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  Categories Select Category Blog Entries Module 1 Module 4 Module 5

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.

 

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.

 

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/

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.

 

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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