The 10 Best Things about EDUC 251

Making a Jing-cast

I felt like I was "on-stage" making a jing-cast. In the end I had to do a script that I read. Even then, I had some challenged. I used my jing-cast somewhat as a powerpoint with my glogster on one side of the screen and the pages I wanted to show "lined-up" by it. I would then click closed the pages as I referred to them. It was still a bit nerve racking.

Discussion Board Selection

I researched Google as a possible forum for my course, however, I do not like it as much diigo. Google maintains threads - via email. I like being able to have all the posts in a single place to see. So, I decided to use and set-up a diigo account to see how easy it would be and it was!

Activity 7.4 - Authentic Learning Activity

Authentic learning is a solid pedagogy approach, no matter the environment. However, two concepts of authentic learning that I feel can be particularly expanded on with the internet and etools are "hooks" and "experts". "Hooks" is what picques and keeps the student's interest and motivation in the activity. With the use of video, games, tools, etc., there are many more ways to do this. "Experts" is being able to bring in subject resources, which on the internet, makes accessibility easy.

For my course framework activity, therefore, I expanded on the colon treatment options module. For a hook, I searched YouTube for "colon cancer comedy" videos. There were quite a few actually. I added as a introduction to the module one of these videos - two singing colon surgeons - on colon surgery. For experts, I added references to the National Institute of Health and American Cancer Society on treatment options and survival statistics. I also am having the students connect directly to true cancer experts - patients, caregivers, and survivors. This puts a "face" on the disease, as well as an experience to what it means to have colon cancer.

In my online work experience as a math tutor, hooks are particularly important, as these students would not be in the program if they weren't already performing at a lower math level. Math is not a subject they enjoy. The automated lessons they take, often have "game" quizzes they take and can get immediate feedback on their answers. As an instructor, I try to utilize their life experiences. For example, I might ask them how old they are and then tell them how old I am. I then use these facts to construct subtraction and/or division questions.

Activity 6.4 - Evidence of Understanding

eLearning allows for more tools for teacher-student assessment. This includes easy to administer quizzes on-demand; collaborative projects that can occur at the students' pace; and blog capability and web searching where communication can be instanteous. The challenge for the teacher to how to use these tools to provide an appropriate learning experience, yet not overwhelm the student or teacher. The issue of plagarism is there. For very formal learning experiences, an independent, mediated resource can be set-up - such as is done when students take standardized tests for college admission like SATs, but for many courses, the assessment concept needs to be expanded. Students in the real world will have access to data and they need to learn how to "mine" the information and integrate it into practice.

The readings provided this week, recommend assessment plans for the elearning environment. Boettcher (p. 154) suggests "at least four types of experience: participation in discussion posts; automated low-stakes quizzes, individual projects, and team projects." I have updated my course framework to reflect this. Specific additions are:
- Discussion: Students participate in a class community blog (such as diigo) and must participate and post to at least one colon cancer forum (Lesson 5.)
- Quizzes: Each lesson end with a quiz on both the information for that lesson, as well as feedback on the lesson. An example of what this might look like is provided for in the Lesson 5 Wrap-up.
- Individual projects: Students are required to critical think about colon cancer, as in lesson 2 they are required to write about how colon cancer has personally effected them and how additional screening might have impacted this.
- Team projects: Two collaborative documents, using wiki, have been added as part of Lessons 3 and 4. This includes adding to the pros and cons of different screening methods and cancer treatments. The student is required to read and view other recourses to be able to effectively contribute.

Reflection - Learning Platforms - Module 5

This module was on learning platforms. The thing about platforms is that a final assessment and how well the platform works for you is based on more of what the platform does not do, than what it does. Of course, there are certain features the platform must contain, but beyond that is how the platform performs, such as the true ease of use or difficulty in maintaining, etc. This post is a reflection on learning platforms based on my personal experience both as a tutor at Knowledge Learning Corporation.

The platforms for KLC consist of:
- Ning. A focused website that is used as a "teacher's only" forum. The company posts basic information - such as resources, telephone numbers, and self-paced courses (such as on how the system works or how to do basic questioning with students.) There are tutor and company intiated blogs, which I often use to ask other tutors on their experiences and get suggestions. A recent blog was how do you handle students when they ask you personal information. I find this website to be invaluable, but the front page of the site is confusing. Everytime some posts - such as an introduction - the list of blog topics changes to the most recent. Finding a blog you want to reference often takes a search, but the search is very sensitive. Also, when I am in the middle of a teaching session and I want to access a resource, it takes too many pages/strokes to get there quickly.
- GlobalScholar. This is a focused website that is used to track the tutor's students, their progress, and results in the lessons. This is similiar to Vista, where the students grades and classes are. There is not a posting capability, like in Vista, however. I think this system is very complete. GlobalScholar is a good platform. It maintains a list of all students I have ever taught, however, and rather than the current students I am teaching listed when I first enter, it is the first students - a year back or so - that comes up.
- Whiteboard. This is accessed through Global Scholar and is only available when the student is actually in the tutoring session. If you read the features of the whiteboard (which I suppose is part of the GlobalScholar platform), it looks perfect for our application. However, it is quite frustrating in daily operation and KLC is assessing making a change. The way the platform works, makes it very sensitive to bandwidth considerations. Many students logged on using it as the same time, often freezes things. When it is operationally working, the main feature I would change is the ability to have a student re-take an automated lesson. (The student takes a a self-paced, 10 minutes lesson after which a short 4-question practice is administered. After this I interact with the student to go over their work and pass them. If I feel the skill is not successfully mastered, my only choice is to personally continue working with the student - of which I have 3 others at the same time and is, therefore, not always feasible - or pass them.)

Porfolio: "Teacher Presence" - Activity 5.4

As an analogy to "social presence", I have termed how a teacher interacts in the eLearning environment, as the "teacher presence". In reviewing the ten best practices for Teaching Online (Boettcher, p 37), half of the practices were about teacher presence: be present; supportive online community; set expectations and how you will communicate; informal feedback; and discussion posts. Boettcher (p. 196) also indicates (and is consistent my own personal learning experience) "the most difficult part of many learning tasks is getting started."

I, therefore, decided to create an Voicethread introduction for my course framework, to introduce myself to the student and also set the expectation and outline how communication will occur. I chose the Voicethread tool, so the students would have a place to add their voice and introduce themselves. You may also read the script of this Voicethread. These links have been integrated into the Course Framework page of my blog.