ETEC 565A: Learning Technologies - Selection, Design, & Application
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As a photographer after making the final touches and completing editing of process on your photograph all you want to do is to print and to share your hard work. As an educator you must select the appropriate platform, printer, to introduce your lessons to the class. In order to choose the correct platform you must first contemplate what features you will be requiring, you must assess the perceived affordances of the Learning Management System.
At the beginning of ETEC 565A: Learning Technologies: Selection, Design, and Application I had described the desire to learn about a variety of online sites and applications that could be integrated into my classroom. Teaching within an alternate program, I had identified that the students become more engaged in the learning process with the use of technology in class, their diverse abilities become less apparent to their peers and their confidence begins to grow. ETEC 565A was a great learning experience. It challenged me and pushed me to the limit. “Had I known the emphasis for the learning management system (LMS) was on the use of Moodle, I do not know if I would have registered for the course; especially given my frustration in using it during my BEd” (Marsh, 2014h). This course challenged me to apply all of knowledge of theory and editing skills to create an online course that I would be proud to use in my teaching practices. Just as in photography, it is the culmination of theory, knowledge, and skill that come together to create the final product; the photograph worthy of being printed and shared. |
Who Needs a Desktop?
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With this course being my seventh in the MET program, and having completed the four core courses, I was quite familiar with the Theory of Online Learning (Anderson, 2008) and the SECTIONS framework (Bates & Poole, 2003). Having been exposed to these concepts from a theoretical perspective I was able to analyze the educational technologies and their affordances for the implementation in the creation of the online course. In ETEC 565A we were given number of familiar tasks for an educator, creating course outlines, course introductions, lessons, and quizzes alike. However, the course allowed me to place an emphasis on all aspects of creating an online course, not simply the lessons and the content contained within them. It allowed me to examine the course as a whole picture, the whole photograph; not just one aspect of it.
Online Course: Heat, Temperature, & Thermal Energy
Learning Moodle - Saved by my PLN. A blog post.
Overwhelming. Scary. There’s no way. What am I doing? All thoughts that had passed through my mind beginning an assignment for my ETEC565A course, as a part of the UBC MET Program. Creating an introductory module using the learning management system (LMS) Moodle was both a frustrating and rewarding experience.
My experience with using Moodle as an LMS platform was eventful. The need to use Moodle as an LMS platform immediately struck fear in me. Not fear from the unknown, but instead nightmares from memories of my encounter with it during my undergraduate degree. Nonetheless, the overall experience was rewarding. I was able to highlight my competencies on a larger scale than any other MET course to date. Not to mention it allowed me to overcome barriers in my learning, just as I encourage my students to do.
My goal was to create a Moodle site that I was proud of and that I would be able to extract the content from and move to another online site in the future. Knowing that I would be required to expend a large amount of time and effort in attempts to master Moodle I opted to create online content for a subject that I was quite familiar with. I chose to develop a Moodle site for my Science 10 class; continuing with the Energy Transfer in Natural Systems, but this time with an emphasis on Temperature, Thermal Energy, and Heat. The test was to create a learning environment that was engaging, interactive, and simple for students to navigate without a teacher being physically present. The ability to view the course site from the perspective of a student was beneficial to the creation of the site, as I endeavoured to organize the layout and to build the interactive components.
As I previously mentioned, ETEC 565A had highlighted the fact that the introduction to a course is just as important as the course itself. It was important that I take activities I had just used before and that I take the time to properly incorporate them into the course. To guide me through the process of creating on online course I continuously consulted Chickering & Gamson’s (1987) Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education. Chickering & Gamson (1987) argue there are six forces that when all seven of the principles are present in the learning environment then six powerful forces in education are employed:
Another key feature of the Moodle course was the quiz. Gibbs & Simpson (2005) gave me the insight to use the quiz as a learning experience, to allow students to continue to focus on their learning. I did not want the quiz to only be used as a tool for summative assessment. For this reason I chose to use some of the features Moodle offers as an LMS. I wanted to generate a quiz that provided immediate feedback during the quiz itself and would provide students with the chance to learn from their mistakes, using their new found knowledge throughout the rest of the quiz. Furthermore, I wanted to create the opportunity to allow students to re-attempt the quiz to help them further review the content if necessary.
Overall, my experience with Moodle was overwhelming, however, it was the help and the guidance from my personal learning network that made what could have been a disastrous learning experience one of the most powerful learning experiences I have had. Not only did I conquer Moodle, I was able to achieve my goals in creating an environment that was engaging and interactive for the students.
Moodle was a great printer for the course I had developed. It offered a variety of affordances that are not available with other LMSs.
My experience with using Moodle as an LMS platform was eventful. The need to use Moodle as an LMS platform immediately struck fear in me. Not fear from the unknown, but instead nightmares from memories of my encounter with it during my undergraduate degree. Nonetheless, the overall experience was rewarding. I was able to highlight my competencies on a larger scale than any other MET course to date. Not to mention it allowed me to overcome barriers in my learning, just as I encourage my students to do.
My goal was to create a Moodle site that I was proud of and that I would be able to extract the content from and move to another online site in the future. Knowing that I would be required to expend a large amount of time and effort in attempts to master Moodle I opted to create online content for a subject that I was quite familiar with. I chose to develop a Moodle site for my Science 10 class; continuing with the Energy Transfer in Natural Systems, but this time with an emphasis on Temperature, Thermal Energy, and Heat. The test was to create a learning environment that was engaging, interactive, and simple for students to navigate without a teacher being physically present. The ability to view the course site from the perspective of a student was beneficial to the creation of the site, as I endeavoured to organize the layout and to build the interactive components.
As I previously mentioned, ETEC 565A had highlighted the fact that the introduction to a course is just as important as the course itself. It was important that I take activities I had just used before and that I take the time to properly incorporate them into the course. To guide me through the process of creating on online course I continuously consulted Chickering & Gamson’s (1987) Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education. Chickering & Gamson (1987) argue there are six forces that when all seven of the principles are present in the learning environment then six powerful forces in education are employed:
- Activity
- Expectations
- Cooperation
- Interaction
- Diversity
- Responsibility
Another key feature of the Moodle course was the quiz. Gibbs & Simpson (2005) gave me the insight to use the quiz as a learning experience, to allow students to continue to focus on their learning. I did not want the quiz to only be used as a tool for summative assessment. For this reason I chose to use some of the features Moodle offers as an LMS. I wanted to generate a quiz that provided immediate feedback during the quiz itself and would provide students with the chance to learn from their mistakes, using their new found knowledge throughout the rest of the quiz. Furthermore, I wanted to create the opportunity to allow students to re-attempt the quiz to help them further review the content if necessary.
Overall, my experience with Moodle was overwhelming, however, it was the help and the guidance from my personal learning network that made what could have been a disastrous learning experience one of the most powerful learning experiences I have had. Not only did I conquer Moodle, I was able to achieve my goals in creating an environment that was engaging and interactive for the students.
Moodle was a great printer for the course I had developed. It offered a variety of affordances that are not available with other LMSs.
Welcome to Science 10! Moodle homepage.
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If you would like to access the course I have developed using Moodle as a LMS please click here.
Once you are redirected to the new page select my name (D’Alice Marsh_example). From here to login use the following;
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Thanks being given to students for their suggestions in "editing" the introductory assignment.
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Digital Story: Energy Transfer: Conduction in the Kitchen
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As a part of the completion of the online course, I had developed a digital story to illustrate Energy Transfer: Conduction in the Kitchen. My ultimate goal was to create a story that I could use in my Science 10 course with my students. The story was meant to provide the students with an overview of conduction in the kitchen, while providing the students a glimpse into my personal life. To learn that a glowing red stove element will definitely burn a cooler hand.
When I had showed the digital story to my students this past Spring, I was happy to learn that it had engaged them in the learning process. In my regular teaching practices I share personal stories and experiences with my classes, this helps to create a welcoming and safe learning environment, one filled with respect, where students are able to see me as a person, not just as a teacher. Furthermore it provides the students with opportunities to engage with the material in real-life situations.Textbooks often lack humour and personal connections; we can supplement the learning by choosing alternative methods for our students to study (Terrell, 2014). |
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