Overall Experience
Reflecting back on the completion of this content module I have a better understanding of why the assessment strategies needed to be completed earlier on in the ETEC 565A course. I found myself reverting back to the learning objectives that I established for my Concussion College course frequently. My thought process throughout the development of this content module consistently asked “how will they be using this information when working directly with patients?” Establishing clear learning objectives for the pain management module was essential in order for me to choose the appropriate content to include.
In considering my own practice as a physiotherapist, I do identify mutual goals when working with patients early on in their therapy sessions. As I mentioned in my introductory module reflection I have not had prior experience creating an online course. Perhaps, I felt there was a different approach to that needed to be taken when teaching or guiding patients in an online learning environment. I was mistaken in this regard since the same approach of establishing end goals relates to how content should be designed in an online space. I had to avoid getting immersed in the capabilities of the technology at the expense of achieving the learning objectives. Moving forward, I will continue to use the backward course design approach when creating technology based online education programs.
I started off by considering how the content should be delivered in this module then realized the target audience would likely be individuals who have completed their high school diploma with possibly some post-secondary education. Reflecting back on professional development training courses that I have taken recently I noticed that content can be presented in text form and does not need to be overloaded with videos and distracting images. The more important aspect of the module became the design of the activities. Whenever I was uncertain if the activity was suitable I considered how I want the students to think differently at the end of the module.
Overall, the experience was extremely valuable to work through the creation of developing effective online content. Greater consideration needed to put on how content would differ or remain the same since the medium of delivery is not the typical face to face format.
Design
The design of the pain management module is very similar to the welcome page in terms of simplicity and clean appearance. I did not want students to be distracted by seeing all of the modules’ contents all at once as soon as they entered the section. Having created a graphical user interface in the introductory module assignment I found it much easier to create for the content module. The greater familiarity with the Moodle LMS for this exercise allowed me to focus less on the technical requirements and more on the pedagogical foundations.
Activities
The activities that I included in the content module focused on both formative and summative assessment. Having the students take The Pain Truth Test at the beginning of the module and reflecting on their answers later on in the module promotes the use of active learning techniques (Chickering 1996). Taking this tests also provides insight into the prerequisite knowledge and misconceptions that students may have so that content that follows may help to modify their understanding (Anderson 2008). The assigned group discussion also promoted students to share their own knowledge and identify unique characteristics of different categories of pain collaboratively.
It was critical that we were advised to carefully consider how our digital story would later fit into our course content. This affected the entire design and storyline that was ultimately created. Powtoon was the right tool for this task because it provided the flexibility to incorporate ‘user-paced segments’ described by Bates (2014) as I was able to use 20 second audio recordings for each slide which made the content more manageable for the learners. There are a number of other online tools that I could have used to record my voice to create a digital story; however, I chose to use one that I found to be more user friendly and flexible compared to others. I was able to upload as many images as I wanted for my story without having to upgrade my subscription service. Being able to do this helped to decide that this was the tool for me to use for my digital story. I wanted to use images that appeared to be standard images that people would recognize based on basic visual literacy skills. From a pedagogical perspective, I wanted viewers to think that the character Matt was just another stock character so that the emphasis would be more on my voice than the images. This approach aligns with how patients should be trained as healthcare professionals such that attentive listening skills should developed earlier on. Only at the end of the digital story is an actual picture of Matt revealed to demonstrate to viewers that even though they may think he is just another stock image that he is a unique individual with a personal story. This story would work within the course that I have developed as a multimedia case study for students to interact with in order to provide recommendations to Matt to help him through his symptoms and issues. The requirement of this task to submit an audio message is purposeful as I wanted students to practice providing verbal advice and hear their own voices. Student listening to classmates messages can learn from the approaches taken by their peers. The story depicts a very common clinical presentation of patients following a concussion which learners need to be prepared to deal with. The knowledge acquired from the other modules will assist learners to gain a better understanding of how to approach concussion patients.
Another aspect that I considered was to determine how many activities and how they would be spaced out within the module. I knew that the audio message response to the digital story would require the most time and planning so that was due towards the end of the week for the module. The other activities were simpler and less involved so they could be placed closer together. I used our own ETEC 565A outline of assignments and tasks as a guide to determine how the activities should be spaced out for a learning module.
References
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
Bates, T. (2014). Teaching in digital age http://opentextbc.ca/teachinginadigitalage/ (Chapter 8 on SECTIONS framework)
Chickering, A. W., & Ehrmann, S., C. (1996). Implementing the seven principles: Technology as lever. American Association for Higher Education Bulletin, 49(2), 3-6. Retrieved from http://www.aahea.org/articles/sevenprinciples.htm