ETEC 632:Developing E-learning Environments (Dr. Curtis Ho, Spring 2014)
ONLINE COURSE:
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DESCRIPTION
Tsunami ABCs: From your Mommy to Zombies is a blended course spanning a total of 6 weeks targeted to 4th grade students throughout the state of Hawai‘i, with a focus on those who live in the tsunami evacuation zone. The main goal of the course is to educate students about tsunami hazards, preparedness, evacuation, warning, and risk so they know what to do during the next tsunami event.
REFLECTION
At first, developing a course online from scratch seemed like a pretty daunting task. Luckily, I had my team members Dana and Ed, and some existing material to build from. We decided on developing a tsunami safety course for elementary students because an official course doesn't exist for this grade level. Plus, we had some great material from an online tsunami safety e-booklet that could serve as the foundational knowledge for the course. Next step, was to figure out at LMS to use. Given all of our familiarity with the Google suite, we thought it would be appropriate to build our course within Google Sites. That would allow easy and open access to the course and since a lot folks are familiar with Google products, it would allow for easy and open access. Unfortunately, Google Sites lacked many of the basic LMS features like a gradebook and we couldn't really get it to "look" like a course without having to go in an edit the html. Even though the exploration of Google Sites was a big time investment, it was part of the journey and it did give me some ideas for establishing shareable templates for student/teacher e-portfolios in the future. Back to the task at hand, we decided to build the course in Canvas, but integrate Blendspace and the Tsunami Safety e-booklet into the fray. We met frequently on Google Hangout and used these working sessions to get a bulk of the workload done. We would divvy up tasks at the beginning of the Hangout and work on them through the session. If someone got stuck or didn't have access to the proper document, someone else would pop the answer in the chat. It was truly a collaborative process.
AECT STANDARDS
Standard 1: Content Knowledge
Candidates demonstrate the knowledge necessary to create, use, assess, and manage theoretical and practical applications of educational technologies and processes. |
Standard 2: Content Pedagogy
Candidates develop as reflective practitioners able to demonstrate effective implementation of educational technologies and processes based on contemporary content and pedagogy. |
Standard 3: Learning Environments
Candidates facilitate learning by creating, using, evaluating, and managing effective learning environments. |
Standard 4: Professional Knowledge and Skills
Candidates design, develop, implement, and evaluate technology-rich learning environments within a supportive community of practice. |
FEEDBACK
INSTRUCTOR/PEERS
You have a very detailed planning document, the learning objectives. You make it very clear what the learning outcomes will be and basically have determined how you will measure how well students achieve them. Nice introduction section and you the need for the course very well. I like your nicknames for the team. Have you come up with a team name? How about the Mombies (Mommy Zombie)? Ok, just saw you team name below, LED Consulting.Budget and Timeline are realistic. You are the only team that has ever listed tuition in the budget. Very smart.You are off to a great start. Surf's Up!
LED Team,Ok, your planning documents have the level of detail needed for good course development. Great job. I am eager to see how you use Blendspace and how you bring in learning objects developed in Articulate. I have seen Articulate products and it looks very impressive but it wasn't available for Macs. Also the cost looked steep but I suppose one could create a lot using the 30 day trial version.The formatting of your Word file came out a little weird but I was able to read through almost everything except for the Review Process and Qualifications of Reviewer. I trust both are written to your high standards. If you are starting content from scratch, you will be challenged to develop everything identified in your document but I am assuming that you have much of the content in adaptable form. Carry on!
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The content information provided for this course is very thorough. The modules cover a wide array of subjects within the topic of Tsunami science within Hawaii and abroad. The instructor's guide was well done!From an observational standpoint, I am guessing that the team is still working on incorporating other aspects of the online module (course expectations), namely that of student assessment and group collaboration. While I did see these elements listed out within the instructor's guide, I was unable to find them within the actual online site.In terms of navigation and ease of use, I felt the separation between Google Sites and Blendspace created a sense of in-cohesiveness that made the site feel more like a WebQuest than a fully integrated CMS. Given that I was unable to find any interaction and assessment rubrics on the site, I had to rate these areas as "fair" given that I wasn't able to easily locate them (assuming that they are on the site and I need new eyeglass prescriptions). ;)
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I'm sure as you develop your course, it will come together so that all the requirements in this rubric are met (especially because we all didn't get this before).With that said, I'll just tell you what I observed with what you do have so far. I'm not sure who your target audience is. Is it for the 4th grade student (as mentioned in your planning document - the one Dana posted) or it for the teacher (this is what is says on the syllabus or the PDF document that Leon shared)? Some resources looked appropriate for the 4th grader but most looked appropriate for the 4th grade teacher. Break down the syllabus...too long the way it is right now. I also thought all the resources on Blend Space was too much information at one time. And, I wasn't sure what do to with the information (some resources had verbiage attached to it so I was aware of what it was for, however, some resources had no guidance -- Modules 2 and 4). I wasn't able to take a quiz...I think that's what is was...because I wasn't logged in. I couldn't access the New Yorker article; without logging in. If this is course for 4th graders, this is way too much for them in five weeks. Unless this is the only thing they are learning for every minute of day (which it not reality), this is way too much for them in a given week. Also, 4th graders cannot use Hangouts as individuals; they can, as a class, if the teacher logs in and uses with the class. Now, if this is for teachers, break down the resources even more or make sure there is a purpose.
You have a very detailed planning document, the learning objectives. You make it very clear what the learning outcomes will be and basically have determined how you will measure how well students achieve them. Nice introduction section and you the need for the course very well. I like your nicknames for the team. Have you come up with a team name? How about the Mombies (Mommy Zombie)? Ok, just saw you team name below, LED Consulting.Budget and Timeline are realistic. You are the only team that has ever listed tuition in the budget. Very smart.You are off to a great start. Surf's Up!
LED Team,Ok, your planning documents have the level of detail needed for good course development. Great job. I am eager to see how you use Blendspace and how you bring in learning objects developed in Articulate. I have seen Articulate products and it looks very impressive but it wasn't available for Macs. Also the cost looked steep but I suppose one could create a lot using the 30 day trial version.The formatting of your Word file came out a little weird but I was able to read through almost everything except for the Review Process and Qualifications of Reviewer. I trust both are written to your high standards. If you are starting content from scratch, you will be challenged to develop everything identified in your document but I am assuming that you have much of the content in adaptable form. Carry on!
---
The content information provided for this course is very thorough. The modules cover a wide array of subjects within the topic of Tsunami science within Hawaii and abroad. The instructor's guide was well done!From an observational standpoint, I am guessing that the team is still working on incorporating other aspects of the online module (course expectations), namely that of student assessment and group collaboration. While I did see these elements listed out within the instructor's guide, I was unable to find them within the actual online site.In terms of navigation and ease of use, I felt the separation between Google Sites and Blendspace created a sense of in-cohesiveness that made the site feel more like a WebQuest than a fully integrated CMS. Given that I was unable to find any interaction and assessment rubrics on the site, I had to rate these areas as "fair" given that I wasn't able to easily locate them (assuming that they are on the site and I need new eyeglass prescriptions). ;)
---
I'm sure as you develop your course, it will come together so that all the requirements in this rubric are met (especially because we all didn't get this before).With that said, I'll just tell you what I observed with what you do have so far. I'm not sure who your target audience is. Is it for the 4th grade student (as mentioned in your planning document - the one Dana posted) or it for the teacher (this is what is says on the syllabus or the PDF document that Leon shared)? Some resources looked appropriate for the 4th grader but most looked appropriate for the 4th grade teacher. Break down the syllabus...too long the way it is right now. I also thought all the resources on Blend Space was too much information at one time. And, I wasn't sure what do to with the information (some resources had verbiage attached to it so I was aware of what it was for, however, some resources had no guidance -- Modules 2 and 4). I wasn't able to take a quiz...I think that's what is was...because I wasn't logged in. I couldn't access the New Yorker article; without logging in. If this is course for 4th graders, this is way too much for them in five weeks. Unless this is the only thing they are learning for every minute of day (which it not reality), this is way too much for them in a given week. Also, 4th graders cannot use Hangouts as individuals; they can, as a class, if the teacher logs in and uses with the class. Now, if this is for teachers, break down the resources even more or make sure there is a purpose.