Introduction
ETEC 565A provided many practical and pedagogically sound ways to integrate digital tools and interactive technologies for instructional design. The three facets of learning used resulted in a well-balanced understanding. EPortfolio, required extensive use of UBC’s digital platform WordPress, which will come in handy as I complete my degree. The readings were both innovative and practical in supporting my work with the Learning Management System (LMS). The discussion forums, perhaps the most valuable aspect, provided both technological support and intriguing and thought provoking conversations with others who were knowledgeable experts about design, structure and organization.
Selection of an LMS platform
Since Moodle is the school division supported LMS of Rocky View Schools, and so it would be very difficult to actually use anything else without system support or integration. Evaluating the LMS gave me the opportunity to really explore how to make this platform work in my context. I needed to use Moodle to create a blended learning environment that provided access to digital resources, personalization tools, and scaffolding supported by teacher and peer interaction for young learners.
Our group work component was essential in building my knowledge about implementing Moodle its advantages for student engagement and motivation for learning. It gave me insights into the functionality of Moodle within different organizations and how others chose to use the different tools to meet their learning objectives. I would not have been able to gain this independently.
Like all LMSs, Moodle has advantages and disadvantages for delivering course content. Some of the benefits I found include:
- Incorporating an exploratory approach to learning – eg. I used a variety of videos and reflective evaluation activities for while watching.
- Differentiating the content – eg. I made content available in digital format so use of digital text readers was possible to support struggling readers, and they could stop videos or rewind and slow them down to accommodate their own learning pace.
- Promoting opportunities to construct learning through a collaborative environment – eg. I had students share their opinions and perspectives in discussion groups (Stasinakis & Kalogiannakis, 2015, p. 53-60).
- Developing self-efficacy and independence – eg. students work through material at their own pace and use the supports and resources they need to be successful while the teacher provided face-to-face to others.
Our group concluded that there are very few limitations of this LMS in the big picture, other than the need for Moodle to shift to cloud based programs to keep apace with changing technologies. That said, for working with younger learners, there are some important limitations. For young learners:
- it is important to visually captivate and focus them. Therefore, it was very frustrating to discover that aesthetic design elements, such as font size and colour, icons, and background themes were very limited within Moodle.
- it is important to have easy and consistent navigation tools so they can find the information effortlessly. The ability to customize navigation tools with icons appropriate for young children is very limited. Additionally, the ability to attach navigation elements to activities such as quizzes and discussion boards was not available in Moodle without advanced knowledge of programming.
I found that these limitations negatively impacted accessibility for my young learners.
Planning a course prototype
When planning I had to consider how to facilitate an optimal blended learning experience for young students. Since this is the first time I had worked with Moodle, it took significant time to evaluate how the face-to-face content would be blended with asynchronous learning. This would be the first time students experience the opportunity to independently read, reflect, and work collaboratively in an online learning environment. I was careful to follow “best practices for online learning environments”(Chickering and Gamson 1987), incorporating aspects of both collaborative and active learning, to actively engage students in their own learning . To further build personal ownership of learning and independence, I transformed the sophisticated government written curriculum objectives into kid friendly into learning targets students can read, understand and self-evaluate their growth against.
Designing a Content Module
I feel I gained so much knowledge through the design of a content module and the associated readings. It almost became an obsession for me. I spent a significant amount of time looking at blogs and videos to understand the functional features of Moodle. I was surprised to find that my basic knowledge of HTML coding came in handy to assist in designing my course prototype.
The readings and discussion postings on Social Media(SM) really resonated with me. I found the usage of SM in the context of the classroom interesting as it is love/hate relationship for most teachers. I now see the potential of SM, if used properly with safety precautions, as an important tool to connect with other students and the potential to ignite critical thinking skills. That said, I chose not to include it in my content module, as it would requires significant oversight for proper usage at this age.
The requirement to choose a license type for our project and give reasons for your choice, was something I had never given much thought to. Licensing and copyright was another area where I needed to do additional research. I was pleasantly surprised to find UBC has an exemplary guide for Creative Commons that enabled me to clearly understand and choose an appropriate license.
Conclusion
It was not that long ago I wrote my flight plan and delved into the modules and readings of this course. I thought then that I had a basic understanding for course design, but it did not take long to realize I had a steep learning curve ahead of me to acquire the necessary skills and tools to design and implement an online course. Despite a couple setbacks, revitalizing Assignment 2 and the temporary loss of my entire Moodle course, I found my experience to be positive and I feel I now have the necessary skills to implement an online course, ultimately providing my students with the best online learning experience.
References
Chickering, A. W., & Ehrmann, S., C. (1996). Implementing the seven principles: Technology as lever. American Association for Higher Education Bulletin, 49(2), 3-6. (web page)
Stasinakis, P., & Kalogiannakis, M. (2015). Using Moodle in secondary education: A case study of the course “Research Project” in Greece. International Journal Of Education And Development Using Information And Communication Technology (IJEDICT), 11(3), 50-64.