written feedback to the grade book, which is a useful affordance of this tool.
The third objective is addressed in the next section, “Geographic Inquiry.” The concepts of geographic thinking and the geographic inquiry process are introduced here. Activity 4 is the first opportunity for students to work in teams following their discussions and reflections on knowledge, learning and group work. Here they apply their new understandings and strategies that they developed in the previous sections. The activity 4 page details the process of creating and collaborating on a Google Doc. This is followed by a more in-depth process of applying the 5 stages of geographic inquiry to the creation of a story map tour in ArcGIS. Moodle links students to the Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) site where they can view sample galleries and learn the technology through a multi-media tutorial. In forum 6, teams provide access to other groups to view their presentations by linking it through a new topic. Students then conduct a peer-review assessment on other groups by responding to focus questions within each topic thread. For most learners, this will be their first experience creating a effort-intensive geospatial artifact that receives extensive anecdotal feedback as assessment, rather than a numeric mark from a teacher. They will have an opportunity to comment on this and their team experience in the second reflection of this unit, Thoughts on Creating a Team Story Map Tour.
Relating the Introductory Unit to the Course Structure
Timeline and Sequencing
This unit covers four weeks. In the upcoming 2015-16 school year, that is from September 8 – October 4. Unit 2 will continue to scaffold collaborative learning, provide hands-on practice activities for geographic inquiry and building geospatial technology skills. Case- and Problem-Based Learning will also be introduced on short timelines. The end of week 11 corresponds with the end of term 1 and the first reporting period at our school.
In terms 2 and 3, student teams will use the skills and knowledge that they have gained and practiced in the first term to engage in their own inquiry using their chosen practice field. Skills developed will be working with visualizations and GIS extensions. Units 3 and 4 will comprise term 2, which ends and the end of week 22 on February 26. In units 4 and 5 of term 3, students will be introduced to mobile media learning with an emphasis on game-based applications. Geolocative functionalities in phone and tablets present new possibilities for inquiry and presentation. New teams will be formed for this final project with the expectation that students will be creating their most cognitively and technologically sophisticated work. At the end of week 35, term 3 teams will participate in the online geography conference.
Tools
The Moodle tools used in the introductory unit have been described in the context of the course design above. They are: pages (course information and activities), forums, surveys (internal questionnaires and links to SurveyMonkey), web page links and assignments (personal reflections). There are a number of other tools which will be used in Term 2 & 3 both within and outside Moodle. The workshop activity is a peer review tool that will be used for team projects at the end of each term. The feedback and survey tools assess students efficacy and satisfaction with course operations. They will be used on an irregular schedule in all terms. Student e-portfolios will be created and maintained on the external blogging platform WordPress rather than the blog tool in Moodle. The reason for this is to maximize tutorial and technical support with the sites through online forums and videos, and to afford contact and dialogue with guests, experts and stakeholders outside of the course.
Assessment
Formative assessment occurs on an ongoing basis and is ungraded. Self-assessment is done through a number of tools including forums, surveys, questionnaires, feedback and reflections. Formative peer-assessment is accomplished informally through forum discussions, live collaborative sessions, e-portfolio comments and conference presentation interactions. Skill-based activities are assessed by the instructor anecdotally through the grading tool.
Summative assessment of project work and e-portfolios is contributed equally through self, peer and instructor assessments using rubrics, numerics and comments in workshop tool (25% each). This will start with the team inquiry projects in term 2. Participation in forums and private reflections will be assessed numerically and through comments by instructor at the end of every term (25%).
Activities
The exchange of ideas and discussions in unit forums and private reflections are emphasized in this course. Activities are individual small-scale exercises are part of the scaffolding process for students to build technical and cognitive skill sets. Inquiry projects are multi-week collaborative projects that be approached Problem-,Case-, Project-Based Learning or mobile media learning. They are intensive team-driven research-based activities. Students will begin to develop their e-portfolio as a self-managed documentation space where they present their course work along with ongoing reflections on learning and working collaboratively. The summative course event is the online geography conference where teams present their second team project online to the class and invited guests. It must include a live interactive online event.
Communication
Communication occurs through a variety of means in the course. Student-to-student interaction are accomplished through the forum discussions, external collaborative spaces like Google Docs and Hangouts, and informally through the Moodle chat tool, texting and direct messaging from social media apps. The Q & A forum is a designated space to share concerns about the course, ask organizational questions relevant to everyone and clarify information. The course calendar and schedule convey planning and deadline information. Instructor contact for questions of personal relevance can be made through email. Designated office hours have been scheduled for Wednesday 3:00-5:00 pm for individual or group help. This is also the time that team check-in meeting will take place, which will be scheduled bi-weekly or by request.
Conclusion
Designing this introductory unit and shell for my online Geography 12 course has been intensive and engaging. Considerations for effective instructional design have been far reaching. Moodle has provided an effective, though not always intuitive, space to host the many elements of this design both conceptually and practically through the features and affordances of its tools and its capacity to connect externally to other sites and platforms. This site represents the convergence of my online teaching experience and the many theoretical and pedagogical lessons that I have learned so far in the MET program. It is operable and ready to be piloted in September.