Reflection on Creating Introduction Module
I am very happy that reflection is part of our learning experience as we work through developing skills for building a Learning Management System using Moodle.
I tend to often make new tasks harder than they need to be and this case wasn’t an exception. I would relate my feeling of panic to be very similar when I was learning how to develop a Wiki last year for my 510 MET course. This was the first time I had to figure out how to use coding. Once I found the information I needed along with helpful hints from the professor and my peers I was able to follow the instructions and figure out how how to effectively format and embed images.
In this case, there seem to be so many more features to figure out as we have been asked to use our creativity and technology skills to develop an engaging interactive course using different tools of our choice. I started out focusing on the fact that we needed to add substantive html pages. I took an evening to download Dreamweaver software and watch videos to figure out how to format html pages. I then figured out that from Google, I can easily download a zipped html page but as yet don’t know how to include these pages on Moodle. From there I then decided to go with the advice of using the WYSIWYG tool built into Moodle.
I used the Moodle site (moodle.org) to work out different features such as how to create a discussion forum. I feel that I still need more specific step by step instructions for setting up many of the features. I still find the moodle site instructions confusing as there is still so much technical language that is new for me. I find that as a learner I would really appreciate being directed to specific instructions or videos needed for setting up the site.
I also struggled between the time I used to develop content and designing the Moodle LMS web design features. While working on setting up the content of the online course. I tried as much as possible to relate the information to my current position at my school as the Primary Years Curriculum Coordinator. This is a new role for me and my position entails working with homeroom teachers, specialist teachers and administrators helping to develop our PYP program while preparing for our authorization visit in the Fall of 2015 at which point we need to have very specific documentation and policies and procedures in place. The goal of the online course I am developing is to give teachers an overview and experience planning and developing the written, taught and assessed curriculum. The scope and sequence we use at my school is based on the British Columbia prescribed learning outcomes while also integrating conceptual understandings from the PYP different subject areas. It took a substantial amount of time to download and reference all the PYP documentation found in the resource section but this will also be beneficial for my face to face collaborative planning time at school.
This has been a great exercise to further recognize and commend professors of online courses for the amount of time and effort that goes into developing the content for a course as well as setting up the discussions, interactivities and assignments. I enjoyed looking back at the MET courses I have taken so far and examining and reflecting on the ways that the courses have been developed.
I also enjoyed rereading Anderson’s article, Towards a theory of online learning for our MET course discussion this week through the perspective of being asked to take on the role of developing a course while being constantly aware of creating ways to develop rich learning environments to ensure that the learners are actively engaged.
Some of the features that I still need help figuring out as I further develop my online course are the following:
- embedding resources such as Haiku Deck Presentations as opposed to attaching them as a PDF.
- figuring out the steps of how to develop a quiz component
- figuring out the requirements for the module component- “Splash page with a customized GUI with at least four (4) navigational components” is still a completely foreign language for me!
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.
International Baccalaureate Organization (2009). Making the PYP Happen: A curriculum framework for international primary education. United Kingdom: Peterson House. Retrieved from http://www.sph.edu/sphi/tl_files/Curriculum/Making%20the%20PYP%20Happen,%20December%202009.pdf