If the audio doesn't play immediately, you can sign up for a free account and download the free Audioboom player at: https://audioboom.com/
Sunday, March 15, 2015
E-Learning Practicum Reflection (Feb. 2-9, 2015)
If the audio doesn't play immediately, you can sign up for a free account and download the free Audioboom player at: https://audioboom.com/
E-Learning Praticum Reflection On E-Folio Construction
I have been trying to wrap my brain around the organization of my artifacts in my portfolio. I am struggling with organizing my artifacts based on each individual e-learning course because so many artifacts could fit in numerous course areas. Therefore, I outlined this section of my portfolio and would like to have a short dialogue about the organization method I would like to use.
I want to this section to flow as though you were walking through my course. I would like organize my drop down menu chronologically from inception, to course creation and design, to assessment, and would like to end with reflection. This makes more sense to me and I think it would for a person on the outside of the program looking in. I will propose this idea to my fellow classmates and course instructor for detailed, focused feedback.
I want to this section to flow as though you were walking through my course. I would like organize my drop down menu chronologically from inception, to course creation and design, to assessment, and would like to end with reflection. This makes more sense to me and I think it would for a person on the outside of the program looking in. I will propose this idea to my fellow classmates and course instructor for detailed, focused feedback.
E-Learning Practicum Reflection #1 (Jan. 12-25, 2015)
Part One: A brief update on the events of your internship that week. What is happening? How are you feeling? What are you learning? What questions do you have?
The first week of class for my oral/interpersonal communication course was Jan. 12-18, 2015. The first week of classes was very busy, but my online class did exceptionally well during week 1! All of the students who logged on the first week were able to create and post their blog URL’s without any assistance by the due date! Yahoo! Over the past three years, I have always had a few students who submitted their blog address past the deadline and needed to be reminded to complete the assignment. This week I kept up with grading student assignments, but next week, I will receive 60 email assignments I will need to grade for Written Communication. I will also hear and grade 25 storytelling speeches in my face-to-face courses (50 storytelling speeches the week after). Next week I will begin the true time management test.
My first week of my internship and practicum have been busy, but I think I am doing well by breaking the work into small pieces and doing some work each day, so that it doesn’t become overwhelming (I am finally taking the advice I give students. Ha ha!). Surprisingly, my biggest struggle this week has been trying to figure out what to say on the introduction discussion board. Frankly, I am a bit shocked that this has been a struggle for me! Usually, this is not an issue. As our reading point out this week, sometimes it takes awhile to connect with others and build a learning community. Finally, I have been trying to work ahead on my e-folio and the tasks I have agreed to work on in my oral/interpersonal course, so that when my schedule does get busier in February I will be able to mitigate the chaos.
Part Two: The bigger picture. Seek out the reflections you wrote in all of the classes you've taken to get here. Consider what you knew then vs what is alive in your mind now. What do you now understand more deeply from your current perspective?
I think when I began teaching and taking online classes, I made the assumption that undergraduates would want to be fully engaged in discussion of course material with their classmates. Clearly, I had on my rose colored glasses! I think I believed this because I discovered that I really enjoyed the fruitful discussions in my online graduate class. Although I enjoyed discussing theories face-to-face in my graduate communication courses, I think I now prefer to discuss theories and graduate course material using discussion boards. This allows participants time to reflect, to re-read material, and to conduct some outside research before replying to others. Why wouldn’t undergraduates want to do the same? Oh yeah, that’s right, I forgot! I have a captive audience whose interests might not include communication. Furthermore, many students don’t enjoy the process of reflecting, conducting research, or writing responses. Students act in a similar fashion in the face-to-face classroom therefore; I shouldn’t have assumed my online students would be different. Yet, in order for me to increase student’s critical think abilities, I need them to experience the exact thing they might not like.
One of my goals this semester is to increase discussion board participation. Last semester the discussion board participating was waning, I sent out an announcement to the class providing suggestion for improvement, which did increase the quality and timeliness of discussion. When students posted earlier, I noticed a significant increase in the number of responses and the quality of responses. Thus, I know that better discussions are possible from my students. Now that I also have a better understanding of the grading center and group assignment tools, I am will be breaking the class into two smaller groups to discuss questions to increase student accountability. Finally, I will have more discussion extenders prepared in advance to help me continue to stimulate deeper discussion and sharpen students’ critical thinking skills.
I believe that during the progression of my certificate courses, I have learned to be more realistic about my expectations of student learning in the online environment. I am confident that had a similar learning curve experience when I first started teaching face-to-face courses a decade ago. As humans, we tend to forget these experiences and by reflecting on the subject, I now see the similarities between my past and present learning curves.
The first week of class for my oral/interpersonal communication course was Jan. 12-18, 2015. The first week of classes was very busy, but my online class did exceptionally well during week 1! All of the students who logged on the first week were able to create and post their blog URL’s without any assistance by the due date! Yahoo! Over the past three years, I have always had a few students who submitted their blog address past the deadline and needed to be reminded to complete the assignment. This week I kept up with grading student assignments, but next week, I will receive 60 email assignments I will need to grade for Written Communication. I will also hear and grade 25 storytelling speeches in my face-to-face courses (50 storytelling speeches the week after). Next week I will begin the true time management test.
My first week of my internship and practicum have been busy, but I think I am doing well by breaking the work into small pieces and doing some work each day, so that it doesn’t become overwhelming (I am finally taking the advice I give students. Ha ha!). Surprisingly, my biggest struggle this week has been trying to figure out what to say on the introduction discussion board. Frankly, I am a bit shocked that this has been a struggle for me! Usually, this is not an issue. As our reading point out this week, sometimes it takes awhile to connect with others and build a learning community. Finally, I have been trying to work ahead on my e-folio and the tasks I have agreed to work on in my oral/interpersonal course, so that when my schedule does get busier in February I will be able to mitigate the chaos.
Part Two: The bigger picture. Seek out the reflections you wrote in all of the classes you've taken to get here. Consider what you knew then vs what is alive in your mind now. What do you now understand more deeply from your current perspective?
I think when I began teaching and taking online classes, I made the assumption that undergraduates would want to be fully engaged in discussion of course material with their classmates. Clearly, I had on my rose colored glasses! I think I believed this because I discovered that I really enjoyed the fruitful discussions in my online graduate class. Although I enjoyed discussing theories face-to-face in my graduate communication courses, I think I now prefer to discuss theories and graduate course material using discussion boards. This allows participants time to reflect, to re-read material, and to conduct some outside research before replying to others. Why wouldn’t undergraduates want to do the same? Oh yeah, that’s right, I forgot! I have a captive audience whose interests might not include communication. Furthermore, many students don’t enjoy the process of reflecting, conducting research, or writing responses. Students act in a similar fashion in the face-to-face classroom therefore; I shouldn’t have assumed my online students would be different. Yet, in order for me to increase student’s critical think abilities, I need them to experience the exact thing they might not like.
One of my goals this semester is to increase discussion board participation. Last semester the discussion board participating was waning, I sent out an announcement to the class providing suggestion for improvement, which did increase the quality and timeliness of discussion. When students posted earlier, I noticed a significant increase in the number of responses and the quality of responses. Thus, I know that better discussions are possible from my students. Now that I also have a better understanding of the grading center and group assignment tools, I am will be breaking the class into two smaller groups to discuss questions to increase student accountability. Finally, I will have more discussion extenders prepared in advance to help me continue to stimulate deeper discussion and sharpen students’ critical thinking skills.
I believe that during the progression of my certificate courses, I have learned to be more realistic about my expectations of student learning in the online environment. I am confident that had a similar learning curve experience when I first started teaching face-to-face courses a decade ago. As humans, we tend to forget these experiences and by reflecting on the subject, I now see the similarities between my past and present learning curves.
Sunday, March 1, 2015
Would you teach a MOOC?
MOOCS? My
first thought was, “Why would I want to teach a MOOC? Do faculty members really
enjoy teaching MOOCs?” The Chronicle of Higher Education (2013)
conducted a survey of faculty members teaching MOOCS and found that 71% of
respondents who teach MOOCs do so to expand student access to higher education.
Additional significant reasons for why faculty members teach MOOC’s included
expanding their visibility and reputation as an instructor (Kolowich, 2013).
Palloff & Pratt (as cited in Rockwell, Schauer, Fritz, & Marx, 1999)
report that instructors indicated their desire to teach online was for personal
reasons versus financial incentives.
As a professional in the field, I understand the excitement, visibility, and the altruistic motivation that attracts an instructor to engage in this type of professional development. The chance to be innovative and creative is rewarding in itself, but how much time are instructors investing into creating and facilitating a course with 10,000 students? Palloff and Pratt (as cited in Bates & Sangra, 2011) contend that constructing an average online course ‘requires 12.5 days’ (p. 48). Similarly, Kolowich’s survey (2013) found that, "Typically a professor spent over 100 hours on his MOOC before it even started, by recording online lecture videos and doing other preparation. Others laid that groundwork in a few dozen hours" (para. 33). Clearly constructing an online course, regardless of the number of students, takes a tremendous amount of preparation time.
Since many MOOC’s are primarily delivered at Ivy League schools, I thought, professors must be receiving extra compensation for their time. Yet, if the course is not charging tuition, then, how is the professor’s extra time being compensated? Unfortunately, the answer is that educators are not receiving additional compensation. Kolowich’s (2013) article surmises that faculty members are not getting extra compensation, although some professors who are teaching a MOOC do so as a part of their regular course load. Therefore, many faculty members are taking on a significant amount of work to facilitate a MOOC. Kowitch (2013) opined that, “Many professors in the survey got a lot out of teaching MOOCs, but teaching MOOCs took a lot out of them”(para. 32). Although, teaching a MOOC would be exciting and challenging, I am uncertain that I would receive the same inherent benefits from viewing student self-improvement and participating in students’ educational journeys that I currently receive teaching online. I am uncertain that a strong connection can be established between MOOC professors and their students to provide the additional support that some students need to be successful.
Finally, if MOOC’s have low completion rates, is the extra time and energy worth teaching a MOOC? Or is your time as an educator better spent elsewhere?
As a professional in the field, I understand the excitement, visibility, and the altruistic motivation that attracts an instructor to engage in this type of professional development. The chance to be innovative and creative is rewarding in itself, but how much time are instructors investing into creating and facilitating a course with 10,000 students? Palloff and Pratt (as cited in Bates & Sangra, 2011) contend that constructing an average online course ‘requires 12.5 days’ (p. 48). Similarly, Kolowich’s survey (2013) found that, "Typically a professor spent over 100 hours on his MOOC before it even started, by recording online lecture videos and doing other preparation. Others laid that groundwork in a few dozen hours" (para. 33). Clearly constructing an online course, regardless of the number of students, takes a tremendous amount of preparation time.
As many
non-academics may argue, the hours should drop off once the course starts,
right? Kolowich (2013) discovered that:
Once the course was in session, professors typically spent eight to 10 hours per week on upkeep. Most professors managed not to be inundated with messages from their MOOC students—they typically got five e-mails per week—but it was not unusual for a professor to be drawn into the discussion forums. Participation in those forums varied, but most professors posted at least once or twice per week, and some posted at least once per day. (para. 34)
Yet, instructors’ time and effort seems to vary.
Thus, if the workload for a professor does increase, does the reward of
teaching a MOOC outweigh the extra work? What are the intrinsic benefits to the
instructor, if there is less or little interaction with students? Are there
benefits to teaching a MOOC?
Finally, if MOOC’s have low completion rates, is the extra time and energy worth teaching a MOOC? Or is your time as an educator better spent elsewhere?
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Instructional Course Design Final Reflections
Throughout the instructional design course
this semester, I have had the opportunity to continually review my
current instructional practices and abilities in order to provide
students with a more effective online course experience. As an
instructional designer I believe that course design is a continual
process and that there is always room for improvement. In the following
essay, I will discuss my growth as an instructional designer during
this semester’s course – EDUC 763 Instructional Design for E-Learning.
One of the key concepts that I have extracted from this course was William Horton’s online design model that proposes that educators should provide learners with “absorb, do, and connect” activities. I have provided all three of these activities previously in my online course, but I did not realize there was a name or theory behind this type of organizational method. I also did not realize the “connection” between all three elements. I had witnessed other instructors using this design and had simply adopted it without much regard or understanding. Now that I truly understand the philosophy, I have been able to revise my modules to be more effective and interconnected! Yahoo!
By compiling an alignment chart this semester; I have been able to improve my course curriculum by taking the time and reflective energy to more closely align the modules with WTCS course competencies. In addition, constructing learning guides also assisted in making clear the connections between course competencies, activities and assessments. Completing the alignment chart enabled me to look at my oral/interpersonal communication course from a macro level perspective and completing the learning guides allowed me to view my course design from a micro level perspective. Both exercises were needed to properly structure and polish my course. I believe that my modules are now more solid, well rounded and unified. I could not have accomplished this goal and/or task without the knowledge I learned during this graduate course.
During the course I also assessed my strengths and weaknesses as an instructor. Assessing these elements has assisted me in compiling a list of professional goals to work on throughout the upcoming school year. I will be integrating and implementing these goals into my professional development plan for 2013-2014.
Finally, I can honestly say that I have truly enjoyed the professional atmosphere of the community of learners that my fellow classmates and instructor created during the semester. I am looking forward to incorporating the revisions that appear under this project’s “Course Revisions” tab in the following two weeks before the fall semester begins. I am very excited to hit the ground running in order to revamp and update my online course with all of the wonderful things I learned!
To view my final project, feel free to click on this link.
One of the key concepts that I have extracted from this course was William Horton’s online design model that proposes that educators should provide learners with “absorb, do, and connect” activities. I have provided all three of these activities previously in my online course, but I did not realize there was a name or theory behind this type of organizational method. I also did not realize the “connection” between all three elements. I had witnessed other instructors using this design and had simply adopted it without much regard or understanding. Now that I truly understand the philosophy, I have been able to revise my modules to be more effective and interconnected! Yahoo!
By compiling an alignment chart this semester; I have been able to improve my course curriculum by taking the time and reflective energy to more closely align the modules with WTCS course competencies. In addition, constructing learning guides also assisted in making clear the connections between course competencies, activities and assessments. Completing the alignment chart enabled me to look at my oral/interpersonal communication course from a macro level perspective and completing the learning guides allowed me to view my course design from a micro level perspective. Both exercises were needed to properly structure and polish my course. I believe that my modules are now more solid, well rounded and unified. I could not have accomplished this goal and/or task without the knowledge I learned during this graduate course.
During the course I also assessed my strengths and weaknesses as an instructor. Assessing these elements has assisted me in compiling a list of professional goals to work on throughout the upcoming school year. I will be integrating and implementing these goals into my professional development plan for 2013-2014.
Finally, I can honestly say that I have truly enjoyed the professional atmosphere of the community of learners that my fellow classmates and instructor created during the semester. I am looking forward to incorporating the revisions that appear under this project’s “Course Revisions” tab in the following two weeks before the fall semester begins. I am very excited to hit the ground running in order to revamp and update my online course with all of the wonderful things I learned!
To view my final project, feel free to click on this link.
Friday, August 3, 2012
Module 8 - Assessment in E-Learning
WOW! I am very
impressed with everyone’s final projects. Each student’s project shows a different
strength that they possess as an online educator. Jenifer displayed her ability to create a
strong visual piece and Patricia’s attention to detail was present. I thought this was an interesting aspect of
the project that I had not expected to see.
I have learned that it is better to build in your documents
versus providing them via web link because people may have trouble linking to them. The problem with Weebly is that I have to pay
extra to be able to embed items in the web site. Instead, I had to use screen shots and embed
items as an image. Unfortunately, this
did not allow for my course matrix (taxonomy table) to line up correctly. Ugh!
For the most part, I loved working in Weebly and would use the site
again in the future. I think it is a
great way to create an E-folio, display coursework, or use as a course
management tool.
I enjoyed collaborating with fellow colleagues from across
the country this semester. I feel I have
a better grasp on how to assess student learning and create an engaging online
course. Thank you everyone for contributing to my learning!
I am also VERY happy to have compiled the course activities and will be incorporating them into my online course plans this week! I have one week of MASSIVE prepping, a week of institutional planning, and school is back in session on Aug. 20th!!
I am also VERY happy to have compiled the course activities and will be incorporating them into my online course plans this week! I have one week of MASSIVE prepping, a week of institutional planning, and school is back in session on Aug. 20th!!
Since I will be teaching 7 classes this fall and teaching my
first online class, I will not have time to take the Instructional Design
course. This is a real bummer! I REALLY want to keep going, but I know I
can’t until spring semester or summer.
Final Garden Update!
Watermelons are coming out of my ears!! I have 4 plants that
have about 10 watermelons on their vines.
I cracked one open last night and they have about a good month to go
before they are ripe. My dog, of course,
did not mind eating a few chunks of un-ripened watermelon! Bailey, my English mastiff, decided to also
eat two cucumbers, 2 apples from under the tree, 4 carrots, and 2 cherry tomatoes
she stole out of my bowl! I bet she had
a stomach ache last night!
Since my watermelons are taking over the garden, I pulled
out the remaining beets and onions. The
garden has finally produced green beans!
I also saw that my first eggplant and jalapenos are growing. This is my first year growing eggplants and
they seem to be doing extremely well in this weather. (Now, if only my green peppers would do as
well! The plants look great, but have
hardly any peppers.) In addition, I have
5 pumpkins and 5 cantaloupes on the vine.
Luckily, my garden is going to slow down a bit until last August, when
the watermelon, cantaloupe, and tomatoes will ripen.
Last Sunday night, we had an amazing dinner from the garden! My uncle butchered chickens a few days prior and we roasted an amazingly large
chicken. Then, we dug up red potatoes
and onions. We fried them in pan with
rosemary, butter, and other herbs. To
top it all off, we steamed some fresh green beans! What an awesome, tasty meal!
Sunday, July 29, 2012
Module 7 - Assessment in E-Learning
This week, I worked diligently on my final project. Half way through completing my project, I got super sick of trying to fix the forming problems I was having with Blogger. Blogger is great, but the formatting and spacing are always an issue when pasting content into the posting area. To curtail my frustration and try something new, I created a Weebly web site instead. I was able to cut and paste (including the hyperlinks!!! Yeah!!) my content from Blogger into Weebly with no issues. I am a very happy camper!! I also think that the web site looks more professional and polished!
I have done a ton of work on my project, but I know I have
some polishing to do on it this week. The
project needs a major final edit!! I am
going to wait until Tuesday and review it with a fresh set of eyes!!
 |
| Watermelon |
Without further adieu, here is my final project web link:
Garden Update!
This Saturday, I took a break from my final project to can
blueberry pie filling, blueberry lime jam, and dill cucumber relish. I also shot some awesome pictures of my
gigantic tomato plants and the many, many watermelons that are overtaking my
garden. Enjoy the pics!
 |
| One of my HUGE tomato plants! I have 18 total! |
Sunday, July 22, 2012
Module 6 – Pre-Course Survey Construction
Pre-Course Survey Construction
After listening to the live WebEx discussion, I discovered
that we should personalize our pre-course survey to provide students with more
information about ourselves, as well as, set up a supportable comfortable
learning environment. After construction
my survey, I am uncertain I have completed this goal. I added some additional information to
question one and I hope this helps me achieve this goal. Here is the link to my Pre-Course Survey.
Final Project Update
On Tuesday, I dove into reconstructing my concept map and my
taxonomy tables. I found it to be very helpful to construct both items at the
same time. I spent a number of hours
redeveloping both items. After listening
to the WebEx discussion, I now feel more confused if I am heading the right direction
or not. The discussion on the taxonomy
table confused me a bit. I am not
worried, though, as I feel I am still heading in the right direction.
Eastern Standard Time
UGH! I logged on an hour late!! I forgot our online WebEx meeting was in
Eastern time. Sorry I missed the meeting
folks!
Garden update!
This week, I harvested beets and peas. I also have cucumbers and dill coming out my
ears! Ha ha! I unfortunately not have time to can pickles
so I will be giving away the majority of my cucumbers. Next week, I will finally have green
beans! Yahoo!
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
An Important Point I Discovered about Bloom's After the Fact...
One of the students in my online assessment class proposed the following intriguing question during our discussion on Bloom's Taxonomy:
If a topic is important enough to be in a course, it is important enough to go through all of the levels of Bloom's Taxonomy?
Great question! TOUGH question!
I think it depends on the core focus or the depth of the course. Some 100 level courses in college are "survey" courses, where it is more about introducing or studying the breadth of the subject, versus obtaining a specific skill or in-depth knowledge. In some introductory courses, you might only want your students to be introduced to new material and use one or two of the upper level categories of Bloom's. There might not be enough time or the need for students to use all of the levels.
Having stating this, I think a well rounded and quality educational course would utilize all of the higher order steps. I would strive to include as many levels as possible, but, depending on the course, you may only be able to include what you have time and resources for.
After I posted this reply in the discussion, I found the following information regarding my classmate's inquiry. I have posted it on my blog hoping others might read it since, I posted a reply after the end of the module.
I just read in the book, Assessing the online learner: Resources and strategies for faculty,
that Palloff and Pratt (2009) believe that:
Instead, the instructor should once again think about at the end of the course, and then
link those thoughts to the appropriate level in Bloom's Taxonomy that they represent. For example, introductory courses may have outcomes and assessments that do not go beyond the comprehension level, whereas courses that are taken by students who are further along in the their studies are likely to contain outcomes and activities that span the taxonomy (p. 23).
If a topic is important enough to be in a course, it is important enough to go through all of the levels of Bloom's Taxonomy?
Great question! TOUGH question!
I think it depends on the core focus or the depth of the course. Some 100 level courses in college are "survey" courses, where it is more about introducing or studying the breadth of the subject, versus obtaining a specific skill or in-depth knowledge. In some introductory courses, you might only want your students to be introduced to new material and use one or two of the upper level categories of Bloom's. There might not be enough time or the need for students to use all of the levels.
Having stating this, I think a well rounded and quality educational course would utilize all of the higher order steps. I would strive to include as many levels as possible, but, depending on the course, you may only be able to include what you have time and resources for.
After I posted this reply in the discussion, I found the following information regarding my classmate's inquiry. I have posted it on my blog hoping others might read it since, I posted a reply after the end of the module.
I just read in the book, Assessing the online learner: Resources and strategies for faculty,
that Palloff and Pratt (2009) believe that:
Instead, the instructor should once again think about at the end of the course, and then
link those thoughts to the appropriate level in Bloom's Taxonomy that they represent. For example, introductory courses may have outcomes and assessments that do not go beyond the comprehension level, whereas courses that are taken by students who are further along in the their studies are likely to contain outcomes and activities that span the taxonomy (p. 23).
I hope this quote helps my fellow classmates! I think it helped clarify a few questions for me. I wish I would have found the quote sooner!
Saturday, July 14, 2012
Garden Update....
There are peas and beets ready this week! I love picking fresh peas of out of the garden. YUM! Next week, I will have cukes to can. Boy, the summer is flying by quickly!
Module 5 - Bloomtastic! Bloom-a-rama!
Creating my Taxonomy Table....
This week, I have been struggling with my taxonomy table. Why? I think it is because I am not sure if I need to use all of the lower and higher level categories of the Bloom’s Taxonomy Table on one course competency or project for the course or not. I also struggled with the idea that an activity could fit into more than one category. So what is a student to do? Head to the books! I decided to cruise the awesome article written by Andrew Church.
Here is what I found:
Church (2009) stated, “Some people may argue that you do not require some of the stages for each and every task; some too may argue about the necessity to reach the creation level for all activities. This is the choice of the individual“ (p. 6).
UGH! Church, could you be more obtuse? Ha ha! I guess it is up to me! I just need to dive in, start typing, present my ideas and incorporate the critical feedback that I will receive. After all, mistakes are a part of the learning process.
My Table....
I decided to have students use the group communication skills they will learn in the oral/interpersonal communication course to discover knowledge about intercultural communication. In my traditional face-to-face course oral/interpersonal communication course, students complete the same activity, but instead of a wiki, they present their findings during a group presentation. I am planning on adapting and modifying the presentation assignment into my online course in the form of a wiki report. Here is my current table.
Reflection Remarks after Creating My Table....
I quickly discovered four important lessons this week when completing this activity:
We just received the instructions this week on our final projects. I reviewed some past student’s final projects on their blogs and I think I am going to submit my project with the use of a blog. I like the organization it provides, the ability to link to outside resources, and the ability to add media. I set up a blog and am ready to start working on my final project.
This week, I have been struggling with my taxonomy table. Why? I think it is because I am not sure if I need to use all of the lower and higher level categories of the Bloom’s Taxonomy Table on one course competency or project for the course or not. I also struggled with the idea that an activity could fit into more than one category. So what is a student to do? Head to the books! I decided to cruise the awesome article written by Andrew Church.
Here is what I found:
Church (2009) stated, “Some people may argue that you do not require some of the stages for each and every task; some too may argue about the necessity to reach the creation level for all activities. This is the choice of the individual“ (p. 6).
UGH! Church, could you be more obtuse? Ha ha! I guess it is up to me! I just need to dive in, start typing, present my ideas and incorporate the critical feedback that I will receive. After all, mistakes are a part of the learning process.
My Table....
I decided to have students use the group communication skills they will learn in the oral/interpersonal communication course to discover knowledge about intercultural communication. In my traditional face-to-face course oral/interpersonal communication course, students complete the same activity, but instead of a wiki, they present their findings during a group presentation. I am planning on adapting and modifying the presentation assignment into my online course in the form of a wiki report. Here is my current table.
Reflection Remarks after Creating My Table....
I quickly discovered four important lessons this week when completing this activity:
- Designing an online course is more complicated and more difficult than a traditional face-to-face course. Instructors need to reframe the way activities are presented and executed.
- Designing an online course does take more time, effort and attention to assessment than a face-to-face course.
- Using Bloom’s taxonomy to design an online course can provide substantial justification for the link between your course activities and objectives.
- Instructors need to take into account how to avoid plagiarism when designing course activities and assessments. By creating unique and engaging activities (and assessments!), instructors can curtail plagiarism in their courses.
We just received the instructions this week on our final projects. I reviewed some past student’s final projects on their blogs and I think I am going to submit my project with the use of a blog. I like the organization it provides, the ability to link to outside resources, and the ability to add media. I set up a blog and am ready to start working on my final project.
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Midterm Jigsaw Project
A HUGE thank you to my project group members for completing this assignment today so that I could go on vacation this weekend! I have the best group in the bunch!
My group members, Nancy and Patricia, have been knowledgable, flexible, and have utilized stellar communication skills. I appreciate the hard work they have done on this project. Without further babbling, here is our project: Midterm Jigsaw Project
Module 4 - Assessment in E-Learning
The article that was most thought provoking to me was How Customized Learning will Benefit Students. In the first two
sentences, the author mentions that many schools are moving to cloud based
computing because it makes applications available anytime, anywhere. I am big proponent of cloud based storage and
applications for students, but have recently learned some possibly disturbing news
regarding how advertisers are using our free storage space to their advantage. The article located on Byte, proposes that
the new Google Drive’s Terms of Services leaves the door open to scan your
documents to provide advertisers with information regarding your
preferences. True or false? If it is true, advertisers could start tracking
your preferences beginning in elementary school. I think this would be a great discussion in a
future online course: What is the real
cost of free applications?
Garden update!
HOT, HOT, HOT!! Although it has been extremely hot and humid that past week, the rain we have received has kept my garden happy. The raspberries have been amazing! I made some raspberry pie, cobbler and sorbet. I will have pickling cukes ready next week. Yahoo!
The other interesting discussion in the article is the idea
of the “School-as-a-Service” philosophy.
I do find several of these ideas beneficial to students, but also find that
some of the dimensions could be potentially detrimental to instructors. Undergraduate schools in the past five years
have been slowly catching on to this philosophy and are working to tailor
education to the customer. Since recruiters
and admissions representatives are competing for a smaller group of students
(due to the decreased population numbers in the U.S.), they have begun to treat
students as consumers. This article reflects
how learners may also start to be treated as consumers.
I believe that educators have always tried to tailor their
instruction to individual students. When
I did not understand a concept in school, the teacher would provide extra
assistance to me or other students individually to help understand the task at
hand. I think this has always been a
core philosophy of teachers who care about their students’ success. I believe the only difference is that now
instructors have additional technological tools to aid them in student
comprehension.
What did I not agree with in the article you ask? Get the point
Kelly! Well, I did not agree with the idea of individual scheduling for
students discussed in #4 & 7. Our institution is trying to implement this
strategy and many hurtles have suddenly appeared. Our administration is going to have rolling
start dates for online classes where students can enter on one of three
different dates until the class is full.
Thus, instructors will have 3 different groups of students to track in
one course. Yikes! Additionally, the
course will not end until the middle of the following semester. What happens when the next rolling class
starts? Then, you will have to track 6
different groups of learners and continue to teach your 6 other traditional
face-to-face classes. How can an
educator keep all the deadlines straight, help individual students, grade projects
and maintain all of the other responsibilities associated with teaching 6
traditional classes?
The other problem derives from the financial aid system in
the United States. FAFSA is a first
come, first serve program. The sooner
you apply the more likely you are to receive aid. Once the money is gone, you are out of luck
for receiving aid. If students start at
later dates, will they receive any financial aid?
Finally, did the article mention working year round? YIKES! I
can’t imagine working 60 hours a week year round. Many people who do not work in education do
not understand the time that is exerted during the school year by
educators. I work weekends, nights, and
holidays to keep up. I could not keep up
that same pace for 12 months. Administration
would need to drastically alter their teaching assignment philosophy to
implement a year round schedule in higher education.
I think that the philosophy outlined in the article has many
valid points, but also has many other institutional forces working against the
comprehensive implementation of these dimensions. I do believe many undergraduate institutions are
moving in this direction, but I think there are many roadblocks that will need
adjusting along the way. I am not a
negative “nelly”, but I do think that this philosophy does raise some
legitimate concerns for instructors and students.
HOT, HOT, HOT!! Although it has been extremely hot and humid that past week, the rain we have received has kept my garden happy. The raspberries have been amazing! I made some raspberry pie, cobbler and sorbet. I will have pickling cukes ready next week. Yahoo!
As my garden continues to grow, so does my knowledge about assessing students online!
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Concept Mapping...
I found two awesome videos this week on concept mapping. The first video is from a faculty point of view and how concept mapping is used in her communication studies classroom.
The second video is an explanation for students on how to use concept mapping when beginning to write a research paper. I think this video may be useful for my written communication course students.
Here is my first attempt at a concept map. You can also view the concept map in better detail by clicking the hyperlink under the assignments "tab" on the top of the blog. Since I am a visual learner, I LOVED this activity.
Subscribe to:
Posts
(
Atom
)