Tag: reflection

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Module 5

Reflective Blog – Module 5 Multimedia

Think about an example of how multimedia have been used effectively to enhance your learning. Feel free to reflect on your MET experiences, or any other.

I’ve found my experiences with multimedia in the courses to be very informative and fun; to date I have taken five MET courses (including this course). Within the MET Program, I’ve had the opportunity to use a wide variety of tools, such as wikis, blogs, cmaps, delicious, Voicethread, Google documents, Vista Chat Room, Vista Live Classroom, Wimba, Moodle, Audacity, E-portfolios, Video streaming, One True Media, Windows Movie Maker, and Elluminate.

I’ll reflect on a few of these as opposed to touching upon all of them:

Cmaps – This tool provided me with the ability to think about connections and dependencies. It allowed me to visually represent concepts and to be creative in my layout. It provided me with an alternative way to express myself other than in written paragraph form.

Windows Movie Maker – This tool has allowed me to create my own digital story….an exercise, which was totally foreign to me prior to taking this course. I found the experience to be extremely fun and the final product was very satisfying. It allowed consider how visual and audio can be incorporated to present content in an alterative format. It also allowed me to consider what would be the most effective way to do so (e.g.: clear concise text, clear crisp graphics).

VoiceThread – This tool was used to complete a group assignment in another MET course. The tool allowed my team to work collaboratively across geographic barriers. We all contributed to the final piece and were able to include audio, visual, text and video into the final VoiceThread piece. The main thing I learned with this was the power of collaborative efforts and the positive impact it can have on the final product. By each of the team members contributing, we each brought our strengths to the project and our own unique interpretations and flare to the project. It allowed me to play off the strengths of others and to learn from fellow team members as well as to share my expertise and ideas. Our fellow classmates, also shared there opinions by commenting on our voicethread production, which added to the collaborative learning experience.

Vista ChatRoom – This tool has allowed me to chat with group members on group projects throughout my MET courses. This has allowed me to connect despite geographical barriers of place (if only it could eliminate time zones as well for chat sessions!). It allowed me to share my knowledge and express my thoughts to team members and to hear their views/opinions as well. The tool allowed for saving of the chat notes for future review/reference.

Overall, I feel my learning experience has been greatly enhanced due to the multimedia I have been exposed to in the MET Program. In comparison with my undergraduate studies and a distance education diploma program, both of which relied mainly on lecture and text books, I found that the incorporation of multimedia in MET courses has raised my interest level and kept it. In addition, this exposure has allowed me to consider ways in which I can then apply and use these multimedia tools in the workplace training I deliver. The sheer variety of the multimedia tools is also what has enhanced my learning experience. While not all of the tools may have been easy to use nor to my liking, I have been exposed to them and now have a broader range of multimedia tools that I am familiar. When I started the MET program I was a novice when it came to educational technology, as I complete each course I see my confidence level and knowledge increasing. Despite some initial fears and apprehension to learning how to use these tools, these experiences have in the end been truly rewarding and satisfying experiences.  

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Module 4

Digital Story Assignment

To review my Digital Story along with my Rationale and Reflection, please see the Digital Story Page of my e-portfolio.

Thanks,

Cathy

Categories
Module 4

Reflection – Wiki Activity – Social Media and Learning

Based on this week’s collaborative wiki activity, I found there to be both advantages and challenges. Some of which come from this experience in using a wiki in this course ETEC 565 as well as those I experienced in my last course ETEC 510. The advantages and challenges are outlined in the bulleted list below

 

Advantages of wikis for collaboration

 – Each user’s id is attached to work

 – History of edits is provided

 – Ability to compare current and previous versions

 – Discussion page to comment, discuss and share ideas

 – Collaboration allows for a larger pool of authors and more experience/knowledge sharing

 – No geographical boundaries for collaboration, all done online

 

Challenges of wikis for collaboration

 – Workload distribution, fair participation by all

 – Timeliness of participation of all collaborators

 – Dissatisfaction with someone’s edits to your entry. Editing wars between collaborators

 – Maintaining flow within the document, potential for it to be disjointed/disorganized

 

Categories
Module 3

Reflection – Assessment Tool

For this assignment I created an exam that is to be completed at the end of the course, once all modules have been worked through. I was very pleased to find the quiz function in Moodle easy to use. It was very user-friendly. The preview option allowed you to “see” what you were doing and make changes as you went along. I also relied upon the instructions for constructing quizzes found in the book Using Moodle Teaching with the Popular Open Source Course Management System, which is authored by Jason Cole. Overall, I’d rate my experience with Moodle as very good. The toughest part of the assignment was to conduct an exam which covered off the main content of all seven modules, while keeping the length of the exam down.

 

In terms of the content, the main area I focused on was on was the instructions for the exam. This is particularly important to the audience, the employees, as this is their first exposure to an online exam and LMS system; therefore it is vital that there are clear instructions. It is important that the employees are clear of the expectations.  The time limit of one hour imposed was important to note, along with the fact that there were no penalties for incorrect responses. Other details such as a running clock, the mark value for each question and the passing grade were also included. The automatic grading of responses along with the feedback is something else that I really like about Moodle. Not only does it cut down significantly on the marking time, but it also gives the employee some immediate feedback on the correct or incorrect response. It definitely allows for timely and effective feedback, a crucial feature to engage and promote learning amongst employees.

Cole, J. (2005). Using moodle: Teaching with the popular course management system. Sebastopol: CA. O’Reilly Media Inc.

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Module 3

Reflection – Communication Tools Assignment

In completing the Communication Tools assignment, I was considered how the audience would take react to the communication tools used. As the LMS is a new tool to the workplace learning, the employees would still be on a learning curve and undoubtedly nervous and even anxious about what the LMS offers and how it will differ from the traditional classroom instructor led training they are used to. As such, I chose to utilize two very basic forms of communication tools, the discussion forum and chat room. These two tools would not be too far of a technological stretch for a “non-techie” group of employees to learn to use rapidly. The discussion forum for posts is very similar to typing in a Word document or email and the chat feature is widely used forums such msn messenger. My thoughts are that to ease the employees into the adopting and using the LMS. If you bombard them with all the features for asynchronous and synchronous communication within one course, this would be too much. My approach is to offer it is small doses, starting off with the easiest-to-use tools. In the subsequent courses offered on the LMS, my intention would then be to expose the employees to another form, such as the wiki function for collaboration.

Categories
Module 2

Reflection – Evaluation Rubric

In reviewing the rubrics from other scenarios as well as those from other sections who completed the same scenario as my group, I wasn’t surprised to see striking similarities between some of the rubric categories. It was obvious that we all had picked up on the key points in our course readings.

Many of the categories were similar and touched on aspects such as accessibility, cost, privacy, ease of use and support. I enjoyed reviewing all the rubrics and will definitely keep these as samples for future reference.

 

I found the discussion board comments surrounding use of scales and a “middle ground” and “does not apply” option intriguing. If a standard rubric is used to evaluate several assignment than a “does not apply option” may be warranted as certain assignments may not need to be evaluated on this level. I have worked in organizations where evaluation forms have all been consistent from assignment to assignment and I have also worked in organizations where the evaluation forms have varied based on the individual assignment. From personal experience in assessing assignment of employees during workplace training and particularly during performance appraisal time, I find having the options of a middle option very necessary. Particularly when assessments impact one’s job, the need for accurate assessment rubrics become critical. However, I’ve digressed in my reflections…bringing myself back to evaluation educational technologies and delivery platforms rubrics (as opposed to workplace training evaluation rubrics) I think that it would be interesting to merge the rubrics for Little Flower Academy for all ETEC565 sections to create one comprehensive master rubric…hmmm, I think I’ve just created another task for myself. 

 

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