Category: Module 5

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Module 5

Dafna’s Project

1. Based on the resources available, how might Dafna organize this activity?
Dafna will need to be creative in how she distributes the tools used to make a video. Some have mentioned that groups will need to be made and I agree with this. As far as finding time to give each group her video camera, I would think she may want to ask her students if anyone had access to their own video camera. This would help a lot, and though she can’t rely on this, there would probably be at least one person who had access.I thought I would add something that I did with my Media 10 students. I recorded my students with my personal camera ‘all year long’ as they worked on projects and did presentations. Afterwards, I put gave each student access to the footage and had them work in groups of two to create a memorable video with any music and captions that they wanted. What was cool is that everyone had the same raw footage but the product of each video was so different. I used this as a teachable moment to emphasize diversity and point of view. We are all so very different and we can come to different conclusions even when presented with the same information as other people.

2. How might she disseminate the music videos, once created?
I like the idea of having the students learn how to upload videos to YouTube and share their video with whomever they would like. I also like that the students can begin learning about privacy issues that are so important.

When I did my Media 10 videos I was not familiar YouTube, so I burned a DVD of each video for each student. That way they could take it with them after the course. We also did a sort of video party and it was a lot of fun.

Kevin

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Module 5

Kwikwetlem Project

1. What might be three important questions Raj could ask himself when deciding which multimedia to include?
As this course has taught me, I think Raj should consider Bates and Poole’s (2003) SECTIONS framework when deciding which multimedia to include. Fortunately, I am allowed to suggest ‘three’ questions Raj could ask himself, as opposed to the ‘one’ that we were allowed to come up for Benoit earlier in the course. =)

The three questions are based on the following framework:

1. Access – how accessible is the technology for Raj’s learners?
Raj needs to ensure that the majority of his students would have access to his module and that the technology would be appropriate for his grade 5 students.

2. Teaching and learning – what are the best technologies for supporting the kind of learning that Raj hopes to accomplish?
Raj needs to make sure know he knows what kind of lessons and projects he wants to do in his module. Then he should do enough research to figure out if the technology has the appropriate features.

3. Interactivity and user-friendliness – what kind of interaction and ease does this technology enable?
Similar to the first two questions, Raj needs to think about the kind of interaction that he would have his students do and then do some research on the technology. Is it easy for his students to use as well as for him to create?

2. Do you think Raj can deliver this in a month? Explain your answer and either: * Suggest how Raj approach developing his website? * Offer an alternative to the website, one that will use some of Multimedia already collected.
Based on my experience creating two modules in Moodle, I know that it can take a long time to create a well made online learning module. Ten hours a week for four weeks would give Raj 40 hours to do this. This may actually be enough time to do it since it is only one module.

After being exposed to Alan Levine’s (2007) “50 Web 2.0 Ways to Tell a Story” I now know of many wonderful web 2.0 applications that do a wonderful job of presenting information in a effective way. Since Raj has over 100 photos, I would suggest that Raj create a slide show using something like Animoto. It is easy to use and would engage his students.

References

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 Eduaction (pp. 75-108). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. 4.

Alan Levine.  (2007). “50 Web 2.0 Ways to Tell a Story.”  Accessed 25 July 2011. http://cogdogroo.wikispaces.com/StoryTools

Categories
E-learning Toolkit Module 5

Web design and HTML authoring

My first experience with web design came with ETEC 565A, and the software of choice for me was Amaya. I watched some tutorials on YouTube for Amaya and for NVU and I felt that Amaya would suite my needs the best. I downloaded the software and played around a bit with creating pages and then linking them. It didn’t take long to realize that I needed some structure. It was like I had a bobcat and was just moving dirt around, from pile to pile, without any plan. That is ok as I was just learning but a storyline was needed to make any real progress. So, I mapped up a basic storyline for what I wanted to accomplish in Moodle and began to build some pages. First I referred to the “Web Pages that Suck” checklist and checked out a number of web pages so that I knew what NOT to do. I put in some content and images with links to other pages. Things were working quite well. I then zipped all my files to a zip file and uploaded it into Moodle. Then I unzipped and placed the pages into Moodle.

The process was fairly straight forward and I didn’t really run into problems. That is until I wanted to make changes on a created page. I went back to Amaya to make changes and then reloaded it into Moodle. Moodle, however, had problems with the new page, so I had to rename the page with a number (2, then 3, then 4, etc…). Then a fellow student suggested that I just edit the page in Moodle with HTML code. I am a rookie at HTML but I thought I would give it a try. I managed to do a pretty good job and my edits worked. However, I still had problems with Moodle accepting my changes. I had to do the same thing with saving as a new name. This was all very frustrating. I tested out my Moodle site with Firefox, Explorer, and Safari and I did not notice any noticeable difference in each.

Categories
E-learning Toolkit Module 5

mLearning – Elearning on mobile devices.

Believe it or not, this was the first time I used a hand held device to browse the internet. So, I can thank this course for giving me motivation to do this, as well as my brother-in-law for lending his Blackberry.

End user experience

  • Try accessing both the ETEC 565 WebCT Vista course site and your own Moodle course site via a hand-held device via its browser.
  • Try: accessing a learning module and replying to a discussion forum
  • Analyze performance, including load times, page rendering, tool access
  • Is there an app for it? Could you find any apps for either LMS? If so, did having an app affect the end user experience? How?
  • Reflect on your experience as an end user: to what extent are these sites accessible via your hand-held?

I loaded my Moodle page and Webct Vista. Since I am not used to a hand held device, the first thing I noticed was the difficulty in typing. I am sure that once done many times, typing would become easier. The other thing I noticed was the small screen size. I was wondering how my Moodle page would appear on such a small screen. The images were pretty much the same size so scrolling down and down was the only way to see the whole page. It did not allow me to scroll left and right. Loading times were slower than I am used to. I did not notice an app, but that could be my inexperience. I had the same experience with Webct Vista.

Course designer experience

  • Using your hand-held device, capture some photos, audio or video
  • Try adding some of this content to your Moodle site via the device
  • Analyze performance, including load times, page rendering, tool access
  • Is there an app for it? Could you find any apps for either LMS? If so, how easy was it to create/modify a course site (in this instance, Moodle)?
  • Reflect on your experience as a course designer: how successful were you in creating LMS content via your hand-held?

Similar to my experience as a user, I noticed that typing and screen viewing are not as easily done as on my laptop. I was, however, able to modify my Moodle site in much the same way as on my laptop. I could turn editing on and upload images quite easily. Being able to add content to the Moodle page would make life easy in that I could work on my project when and where I wanted. It is much more portable than a laptop. Once again, I am not sure if there is an app for this.

I don’t think I would want to construct pages this way because it is awkward. I would probably use it as a way to stay more connected and make small changes when needed. I should say that from a more philosophical point of view, I don’t really want the ability to stay connected so easily. I would rather not have the ability in my life, as I think it is healthier to focus on other things in life. Being offline is very important too.

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