Assignment 2 was focused on developing the general structure and introductory module for an online course in a LMS, while Assignment 3 provided the opportunity to develop course content and to work through the process of developing an actual course. I have grown immensely through Assignment 3, complementing the learning in Assignment 2, through progressing through the LMS course development and working with three other excellent colleagues in developing our poetry course, “Express Yourself!”. Similar to Assignment 2, all four of us were separated across the world geographically but we were further challenged in dealing with four time zones, instead of three, in New Zealand, China, B.C. and Alberta along with personal commitments. It often felt like a rotating carousel of people logging on and off, especially near the end when we were all working long hours at the computer and chatting with each other via Google Hangouts! I am happy to say that through these assignments, we have become friends and fellow educators with a shared passion and vision.

Building off the efforts invested into Assignment 2, we felt much more organized in our course and documentation structure for Assignment 3. In selecting a module of our course, we decided to focus on Module 3, the last module of our course that would culminate what students learned throughout Module 1 and 2 with a virtual poetry slam. It integrated all our learning objectives together, as well as more fully reflecting Fink’s course design model and the six domain of significant learning. We found that Eliademy continued to fairly well for our learning objectives, integrating it with GAFE tools to integrate with the LMS for instructional activities and assessment. Features like Google Forms, Docs, Slides, Hangouts and YouTube all contribute to what I consider to be a richer learning experience for our students in our course.

We also had the advantage of edX Edge to compare to, thanks to Pam’s initiative to utilize and to do more with that LMS. As we dug deeper into the functionality of Eliademy and edX, we realized there were more limitations than initially realized. For example, we encountered a sometimes non-functional “Save” button, as well and the inability to reorder the threads in the Discussion Forum. We also discussed the positive and negative aspects of Eliademy’s menu hierarchy that does away with submenus. We also revised our decision to use Google Calendar and switched to Eliademy’s native calendar tool in order to keep it within the LMS and to centralize information like the virtual instructor office hours and task deadlines in one location. Our experience further exemplified how there are affordances and limitations with each LMS; there is no one perfect fit, and it is a matter of understanding the chosen LMS thoroughly and finding the most appropriate fit for the objectives and activities of the course.

This assignment was a realistic representation of the time and structural pressures that course developers and educators encounter when developing an online course in a learning management system, as well as the sheer amount of time needed to make this course coherent and aligned with the learning objectives established. I am proud of what our group has accomplished in the time that we had, and hope to be able to use this poetry course at some point! Working together versus working independently helped to refine the many ideas proposed in our continuous discussions; I so appreciate my colleagues’ diligent efforts in all aspects of the LMS development, and suggesting things that I did not think of myself. I also realized that one of my weaknesses is in the area of using research to support my ideas, and I hope to continue to work on this in future MET courses. It has been a humbling experience as I realized how much there is still yet to learn, despite the learning curve I encountered through this course.

This assignment aimed at creating an introductory module in a learning management system (LMS) was challenging for my group but was also representative of the real challenges that would face any group of individuals working together often asynchronously because of different schedules and time zones. However, as I look back at the numerous emails, revisions, discussions, and modifications made over the course of the last few weeks, I see it as representative of our group’s determination and perseverance, as well as graciousness and flexibility as we brought together the various parts of the LMS module. As with Assignment #1, we made good use of Google tools, particularly email, Docs, and Hangouts to brainstorm, discuss, and write. I enjoyed the strengths of each group member coming together to create our Module.

Although I was familiar with other LMS platforms, I wanted to learn more about Eliademy. I was curious about how appropriate it would be for both students in and educators teaching a Grade 8 course; in our case, a Grade 8 poetry course. I knew at the beginning that Eliademy was quite new compared to other LMSs, but I was drawn to its philosophy of “democratizing education for all”. I felt that after creating an actual course in Eliademy that it is indeed very accessible to educators of any technical background as it is straightforward and easy to use. However, there are some kinks – for example, the discussion forum categories cannot be reordered once entered, and some other functions are not as user-friendly and sophisticated as in edx Edge (which another one of our group members also explored). However, for our grade level, Eliademy was a good ft for our purposes – clean and straightforward.

As part of Assignment 1 (as a group of 5, creating a Delivery Platform Evaluation), we were asked to post our observations and reflections about our experience of working collaboratively on this assignment.

Working together in-person as a group of five people  takes commitment, energy, and work.

Working together online, mostly asynchronously, as a group of five people on two continents and three time zones, required extraordinary commitment as we navigated full-time jobs, family schedules, personal schedules, time zone differences….so many factors that again, it utterly blows me away how passionate are so many in pursuing the MET degree.

Through the use of Google tools (thank goodness for them!), we were able to work asynchronously and synchronously in Google Drive to compile initial notes, create a draft, suggest edits, make comments, all in one spot; chatting when needed on Google Hangouts; and maintaining running FYI emails via Gmail. This helped us to stay organized and stay sane, knowing that we were all on the same page.

I was looking forward to this course to learn more about different learning management systems and teaching tools, and working on this assignment with my four other group members has enriched my knowledge and understanding, through the rich context of their experiences,

Though this is just my 3rd MET course, I have learnt that setting clear expectations, creating a straightforward timeline with milestones, and communicating regularly contribute to a successful completion of an assignment and a happy team of people. I am so impressed by the motivation and creativity of my group, and how everything and everyone came together so well.