How has my idea for a LMS course site evolved over these 13 weeks?
My idea of a LMS course site has changed immensely. Before taking this course, I only was introduced to working with Moodle in another ETEC course and got a hang of it. However, to come into this course and challenge myself to learn how to build with Blackboard Vista – was time well spent. Now, when I plan to head up online education at the school I teach at, I can look back at these 13 weeks and evaluate which LMS course site would be more suitable (and I guess affordable) for my students and colleagues.
What particular aspects of ETEC 565 advanced my thinking?
Building with Blackboard Vista, creating a LMS proposal, developing a social media project, and making an assessment based in a LMS site – advanced my thinking. Thinking that has stretched my mind by:
– understanding the work that goes behind the structure of a LMS site (e.g. planning, building, maintaining, etc.)
– incorporating and involving different types of social media in providing my students others alternatives to express their learning in-class
– obtaining pedagocial support and research in order to effectively propose the implementation of educational technology
– investing much more time to create an online quiz/test than it would preparing the same kind of assessement on paper
Aside from what I have learned about the technologies, what have I learned about yourself?
I was reminded that my learning curve is quick in anything that I am passionate about and that is meaningful to me. For example, I caught on in a reasonable amount of time in learning the basics of how to build discussions forums, learning modules, and assignments in Blackboard Vista. However, during the learning process, I must admit that I need to consistently go back to what I learned because if there is a long duration of time (e.g. 5-6 days) that I have not practiced what I learned – I usually need to revisit how to do that skill again. Thus, I waste time and become ineffecient in what I do. For example, when creating with Blackboard Vista, I already forgot a few key steps in how to effectively make an assessment because I only made one during this course – but I am sure once I revisit how to make another online assessment, it will come back to me pretty fast.