Posts from — June 2009

I am familiar with HTML, and have created many websites before, so I decided to concentrate on using CSS for my website. I went through the W3Schools CSS tutorial, and downloaded a few website templates to get a feel for what can be done. I have managed to create navigation and basic rules (fonts, Headers etc) using CSS but I’m still curious to learn more and am continuing to explore. I did learn some things that I have always wondered (like what order the padding numbers go in – answer clockwise starting at the top)

I must say I was very impressed with the wiki and its tools. Especially the information about accessibility and bad design. There are so many bad, difficult to read sites out there. I was not thrilled that Steven Mischook (Killersites) has gone commercial. (I guess we all have to make a living) If you dig around enough you can find the free tutorials though. I learned HTML from his site maybe 10 years ago. I would recommend the W3Schools HTML tutorial as well.

I am posting a link to my ePortfolio (work in progress) which is the culmination of my MET experience and my learning experience (including a *big* CSS learning curve.  Let me know what you think?  ePortfolio

Since sound is a big part of what I do for a living, Garage Band and Audacity are on my list of regular tools.  I find audacity is really good for doing things like changing the tempo of an mp3 (to dance to for instance) and I use garage band with my kids because it is easy.

I had a Student who dug around and found this software for PC which is strikingly similar to Garage Band in many ways (for those of you who don’t have a  Mac)  They have a free trial if you want to check it out.

http://www.acoustica.com/mixcraft/

I have also embedded a little tune that my kids did as a project (their own composition) I liked it! UBC WordPress seems to be clipping the mp3 to mere seconds, which is frustrating, so I have linked it to a google page. (there are ways around this!)

Student Sample

Is it a labour intensive process?

I have moodled before so much of the process was familiar to me.  It is actually fairly straightforward once you understand the interface.  The one thing that is a bit kludgy is the upload function.  Not intuitive.

What worked well?

Creating a simple Welcome page was pretty easy.  I still want to play around with adding some more interest using HTML, but will save that for another time.

What was challenging?

I would like to alter the theme, and also to have the ability to change some functions that I appear not to have security rights to.

What surprised you?

Not much since I have moodled before.

I have just finished reading Terry Anderson’s “Toward a Theory of Online Learning” (2008). He describes the attributes of learning as being centered on the learner, on knowledge, on community and on assessment.

I believe that what you get out of any course is entirely dependent on what you put in. I disagree with Anderson’s claim that learning needs to be assessment centered. Making assessment a center of instruction (IMHO) takes away from the rest. Yes, it is important, and feedback, peer review, critique etc can be part of learning, but I disagree that they should be a central tenet. I believe, instead, that assessment is more like the glue that holds the rest together. Assessment is part of learning, (learn from your successes and errors) part of knowledge (taking what I read or view and transferring it to what I need, perhaps with help from peer review or critique)and part of community (group-work is a form of assessment by peers for example).

Many of my classmates have commented that if a task is not assessed students will simply not complete it. This is where we, as educators, need to stop and look at why. I have been doing some experimentation with giving un-assessed tasks with the only criteria being that students need to show effort and progress, where they can work at their own pace. I am finding that I am getting a better end product when I give fewer criteria, no assessment guidelines and less structure in assignments. Students are going to conference with me at the end of the term and we’ll decide then how the little experiment went. It has taken the pressure off me to mark and given me more time to teach, and I’m finding the kids are helping each other as well.

Anderson, T. (2009). The Theory and Practice of Online Learning. Athabasca University Press. Retreived June 7, 2009 from http://auspace.athabascau.ca:8080/dspace/bitstream/2149/757/3/toward_a_theory_of.pdf