PLO 3 Design learning opportunities that apply technology-enhanced instructional strategies to support the needs of all learners

  Design learning opportunities that apply technology-enhanced instructional strategies to support the needs of all learners

Reflecting on my personal experience and learning in prior courses, I will discuss and support my understanding of the importance of designing to support the needs of all learners.

Below is the demonstration of my attainment of Program Learning Outcome 3 to “design learning opportunities that apply technology-enhanced instructional strategies to support the needs of all learners.” The design is of an EDU 601 assignment that will demonstrate the use of instructional design principles and theory and explain my choice of principles and methods.

The backward design was the first step in this instructional design process. “The idea of Backward Design comes from Wiggins & McTighe and suggests that learning experiences should be planned with the final assessment in mind” (Bowen, R. (2017) The measures used in this design process are a needs assessment, learning goals, appropriate delivery medium, implementation, and evaluation. Using the backward design, I began with the objectives of this lesson to achieve the learning goals. To address the possible diversity of the students, I created a survey. This survey was necessary for me to discover learning styles and understand any student's concerns so that I could facilitate active learning by designing appropriate instruction. The needs assessment (survey) provided me with information on the learner's characteristics, such as academic background, personal or social characteristics, learning styles, and motivation.

A clear outline of the lesson, unambiguous language, the option for the student to obtain information in a variety of forms, and repetition are added to the learning experience to help all learners, and those with disabilities. The ability to use their own devices allows students to access the content and use it to provide them with the information in the form of audio, photos, and video. The content is sequenced to help the learner achieve the stated learning objectives. Using the constructivism learning theory, which “suggests that learners create knowledge as they attempt to understand their experiences” (Driscoll, 2000, p. 376). I chose that the instruction would be delivered in an individualized pattern because the topic can be sensitive to some students, and the evaluation would incorporate the learner relating to personal experiences. The assessment is summative used not only to evaluate student learning but to guide my efforts and activities in subsequent courses.

There are advantages for all learners in creating and developing accessible content. Technology provides opportunities for communication, collaboration, and sharing that enable the learners to participate in their learning rather than receive it. This process in designing instruction is meant to increase instructional efficiency and student knowledge. When this process relates to the concept of Universal Design for Learning (UDL), it enhances a flexible learning environment that can create long term retention of the learning outcomes and support and engage all students, including those with disabilities.

Getting To Know You Survey

What is your first and last name?

What is your major?

Have you or anyone else you know who been impacted by racial bias?

What current event is of interest to you?

What method do you use to attain historical information?

What if any concerns do you have?

Assignment

In this assignment, you will research two historical figures of your choice who were impacted by Jim Crow laws. There are several resources you may select from to learn about stories of various people, or you may know one or two people you would like to interview for this assignment.

Learning objectives

• Examine key policies developed in the Jim Crow era

• Examine the impact of Jim Crow on Blacks at the time

• Examine historical events around and the creation of Jim Crow policies

First, explore the following resource to identify two people you would like to research in-depth. Utilizing this resource, you will find several stories about people impacted by Jim Crow laws. Select a few to watch, thinking about how you would have felt and what you would have experienced during those times. Identify two people you would like to highlight in your reflection essay.

The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow | PBS | ep 1 of 4 Promises Betrayed

Provide a general description of the first individual of your choice, including where they lived, their occupation, etc.

How did these laws impact your historical figure or interviewee? What specific JC laws affected this person's life. How did that create obstacles to success and life goals? How did they overcome or not overcome these obstacles? What impact did these individuals and their response to the Jim Crow laws have on the families or communities around them?

If you were this historical figure or interviewee, would you have done anything differently? How might it have changed the outcomes experienced by this individual?

Step 1: In your reflection essay, explore the lived experiences of two people and respond to the follow questions and provide any additional information you find relevant.

Step 2: Next, select the second individual you wish to highlight and return to the same issues as for the first individual.

Step 3: After you develop your reflection essay on the two historical figures, think about life under Jim Crow. If you were an African American, how would you have responded to having to live under these conditions, including segregation and oppression? Discuss how your life might have played out with family and loved ones, education, career, and life goals.

Grading

You will be graded for details around the stories of the historical figures and also around your reflection of your own life in the Jim Crow era. Please review the rubric for more grading information.

rubric for module 1.docx

References

Bowen, Ryan S. (2017). Understanding by Design. Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching. Retrieved [October 13, 2019] from https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/understanding-by-design/.

Driscoll, M. (2000). Psychology of Learning for Instruction. Needham Heights, MA, Allyn & Bacon

https://youtu.be/j3IxWEK0uJA

PLO 1 Demonstrate knowledge and skills in current and emerging instructional technolog

                                      Demonstrate knowledge and skills in current and emerging instructional technology

Below is a design of a prior MATLT EDU601 activity demonstrating my understanding of Program Learning Objective 1 "knowledge and skills related to learning using technology". The students in this class are completing a module on the topic of the Jim Crow Laws. In this activity, I implemented a "Live" interview with a person that was affected by the social situation surrounding the topic. This is a backward design, and for this activity, I began with creating the objectives of this lesson.

When I considered the objectives I chose to use the Constructivist learning theory because students needed to be involved in discovery learning and not just memorize dates and names of pertinent people. In this task, they are being actively involved in the process of constructing knowledge and creating meaning. The measures used in this design process are analyzing the learning goals, appropriate delivery medium, implementation, and evaluation. The activity is designed to help the learner achieve the stated learning objectives, promote a deeper level of learning and relate the topic to real-life issues. The ability to use their own devices allows students to access the informational material, and the instructions are clear. The evaluation is a summative assessment of course objectives

Learning Objectives

Examine key policies developed in the Jim Crow era

Imagine the impact of Jim Crow on Blacks at the time

Recognize historical events around the creation of Jim Crow policies Live Interview

There are three people invited using video conferencing who have experienced the Jim Crow era in some way. They will join us in a hosted live session with the class tomorrow. The guests will first share some of their experiences of Jim Crow-era laws and impacts, then the class will have an opportunity to ask questions of the guests. Acting as an interviewer you will be able to ask questions that could be pertinent to your reflection essay.

As you compose your questions for the interviewees, explore the interviews of people who experienced Jim Crow bias in the Duke University Behind the Veil.

What types of questions were asked that brought out the key experiences that inform life during that period?

Some questions to consider asking the guests are:

Where did you grow up? What is your earliest memory concerning segregation? Do any events seem to stick out in your mind more than others? What were the views of your parents on segregation? What type of school did you attend? Did you or anyone you know the fight for equality? Did the Civil Rights Movement change your opinions on segregation? Did you belong to any groups that contributed to the Civil Rights Movement? How did desegregation influence your life? What still needs to be done in the cause of equality?

Submitting Work

After the interview, you will submit a title page and compose a reflective essay of the interviewees using the information gathered in the interviews.

Grading & Feedback

You will be graded for details around the stories of the interviewee and also around your reflection of how your life in the Jim Crow era could have been affected. Please review the objectives and include these points in your reflections.

Reference

https://library.duke.edu/digitalcollections/behindtheveil/

PLO 2 Demonstrate knowledge and skills related to learning using technology;

Demonstration of knowledge and skills related to learning using technology

The design of this EDU648 activity will demonstrate Program Learning Objective 2 which is the use of instructional design principles and theory. Provided is my explanation of choices of principles and methods.

This activity demonstrates how to use a mind mapping application for deeper learning. It can be used with an interactive whiteboard or projector and students have the option to print, copy and paste to another document, enabling students can brainstorm a subject or idea by creating a mind map.

The audience for this discussion has prior knowledge of the topic. I selected bubbl.us because it is free and straightforward allowing the students to brainstorm ideas and create concept maps. Allowing the students to use bubble.us in groups and sharing their work with classmates creates an interactive capability and encourages collaboration. The decision to use a mind map for this activity was to appeal to the three learning types of learners, visual, auditory and kinesthetic. And for a quick summative assessment.

This activity is designed using Constructivism because I felt it was beneficial for the learners to actively construct or create their own subjective representations of objective reality. Additionally, the students can print the map, add creativity by making them colorful or insert their work into a website or blog. Students are demonstrating their understanding by completing a visual organizer about the main points. I hope to accomplish the student gaining a better understanding of the material as well as using their creative and critical thinking skills. The process as described above using Bubbl.us also provides the opportunity for public speaking as it requires a presentation of the subject by the student. I prefer bubbl.us over MindMeister or some of the others because the instructions to share your map were not clear or the links were unresponsive. Bubbl.us can be used as an alternative to a traditional test, quiz, or homework. This task can be used for a summative assessment and used to identify deficiencies in the design and to clarify learning objectives. Mind mapping is used in this activity for the learner to gain an understanding of the concept.

Activity

First, I am going to demonstrate using bubbl.us (on an interactive whiteboard or projector) so that you can understand using a concept map to brainstorm a topic or idea.

In groups of three students, each group has the choice of creating a mind map using bubbl.us., to demonstrate the three learning theories. Each group’s concept map should include the cognitive learning theory, behavioral learning theory, and social learning theory. Using the mind map, explain which of the approaches best fits with your view of learning, and why and share with the other groups. Then we can discuss each theory and your thoughts.

Digital Materials Cost Effectiveness in Education

    

    Concerning students seeking higher education are the increasing cost of tuition and learning materials. In the Ashford University Library, an article that describes the effects, benefits, and advantages of instructional technology on learner achievement is by Moro, J. (2018), "The Emergence of Digital Course Materials in Higher Education and Their Effectiveness in Teaching and Engaging Students." This article addresses the widespread use of digital materials in education as well as the cost-effectiveness in comparison to the traditional textbook. “Today’s students and professors have a variety of course materials at their disposal, from traditional publishers, such as Pearson and Cengage, and new companies, such as OpenStax, providing digital products at a reduced cost” (Moro, J. (2018) p. 418, par. 3). Moro asserts that many students are unwilling or unable to pay for expensive course materials and will use other options to obtain learning materials at the lowest possible price. Both instructors and students want improved products. Teachers wish for products that will give them a deeper understanding of what is going on with their students learning outside of the classroom so that they can better address their needs inside of it. “Examples of products by Cengage, OpenStax, and Pearson show the development and release of materials that are moving in the right direction, engaging students in different ways and taking advantage of what technology has to offer by providing an improved experience over what a print text alone can” (Moro, J. (2018) p. 428, par. 1). To ensure that students understand the content and are engaged instructors want the ability to customize and assess using features such as media assets and print capabilities. Today's students have access to a variety of devices that were once perceived to be distracting in a classroom setting. According to the author, these devices should be seen as valuable teaching tools that can help students engage with content in new ways.

   The key reason to use digital materials in the classroom is to increase accessibility, which is essential in an online learning environment. I define accessibility in two ways: Location-based availability and accessibility for diverse learners. Location-based availability is being able to access material on any device at any time, at home, school or anywhere. Using traditional paper-based materials this is not possible. An example, a student receives homework but leaves it at school, he has no way to do the assignment.

   Similarly, if homework is finished but forgotten and left at home, the student can not submit it. Digital materials can be retrieved on any device providing an internet connection is available. Accessibility for diverse learners can be crucial because it allows for a more user-friendly medium for diverse learners or students with disabilities.


Reference

Moro, J. (2018). The Emergence of Digital Course Materials in Higher Education and Their   Effectiveness in Teaching and Engaging Students. Publishing Research Quarterly, 34(3), 417–429.     https://doi-org.proxy-library.ashford.edu/10.1007/s12109-018-9594-z

blog creation process

   This is not the first blog I have created, but to create a blog requires a bit of self-reflection and introspection. First, pick a topic that you love or are most passionate about, because then you will feel more inspired to start the blog and continue maintaining it. Whether you have an interest in fashion  or are skilled or knowledgeable in matters related to technology, you now have a starting point in the blog creation process. Next pick your blogging platform, Blogger is the one that I use most often. Then create an account, a blog name and template. Finally, start writing and editing. 

   Blogging has allowed me to find my "voice" professionally and my most successful blogs were ones where the passion for the topic was evident in my writing. 

MOOCs : Potential to Change the World

   Technologies are emerging that can be beneficial to education such as Cloud computing, mobile learning, learning analytics, open content, 3D printing, MOOCs, virtual and remote laboratories, games and gamification, and wearable technology. As educators, we have probably heard about many of these technologies, if not all of them.

   A technology that I find of particular interest is MOOC's (massive open online courses) and the benefit to me as a teacher. Teachers can gain a considerable amount of professional development through MOOCs. There are several benefits of taking MOOCs, including learning new teaching styles, methods, completing continuing education requirements, collaborating with fellow teachers, and obtaining additional knowledge and training to supplement a teacher’s current lesson plan.

   MOOCs was designed in 2008 by George Siemens and Stephen Downes, and they are the originators and proponents of "connectivism which is a learning theory explaining just how Internet technologies have created new opportunities for people to learn and share information across the World Wide Web and among themselves" (https://www.sciencedirect.com). These technologies include web browsers, wikis, online forums, email, social networks, YouTube, Twitter, and other tools which allow the users to learn and share information with other people. This technology has the potential to connect learners everywhere together, unlimited seating, usually free, and offer flexible schedules.

   Although MOOCs made assurances to expand a quality education across the globe, it fell short. An article in Science entitled "The MOOC Pivot" states that its lack of promise was due to “low retention rates, enrollment declines, and general affluence of students clarifying why massive open online course providers have primarily ditched their original model. Providers are concentrating as an alternative on the more traditional role of helping colleges take their academic programs online” (Reich, & Ruipérez-Valiente, (2019) pp. 130-131).

   While MOOCs are not a replacement for traditional education or even online college programs, they serve a much-needed demand for convenient, quality education. Depending on an individual’s academic needs, MOOCs can be the picture-perfect learning delivery method for a large population of learners.

   As educators embracing the emergence and adoption of MOOCs and other open learning initiatives and the principles and practices can help develop and enable communities of practice.

References

Connectivism as a Pedagogical Model within Industrial Design
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212017315001814

Justin Reich and José A. Ruipérez-Valiente, “The MOOC Pivot,” Science 11 (Jan 2019): Vol. 363, Issue 6423, pp. 130-131.

https://twitter.com/griercat
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Cathy-grier651
Wiki Activity
Students or the instructor create a Class Wikipedia. Pairs or groups of students research a current issue and summarize their findings for others to review. This assignment is a summary assignment and group task. The skills and knowledge the students will learn are to carefully read complex text from multiple sources and to comprehend, analyze, synthesize, and evaluate the credibility and summary of the information.

Thinking About the ADDIE Model and Its Use in the Iterative Design Process

  When I think about the ADDIE model and the Iterative Design Process the two seem to be almost a marriage when designing an online course. In the ADDIE model, analysis is the input for the system; design, development, and evaluation are the process; and implementation is the output. These segments overlap somewhat, depending on the project, and because the system is enterprising, there will be some sharing of the processes.

   The iterative design process is a simple idea. Through user analysis, you identify a user need and  generate ideas to meet that need, and develop a preliminary model. This "prelim model" is tested to see whether it meets the need in the best way. Then you take what you learned from testing and revise the design. Following that, you create a new model and begin the process all over again until you are satisfied that you’ve reached the best product. Hence, iterative design can be used at any point in the design process, including when the course has already been launched.

   To make a long story short, this process reminds me of the saying "try, try and try again." When I thought about the process of iterative design process I remembered in the first grade making a paper airplane with my class friend launching it.  It dropped like a stone. My classroom friend explained the error in my design. Just a sheet of paper folded in half "did not a plane make." I kept looking around at the designs that the "boys" were making. I knew I could make a better plane, I just needed practice. What were the boys doing better? They were just silly boys. The next flight was disappointing just like the first, but I kept trying. Finally, after several sheets of paper and a full trash can, I made something that I could only describe as phenomenal at the time. It flew higher and longer than my classroom friends! When I think about that process, I was using what I call "juvenile" ADDIE and iterative design processes to create a successful paper plane model. Certainly, creating a paper plane, and relating it to a teaching method is giving me too much credit, but you get the idea.

   Although I am designing an online course and not a paper plane, my philosophy is the same. To produce something effective requires iterative design. The act of repeating a process to ensure success is necessary. In this case success is the learner being engaged and understanding the material as well as mastering the course learning objectives. "While certain projects may call for the use of one method over another, at other times, both can be used strategically in combination" (Christian, & Davis, (2016). It is my belief that ADDIE and iterative design do not always have to be done together. But to remain open minded as a designer it can't hurt.

Reference

Christian, A. & Davis, R. (2016, July 14). Embrace iterative design for creative learning development (Links to an external site.). Retrieved from https://www.caveolearning.com/blog/embrace-iterative-design-for-creative-learning-development