Course Development

Long time, no blog! 

Since my last post, we have been released on FE break and Spring break. That sounds like a laid back life, but TRUST me, life has not slowed down- life is trucking along like an 18 Wheeler! 

In ED 308, we have been working on our Module Development assignment, which is an extension of out Course Outline. We had to choose one module from our course to develop in a Blackboard setting. I am really pumped about the assignment because my local high school is really getting into the online course environment and I think this is great experience for my (hopefully) future job! 

My course is Intermediate College Algebra, and the module I chose to develop is on Linear Inequalities. I have not been organizing and getting information into my online course, as I have been trying to get all the logistics on paper! I am working on the in-depth rubrics as we blog. 

An item of interest I have come across is in developing my module is that technology is so VAST. We really are in the age of the digital native. I know that my future students will have probably learned their ABC's on an ipad, and will have been exposed to technology for the entirety of their lives. They will know more about this technology than I will ever dream of knowing. Which reminds of something that Dr. Cowan used to tell us in ED 305- give your students the resources they need to succeed, don't do it for them. I find myself limiting student creativity because I can give example of how I was taught to do things. However, I should just tell them what needs to be done, and allow them to find a way that suits them.

A problem or concern I am running into while developing my module is that I cannot find specific quality content that is specific to the topic I have narrowed my module down to. I could place videos in blackboard and ask the students to watch a small portion, use snaggit to capture only the parts that I need, or create my own. Some suggestions or other ideas would be appreciated. 

Engaging the Learners

In my course, I have tried to include several opportunities for student engagement- I have interective videos, weekly reflections with opportunity for extra credit by responding to peers, a wiki page for unit summaries and real-life examples, etc. However I am worried that the lower level mathematics students will find this as busy work instead of engage in it- likely taking the affect away.

The one portion that I am really looking to engage them in is the wiki. Each group will add to the wiki through out a unit. They will give definitions, theorems, and concepts that are covered, along with a fun and creative way to remember them. In addition they will have to create a unique real life example in which the concepts might be used. I think that this will show the students that the mathematics they are learning is actually relevant- rather than just saying you will be tested on this.

Every math student has said it (Yes, even me)- "When are we ever gonna use this?"  Well the answer is EVERYWHERE! Look around, math is everywhere. And it is hard to relay this to younger math students. I want my students to understand that what I am teaching them is important and they will need to know it for their future endeavors.

Any suggestions for more relevance in the math classroom is greatly appreciated. Do you think that being required to provide a real-life example would be fun and engaging or terrible miserable?

Communication & Collabration

Hi, ED 308-ers!

This week, we learned about collaboration and communication in the online classroom. I think it is awesome that we are learning about how to create class, in a class that is created that way. Too often Professors have a "Do as I say, not as I do" mentality, but the structure of our course is the quality example in our assignments- pretty awesome if you ask me! Anyways, we learned that discussion boards are currently boring, ill-motivated, and purposeless; however, teachers can change that by giving them purpose, requiring critical thinking, and incorporating student interests.

In my Course Outline Assignment, I added the Navigation and Detailed Outline. This directly correlated to last week's addition, in that I had to put the assessments and assignments in each module, along with lectures and activities.

I thought an interesting idea from the video was that people love to tell stories. This gave me the thought that I could have students create a short story and illustrate a concept that is covered in my course. Since literacy and narratives are encouraged in all subjects, I think this would be a good way to incorporate it. I'd love any feedback on this idea.

I have collaboration and communication in the weekly reflections and group summaries; however, I feel that there could be more. I like the idea of Accountability-Talk, or Math Talk, it encourages students to speak with the content discourse in a critical manner. I think this could be possible with a live session, but that would require students to be available at the time for effectiveness. What are your thoughts on Math Talk in the E-Classroom?

ADDIE- Design

Hi, classmates and readers!

This week in ED 308, the we covered the first "D" in ADDIE - Design. It includes designing assessments, choosing an appropriate course format, and developing an instructional strategy. I thought it was interesting in the video that it was "out of the norm" to create assessments before developing content because all of my Ed Tech courses and Math Ed courses have supported this method. So I find ADDIE to coincide perfectly with how I have been taught to create a course thus far.

In the Course Outline Assignment I added the assessments and objectives. I used weekly quizzes as my self-test, allowing multiple attempts and instant feedback. These are also in the format that the tests will be in. The tests are every 3 weeks, which is the length of each unit. For my group assessment, I have Group Summaries. This will require groups to collaborate and present the content of each 3-week Unit in a Wiki - which will allow me to see the contribution of each student. I also incorporated weekly discussion boards for students to discuss the material, misconceptions, and confusions. It also gives other students the opportunity to respond to one another and address the misconceptions and confusions. Lastly, my feedback surveys are for each Unit, which allows the students to provide me with feedback for the unit.

I think that when people think about group projects, the last subject and course format they would think about is Mathematics and Online. That's why I think it is awesome that I can create a course that allows for collaboration and reflection on mathematics (maybe I only find it fascinating because I am a math nerd). But my group summaries and discussion boards are really exciting to me, because I did not think something like this would be possible with out a face-to-face meeting.

I feel like I could add a bigger project into my assignment. I want it to encompass the material and require multiple forms of media- maybe a video project? However, I have an entry level College course, so my students are not that familiar with these technologies. Suggestions are appreciated.

Kassi

ADDIE- Analysis

Hello, ED 308 classmates! I want to start off by saying that I have learned a lot in the first three weeks, and I cannot wait to read about your experiences, as well!

This week we began the Analysis Phase of ADDIE- which includes instructional goals, instructional analysis, learner analysis, and learning objectives. I found the analysis phase to be a very important aspect of any class. With analysis completed, the teacher can have a good understanding of where the students are in their learning, how well they might be able to learn in the class, what he/she plans to focus on, and what the students should leave the course being able to do. This is a lot like the planning portion of the EDTPA lesson plans because you have to account for all of these things each time you teach- it only makes sense to do this for the entirety of the course!

I began working on the Course Outline Assignment this week, as well. In the initial steps, I decided on the course, course length, and type of course that I would design a module for and outline this semester. Since I am a math major, I chose a lower level college math course, Math 100: Intermediate College Algebra. I then gauged where my average student would be in his/her math and technological abilities- this was pretty low considering this is often an entry level course.

I loved the lecture on personalized learning, I guess that I had never really thought about having a wide range of student abilities. However, this is a very probable situation in a mathematics course. I found it very helpful that I could include advanced topics for higher achieving students and remedial content for lower level students. I hope that I can use this knowledge to reach every student effectively in my course.

When beginning my Course outline assignment, I was worried that I would have a hard time putting a mathematics course into an online format without it being a Lecture-Homework style course. I want to include uses of technology and activities that will further mathematics knowledge- such as algebra tiles can help students manipulate equations. I am open to suggestions for incorporating hands-on activities in the online environment.

Kassi