Précis of Flight Plan

Starting out with ETEC 565A I had hoped to learn a bit about Moodle and how to create or edit courses. My school is using BCLN Moodle courses more and more as our student numbers drop and the demand on the limited number of teachers increases. We can no longer offer a wide variety of courses for the students to take anymore. Some of the BCLN Moodle courses are beautifully laid out and easy to use while others are not. There are certain aspects of some courses I like and some that I do not. Starting out in the this course I had hoped to learn enough to be able to edit and make changes to the courses on our district server; to fix errors, typos and links that no longer work.

ETEC 565A Experience

The one main goal I had starting out this course was to learn a bit about Moodle, enough to do minor fixes to the BCLN Moodle courses on our district server. I learned that and then some! I had no idea that I would be able to actually create my own course. I am very excited about the prospect of going into copies of the BCLN Moodle courses that our district purchases this September and making changes and fixes that I think will make the courses easier to use. After this course I feel confident enough in what I have learned to turn on the editing and make the changes I want to make.

Right from the very first week of this course I was exposed to and expected to do things I had never done before. The introductory video pushed me outside of my comfort zone but once done, was rewarding for having accomplished it. The other completely new thing in the first week was the blog. I have never used a blog before nor spent much time even looking at other peoples’. I still am not comfortable on that mode of communication but I can see the possibilities it presents and that it could be a very useful tool with students.

There have been quite a few times during this course that I have questioned my teaching practices. Right from the start when we were asked to reflect on our use of digital-age work in the classroom I started to question myself. I have always thought of myself as fairly advanced when it came to using technology in my classes but I had never really asked my self why I use it. I have come to realize that even thought I use technology like my iPad instead of an overhead, and ask students to complete assignments on their computers and email to me instead of pen and paper, I am still using the old fashioned pen on paper question and answer, teacher lead style of teaching. I need to start assessing for learning along the way (Bates, 2014) and encourage students to reach out into their own areas of interest. This will be a bit more challenging in the Maths but quite doable in the sciences. The use of mobile technologies can help with this (Ciampa, 2013).

The Module on social media was difficult for me to wrap my head around in an educational sense. I know that it is an incredibly powerful tool but I am still concerned about the publicity of it for high school students. Bates (2014) raises my concerns when he says “…social media raises the inevitable issue of quality.” There is so much information on the web that is not reliable that students may be lead a stray. Bates also brings up the idea that teachers need to have pedagogy to guide students with their use of technology. That can be a major problem for most teachers when they don’t know much about the potential themselves. The BCTF has always been very clear that teachers should have limited to virtually no contact with their students on-line. It leaves the teacher open to all sorts of conduct questions. How, as a teacher, can I embrace social media and pull it into my classroom when my own union does not support it? Create a Teacher account and have nothing personal on it? That might work. I know that other teachers use different social medias in their classes so this might be a method to maintain the teacher-student dynamic.

Creative Common was another great thing I learned about during this course. There are so many images and tracks that available for use that I had no idea about. I will definitely be much more aware of borrowing images now than I was before.

The Next Steps

I still have 8 more MET courses to complete so that will be my focus for some time to come.

Starting in September I am going to try incorporating computer assisted assessments for formative learning in my classroom. I will still use the old fashioned paper and pencil for the summative assessment in the math related courses but for the little quizzes along the way to see how everyone is progressing, on-line quizzes should work well (Jenkins, 2004).

Further into the future….I plan to try and keep up with the every changing world of technology. Some changes happen so seamlessly that I can’t really even remember when they started (jump from portable disc players to iPods and the progression of phones from analog to digital to smartphones) and others have been quite abrupt (change from cash to debit cards.) The next 10 years will be very interesting from a technological standpoint. Things are changing and progressing so quickly that if someone were to blink they might fall behind.

References

Bates. T. (2014). Teaching in a digital age. Retrieved from http://opentextbc.ca/teachinginadigitalage/chapter/5-8-assessment-of-learning/

Ciampa, K. (2013). Learning in a mobile age: An investigation of student motivation. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 30(1), 82–96. Retrieved from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jcal.12036/epdf

Jenkins, M. (2004).  Unfulfilled promise: Formative assessment using computer-aided assessment. Learning and Teaching in Higher Education, i, 67-80. Retrieved from http://insight.glos.ac.uk/tli/resources/lathe/documents/issue%201/articles/jenkins.pdf

I have a new appreciation for Moodle course designers. In the past I have been irritated with the layouts or links not functioning, or something being illogically laid out (from my point of view). Now I understand that things are that way due to the limitations of either the course designers’ knowledge or what Moodle is capable of handling. Moodle does not function as intuitively as I would have expected. It is not possible to simply cut and paste images neither from Word, nor from other sections on the same page. Text can be cut and pasted but images need to be imported. Equations also do not transfer over easily. I built a Math 10 course so there were quite a few equations I had and wanted to display. They would not transfer over easily from word. I used a work around by creating an image of each equation and importing them into Moodle. I am sure, with more research, I could find a much more simple method.

Other aspects of Moodle were quite easy to pick up. Moodle Docs for the page found at the bottom of each page was very helpful as was Moodle 2.0: How-To. The forums, quizzes and assignments were quite simple to create. Moodle basically walks you through the process. There was of course some trial and error but on the whole, things worked as I would have expected.

One of the biggest challenges I had was creating a splash page. I had completed what I wanted to include in the unit, with collapsed topics so the front page was very clean and neat looking and then realized I needed a splash page. For some reason I really struggled with this. I think I created a function one in the end but I am still not happy with it. I end the button and links in the table working just fine on the page but they would not show up on the front page. Later I realized that recreating the table, with images and links in the description rather than in the page content would have them show up on the front page. Not intuitive.

I struggled at the beginning with making a digital story.  I didn’t know where to start, what story to tell or even what media to use.  I stumbled upon a web page, 50+ Web Ways to tell a Story (Tangient, 2015) helping with digital story telling, setting it up like a clinic. It was extremely helpful in giving me direction and even suggested about 20 different apps to try.  I was going to fall back on my old tried and true iMovie but really wanted to try something different.  I settled on an app called Shadow Puppet Edu by Shadow Puppet Inc, a free download from iTunes for my iPad.

I decided to tell a very brief story of the Earth. Teenagers still have that interest in dinosaurs they had as children even though they never really cover it again in the curriculum. I tried to use creative commons images that related to each date I selected from Earth’s past. Something visual to represent what was written in text. I also chose not to talk and have the information come in short text burst only. This way the music helped to tell the story and also reduced my voice causing a distraction. I used the digital story in the unit on measurement for scale. At the end of the unit I included a project where the students watch the digital story and then create a scaled timeline.

On the whole the app was extremely easy to use.  It includes an Educational image search from the Library of Congress, NASA, Met Museum of Art and the Web search looks for Fair use and Creative Commons images!!  The app even keeps track and lists all the image credits at the end for you.  Simply click on the desired image and it is added to your list.  Moving the slides into order is very simple as is adding text.  Simply click on the common icons, type, change colours and fonts, done.

The one major draw back I found when using this app was the record or adding sound function.  Once sound was added I could not go back and edit any text.  Adding sound was the last and final step.  It was simply an annoyance for me as I didn’t add voice comments but I can see how the would be a MAJOR issue if someone wanted to talk at the same time as having background music.

There also was not a preview option.  I couldn’t watch what I had done so far without it being completed.  Nor did I find an option to set how long a slide played for.  Now this must have been a miss on my part.  Manually progressing the slides while recording the music doesn’t sound like an efficient method.  I felt like I was a teenager again, trying to tape-record my favourite song off the radio.

I can see many uses in the classroom for this app.  It would be great for student projects.  I am not sure, as teacher, I would use it for instruction again, but I will be trying it for student projects.

My Digital Story: A Brief History of Earth

References:

Ciampa, K. (2013). Learning in a mobile age: An investigation of student motivation. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 30(1), 82–96. Retrieved from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jcal.12036/epdf

Mabrito, M., Medley, R.  (2008) Why professor Johnny can’t read: Understanding the Net generation’s texts.  Innovate, 4(6), August/September.  Retrieved from http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.299.8529&rep=rep1&type=pdf

Moodle 2.0: How-To. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1q3RJOAA9zdF7DB7oQTjaTV2Vk6uu2nlEKVlpXLg2DxM/edit

Moodle Docs for this page (2014). https://docs.moodle.org/26/en/

Tangient LLC.  (2015). 50+ Web Ways to tell a Story.  Retrieved from http://50ways.wikispaces.com/StoryTools

Wesch, M. (2007a). A vision of students today (& What teachers must do). Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/blogs/2008/10/a-vision-of-students-today-what-teachers-must-do

Wesch, M. (2007b). Web 2.0. The Machine is Us/ing Us: Web 2.0 in just under 5 minutes.  Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLlGopyXT_g

Using Moodle to write a quiz was quite simple for me. In my experience I have that Mathematics lends itself quite well to the multiple choice/on line assessing. I picked the types of questions that were asked for in the assignment requirements and picked the subject matter that I felt best suited that type of format. For example absolute value and like term questions lend themselves well to matching questions. They are straightforward yes or no type questions. True /False would also work well for these but a matching question allows you to ask more questions at a time. Multiple choice style questions work well for one step algebra questions where the question is really testing one operation being completed at a time. I used the short answer options for the longer two-step algebra questions so the student can “show their work” and I would be able to see where they may be going off track and needing some redirection. For essay questions I set up “problems” a student has to work out mathematically and explain why/how they did which operations they chose.

I do agree with Gibbs and Simpson when they say that multiple choice test can lead to surface studying rather than studying for a deep understanding (2005).   For this introduction, unit I believe that a quick assessment to see if the students understand the basics of Math 9 and ready to move onto the Math 10 course, a surface view will suffice.

Gibbs, G., & Simpson, C. (2005). Conditions under which assessment supports students’ learning. Learning and Teaching in Higher Education, 1(1), 3-31. Retrieved from http://www.open.ac.uk/fast/pdfs/Gibbs%20and%20Simpson%202004-05.pdf

This was my first experience building a course in the Moodle platform. I have supervised many students working through courses on Moodle over that last few years so I have had the opportunity to see aspects that I like and do not like; things that I found were user friendly for the students and things that were not. The Moodle platform has progressed a lot with the new update. I really like the Book format. I like the ability to chunk up information and dole it out in smaller pieces.

This is a course I would like to use in my school one day so I stuck to a format very similar to the courses we already have. I have found that the students prefer layouts that are familiar and thereby easy to use. They know where to go for information and how the program works. Courses that required students to hunt for information, or did not follow a linear path, led to frustration and an inclination to quit.

I found the actual creation components quite limiting. I ended up doing most of my layout in Word and the copying it over once I was satisfied. There must be a more efficient method of working within the Moodle platform, but that is what I ended up doing. I am very familiar with Word and like how easy it is to move things around, change table boundaries, and play with fonts. I am sure that the same formatting tools are available inside of the Moodle platform. I just couldn’t find them quickly. ie Is it possible to change the column boundaries inside of a table? Can you merge cells? Can you insert questions that the student needs to answer correctly before they can move onto the next page? Is that a feature of a Lesson? These are all questions I would like to explore more.

I would like to explore the Lessons option more with the next section. It seems like it will have more of an interactive feel to it. I only discovered it as I was nearing the end of this assignment and didn’t want to start over.

I added in a discussion forum and will create a section for each unit. I like the discussions that we have in this course so thought it might be a good mode of communication for help to problems for students. I am not sure how it would actually work in my situation, as the way we use Moodle at my school is very interactive with the students already. The students come to the supervising teacher with their questions in a face-to-face manor. If this were a 100% online course then I can see how the discussion forum could be very helpful (Anderson, 2008a).

I have decided to incorporate little quizzes with each lesson that a student must pass before they can move onto the next topic. I believe this option is possible as a feature of Lesson. Math is a very sequential subject with one concept being built upon the one before. Mini quizzes and unit tests should provide a formative assessment of how the student is progressing through the course. A midterm and final will provide summative assessment of how much was learned over all (Gibbs, 2005). Foundations and Pre-calculus Mathematics 10 has a Provincial Exam as well that is completely separate from the marks generated in this course. The final exam in this course will hopefully help to prepare students for the Provincial Exam as well as show them concepts or areas they need to go back and review.

Anderson, T. (2008a). Towards a theory of online learning. In T. Anderson & F. Elloumi (Eds.), Theory and practice of online learning. Edmonton AB: Athabasca University. Retrieved from http://www.aupress.ca/books/120146/ebook/02_Anderson_2008-Theory_and_Practice_of_Online_Learning.pdf

Gibbs, G., & Simpson, C. (2005). Conditions under which assessment supports students’ learning. Learning and Teaching in Higher Education, 1(1), 3-31. Retrieved from http://www.open.ac.uk/fast/pdfs/Gibbs%20and%20Simpson%202004-05.pdf

For Assignment #1 I was in group 3 with Tariq Butt, Jessica Hsueh and  Julie Ormiston.  Our assignment was to create a Rubric to assess  Learning Management Systems for the Yukon Education Student Network (YESNet) and their ability to function for blended courses in low connectivity areas.  We used Google Docs as a collaborative platform to create the rubric together.  We worked individually and scheduled times to meet and work together as well.  Tariq joined our group late but more than made up for his late entry.   Our rubric was about 3/4 completed when he was added but he helped pull it all together with his fresh eyes.  It was interesting how everyone brought something different to the group.  Everyone contributed a lot to the final product.  No one slacked off or didn’t contribute.  I did enjoy sitting back and thinking about how the dynamics of the group played out.  We worked together. No one dominated. No one hung back.  I enjoyed working with group.  We worked well and created a final product that we were all happy with.

This is only my second MET course so I am still feeling my way along and do not know exactly what to expect. I am a senior science and math teacher in a small high school on Haida Gwaii. I have been teaching here for 13 years now and have seen the grade 8-12 school go from 194 students down to the current 94. The student body is comprised 80-90% First Nations, predominantly of Haida decent. Generational poverty, parents from the residential school system, and low expectations are all issues that can be seen in the school.

As the student numbers continue to decrease, the school has been using the BCLN Moodle courses as a method to continue providing a wide variety of courses. I am looking forward to learning how these courses are built. After working with students through different courses I have found there are features some courses that I really like and others that I do not. I am hoping that I will be able to take the features that I like from certain courses and modify aspects of courses that I do not like. It will also be great to know how to go in and fix errors, typos and any other mistakes that are found.

School District 50 Moodle. http://moodle.sd50.bc.ca