Assignment 4 – Summarizing My Experiences with ETEC 565A
Jason Harbor
Assignment 4
ETEC 565A
Dr. Tatiana Bourlova
August 7, 2015

 

Comparing my initial plan and my preliminary results with ETEC 565A

Goals for the Course:

• To experiment and evaluate different technological solutions designed for education

Throughout the course I was able to use the following solutions in depth: Moodle, Connect, and WordPress. I will speak to my experience with Moodle in the “Tools I Plan to Start Using” section. Connect has been the default platform for all the courses I have taken through the MET program and I was already somewhat familiar with the features of Connect, I was able to define several features that I found lacking: email alerts of discussions (while I am able to subscribe to an entire thread, I am unable to subscribe to a particular message in a thread; resulting in a need to continually go back and check for replies and further discussion) as well as particularly slow loading times. There were times when it took over a minute to load from the login screen to the welcome page of Connect. Even if this is due to exceptionally high demand, this is too long for me to consider Connect as a viable LMS option in my context of high school education. WordPress has a sleek, and minimalist interface, which allowed me to concentrate on the content and not lose focus on any “extras” that, may be present on other LMS. As well, the ability to comment on pages, and reply directly to those comments leaves a running trail of breadcrumbs that make a linear thought process easier to follow.

• To refine my understanding of instructional design to include the ability to seamlessly and meaningfully incorporate technology into the learning

I feel that this aspect of my practice is still lacking. While I was able to explore different LMS in depth, I still lack the knowledge and tools to implement technology seamlessly in my daily practice. I still feel like using technology in my classroom will take work and time out of my day, having my students wait for me to get out or set up the tool to use and then put it away after I am done. My ideal goal in this area is to be able to use a tool “on the fly” and make the integration seamless for my students.

• To apply the skills, techniques, and knowledge obtained in this course to my personal and professional practice

The biggest single contributor of this course to my personal practice will be the implementation of the technology evaluation models ADDIE and SECTIONS. I had never thought about such detailed analysis of tools before but will now take the time to use one model (if not both) to evaluate any new tool that I intend to use before I use it.

 

Skills to Improve:

• Critical evaluation skills regarding tool selection, evaluation, and succession planning regarding aging technologies

I already referenced this point under my last goal for the course, but being exposed to both the ADDIE and SECTIONS models will lead my decision making for the foreseeable future. Having a method to follow with clear steps and outcomes will make the decision making objective rather than subjective.

• To gain familiarity with the structures and functionalities of different Learning Management Systems (LMS) so that I may select better LMS for the desired application

I did not improve this skill as much as I had intended to but that is no fault of the course or its content. For the “Delivery Platform Evaluation” assignment, my group chose to use Moodle, mostly for legal reasons; by situating our school in British Columbia, we were forced to comply with FOIPPA which dictated that public bodies like schools must ensure that private information is not stored or accessed from servers outside of Canada (Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner, 2015). For assignments 2 and 3, both my partner and I had defined Moodle as a tool that we both wished to gain proficiency with, so it became a natural choice for us. However, during the course I also took the time to independently assess the tools Google Classroom and Schoology. I spent only a short amount of time with Google Classroom (once I determined that it would not meet my needs) and I will discuss my findings with Schoology in depth later in this summary.

 

Tools I Plan to Start Using

• Moodle, while I have used Moodle in the past, I have not used it since 2011 and would like to become familiar with new features.

It seems that my experiences in this course focused around Moodle. I gained a much better understanding of many of the features that have been added and improved upon since I last used Moodle in depth in 2011. Throughout assignments 2 and 3 I was able to integrate interactivities such as quizzes and discussion boards which I had not used in my past experience. Along with exploring these new tools, I was able to solidify my knowledge of previously used tools such as file uploads and page creation.

• Google Classroom
• Schoology

I was unable to experiment with either Google Classroom or Schoology during the course, but I still intend to use them in some capacity throughout my personal practice. In fact, as part of my professional growth plan to have a “paperless classroom” by 2020, I intend to use Schoology in September as my assignment distribution and submission tool. Schoology has a feature that will allow me to mark-up submissions through the iPad app and push these back to my students instantly. As well, Schoology tracks assignment revisions, so that I can collect an assignment at intervals and keep track of when each revision was submitted.

 

 

Summarization of Experiences Working with Different LMS Platforms and Digital Tools

1. Which of your newly developed or improved technological skills contribute to your professional and academic activities?

Without a doubt my skills and tools that I have gained regarding critical analysis of tools and LMS will have the largest contribution to my professional activities. I am considered one of the leaders in technology integration in my school division and often my opinion is sought out before a large, division-wide purchase is made. Having this new background in critical analysis (especially the ADDIE and SECTIONS models) will enable me to give better, more thorough and more informed advice to those who seek it from me.

2. Which of you designer and ascetic preferences and instructional values have been transformed, or acquired in the process?

I had never thought about design and aesthetics regarding course design but I now see how having a standardized look to a course creates consistency and can put the students at ease, considering that they will know what to expect when they receive instruction. When completing assignment 3, I would upload content without considering formatting or standardization, but after consultation with my partner (who would standardize the formatting) I realized how much cleaner and easier to follow the course was after standardizing the formatting.

 

 

Evaluation of the Quality of My Learning Experience

1. Role of Course Components

The discussion forums were of great benefit for me personally. The case studies were of particular benefit. Seeing issues develop within a context allowed me to expand those into my own personal contexts and reflect on situations that I may handle differently in the future as well as preparing me for future contexts. I am a very concrete thinker and having situations in which to apply the theory allowed me to solidify my understandings.

2. Unexpected and Emergent Effects

Critical analysis keeps coming back to me as a theme that I have learned so much about from this course. While I did not experience any emergent effects in my own practice, I believe that I am now better equipped to handle any that do arise in the future. I now have the skills to step back and objectively analyze a situation with a proven model, instead of relying on subjective thinking and intuition.

3. Benefits and Challenges of Having Two Delivery Platforms

I appreciate the ability to reference the course long into the future when the Connect course will be archived and I will no longer have access to it. As well, having the open version of the course in WordPress benefits those who have not taken the course and those in the general public who would benefit from the information contained within the course.

However, for the first weeks of the course, I was sometimes confused about which platform to look at for the content. This is no fault of the course, rather my tendency to go on “auto-pilot” when doing coursework. I had to consciously remember that after checking the discussion forums in Connect that I had to go the WordPress site to check for course content and readings.

4. What Did Not Work Well

Personally, the back and forth between Connect and WordPress was the only aspect of the course that did not work well. I am a very linear thinker and having two parallel places to look for content challenged by natural linearity.

5. Would I Prefer Having Only the Connect Course

Personally, I would have preferred having only the Connect course but that is due to personal issues and not institutional ones. I have a hard time multitasking and having the course concentrated in one place better fits my learning style. I know there are others who preferred having both courses available.

However, as mentioned in “Benefits and Challenges”, having the open version of the course in WordPress is of greater benefit to all compared to my personal learning needs.

After some reflection on this question my top preference would be to have the course in WordPress alone, however I know this is not possible due to issues such as WordPress not having discussion board forums or assignment submission areas.

References

Bates, T. (2014). Chapter 4: The ADDIE model. Teaching in a Digital Age. (online book)

Bates, T. (2014). Chapter 8: Choosing and Using Media, the SECTIONS model. Teaching in digital age. (online book)

Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner. (2015, June 5). About Us. Retrieved from https://www.oipc.bc.ca/about/legislation/