Day: June 10, 2009

DVD Authoring-Anju

You are Anju’s neighbour. As a teacher, she wants your advice – would a DVD be a good idea? What should she include in it, particularly for an ESL/EFL audience? Post your estimation in weeks in the Module 2: Case Study – Diabetes DVDdiscussion thread. Be sure to explain how you came up your answer.

 

         I think that creating a DVD to help Anju’s clients better understand type 2 diabetes is an excellent idea. As a teacher, I would point out to Anju that I always focus heavily on the characteristics and capacity of my students prior to developing any lesson or unit for them. Knowing your target audience is extremely important if you are to develop a lesson that will successfully help them build their knowledge on the subject matter. I would also say to her that her idea of using a DVD to author a presentation would be beneficial for learners who have different strengths with respect to the multiple intelligences. In her DVD, she could incorporate still images and/or video (Spatial intelligence-picture smart). She could utilize images of charts and graphs (Logical-mathematical intelligence-“number/reasoning smart”) to help with her presentation. In presenting her information verbally or through images of text Linguistic intelligence (“word smart”): she could support learners who benefit from an auditory form of instruction. If Anju incorporates a demonstration type activity within her DVD then clients who prefer to learn through a hands-on approach would benefit (Bodily-Kinesthetic intelligence-“body smart”). As diabetes requires the manual manipulation of various medical instruments to help with insulin transfer through injections, clients could then practice the skill, gaining knowledge and confidence.  I would also remind her that she would best serve her clients if she created a cycle of instruction where her clients watched the DVD on specific weekdays, and then received follow-up personal instruction from her. This face-to-face would help clients clarify any problems they encountered when watching the DVD. I would impress upon Anju that she needs to keep the concept of simplicity in the forefront as she develops her electronic resource for her medically compromised clients. As a former nurse myself, I came to understand that all the well-intentioned education itself cannot effect substantive change within a client’s personal schematic if they are not ready to receive the information because of their medical situation. As stated before, assessing her client’s for their readiness to learn the information that she is planning within the DVD is paramount.

 

 

I do have some thoughts that I would like to share with Anju;

 

·      What software is she going to use to prepare her notes (will there be a script for her movie)?

·      Will she use software or large 11x 17 paper to ‘Storyboard’ her movie?

·      Will she use web sites or books to gather the appropriate information on the intricacies of type 2 diabetes?

·      Will she utilize pictures and/or graphics in her presentation?

·      If she uses graphics from a book, how will she digitize these pictures (scanner technology)?

·      Where will she search for information that will help her support ESL learners?

·      What type of computer does she have, PC or Mac. Macs are more intuitive and easy to use, in my opinion?

·      Does she have the necessary software on either one of these machines for video editing of the raw video?

·      Does she have the DVD ‘burn’ software on her laptop?

·      Does she have all necessary cables(USB or Fire wire) to attach her laptop to the camera to move the video from the camera to the laptop?

·      Does she have the necessary time to learn how to download the data from the camera to the laptop?

·      Does she have the necessary time to learn how to use the editing software?

·      Does she have time to learn how to ‘burn’ the video onto the proper DVD disc (most commercial DVD players do not play all the DVD formats-this has improved lately) Most players will not play DVD_RW disks yet?

·      Does she have a budget to purchase the DVD disks and the necessary cables if need be. It would be a good idea if she bought an extra long life lithium battery for her camera so she can insert the new battery into the camera when the old battery is drained?

·      Does she need a tripod for the camera?

·      Has she assessed whether her clients have access to a DVD player?

 

 

         This project has the potential of being extremely motivating and useful for her clients. If she plans it thoroughly and delivers the information in a simplistic,  engaging and informative manner her clients will learn supportive measures for living with diabetes. 

Lenora’s Pro-D

Lenora is a grade 4 teacher at the Eliza Archie Memorial School, located on the Tsq’escenemc Canim Lake Band reserve. Last year she attended an anti-bullying professional development (pro-d) workshop offered by SD 83 (North Okanagan). There was a lot of valuable information in the session, but Lenora felt it often wasn’t culturally relevant for her community.  When she discussed her experience with peers in the Cradleboard Teaching Project Teacher’s Circle (http://www.cradleboard.org/), others agreed. And many had stories to share about bullying in their band schools.

Indigenous online communities of practice like Cradleboard have really helped Lenora develop her own reflective practice. She’s decided to create an online anti-bullying resource for band teachers – a sort of online pro-d day – that offers support and suggestions from other Aboriginal educators and their allies.

But Lenora’s web access is dial-up only. It can take a really long time to upload and download files. Plus she’s never created a web site before and doesn’t know anything about where one puts a website.

  1. Is a website the way to go for Lenora ?
  2. Why or why not?
  3. Be sure to explain how you came up with your answer.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

            I don’t necessarily think a web-site is the way for Lenora to proceed. A web-site is a static document where there is no opportunity for teachers to share/post information on the site itself.  If she is to utilize the expertise and knowledge/stories from her peers who volunteered their bullying experiences, then she is going to need a platform which permits her to collaborate with others. She would be advised to have a platform that is web-log in nature with some sort of threading with respect to online submissions. I believe that this online threaded discourse, developed synchronously or asynchronously would be more dynamic as users could actively monitor their postings and respond to the postings of others. 

         In the scenario outline, there is information that states Lenora is already immersed in the electronic Powwow model whereby her use of technology to communicate with her colleagues is already honed. Having her pro-d content online where other teachers can access it and then communicate/collaborate with each other in a discussion forum would be a very productive and rich use of their time.

         My answer was generated from my recent experience within the MET program. I have found that the volume of discourse that occurs with all course material is extremely rich and rewarding for my personal growth as an educator. I find it rather tedious and dull, and not very inspiring, if I am engaged in an online experience and cannot communicate with the other ‘party’ in a timely and efficient manner.  I, therefore, believe that Lenora would also benefit from utilizing a platform to share her content, where her colleagues could build knowledge and understanding(s) from the diverse discussions that would take place on the site.

 

Benoits Time?

How much Development time (in weeks)  would you Estimate Benoit would need to Develop Business Writing, the Online version?

 

            I’ll start off by assuming that the online version of the Business Writing course will be approximately 12 weeks in length for students to complete. Normally, the duration of a face-to-face course would roughly also be 12 weeks at 3 hours of class time per week, making this a 36-hour face-to-face experience. Since Benoit already has the print version of the course, which includes readings and other notes, I anticipate that he would be able to save a considerable amount of time on the researching aspect of the online course. Benoit will still need to change and modify some aspects of the course as I don’t think he could just import the course to his online format without some changes. I anticipate that he will require 1.5 hours of work time per 1 hour of  online course to be able to create the online version, for a total of  54 hours (1.5 x 36= 54 hours). Benoit does have some experience in web-design and has used WebCT in the past, so his learning curve will not be as steep as someone without this background.  However, he will still need to be able to function efficiently within the LMS and this will require his considerable attention to make the learning experience a challenging and fruitful one for his students. I anticipate that he will need approximately 15 minutes per hour, of 1 hour of online course time, (0.25 x 36 = 9 hours), which will equal 9 hours of  time. In total, (54+9=63 hours) Benoit will require 63 hours of time to write the online version of the Business course. As Benoit could spend approximately 5 hours of time per week writing the course, my calculation of 63 hours time needed to write course divided by 5 hours of write time per week would equal 12.6 weeks of work time for the online version of the Business Writing course.

 

LMS-Moodle or WebCT/Vista for Benoît?-Part 1

How might Benoit go about deciding whether to go with Moodle or WebCT/Vista?

 

         I think that Benoit should get a copy of the ‘Sections’ article and do a thorough comparison/analysis of WebCT/Vista and Moodle as they relate to each category within ‘Sections’. This exercise would provide him with some useful information that would help him decide which platform would best serve his needs.

 

          Having an ‘official’ LMS for the university gives him the framework to begin developing his Business Writing course. Though, if true, not having the IT support on a regular basis could prove frustrating for him and for is potential students. You just have to observe how some students react within the UBC WebCT/Vista platform when timely tech support isn’t forthcoming.  I think the most important question that Benoit needs to ask himself is; whether the platform that he selects will be able to provide him with the necessary tools and functionality too make the delivery of his Business Writing course successful to all stakeholders?  I feel that this question is important because a platform that is readily and easily adaptable to the needs of the learning community will best serve that community with respect to the learning needs of the group. Ultimately, with more educators at his University using Moodle due to its ease of use’, his experience with general web design, and with his heavy teaching load it may be in his best interest to utilize the stand-alone version of Moodle. Benoit and his colleagues could pool their resources and support each other with respect to troubleshooting issues. Not having timely technical support would also sway me to use Moodle as my primary LMS.

 

Online Delivery Platform Evaluation Rubric

Précis

 

         We were educators in the South Island Distance Education School’s (SIDES) Secondary Program. We were providing distance-learning support for home-schooled students in our district.  There has been an increased international interest for our programs as they lead to BC dogwood high school diplomas. As a result of the increased interest, we were asked to develop a rubric to assess Learning Management Systems for SD 63 on Vancouver Island based on an estimated initial enrollment of over 200 students. 

 

Rubric

 

 Fair           

 

 Good

 

 Outstanding

 

 

 

Cost

 

 

 

Falls within 80%-100+% of competitors cost per learner

Falls within 40%-60% of competitor’s cost per learner

Free – Open Source

 

 

System Requirements

 

 

 

Runs on only one of Win XP/Vista, Mac OS, and Linux operating systems

 

Runs on only one of IE, Firefox, or Safari

 

Does not allow video, audio, embeds

Runs on two of Win XP/Vista, Mac OS, and Linux operating systems

 

 

 

Runs on two of IE, Firefox, or Safari

 

Allows video and audio, but not embeds

Runs on Win XP/Vista, Mac OS, and Linux operating systems

 

Runs on Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Safari

 

Allows video, audio, embeds, etc

 

Student-to-Student communication.

 

Student to Teacher communication

 

Student to material interactions

 

Language translation components

 

 

 

Support

 

 

Only teacher support possible, through in person contact.

 

Mobile devices used to communicate through voice or text messaging

Available teacher and student support through person to person contact

 

Text Chat feature

 

Basic email functionality

 

Access to online calendar

A variety of options for student and teacher support including access to:

 

Email extensive online resources

 

Threaded discussion forums

(Teacher and Student created discussion forums)

 

Subscription to forum RSS feeds

 

Build in tutorials and video screen cast tutorials.

 

Real-time text, audio & video chat with whiteboard, which supports simultaneous group discussions

 

Initial and ongoing community of practice.

 

System-wide chat rooms or threaded forums can connect students and teachers from different courses

 

Extensive training support and professional development options for ongoing support.

 

 

Evaluation and Assessment Tools

 

 

 

Basic online teacher generated fill in the blank tests

 

Short answer test questions

 

Test questions can be imported from external test banks

Provides students with different activities to demonstrate their learning through the following;

 

-E-portfolios

-Wiki’s

-Web-site development with multimedia content

 

Provides ways to permit student self-assessment and peer to peer assessment

Provides for ongoing assessment and student support. 

 

Build in evaluation tools that are easily customized

 

Provides students with multiple means to demonstrate learning outcomes e.g.;

 

-E-portfolios

-Wiki’s

-Simulations

-Advanced web-site development with embedded multimedia content

-Problem-based learning activities

-Pod casting

-Slideshow building tools

-Web log threaded responses to structured activities

 

Multiple attempts at test taking is permitted

 

Provides ways to allow student self-assessment and peer-to-peer assessment.

 

Various Rubric tools can be generated by the instructor

 

 

 Design and Layout

Hard to follow and navigate through.

 

The design and layout are unattractive, and it is difficult to read the information presented.

 

 

 

The typography is difficult to read due to inappropriate use of fonts, point size, bullets, italics, bold, and indentations for headings and sub-headings and body text.

 

 

No Splash Page is provided.

 

User-friendly

 

The design and layout are consistent across the LMS and make it easy to follow the information presented.

 

 

Sometimes the typography is easy-to-read, but in a few places it detracts from the design and does not enhance readability.

 

 

A limited Splash Page is provided.

 User-friendly and inviting

 

 

The design and layout are visually appealing and consistent across the LMS and enhance the information presented.

 

 

The typography is easy-to-read and point size varies appropriately for headings and text.

 

 

 

A Splash Page is provided to make the LMS easy-to-access.

 

                                                 

 

 

Paragraph

 

         South Island Distance Education School (SIDES) is located in Saanich (School District 63) and offers courses through distributive learning (SIDES website 2009).The Bates and Poole (2003) article, A Framework for Selecting and Using Technology, provided the skeleton in which we developed our rubric. Most notably we focused on the Students, Ease, Costs, and Organization parts in the SECTIONS model.  We then customized these classifications to the categories of cost, system requirements, support, evaluation/assessment tools, and design/layout. We thought that this more precise classification system would better help SIDES meet its goals. For example, SIDES will need an organized and well-designed LMS since it will be enrolling international students whom do not need the added confusion of dealing with a different language and a disorganized LMS. We then created detailed criteria, which would allow us to rate the LMS as Fair, Good or Outstanding. For SIDES cost is an issue because it is funded by tax dollars, but this does not mean that they want to sacrifice support. The LMS that reduces cost yet has a high level of support will be most attractive to SIDES. Choosing a LMS is the first step in providing teachers with the opportunity to meet the NETS standard of Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning experiences and Assessments (International Society for Technology in Education 2008). Lastly, by using this rubric we feel that SIDES will be better capable of meeting its goals, but also with the right LMS, SIDES will be able to provide technology that has more cognitive and social affordances.

 

 

 

 

Reference List

 

Bates, A.W. & Poole, G. (2003). Chapter 4: a Framework for Selecting and Using Technology. In 

    Effective Teaching with Technology in Higher Education: Foundations for Success. (pp. 77-105). 

    San Francisco: Jossey Bass Publishers.

 

International Society for Technology in Education (2008). National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers
http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_for_Teachers_2008.htm

 

SIDES (website). Retrieved May 25, 2009 from http://www.sides.ca/

Applying the Frameworks

Learning Technologies:

Develops Reciprocity and Cooperation Among Students

       As an elementary school teacher I have always structured students into collaborative learning groups across all subject areas. This strategy has been beneficial by fostering closer social ties between students, which ultimately has helped them become stronger learners. This process can take time to develop and flourish, thereby minimizing in the early stages, the capacity of the group to efficiently learn from each other. Certain students view this collaborative nature of learning as a time to chat with friends excessively, further diminishing the group’s overall learning potential. Others view this learning setup as a means to compete with their peers along most school functions, from academics through to physical activities.  My focus has always been to provide students with an environment that helps them practice and understand that the collaborative process is rewarding along many levels. The many friendships that are developed with group learning can be an invaluable part to peer harmony within classrooms, providing a foundation that will assist learners when tackling challenging problems in a collective fashion. Most challenging in my view is for students to be able to offer their ideas during collaborative sessions while accepting feedback from others without feeling personally attacked for their views. I have employed many activities in the past, which modeled student-student interactions. These activities modeled how to respectfully interact with peers when sharing information during group work. This may be one of the most difficult aspects of being a learner, offering and receiving feedback from others. In my experience, when students master the process of effectively communicating with their peers they begin to take more ownership for their learning, which translates into increased oral participation throughout their schooling.  In my classroom, students who’ve actively shared their ideas within the supportive learning environment have always been able to construct additional knowledge for themselves.

 

Digital-Age Teaching Professionals

Step 1:

1.  Facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity.

                        I have always enjoyed searching for ways to enhance student learning by employing novel technology tools within the classroom that are exciting and motivating for students.  Typically, in my classroom, students work collaboratively by using technology to foster greater knowledge creation across all subject areas. In the past, I have been successful in linking literature circles with technology by having students create authentic “songs” by using “Garage Band “ to explore novels, through song. Students become engrossed with the activity and make new connections to the novel by actively constructing their knowledge. I make it clear to all my students that they are on a personal journey to learn how to learn, and to make knowledge construction meaningful to them. Even though they are in grade 6, and still young, I feel it necessary to begin to create an environment, which permits each student to explore content using technology in ways that allows them to be as creative as possible.

 

2.  Design and develop digital-age learning experiences and assessments.

                        I not only view technology as a vehicle for knowledge expansion for all students, but also as a means to assist struggling students by adapting educational content in stimulating ways. By developing a classroom environment that is rich in choice with respect to different technology tools, students can construct their knowledge in a manner that takes into account their choice of learning tool. Giving students the ability to choose the tools that will help them with their learning journey, I believe is crucial in fostering a love of learning that is personal and relevant to them.

 

 

3.  Model digital-age work and learning.

Some of the digital strategies that I have used in the past to support student learning have been;

-i) building a school web-site, and having School newsletters in Word and in PDF formats attached to the site to assist the community with viewing weekly school news/events

-having students use a communication tool called ‘First Class’ where they communicate with me and with each other as well as with their parents

-using First Class to communicate with Astronauts and Scientists to help with an intermediate Science project called “The Marsville Project”

-using Wireless Macbooks to help student’s research and present knowledge with programs such as Kidspiration, Inspiration and PowerPoint.

-using Garage Band to create music that is tied to the curriculum

 

 

 

4.  Promote and model digital citizenship and responsibility.

            On several occasions my students have asked me if I navigate to “Limewire” to download musical songs. I always say to them that I prefer to purchase music from retail and online vendors such as the Apple itunes store. They always seem bewildered that I would choose to pay for the music instead of downloading it for free from this peer-to-peer sharing service. I normally state to them that I do not agree with the service where music is taken without reimbursing the artist. It is my impression that students of today  have little, if any sense, that intellectual property is a serious matter that needs to be respected at all times.  Perhaps, as educators we need to re-double our efforts to make the concept of intellectual property more tangible and comprehendible by our students. I use a communication (email) tool to interact with my students and am always reminding them not to use “slang’ or acronyms when sending me mail. I tell them that even though I understand this is what most students do when talking to each other, it is not the most efficient way to send information back and forth between peers. I do model all the conventions when I send my students messages. Although, at times, I admit that I would like to type some words in ‘short form’ just to be able to shorten the time that it takes me to communicate with my entire class.

 

 

5.  Engage in professional growth and leadership?

            My passion for using technology with my students also extends to helping teachers fully benefit from the school’s technology tools. I have been a district technology trainer for the past 3 years, providing teachers with workshops that help them integrate technology across different content areas. I find that it can be a challenge to bring teachers together to develop a shared plan on how to best serve the school community with technology integration. At times I have come up against teachers that just want “the computers to work”, not wanting to participate in a broader plan for all to benefit from. It is my sense that an educator’s hectic schedule leaves them very little time to plan for school wide initiatives, thereby keeping most of the planning and vision for their classroom alone.

 

 

Step 2:

1. How can ETEC 565 help you to become a digital-age teaching professional?

            For me, it has always been the rich breadth and depth of discourse that has been prevalent in my previous MET courses which has helped my see a problem or an idea from multiple perspectives. This broad range of information  has helped me unpack various scenarios in ways that ultimately led me to new understandings.

 

            One of my goals is to be able to utilize a framework or matrix that will assist me in deciding which technology tools/applications will best serve students. I admit that I have been one of those teachers that has always enjoyed obtaining the latest in tech tools to invigorate my curriculum planning. While I believe that my rationale for obtaining technology for my schools has been based on sound educational principles, there have been times when I thought that the only reason I was purchasing technology was because it was “the latest thing”.  Having a matrix where I could highlight cells of information that would signal applications/technology usefulness would be beneficial when deciding how to allocate scarce technology dollars within my school.

 

            I have never had a problem with learning new technologies and/or applications that would benefit student learning within my classroom. I would however, like to be able to organize my staff in a manner that excites them about the many benefits of technology integration. Sometimes my efforts seem like a celestial “black hole” is gobbling them up. I still feel that school wide adoption of information technology is a worthwhile goal to purse with staff. Perhaps it is more the process of how technology integration is adopted by a school as opposed to some kind of culminating event, or specific lessons one must comprehend. 

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