The URL for my course is:
http://moodle.met.ubc.ca/course/view.php?id=657
ETEC 565a Introduction to Independent Living 11
Project timeline:
September: Creating course shell
October: Developing the Introductory module
- Week 1: Rough layout and pages
- Week 2: Create icons to links to pages
- Week 3: Create tasks, video links and intro video
- Week 4: Clean up — fix any glitches
- Submission of introduction
November: Create Unit 1
Learners and Organization:
Rationale:
Independent living is crucial to student achievement, independence, and overall success in adulthood. The modules in this course address the skills necessary to take care of one’s self, family and home in order to live as independently as possible.
Course Synopsis:
This is a student-directed course which includes a preliminary compulsory Module1: Personal Assessment of current and Desired Skill Levels and six elective modules Students will be required to inventory their current vs. desired skill levels regarding: Personal Hygiene & Grooming, Personal Safety, and Management of Food, Household, Wardrobe and Personal Affairs. For the final assignment for Module 1, students, in collaboration with their family and education advisors will use the elective modules and/or units to design a personalized Independent Living 11 course which will reflect their individual educational needs.
Eligible Students:
This course is created specifically for students with High Incidence and Low Incidence Special Education Designations. These students will have been identified on school 1701 forms as one of the following (or the equivalent for out-of-town students)
- A – Dependent Handicapped
- C – Moderate Intellectual Disability
- D – Physical Disability / Chronic Health
- F – Deaf & Hard-of-Hearing
- G – Autism
- H – Intensive Behaviour Intervention or Serious Mental Illness
- K – Mild Intellectual Disability
- P – Gifted
- Q – Learning Disabilities
- R – Behaviour Support or Students with Mental Illness
Instructors — Roles of the instructor, forms of communication and forms of feedback:
The instructors of this course should be qualified school district teachers who have experience or qualifications in teaching students with special needs. The roles of the teacher in this course includes:
- facilitating the students’ understandings of their particular strengths and skill sets needed to live independently.
- working alongside parents and students to create an individualized program for each student
- moderating group discussions where students connect with peers to discuss content of the course, pose questions, and share ideas
- communicating via video, email, news reports and discussion forums to be accessible to students and parents to ease any concerns
- providing content from various sources that is applicable to the varying needs of the students
- providing prompt feedback of technological problems, concerns, misconceptions, questions, and assessment of projects/assignments
Project Documentation — Decisions about the course structure and pedological objectives:
Independent Living 11 was chosen to be made a course, as there is a need for course options for students with learning challenges, in particular, courses that are tailored to students’ particular needs. Parents of children who have learning challenges, have particular stressors about what would happen to their children if the parents could no longer take care of them. It eases a tremendous amount of stress knowing that their children can manage on their own independently. It is hoped that this course will help with this process.
This course is individualized for every learner. In the first module, students complete a self-assessment of their particular skill sets. They examine both their strengths and challenges, and determine areas that need particular growth. The instructor acts as a facilitator in determining what specific skills should be mastered to achieve particular skill sets, and parents/caregivers work with the students to complete self-assessments of the skills. After the self-assessments are complete, students and parents/caregivers determine which skills need growth, and are added to their Independent Living Learning Plan. The students are given the choice of choosing four different units from a choice of eight to be incorporated into the learning plan. Each module has clear objectives, and at the end of each module, students should develop specific skills that will help them along the path of independence. As well, content is presented in a number of ways to accommodate the learning styles of all learners.
In addition to completion of content within each module, students are expected to keep a portfolio of the information that they gather within the course. This portfolio could be in the form of a binder or digital portfolio which will contribute to 20% of the student’s final mark. Within the portfolio, the student will document important content that is relevant to him or herself. This portfolio is considered to be an important document containing essential information that the student will find useful when living independently.
The layout of the course was specifically designed to be simple in format, yet visually appealing towards the targeted age group. The icons lead to modules for the students. Only specific icons are accessible to the students as each student has chosen particular units for their individualized learning plans. In the block on the top left corner on the homepage, is the ‘Administration’ block where students are able to access their grades. Underneath the administration block, is the ‘Level Up’ block. Here, star levels increase as the amount of time a student spends completing tasks increases. This is intended as a motivator for students to actively participate in completing various tasks and assignments, and to be a contributing member to discussions. In the top right corner is ‘Online Users’ where students can see who else is online. This tool will help students build a social connection with others in the course. Underneath who is online block is the ‘Latest News’ block. Here, the instructor will post important news or information that needs to be addressed immediately to all of the students.
There were three particular goals in mind when designing the introductory module. The first was to acquaint the students with Moodle, and with the layout of the course. Two videos were provided in the introduction. One was a screencast of the Moodle home page, with a video of the instructor talking to the student. The purpose of this was for the student to have a visual connection of the instructor and to learn how to orient him/herself around the course. The second video was intended as a general Moodle video so that the students could develop a broader perspective of the learning platform. The second intention of the introduction was to build a social connection in the course. Through the discussion forum, the students introduce themselves, to the instructor and to others who are taking the course. Students are encouraged to add pictures and video to build a personal connection with each other. The third intention was to lay some ground rules on online etiquette. A video geared to the targeted age group was inserted to help them understand how to communicate to others while learning online, as well as how to behave appropriately online with others. Finally, in the introduction of the course, the students are asked to answer a poll with the question being, ‘How excited are you in beginning this course?’ The intention of this question was to gage a temperature reading of how enthusiastic the students are in taking this course — low enthusiasm may be because the students did not personally choose to take the course which may result in low efforts. This question will also be used to compare responses from the student evaluation, that is, the students will be asked if their enthusiasm changed through the progression of the course.
Social connection is very important in this course. Students with intellectual challenges who live in smaller communities often feel isolated and lonely, as they don’t often have expansive friendship choices with those who are similar to them. It is hoped that the students will build social connections, and that the connections will develop into friendships, as teenage students at any ability level need friendship connections. The ‘Online Users’ block is intended for students to informally connect with each other and to develop a belongingness to the group. Discussion forums are imbedded into every unit of every module so that students are able to talk to teach other about the content of the course, and to share ideas and information. This is where students will learn specific skills from each other. They will be sharing photos and videos of themselves as they move along the units, and the students will be assessing/commenting on each other’s learning, as well as providing suggestions on areas of growth.
Assessment of the course is as follows:
| Type of Assessment | Category | Details | Weighting (%) |
| Formative
(80 %) |
Assignments
Self-Evaluation Participation |
For Each Module:
|
80% |
| Summative
(20%) |
Final Project |
|
20% |
| Total | 100% |