Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Group Project Week 3
This week we continued work on our redesign of the class. We are narrowing our focus and I think we may do a power point presentation to the instructor on the ways we recommend for her to redesign her course. It is still just John and I. Our third partner must have dropped the class. Not really a lot to blog about this week. We will be wrapping up the project as it is due at the end of April and I will blog more extensively about our final product then.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Case Study Week 2
Good news! My group mate reappeared so I am not flying solo on the case study. I was surprised to see no new info this week. It looks like the instructions are sort of open ended and as an instructional designer I am free to pursue the case study as I see fit. John and I discussed the prelim questions a bit more and we are debating how to handle the final recommendations. We worked on some new work flows and we may offer web site redesign suggestions. Really the case is not too complicated, the web site for the course is horrible and it is no wonder the students are confused.
It is interesting that in the case study the course instructor was very enthusiastic about online leaning and felt that her course would convince other professors that these courses would be viable. Then she proceeded to shoot herself in the foot by not designing the course correctly. In addition to redesigning the course, our recommendations will include suggestions to seek help with the technical side of the course design in the future from somebody with experience.
It is interesting that in the case study the course instructor was very enthusiastic about online leaning and felt that her course would convince other professors that these courses would be viable. Then she proceeded to shoot herself in the foot by not designing the course correctly. In addition to redesigning the course, our recommendations will include suggestions to seek help with the technical side of the course design in the future from somebody with experience.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Case Study Week 1
This week I am supposed to be blogging about my experience working with my group on the case study. I am not sure if either of my group members are still around. Looking at their twitters and blogs they are definitely not up to date. I went ahead and answered the questions myself so I will discuss my observations in this blog.
The problem with the course in the case study is the poor quality of the web site for the course. The site does not have crucial information and the students are confused as to when assignments are due and how to access certain points on the site. The problem is compounded because the professor seems to think the web site is fine and is frustrated because she does not understand why the students are having problems.
The weekly progress report was a bit difficult to fill out. Without knowing what the next two weeks assignments are it is hard to say what needs to be done or to make plans to do it. As always in this class, directions are pretty vague. I posted in my group forum a few times and I guess I will see if either of my group members are still around. If not I will just go solo on this one.
The problem with the course in the case study is the poor quality of the web site for the course. The site does not have crucial information and the students are confused as to when assignments are due and how to access certain points on the site. The problem is compounded because the professor seems to think the web site is fine and is frustrated because she does not understand why the students are having problems.
The weekly progress report was a bit difficult to fill out. Without knowing what the next two weeks assignments are it is hard to say what needs to be done or to make plans to do it. As always in this class, directions are pretty vague. I posted in my group forum a few times and I guess I will see if either of my group members are still around. If not I will just go solo on this one.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Podcasts
I listened to a couple podcasts of The Teachers' Podcast for this assignment. This is a podcast about news, reviews, research, and resources you can use as a teacher. It is a 2 person operation consisting of Dr. Kathy King and Mark Gura. I was especially interested in the content of the pods I listened to as one of the topics they discussed was online teaching certification. I am about to enroll in just such a program so this was relevant information to me.
As a student I think I would have preferred to read the text as opposed to listening to their discussion on these topics. I do not think that opinion would hold true for every topic or situation. I think a large part of any podcast is the person speaking and I did not find the hosts of this pod particularly compelling or enjoyable. Their information and opinions were fine, I just felt I could have gotten the information faster if I could read it myself.
I have had other courses where lessons were provided via downloaded audio and I enjoyed them and found no problem with that content delivery method. I also listen to multiple podcasts for entertainment. I think it would vary on a case by case basis as far as which subjects would lend themselves well to podcast delivery. Any lecture based class would be deliverable via pod and would probably provide more benefit to each student as they would be able to pause, rewind, or listen multiple times.
As a student I think I would have preferred to read the text as opposed to listening to their discussion on these topics. I do not think that opinion would hold true for every topic or situation. I think a large part of any podcast is the person speaking and I did not find the hosts of this pod particularly compelling or enjoyable. Their information and opinions were fine, I just felt I could have gotten the information faster if I could read it myself.
I have had other courses where lessons were provided via downloaded audio and I enjoyed them and found no problem with that content delivery method. I also listen to multiple podcasts for entertainment. I think it would vary on a case by case basis as far as which subjects would lend themselves well to podcast delivery. Any lecture based class would be deliverable via pod and would probably provide more benefit to each student as they would be able to pause, rewind, or listen multiple times.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Mind Mapping Part 2... The Mind Map Strikes Back!
After doing the mind map activity for this week, I am tasked with identifying some potential benefits of using this technique when designing instruction. I enjoyed this assignment because it has a great deal of practical benefit. Mind mapping is something that might not be thought of as a lesson design tool, but it is a very useful one for an instructor to add to their toolbox.
Some benefits:
1. Easy and fast way to get ideas out- mind mapping is a very quick way to get your ideas onto paper or a computer screen. You can get your brainstorm thoughts down without worrying about minor details which could cause you to forget major points.
2. Easy to rearrange or alter the lesson- with a mind map you can change your connection lines or add or remove bubbles to change the structure or content of the lesson very easily. With the software based plans you can even save multiple versions to see which one works best.
3. Good for collaboration- mind maps are easy to share with others to brainstorm about the lesson. When in a team teaching situation this is a good technique to use to get everyone's input.
4. You can visually cue in on important topics- with a mind map you can easily highlight important topics by making their bubble or box bigger. This can help you identify the key parts of a lesson.
5. Simple or complex- a mind map can be very broad or very detailed. It is up to the instructor to determine how much information is needed in the mind map.
Overall I found mind mapping a great technique and I was very pleased to learn about the bubbl.us site. I plan on using that in the future for any mind maps I might make.
Some benefits:
1. Easy and fast way to get ideas out- mind mapping is a very quick way to get your ideas onto paper or a computer screen. You can get your brainstorm thoughts down without worrying about minor details which could cause you to forget major points.
2. Easy to rearrange or alter the lesson- with a mind map you can change your connection lines or add or remove bubbles to change the structure or content of the lesson very easily. With the software based plans you can even save multiple versions to see which one works best.
3. Good for collaboration- mind maps are easy to share with others to brainstorm about the lesson. When in a team teaching situation this is a good technique to use to get everyone's input.
4. You can visually cue in on important topics- with a mind map you can easily highlight important topics by making their bubble or box bigger. This can help you identify the key parts of a lesson.
5. Simple or complex- a mind map can be very broad or very detailed. It is up to the instructor to determine how much information is needed in the mind map.
Overall I found mind mapping a great technique and I was very pleased to learn about the bubbl.us site. I plan on using that in the future for any mind maps I might make.
Mind Mapping
The lesson I designed is for PE and is designed to teach elementary school children the sport of Floorball. It helped me remember to include different aspects of the sport that I wanted to teach. I think this method allows you to really visualize what you are including in your lesson. It is also excellent to see how different elements of your lesson connect and relate with each other. This is also a quick way to do a preliminary lesson without a lot of writing. You can edit it easily without wasting a lot of time. 
Finally I used Mindomo to try another software based solution. I did not like this one much. It seemed overly complicated and unituitive.
I am attaching my hand drawn mind map to this posting.
Next I used bubbl.us to recreate the lesson using software. I found it incredibly easy to use. I even added a couple categories to the shooting section of the lesson.
Finally I used Mindomo to try another software based solution. I did not like this one much. It seemed overly complicated and unituitive.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Twittering & Blogging with Bloom's Taxonomy
This week we learned about Bloom's Taxonomy and our mission is to examine how blogging and twittering can be used to accomplish learning objectives.
In this class we demonstrate the use of blogs quite well. We are responsible for writing about subjects relevant to the course. This falls under the category of creating. Creating is the highest order thinking skill in Bloom's taxonomy. Instructors can have students blog as opposed to writing traditional papers. The blog posts can be about specific subjects or themes in a course. Another way to use blogs is to have students read each others blog to critique and comment on them. This falls under the category of evaluating which is the second highest thinking skill. Students have to review the material and comment on it in context. This can help the instructor check for comprehension.
Twittering can also be used to facilitate learning. So far we have not used twitter for much in this class. I believe twitter has a number of uses. Students could tweet answers to questions posed by the professor for extra credit. This checks for understanding and knowledge retention. Twitter can also be used as a sort of message board for a class where questions can be posed to everyone. This would give students the opportunity to assist each other.
These are just a few examples of ways to incorporate tweets and blog posts into an educational setting. I believe there are many more, probably only limited by an instructional designer's creativity.
In this class we demonstrate the use of blogs quite well. We are responsible for writing about subjects relevant to the course. This falls under the category of creating. Creating is the highest order thinking skill in Bloom's taxonomy. Instructors can have students blog as opposed to writing traditional papers. The blog posts can be about specific subjects or themes in a course. Another way to use blogs is to have students read each others blog to critique and comment on them. This falls under the category of evaluating which is the second highest thinking skill. Students have to review the material and comment on it in context. This can help the instructor check for comprehension.
Twittering can also be used to facilitate learning. So far we have not used twitter for much in this class. I believe twitter has a number of uses. Students could tweet answers to questions posed by the professor for extra credit. This checks for understanding and knowledge retention. Twitter can also be used as a sort of message board for a class where questions can be posed to everyone. This would give students the opportunity to assist each other.
These are just a few examples of ways to incorporate tweets and blog posts into an educational setting. I believe there are many more, probably only limited by an instructional designer's creativity.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)