Synthesis
Precis
In my Flight Path for ETEC 565A I laid out an ambitious plan for advancing a storytelling project with Chief Ken Hall and the Haisla people. This Flight Path charted a course that included, developing stronger links to the community; starting a framework for an online learning portal for facilitating learning and collaboration between potential project participants; and the further evaluation of digital storytelling methods appropriate for capturing the original meaning and language of Chief Ken Hall’s stories.
I also made it clear that while working on this project, I needed be aware of the course timeframe and be realistic about what I could actually accomplish related to this project within that timeframe. As a result I charted a course that would allow me to work beyond this project and think in more general terms about a methodology for incorporating LMS technology into a non-fiction storytelling course framework. This, I speculated, would let me put course learning to work in as many contexts as possible in my practice.
Introduction
After fighting through the urge reverse course many times in the last 13 weeks, and take what surely would have been an easier tact, I can comfortably say I have in fact managed to stick to and achieve many of the goals I set in the Flight Path. As is consistent with Chickering and Gamson’s “Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education” and as seems to have been the approach of the developers of ETEC 565A, I found that by setting high goals and expectations I was able to achieve more than I had anticipated:
“Expect more and you will get more. High expectations are important for everyone — for the poorly prepared, for those unwilling to exert themselves, and for the bright and well-motivated.” (Chickering and Gamson, pg. 5)
As a well-motivated (if not bright) student, this was consistent with my learning experience in ETEC 565A. My relationship with and understanding of the Haisla people and their community has grown considerably stronger and is maturing every week. Interest and engagement with the ideas Chief Ken and I have been working on has never been higher and I believe we are well on the way to developing a strong course framework and selecting participants for a potential storytelling program. And despite the ambitious original plan, in many ways we are further along with the storytelling project than I expected to be at the finish of ETEC. In particular the completed social media story is far more sophisticated and useful than I expected it to be. It is definitely a good prototype for the multi-media, multi-lingual approach I have long theorized about. Additionally, the tools and skills I developed as part of the digital story assignment process, and through the entire ETEC565A experience, leave me confident that we are definitely marching closer to having a group of participants effectively work with multi-media to tell Chief Ken’s stories and support Haisla language preservation.
Because the bar was set so high, and the constructivist approach really demands plenty of trial and error, ETEC 565A really forced me to allocate my time and resources wisely. Fortunately the structure allowed me to think about and build on how each component of the course work would fit into the next and finally into the LMS assignment. Also, the exercises in the eLearning Tool Kit helped lead toward the composition of this synthesis and in many places plug right in. So even though we worked on and examined many types of technology and completed a wide variety of exercises, the structure allowed very deep investigations and engagement with the tasks, which is again consistent with the Seven Principles:
“Time plus energy equals learning. There is no substitute for time on task. Learning to use one’s time well is critical for students and professionals alike. Students need help in learning effective time management. Allocating realistic amounts of time means effective learning for students and effective teaching for faculty. How an institution determines time expectations for students, faculty, administrators, and other professional staff can establish the basis of high performance for all.” (Chickering and Gamson, pg. 4)
And while I did spend most of my time focused on the Haisla project, the information and activities presented in the course allowed me to consider many contexts in which an LMS, and web 2.0 technology can be useful in my own professional life as an educator, writer, and far beyond. It also allowed for a considerable amount of hands-on work with tools beyond LMSs that I have been interested in exploring for some time, including working with sound editing software, video editing software, and various social media. Again, I was able to tailor these explorations and apply them toward my coursework because of the format of ETEC 565A, which meets some of the very valuable considerations also offered up by Bates and Poole:
“When making decisions about tech media and technology use, it is also useful to make a distinction between content and skills. Olson and Burner (1974) argued that learning involves two distinct aspects: first, acquiring knowledge of facts, principles, ideas, concepts, events, relationships, rules, and laws; and second, using or working on that knowledge to develop skills.” (Bates & Poole pg. 97)
Further, this flexibility and integration of theory into a hands-on approach allowed me to review and reinforce some of the knowledge I brought to the class, as well as to fill in some knowledge gaps and explore tools that were completely new to me. Although time only allows for a certain amount of engagement with each element of the eLearning Tool Kit, I was able to work through the exercises easily enough, and in several instances, was met with some major revelations.
The eLearning Tool Kit
Learning Management Systems: I was pleased to be able to explore two Learning Management Systems in more detail throughout ETEC565A. With the course offered in Blackboard and the course’s main LMS project completed in Moodle, it allowed the opportunity to develop a much stronger understanding of each distinct platform. Additionally, as we worked our way through the Tool Kit and examined evaluation criteria such as the SECTIONS framework, I was really able to consider the strengths and weaknesses of both platforms, as well as the positives and negatives of open source versus vendor-based systems.
Although we only did minor work to learn how to operate Blackboard, navigating the course through this platform added a rich level of interaction with the system’s functionalities that I did not previously have. And since I brought some Blackboard experience with me to the course, it was valuable to see how experienced course designers utilize the platform and I am certain that will help me make adjustments to the courses I have in Blackboard now.
And of course we spent many hands-on development hours examining how to master Moodle beyond what is in the tool kit. The experience provided the chance to dive deeply into the functionality and evaluate both the strengths and weaknesses of Moodle. I found that while in theory I lean heavily toward open source platforms such as Moodle, and that the system does allow for a high level of customization, mastering Moodle took much more time than did my previous experience with Blackboard. I suspect a big reason for this is that I did have ongoing, readily accessible technical support while working in Blackboard, while this project relied more on my own investigations and the support of the learning community, both within ETEC 565A and beyond. I will discuss the benefits of these communities later in this synthesis.
Web Design and HTML Authoring: In terms of design, the Tool Kit did provide some interesting takes on the importance of design for online education. I was particularly interested in some of the resources used for developing web sites. There are more than I was aware of and it is truly incredible to see just how easy building at least the bare bones of a web site actually has become, and what that offers in terms of accessibility for people in every culture and type of work or study. As noted throughout this portion of the tool kit, as well as in Bates and Poole, design, particularly interface design, can have a major impact on course delivery and user experience:
“The current general interface of computers – keyboard, mouse, graphic user interface of Windows, pulldown menus, and pop-up instructions – is still extremely crude and not compatible with most people’s preferences for processing information. Therefore, a great deal of effort has to go into the design of material appearing on the computer screen to make it easy to use. The web is just as much a prisoner of the general computer interface as any other software environment, and the educational potential of any website is also restricted by its algorithmic or treelike structure.” (Bates and Poole pg. 89)
While introducing some rather humorous anecdotes about poor web site design, this portion of the tool kit reinforced my understanding that design is among the most important factors in the success, particularly the user experience, of any online platform/ web site, including Learning Management Systems. And as we begin to utilize mobile platforms and further harness 3D applications, the importance of sophisticated design will only continue to grow in importance for online educational efforts.
Synchronous Communication Tools: Although there are a ton of different options when it comes to synchronous communication, and the Tool Kit does an excellent job of providing an overview and options related to these, I found I had a hard time moving past my preference for Skype, which I have used for some time. Obviously there are some very interesting alternatives out there (WIMBA, for example) when it comes to integrating synchronous communications into Learning Management Systems. However, I feel like Skype is still very easy to use, can be used at no cost at all, and many people are already fairly well versed in its usage and capabilities. In other words it does a good job of answering the questions raised in the SECTIONS framework. I do have some privacy concerns related to Skype, however, they are no greater than my concerns for most synchronous communications software available.
Social Software: The portion of the course of examining social software was for me the most valuable. I have given some consideration to social media and how it fits into my teaching and professional life outside of teaching, but like many people, still have a really limited understanding of its full range of uses and power. I walk away from 565A with a far better understanding of the rapidly expanding social media landscape and just what may be lurking around the corner. My imagination has run wild with possibilities because of these explorations, particularly my work with Storify, and in many ways I see the myriad of education possibilities as likely to most interesting and perhaps challenging aspect of social media.
“Clearly, such projects are in their earliest days, suggesting a certain amount of risk. The concepts, projects, and practices of Web 2.0 as a whole in so far as we have surveyed them are fluid and emergent. They are also so accessible as to be launched and interconnected at a pace rapid even by web standards. At the same time, many services are hosted externally to academia. They are the creations of enthusiasts or business enterprises and do not necessarily embrace the culture of higher education.” (Alexander pg. 6)
Looking at the privacy issues related to using social software was a very valuable way to effectively evaluate which social media is most appropriate in a teaching and learning context. It really is quite amazing how limited individual rights are when using any of the social media sites I examined (SecondLife, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook). In many cases it seems like the companies involved are simply protecting themselves with the policies and user agreements that are in place rather than trying to rob or steal good ideas from people. But in some cases, the ability to use your content to further benefit the company seems somewhat disturbing and certainly worth questioning when using the platforms in an educational context.
As for who owns the content posted on most of the social media sites I looked at, they do specify that users maintain ownership. However, they also seem to reserve the right to be able to take that content and utilize it or build on it in any way they see fit:
“You retain your rights to any Content you submit, post or display on or through the Services. By submitting, posting or displaying Content on or through the Services, you grant us a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license (with the right to sublicense) to use, copy, reproduce, process, adapt, modify, publish, transmit, display and distribute such Content in any and all media or distribution methods (now known or later developed).
You agree that this license includes the right for Twitter to make such Content available to other companies, organizations or individuals who partner with Twitter for the syndication, broadcast, distribution or publication of such Content on other media and services, subject to our terms and conditions for such Content use.” (Twitter, Terms of Service)
And while some of the legalese within the Terms of Service on these sites sounds a little vague and even intimidating in places, I don’t suspect these businesses would stay in favor with the public long if there were ongoing issues related to stealing or pilfering the ideas and intellectual property of their users. After all, these businesses are also subject to their own power, which at least in part is the ability of publics to quickly share positives and negatives about their particular products or services. However, I also do not suspect that most users have really taken any time (or even care) to see if and how the material and information they’ve posted on these sites is used and that is something I will certainly discuss in detail with students I ask to engage with social media in the future.
Weblogs: I came to the course with significant experience building and maintaining blogs. I leave even more convinced that blogs are still the most powerful of all social software and it doesn’t matter how many times we are exposed to Yet Another Social Network (YASN) (Alexander pg. 1), the blog remains the king of online content platforms, even in an educational setting, where its power is still just beginning to be tapped:
“It seems clear that although blogging can and does have a significant and worthwhile educational impact, this impact does not come automatically and does not come without risks. As many writers have noted, writing a weblog appears in the first instance to be a form of publishing, but as time goes by, blogging resembles more and more of a conversation before conversation to be successful, it must be given a purpose and it must remain, for the most part unconstrained.” (Downes Pg. 22)
I still love the style of writing and communication spawned through blogging and I think the personal touch and lack of formality consistent with blog authoring is definitive of the digital age, if not entirely with what is expected and insisted upon in academia. This course, and the number of blogs incorporated into courses across UBC and beyond clearly represents a significant shift in educational thinking surrounding blog usage, however.
Wikis: I’ve had little experience working with Wikis and this was an excellent opportunity to learn about the rise of wikis and just what wikis are useful for. And as much as I appreciate the eLearning Tool Kit and how user friendly and well set up it is, I found that otherwise I wasn’t overly taken with the wiki format and will likely only use a wiki in very specific instances. I don’t think I will likely be using or participating in wikis with any real increase in frequency as a result of my experience in 565A. However, I am certainly better prepared should the need arise.
Accessibility and mLearning: I was fairly surprised on both fronts as I worked through these activities in the tool kit. First off, it is surprising how well Moodle actually works on a mobile device, particularly with collapsed topics enabled. Second, as much as I think about how important access is when it comes to web design, my site definitely does not do nearly enough to take into account users with disabilities. I definitely have to give consideration to this as I work on the project and find ways to make any sites I design in the future far more accessible. With the general challenges of web design, this is, I suspect, something that often gets overlooked, particularly with less experienced web developers, designers.
Multimedia and Authoring Tools: Audacity was probably my favorite discovery of the entire course. I’ve spent so much time trying to work and improve myself as a writer that I’ve been very reluctant to move into other media (other than photography where I am being published with far greater frequency these days). This despite the fact I know that there’s been so much development in multimedia storytelling and any real advance in my career is going to call for further use of multi-media. Although I’ve been using digital audio files for some time, I usually simply convert audio files into Word documents that are incorporated into my writing. This is the first time that I’ve worked to edit any audio and I can’t believe how simple Audacity made it. At the same time, it appears that Audacity will handle significant levels of sophistication when it comes to audio editing and I’m a long way from reaching the level of sophistication that Audacity provides at even a basic level. I feel like utilizing audio and audio editing software is a major step toward my overall goal with the project I’ve examined throughout the course, which is being able to work on this storytelling project with the Haisla in multimedia, and in particular film. As I wrote in my blog: “I love you Audacity.” No really.
Overall ETEC 565A Learning Experience
Overall, I think of all of the work we’ve examined throughout the course, Terry Anderson’s has resonated with me the most. As I reflect on the course and think about how we got from point A to point Z (or at least somewhere in between the two) I am reminded of Anderson’s reflection on Wilson’s three functions of good educational theory:
“First, it helps us envision new worlds….. Second, a good theory helps us to make things….Third, good theory keeps us honest. Good theory builds upon what is already known, and helps us to interpret and plan for the unknown. It also forces us to look beyond day-to-day contingencies and ensure that our knowledge and practice of online learning is robust, considered, and ever-expanding.” (Anderson Ch. 2, pg. 36)
I am particularly grateful for how the learning modules are built on clearly identifiable and established theory and subsequently structured within ETEC 565A. From basic blogging, to complex theory, to in depth evaluation and hands-on practice, each portion of the course seemed to build upon the knowledge of the previous component and is structured to help learners work toward completing each of the course requirements and ultimately the final coursework. And all of this is contained within a very powerful and dynamic framework for housing and nurturing a high-functioning learning community, which is something that all participants, including myself, have benefited from and will need to utilize in our practices moving forward.
Working as a writer is often a very isolating experience. This pursuit of higher education forces me to stretch my comfort levels in terms of social interaction in order to learn, and ETEC 565A was no exception. In fact, the rigorous ongoing demands of participating in the discussion forums took me well past my comfort levels, but very likely is one of the key reasons I feel like I am walking away from the class with so much:
“Good learning, like good work, is collaborative and social not competitive and isolated. Working with others often increases involvement in learning. Sharing one’s own ideas and responding to others reactions sharpens thinking and deepens understanding.” (Chickering and Gamson pg. 3)
One thing that struck me as particularly powerful within ETEC 565A is the actual learning that can occur within an online community. Although this is also true of physical classroom space, participation in a physical space often becomes an overly social experience. I’ve been a participant in many different types of forums and utilized forums for gathering knowledge on many occasions, including in the MET, but never really understood why people become so intensely connected through online forms. And whether we like to admit it or not, higher education is often very ‘competitive and isolated’. I have found that through the discussion forums and group exercises in 565A, however, I have been able to engage in constructive dialogue with a number of classmates who have similar interests and philosophies, as well as with those who have very obviously different interests and philosophies. In many ways this is much more powerful that the experience of working with groups of people in a physical space.
I think the online discussion forums and group exercises allow for interaction in a way that is perhaps superior from more traditional face-to-face discussions because they provide something of a flexible buffer for most personality types. This buffer, for the most part, allows students to engage when they want to, how they want to, with the tools they want to and to any new level of depth they want to, without the real fear of being ostracized, intimidated, or overwhelmed by their peers or peer groups.
“Discourse also helps students to uncover misconceptions in their own thinking, or disagreements with the teacher or other students. Such conflict provides opportunity for exposure to cognitive dissonance which, from a “Piagetian” perspective, is critical to intellectual growth.” (Anderson Ch. 14, pg. 350)
It was interesting to see the development of relationships and personality types within the course and through the forums and how that all fit together. Although I think that there was often a little too much glad handing and not enough hard critique within this peer group, it very obviously demonstrated that a community of learning is a powerful thing. And I would bet that the overall grades of participants have been higher as a result of this willingness to engage and share information.
These interactions also helped me to understand just how different online communities can be because of factors such as topics, participants and moderators. There were certainly topics and individuals I was more comfortable interacting with than others and having ‘offline’ opportunities to connect with those folks outside the discussion forums was equally or more valuable than the connections with in the forums. But upon self-reflection, I understand that is just how I learn and engage and certainly there are others who have different, yet equally valid approaches and it is a very important lesson to take with me into my teaching practice:
“The flexibility of virtual communities allows for more universal participation, but a single environment that responds to all students needs does not exist. Thus, the need for variations that accommodate the diverse needs of learners and teachers at different stages of their life cycles is necessary.” (Anderson Chapter 2, pg. 52)
Overall this online community of learning allowed me to consider how I am comfortable communicating within a forum and how to navigate other communication styles, as well as to get and give feedback on particular tasks within the course. And all of this will be a tremendous help as I work toward building, facilitating and evaluating the work within communities in my own practice.
Assessment formed another major component of 565A. Prior to the course I hadn’t given much thought to assessment in general, other than to try and build assignments that both my students and I felt were fair and engaging. Developing my own vocabulary and understanding around the language of assessment was also a useful component of the course. Understanding the difference between summative (overall) and formative (ongoing) assessment as well as the strengths and weaknesses of quantitative and qualitative feedback filled in some knowledge gaps for me and helped to reinforce my own pedagogical position and preference for utilizing coursework, which essentially the entire Haisla storytelling project is built around:
“Students consider coursework to be fairer than exams, to measure a greater range of abilities and exams and to allow students to organize their own work patterns to a greater extent.” (Knivetson, 1996) (Gibbs and Simpson pg. 5)
Looking at tools of online assessment was extremely useful for realizing what is possible through an LMS but also for getting a better understanding of the principles of assessment in general. Developing this understanding leads me to the conclusion that assessment is among the most important criteria to consider for any instructor developing any type of course because without some combination of assessment, either that of the instructor, that of a person’s peers, or through self-assessment, there can be little in the way of real learning. And the web, as we’ve discovered, is particularly strong in supporting assessment:
“Quality online learning provides many opportunities for assessment – opportunities that involve the teacher, but also ones that exploit the influence and expertise of peers and external experts, others that use simple and complex machine algorithms to assess student learning, and perhaps most importantly, those that encourage learners to reflectively assess their own learning.” (Anderson, Ch. 2, pg. 49)
I definitely went through a very interesting expansion on my understanding of assessment and much of this simply reinforced that my instincts in terms of assessment are quite good. However, one large problem with the project I envision with the Haisla is how to build a framework for evaluating participant’s work. The project is more of a collaborative effort to complete a particular project than it is a structured class and structuring assessment carefully is bound to be one of the more complex challenges of the project moving forward.
Onward! Lifelong Learning and Next Steps with Educational Technology
In terms of a plan for ongoing learning and lifelong engagement with the material in 565A, as I’ve mentioned several times, I am very interested in moving towards working with digital film. This engagement with new technology represents a big step for me as it’s something I’ve always thought about but have been reluctant to dive into because of how dedicated I have been to improving my skills as a writer. However, this project with the Haisla, I believe, demands the inclusion of digital video technology. As such, I will continue to examine the tools available to me using the frameworks we’ve examined including SECTIONS in order to determine how best to incorporate that technology into this project.
Throughout the last 12 weeks I have definitely made much stronger connections within the Haisla community. I’ve spent a great deal of time speaking with individuals and groups about this story work project and can feel the growing interest and momentum. I have spoken to Wendy Bolton, the former principal of the Haisla school and now the First Nation’s educational advisor for the Haisla Nation and she’s expressing high levels of interest in the project going forward. She also appears to see this as an opportunity to continue the community’s work with language preservation and to use it as a tool to stop what she sees as attempts to “kill the culture”.
I have plans to travel to Kitamaat this summer and continue collecting Ken’s stories. This will involve writing and photography, but also multimedia such as digital sound recordings and digital video recordings utilizing the format demonstrated in my digital story assignment. Again, I feel much more comfortable and confident that I’ll be able to effectively utilize these technologies as a result of the hands-on learning involves with ETEC 565A. I also plan to spend a lot of time interviewing people and asking them about their preferences in technology, as well as exploring the capabilities within the community in terms of technical support. Technical support in particular will be important as we move forward because we are dealing with distance and the technology develops so rapidly it will be important to have an on the ground contact that I can rely on to help people with technical issues.
And finally I hope to take the “small” Moodle project we’ve completed and further tailor it (particularly the curriculum) to fit the needs of this storytelling project moving forward. By continuing to engage with the Haisla, and especially Ken Hall and the respected educators within the community, I hope that we will put an LMS in place to support this project within the year. Additionally, I will begin to look for a place in a formal Master’s program, rather than continuing my pursuits as an unclassified student, and should I be successful with that, I expect to begin very aggressively searching for research funding to support this project. I hope the experience I’ve gained creating proposals for educational projects within 565A’s coursework as well as my previous experience writing proposals will eventually help identify and secure funding to support what I continue to believe is a critically important cultural project.
In conclusion, it is impossible to stay on top of all of the developments in the world of technology as exponential growth continues yearly. But just as a good story is a good story on any platform, so too is good teaching. And if we learned nothing else, it’s that the principles of good teaching outweigh the benefits of any technology, no matter how powerful or advanced that technology it might be. And as I go forward I will keep Anderson in mind yet again when he says:
“Finally, during this period of creation and adoption of new learning context and tools the effective online learning teacher must have the type of resilience, innovativeness, and perseverance typical of all pioneers in unfamiliar terrain.” (Anderson, Ch. 14, pg. 360)
References
Alexander, B. (2006) Web 2.0: A new wave of innovation for teaching and learning? EDUCAUSE Review, 41(2), 34-44. Accessed online March 10, 2012
Anderson, T. (2008). Teaching in an Online Learning Context. In: Anderson, T. & Elloumi, F. Theory and Practice of Online Learning. Athabasca University.
Bates A. W. & Poole, G. (2003). A Framework for Selecting and Using Technology. In A.W. Bates & G. Poole, Effective Teaching with Technology in Higher Education (pp. 75-108). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Chickering, A.W. & Gamson, Z.F. (1987). Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education. American Association for Higher Education Bulletin, 39 (7), 3-7.
Downes, S. (2004). Educational Blogging. Educause Review. September/October 2004
Gibbs, G. & Simpson, C. (2005). Conditions under which assessment supports students’ learning. Learning and Teaching in Higher Education, i, 3-31.
Wilson, B. (1997). Thoughts on theory in educational technology. Educational Technology, 37(1), 22–26.