My ETEC 565A ePortfolio

Communication (synchronous and asynchronous) were at the front of my mind as I designed my course within Moodle.  I wanted to be sure to facilitate and foster a community of inquiry.   I was especially driven by Anderson’s (2008) model for online learning.  I was particularly intrigued by his thoughts regarding the importance of having aa community-centered approach for online learning.

Thus, I created general and specific discussion forums.  There is a general news forum for announcements and then there are topic specific forums.  I also included a Q&A forum in which a user can submit a question.  This functions different than the other forums in that it divides the forum up into specific questions.  In this way, I will build a user generated FAQ’s for the course which will hopefully tailor the answers to each course.

I also have decided to include a weekly live chat (Thursdays at 4 pm).  This is also designed to foster community.

When I look at some of the available tools within Moodle, I see some further potential for other tools to be used such as the wiki.  I can see that with further development of some of the modules, students could work on creating a wiki on some of the content areas.  This can be done on a individual, group, or course level.  This is a great asynchronous tool that would be quite interesting to use in building a community of learners.

I also have looked at the tools and plugins avaialble through Moodle and have seen that there are a number of options for incorporating various synchronous live audio/video chats.  These seem appealing but they seem to require a bit more technical knowledge of the workings of programming, coding, etc. than what I have at this time.

However, I believe that I have at the very least a basic and essential system in place for communication both in synchronous and asynchronous formats.  The live chats each week will build community in real time and the discussion forums will help flesh out our ideas within each week.  Perhaps, as I grow in my technical skills, I will better be able to leverage some of the other tools within Moodle.

References:

Anderson, T. (2008). Towards a theory of online learning.. In: Anderson, T. & Elloumi, F. Theory and Practice of Online Learning. Athabasca University.

 

The first principle of “Good practice encourages contact between students and faculty” is something that I’ve been working on for the last few years.  All too often the excuse of “I didn’t know” is brought to me not only by students but by parents.  Initially, I used email to contact students and parents about missing assignments or key due dates but I found that I was only communicating with those students who needed the extra nudge.  Others were being left behind.  Last year, I utilized a daily blog in which I provided a brief sysposis of each class and a link to the relevant course page.  I emailed out the link to all the parents and students at the beginning of the year, included it in the school newsletters, and frequently reminded students about the accessibility of the website and blog.  Parents were very supportive and excited by this initiative.  Students were a little less thrilled to have an excuse removed but overall I noticed that deadlines  were clearer for everyone and most students felt like they were in the loop. Students like having the opportunity to access resources and assignment details from home.

Another principle that technology has enabled me to realize is the one regarding “good practice gives good feedback.” I do not have particularly neat writing or printing.  Thus, giving feedback on paper is a challenge for me and my students!  As much as possible I have students email me documents.  Leaving comments in Word is an easy task and I find that not only am I able to do this much faster, but I can leave more robust feedback for students.  Shifting to Google Drive has also provided the opportunity for immediate feedback.  Moreover, digital editing allows both students and teacher to see progress made as a document is refined.

One area that I think there has been a shift since these principles were drafted is the one regarding “Good practice emphasizes time on task.”  I am not always sure that having our technology improves our time on task.  Certainly some tasks can be completed sooner but I find that high school students struggle with focusing on the task at hand when a myriad of distractions are merely a click away.  I find this an area that needs further clarification and discussion.  The article mentions teaching strategies to emphasize the use of good time, but it was written in 1996 before the rise of mobile technology and with it non-stop games!  This is one area that I have noticed over the last few years that educators, students, parents, administrators, etc. need to come to terms with to help students harness the amazing technology they have for far more productive purposes.

References:

Chickering, A. W., & Gamson, Z. F. (1987). Seven principles for good practice in undergraduate education.American Association for Higher Education Bulletin, 39(7), 3-7. Retrieved from 
http://www.aahea.org/articles/sevenprinciples1987.htm

Chickering, A. W., & Ehrmann, S., C. (1996). Implementing the seven principles: Technology as lever. American Association for Higher Education Bulletin, 49(2), 3-6. Retrieved fromhttp://www.aahea.org/articles/sevenprinciples.htm