Back to Basics
After completing ETEC 565A Assignment #2 I was able to take some time to reflect on the overall direction and principles I had decided to build my course around.
#1 Industry Engagement
By engaging subject matter experts, I will be able to ensure the accuracy of the information presented, and create content for students to gain the relevant competencies needed for employment in the industry.
#2 Community and Learner Engagement
By applying Anderson’s Model of eLearning, I will try to offer an environment that encourages interactions with the instructor, peers and the content (2008).
#3 Engage in Real World Experience
Drawing from the ISTE Standards the activities in this course will strive to , “engage students in exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems” (2008).
Overall reflecting on the feedback that I received, I decided that I was for the most part I was headed in the right direction with the design of my course. I like the principles that I’m using to guide course development and I think that once completed the course will provide a great learning experience for students around the globe.
Picking up where I left off
From some basic oversights on my part to some genuine issues with my initial project my first step was to evaluate the feedback I had received and determine how I would incorporate it into the next iteration.
The following feedback was given after the submission of Assignment #2
| Paraphrased Feedback | Design Response |
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I completely agree with the comments and have addressed the issues. |
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I’ve had slight issued with fonts in Moodle and pasting from Word. I’ve also discovered that I’m not a fan of the Moodle WYSIWYG editor. I’ve gone through create a uniform font and size. |
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Generally, it is my practice to have internal links open in the current window, and external linked in a new window. The exception for me is documents, such as a rubric, which I have chosen to open in a new window. |
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The navigation structure was overwhelming. I have changed it using the thought process outlined later in this document. |
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I was unable to replicate the issue, but have created a new embed link that has the volume increased. Generally, this is not my practice as I prefer the volume be lower initially and provide control for the user. |
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This was an excellent suggestion, however, instead of following an existing hashtag I have chose to create a list to embed into the Moodle environment. |
Overall, I was quite pleased with the feedback provided as I felt many of the issues were minor and provided support for many of the choices that I have made and the direction of my course development.
Navigational GUI Component
Much of the basic structure is based on the outline provided by the BC Tourism 11 & 12 Curriculum Guide, however I have made a number of choices to assist students with navigating the course material (Simard et al. 2006).
Originally I had chosen to incorporate links into the top of the general section, but as I mentioned in my reflection to Assignment #2 I wasn’t really happy how it looked and felt it cluttered the main page. The feedback that I received my thoughts on the matter. I ended up eliminating the links to the individual modules and instead provide a graphic to link to core course features, such as the schedule and assignments.
I have also selected to only display one module of the course at a time. I wanted to make sure that any student accessing the course did not have to scroll multiple times down a page to find the current module.
I have also made a conscious effort not to clutter modules with documents that could be linked, but did not necessarily need to be reviewed as part of the module by creating a “References and Resources” section. A perfect example is with the Career Explorations Assignment Rubric. This document needed to be referenced, but didn’t need to be included in the list resources and activities in the module. Rather than clutter the module, I simply linked to a resource listed in the “References and Resources” section. In addition, the documents in this section include a link that returns users to the main page of the site.
One Complete Learning Module
To be honest, I’m a little confused as to if I have completed one learning module, or two. For the purposes of this assignment I intended to submit a complete Week 7, but upon reviewing the feedback I’m wondering if my week one introduction also serves the purpose. Regardless, I have completed these two weeks of the course.
Most of the content is provided in HTML pages, I’ve incorporated audio links, infographics, videos, HTML links, embedded pictures or video, my digital story and checklists. I struggled with the definition of substantive, but did not want to add content that could impact student understanding.
In terms of the group discussions I have incorporated two discussions and have required students comment on the posts of their peers in order to complete the activity.
The Digital Story
For my digital story I chose to use the Videoscribe software. I had not used the software before and I was curious to try it out. My goal with my digital story was to provide students with a real world example of how a tourism even can impact a local economy. In the end, I think the result is fine, but not great. I find it simplistic in the presentation which can be good, but in my case I feel the output was not worth the effort that went into it. Granted some of this was a software learning curve on my part and some of it was just the way my development process works. I tend to start with a much larger project and whittle down to what I consider to be essentials. I ended up using two other pieces of software to create the final product as I found Videoscribe to be lacking for control and flexibility.
Although our instructions were not to use PowerPoint, I think that I could have created a much more engaging and visually pleasing presentation using it as a base software for video creation. It is generally the way that I create videos for my courses, and I was happy to expand my experience to another program. In the end, I think I’ll be going back to my usual methods.
Conclusion
This experience has provided me with a greater appreciation for full course development and the amount of work that has to be put into the process before and after the content is developed. There are definitely still areas in this course that I would like to flesh out more after the content is completed. For instance, I think that course badges can only be created with careful consideration after the full picture of the course is clear, otherwise how they fit into the course can be unclear and confusing for students. Through consistently adhering to the principles that I have identified are core to the course development I think that this course will be a valuable experience for tourism students around the world.
References
Anderson, T. (2008). Towards a theory of online learning. In T. Anderson & F. Elloumi (Eds.), Theory and practice of online learning. Edmonton AB: Athabasca University. Retrieved fromhttp://www.aupress.ca/books/120146/ebook/02_Anderson_2008-Theory_and_Practice_of_Online_Learning.pdf
International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). (2008). Standards for teachers. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/standards/standards-for-teachers
Simard, S., Bragg, J., Fogarty, L., & Thompson, B. (2006). Tourism 11 and 12 Program Guide(Rep.). Retrieved February 14, 2016, from Ministry of Education, Province of British Columbia website:https://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/irp/pdfs/applied_skills/2006pg_tourism1112.pdf