Flight Path
I am an instructor in a college vocational program. Each year I teach several face to face courses, a lot of online courses (using Moodle), and one blended course. I also supervise practicums (for education assistants, early childhood educators, and human service workers).
My flight path contains many goals, and the two prominent ones are assessment and multimedia:
Assessment: Right now my online students are assessed fairly traditionally. They complete assignment and discussion forums, which I mark either formatively or summatively. NETS for Teachers (2008) discuss the importance of creating and using authentic learning activities and assessments that incorporate current tools. One of my goals is to evaluate my current assessment procedures, and then upgrade them to a new and improved level. I would also love to find ways to create secure online assessments for independent evaluations. I want to look at meaningful ways for students to complete self-assessment and peer assessment, and for ways for me to include these in the “final grades” which I am required to generate.
Multimedia: I am not experienced in the use of multimedia, and so in fear and trepidation, I set this out to be one of my goals. Chickering and Ehrmann (1996) discuss ways to enrich apprentice-like activities. I would love to provide my practicum students with simulations, and have found nothing except clips on Youtube. Perhaps I will need to create them myself. I don’t how well I could do this, but I’ll venture forth into learning more about the process. I had not heard the term “digital story” until two weeks ago, and am taking a guess that perhaps it will fit into this category as well. So much to learn!
Learning Management Systems: I have taught using Moodle for several years now, and have done some basic course design work using the information I have gleaned through usage. I would like to expand my knowledge and gain a much higher level of competency. Chickering and Ehrmann (1996) state that, “good practice encourages contacts between students and faculty”. One of my goals is to find ways to utilize both asynchronous and synchronous communications with online courses. Right now my students use forum discussions and emails to communicate with each other and with me, but I ‘d like to find other ways to draw us together.
Social Software: While not a big priority for me right now, I hope to learn about different ways post secondary institutions are using social software for learning purposes. What can these provide that can’t be set up in Moodle?
Needed Resources: In addition to a lot of research material, I will potentially need access to video recording and editing equipment….both of which I currently have no experience with. (And this is where I take a deep breath and step forward bravely in the hope of learning something new and potentially very useful!).
References:
Chickering, A & Ehrmann, S. (1996). Implementing the seven principles: Technology as lever. American Association for Higher Education Bulletin, 49(2), p. 3-6.
International Society for Technology in Education. (2008). National educational technology standards for teachers. Retrieved May 12, 2011 from http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for-teachers/nets-for-teachers-2008.aspx
