Goal 1: Design and Development of learning systems
(student) I am able to design and develop innovative, aesthetic, effective and sustainable learning technologies based on theory-grounded research.
Goals: To provide students with experiences to develop theory-grounded and research-based competencies for the innovative, aesthetic, effective and sustainable design/development and management of technologies for learning opportunities and systems.
Objectives:
-
Objective 1.1: Students are able to design/develop learning and performance opportunities and systems including direct instruction, constructivist learning, collaborative work, and performance support.
-
Objective 1.2: Students are able to design/develop learning opportunities and systems for meaningful learning; promote student engagement in online learning environments; and select appropriate technology and learning objects to support learners.
Agile Project Management
Summary: In this course, I was tasked with using a project management style (the scrum style of project management) with a team member to create a virtual tour of Da Vinci’s workshop. The project was the primary deliverable for this course, but updates were kept through the use of our project management system.
Process: My partner and I started by dividing the work for the project by skills we possessed or wanted to enhance. For this project there was a great deal to do and not too much time to do it. My partner was tasked with getting all pertinent information regarding Da Vinci and some of his works, while I created the wireframe for our powerpoint showing how we would be designing the layout and production of a coherent information package. The next week was a bit slow as there was sickness involved and communication between us faltered. By the third week, we both regained our focus, began to put the project together and made desirable progress with the power point. In the fourth and final week our team completed any final editing needed to finish our project.
My role: Much of what I did was the “behind the scenes” work. To start the project, I initiated the design of the power point and created a very basic wireframe. The second week began with using the information and video found by my partner and splicing all the pieces together into a coherent and fluid format. During the second week, my partner became ill and therefore we did not have much communication. To ensure the timely completion of our project I took over some of her work. When working on a project with a deliverable due in a strict time frame, the team cannot always foresee these interruptions but must be flexible and creative to be ensure the product is finalized. In the third and fourth weeks I completed the video editing, putting everything into the power point, timing out all portions of the project (video with voice over), and ensuring all links on the pages would work as intended. My partner and I used the online Zoho program to update and evaluate our progress using a scrum management method. Each week we took screenshots of the progress of our work and created a small write up stating what was successful, unsuccessful and what we needed to change in order to improve our next “sprint.”
Artifact: Our goal for this project was to create a virtual tour of Da Vinci’s workshop using the scrum style of project management. The artifact includes the final project along with screenshots showing our progress throughout the four weeks of development. You will hear my partner's voice in the project. She wrote the initial dialog and I edited the script to fit the time requirements of the video. The screenshots show steps of the “scrum” management system we applied to organize the completion of this project.
Artifact - Photos of the updates from the scrum management system. The week number on the Artifacts are representative of the week it was during the class. The final video for the course is in the Extras page as it is very large. Go check it out!
Reflection: The project required a great deal of work, cooperation and organization, but flowed very smoothly outside of the week of illness. I was skeptical of how much work could be done by two people in such a short amount of time but was pleasantly surprised. Both my partner and I have our lives we live outside of the classroom, we both had personal issues come up and encountered situations to hold us back. Overcoming these trials only helped to solidify the skills learned in being able to conduct, implement, and be a part of a project management team. With these variables I feel as though I encountered and overcame obstacles one would find in the work environment. Besides the technical skills I honed, I developed and refined interpersonal skills that will be valuable in any work environment.
Design and Development of Online Learning
Summary: In this course, groups were tasked with creating an in-depth course for teachers to enhance their performance in the classroom. The team decided to focus our course on the universal design for learning (UDL) framework, and by having those who would take our course learn this process
Process: For this project the team members divided our work into smaller sections based on our strengths. Two people collaborated on each section to provide a variety of ideas and support with technical aspects. All team members worked with each other at one point during the project. Weekly meetings were held to give updates on successes and any roadblocks we encountered.
My role: My main focus and contributions were in sections two, three and five, although I took on some revision work in sections one and four as well. Section two was all about the “connect activity”. We had to come up with a learning project that would have the students combining the “absorb” and “do” activities they had completed throughout the entire module. We determined a schema for students to create their lesson plans while consistently evaluating themselves. Each step of the process is repeatable until the desired outcome is reached. Section three was the grading rubric, and was the most straightforward section. All goals and steps required by students were delineated in order to eliminate confusion, and to ensure appropriate feedback when students received their grades. Section five was an explanation and discussion of meaningful learning. The team decided to focus on four of the five areas of meaningful learning which were, active, authentic, intentional and constructive/cooperative. We found those to be the most effective for our project’s goals.
Artifact: The final portion of the project spans the first 13 pages of the artifact file. Pages 14 and onward were remakes of the first “phase” of the project. Section one is a large table that explains the objectives, assessments and learning activities. Bloom’s Taxonomy regarding the hierarchy of learning was used to evaluate the objectives and assessments. Section two was the “connect activity”. The activity was a way for our students to think deeply about their choices regarding lesson plan building. Section three was the grading rubric, broken down into desired criteria and ratings. The ratings gave specific feedback as to what work was given and why the student would receive that grade. Section four was to create a multiple-choice assessment, having only two questions and was designed as a simulation of how the questions would be implemented. Section five was the defense and rationale of how our project developed meaningful learning and was aligned to ensure efficiency.
Artifact - UDL guidelines project
Reflection: In developing this course for teachers in the use of the universal design for learning, the students would engage in direct instruction but also constructivist learning as they developed their lesson plans. Our design was to support their learning through ‘absorb, do and connect’ activities. The developed course would engage students and provide appropriate technology usage. In working with a team to develop this program I found that we also accomplished all of those objectives for ourselves as we expanded our learning, negotiated and cooperated to produce an excellent product.