ED 297A: Educational Media and Technology
Introduction to theories, application of principles,acquisition of practical skills of educational media relevant to teaching/learningsituation, in-classroom as well as non-school settings.
Instructor/ Course designer:
Brent Hirata
Contributor:
Dorothy Hirata
The Associate in Arts in Teaching (AAT) degree program is designed to provide a career ladder for teaching. The program prepares students to be an effective educator and the AAT degree provides a solid foundation for those interested in pursuing a baccalaureate degree in education.
I was approached by the program coordinator of the AAT program to examine an elective course focusing on educational technology that had been provisionally approved but had not yet been designed. It was decided that the course would be designed as an entirely online course to accommodate students who worked in full-time jobs and/or did not have reasonable/reliable transportation to the college campus.
I chose to design the course ED 297a Educational Media and Technology for future K-12 teachers that placed emphasis on how instructional technology could be integrated effectively into teaching. The following are the four overall student learning outcomes I built the course around.
1. Describe how teachers can integrate educational technology into a standards-based constructivist learning environment.
2. Demonstrate proficiency in creating learner-centered, technology-infused activities that follow the Technology and Learning Continuum Model.
3. Analyze success in integrating technology by following the Evidence Based Decision Support method.
4. Evaluate educational technology productivity, developmental, communications, content-area and emerging software tools.
I used the APA's Learning-Centered Psychological Principals as a guide to identify the types of online interactions that would promote student learning. The Learning-Centered Psychological Principals states that the environmental factors, such as technology and instructional practices can promote learning. I designed an online course environment that modeled the use of educational technology and integrated a variety of instructional practices to promote learning. I also chose to design the online environment around the principle of motivational and intrinsic factors by including interactive multimedia and flexible learning activities. These activities addressed multiple intelligences and learning styles as described by Howard Gardner's Multiple Intelligences.
When developing this online course, I was faced with the challenge of designing a learner centered environment that was engaging, interactive and incorporated tools that were instructionally appropriate and motivating to the students. I also had to ensure the course was easy to navigate while keeping the focus on learning. I researched and tried to implement technologies for the course that were cross-platform, reliable, easy to use and did not distract from the learning experience. I wanted to inspire students with engaging activities to motivate them to take ownership of their learning. Therefore I implemented a constructivist approach to learning with both inquiry-based and problem-based learning. When writing the course objectives, I ensured that the course activities met the three levels of constructivist learning (Know, Know How and Understand).
ED 297a Educational Media and Technology was designed to be delivered asynchronously over the Internet using the Laulima (Sakai) online course environment. The course was scaffold around student learning outcomes as the end goal and organized into learning unit objectives with weekly topics. Topics provided the foundation for Weekly Overviews and were delivered via the "Modules tool" released on Wednesdays and due on Tuesdays. The Weekly Overviews follow a consistent visual design style sheet and content layout using a Dreamweaver template. Due to the amount of multimedia and hyper linking, I chose to locate the files in the "My Workspace > Resources tool" and link to them from the course "Modules tool" to simplify rolling the content into future course sections.
The Weekly Overviews followed the Technology Learning Continuum Model structure of an initiating activity, guided learning activity and culminating performance activity. The initiating activity includes a motivational avatar with a welcome message (also linked in the "Announcements tool"), textbook readings, narrated Adobe Captivate presentations, and publisher video vignettes. Guided learning took place during the week as students participate in Learners' Choice activities consisting of interactive review games created with StudyMate. Scores were then submitted via the "Assignments tool." Each week, students were also required to post a reflection and reply to the discussion topic of the week using the "Forums tool." Culminating performances each week involved students working individual or collaboratively in small groups ("Site info > Groups"), using the "Forums tool" toward completing the four comprehensive major assignments which are submitted via the "Assignment tool."
In addition to course delivery, course communications created an enriched teaching and learning process that incorporated various instructional strategies to address multiple learning styles (Howard Gardner) and higher levels of learning (Bloom's Taxonomy).
Connecting students in the first few days of the semester by building a strong online community was accomplished via student self-introductions posted in the "Blogger tool". These blog postings were also incorporated in the course E-bingo ice-breaker activity. Once the online virtual community was established, students were encouraged to seek peer support, which was available in the "Forums tool" student Cyber Café.
Occasionally throughout the semester, I use the "Polls Tool" to have students take a stance on polarizing issues. In a constructivist, problem-based learning scenario, anonymous polling turned out to be a dynamic way to summarize polarizing discussions which may not have an obvious answer (learning via ill-structured problems).
Correspondence in the course was through the students' official college email account. I used the "Web Content tool" to provide an in-course link to the email service logon page. I also wanted to encourage spontaneous voice communication between users logged into the course as displayed in the lower left margin of the Laulima (Sakai) screen. To accomplish this, I used the "Web Content tool" to link to Google Talk. After thorough research, I elected to use Google Talk because the service was Web based and did not require special chat software to be installed on the students' computers, minimizing technical issues.
The course was designed to promote student interaction and collaboration through community building activities, collaborative learning and self reflection/peer review. In an online course it is important to establish a vibrant online community to motivate and support learners. Within the first week, students are required to post a self-introduction entry on their "Blogger tool" site. The information includes their name, university email account, Google Talk user ID and two interesting facts about themselves. The contact information enables their peers to contact them. I require them to have free Google Talk user IDs, which enables them to directly and spontaneously connect to each other. I also collect students' two interesting facts and compile them into an E-bingo card. During week two, I distributed the E-bingo card, without names, and required them to visit the "Blogger tool" or use Email ("Web Content"), Cyber Café ("Forum tool"), or Google Talk ("Web Content") to match names to the facts. Students then saved the E-bingo file and submit via the "Assignments tool". Everyone is required to complete the ice- breaker activity for participation points. However, the first to submit a card that is 100% correct is announced in the week 3 Weekly Overview as the E-bingo Champion and receives bonus points reflected in the "Gradebook tool."
To ensure student learning outcomes were achieved, there are four culminating performance activities in the course. Three of them could be completed working collaboratively or independently. Student reasons for taking the online course vary so I do not require students to work collaboratively. However, the workload is the same so students are rewarded who work collaboratively and share the load. I also do not assign the students to groups because in this era of social networking, I would like them to reach out and network. The motivation to actively participate by finding a group is great unless they intend to work alone. Networking in this manner also helps them establish a peer support network. Often there are a handful of students who know each other from outside of class or that have had other classes together either online or face to face. I do limit the group sizes to three to four students. The groups are required to pick a leader and I am in contact with the leaders, this approach works well with managing large classes. Once I am notified of a group I create it in "Site Info," "Manage Groups," I then create private forums in the "Forum tool" for the groups to collaborate.
Each week, I pose a topic to the class using the "Forum tool" and ask them to reflect on what they learned by Friday (course weeks run Wednesday to Tuesday). I then ask them to read the postings by their peers and post a reflection. I assess both posts according to the posted rubric and record their scores into the "Gradebook tool."
Course content and learning materials are easily identified and sequences in the "Modules tool" by learning unit and weekly topic. Each week, I present students with new content in the form of the Weekly Overview. The Weekly Overview is an html document based on a cascading style sheet and can be easily updated since a Dreamweaver template was developed to ensure consistency. All the Weekly Overviews are structured with the following sequence: Title, Objectives, Introduction, Activities, Assessment, Summary, Links & Resources, and Next Steps.
The assessments section clearly identifies tasks the students must accomplish for the week and provided detailed instructions on their role. Each section heading of the Weekly Overview is color coded and assessment due dates are typed out with week day and date bolded in red font.
To provide diverse learners with different options for learning, I developed materials accordingly. Howard Gardner's work on multiple intelligences is incorporated into the design of the learning materials. For example, to gain the attention of visual-spatial learners, I designed the Weekly Overviews in color. I also incorporated a picture image in the header of the document. Each week there is a different image (from Flickr CC license) that is related to a particular week's topic. For the verbal-linguistic learners, I begin each week with a Sitepal avatar that plays back an audio introduction that I record. I also include narrated PowerPoint presentations saved using Adobe Captivate. For intrapersonal learners, I allow students to choose to complete the summative assignments collaboratively or independently.
Keeping in mind that this course was for future educators, I wanted the students to experience learning from multiple learning styles and encourage them to incorporate diverse learning strategies in their teaching practices. For example, I used StudyMate to create three formative assessments (Fill in the blank, Multiple choice, Crossword game) and created a simple text list of ten questions (audio recorded response) for each Weekly Overview. I store these multimedia files in "My Workspace", "Resources" and link to them from the course "Modules tool". I call it the Learners' Choice Activity because I let them choose each week which category of assessment they would like to complete. They submit a screen shot of their score or record their answer using "Test and Quizzes tool", "Audio recorded" question format. As a backup they recorded Audacity audio file for verbal-linguistic activity and submit via the "Assignment tool". To ensure the students experience multiple intelligences, I limited the amount of submissions to four from each learning style that I will give them credit for. I track their submissions in a CSV sheet and use the "Post' Em tool" to host a tally of how many they have done from each.
In designing the course, I began with identifying the four student learning outcomes followed by writing primary and secondary learning objectives. I organized my objectives into topics and assigned the topics into the weekly outline that the students follow. Student learning outcomes are also included in the syllabus in outline. I also restate the objective for the week in the Weekly Overview.
Being a self directed and motivated learner in an online course helps the student meet the levels of learning laid out in the course objectives. I wanted students to take ownership of their learning, so I designed activities around the constructivist learning. I assessed student learning according to the three levels of constructivist learning model ("knowing", "knowing how to" and "understanding that").
In the constructivist model, the first level of learning is what the students know, or have memorized. Each week the student complete a Learners' Choice Activity which consists of their choice of review activity (games, quizzes, short audio response) targeted toward multiple learning styles based on the weeks content. The students are allowed unlimited retakes during the week to allow them to achieve their best score. Feedback to the students consisted of score entry into the "Gradebook tool" and tally of submitted activities entry into the "Post ‘Em" chart.
Students demonstrate what they have learned are able to perform at the end of each learning unit by completing a summative assignment comprised of multiple topics found in the learning unit. There are three of these collaborative assignments they are the Technology Integration Plan, Technology Integrated Lesson, and Selecting Web 2.0 Technology. Feedback on these culminating performances is given to the student verbally as a recorded audio file via the "Dropbox tool." An evaluation rubric is also used and shared with the student via the "Dropbox tool."
To measure understanding the fourth summative assignment is an Electronic Portfolio. The Electronic Portfolio allows requires the student to put together what they can do and what they know. The portfolio requires them to use PowerPoint to compile their summative assessments from their first three learning units and reflect upon what they learned. Feedback is based on a rubric and is given to the student verbally as a recorded audio file via the "Dropbox tool."
The course is designed to incorporate the APA Learner-Centered Psychological Principles for Motivation and Affective factors of learning. I wanted the course to be visually appealing and easy to navigate. I felt that it was worth putting in the extra time for planning because the principles state that motivation to learn is influenced by the individual's emotional state, interests, and habits of thinking. It goes on to say that learning takes effort, and without motivation to learn the willingness to exert effort is unlikely. I wanted to put forth a course that promoted learning not only through learning strategies, but also through design.
The course is designed with the course tools being in alphabetical order arraigned along the left margin of the interface. The visual identity and consistent theme I came up with incorporates soft brown earth tones which I use throughout the course. I felt the soft brown tones brought warmth and softness to the course screen while at the same time providing good contrast for readability. From the artist point of view the earth tones also represent the native Hawaiian culture and community that our college serves on the Leeward coast.
I created a custom graphic for the "Home tool" with hyperlinked hot spots to learner support websites that the college uses. I felt that using the interactive graphic at this location provided a uniform, consistent and engaging interface and was more inviting that a text based page or static image.
Course content is found in the "Modules tool" and is arraigned according to learning unit (objectives) and then by week (topic). The content for each week is presented in what I refer to as Weekly Overviews. Each module has a consistent visual theme based on a style sheet. Each Weekly Overview contains a title, objective, introduction, activities, assessment, summary, links & resources, and next steps section. The Weekly Overviews were created using html and they are located in "MyWorkspace", " Resources". Working in this format made it easy to incorporate many other types of multimedia as well.
To maintain motivation each week I incorporated various multimedia tools to engage the learner. For example for announcements and introductions I used a customized animated Sitepal avatar to voice the announcement and introduction. The students enjoyed checking in each week to see what clothes or accessories the "Brent Avatar" had on each week. I also incorporated narrated PowerPoint slides into the activities section of the Weekly Overview each week using Adobe Captivate. For the formative assessment I wanted students to experience multiple styles of learning (Gardner). I used StudyMate to create multiple assessment games (Crossword, Multiple Choice, Fill in the Blank) from one set of assessment questions. I also asked students to record answer using the audio recording question type in the "Tests & Quizzes tool" or another audio program such as Audacity to record answers in their own voices as a fourth option.
The course "Home tool" is by default the first page viewed when students enter the course. I valued the availability of the "Announcements tool" and "Forums tool" frames on the right margin because those are features I want students to view immediately. I customized the "Home tool" course description window to make this high profile area of the screen more engaging. The first change was under the "Customized Site Info Display" title box by entering in "Instructor is Brent Hirata." I did this to remove duplicate information found on many course home screens since the course alpha is already showing in the Laulima (Sakai) course tabs. I also placed the course title into the main window graphic. Another useful reason to put your name and contact information there is that it is easily changeable from section to section if the instructor should change. It is also easy for students to locate it rather than have to scroll through a paragraph of text information. For the course description window, I chose to fill it with an interactive graphic that linked to student support services that the college offered. The three services that are linked include our Learning Resource Center for writing tutors, our Laulima (Sakai) online orientation, and a web page directory of services offered by our college. I thought this would be better use of the space since students can read the syllabus if the need to see the course description. Students will receive a welcome message by reading or listening to the course welcome message in the "Announcements tool" or Weekly Overview for week 1 in "Modules tool".
The course syllabus was posted in the course using the "Syllabus tool" as well as being emailed to all participants up front, a week before the semester starts. In addition to instructor contact information, grading and learner support services the syllabus contains information regarding prerequisites, a note about the time requirements for online learning, required textbook (including a thumbnail of the cover and ISBN number to empower students to search for the best deal), required technology equipment (in the form of a check list, to allow students to check off what they have), required (free) user accounts for third-part online tools and the breakdown of the learning outcomes for the semester including the primary objectives for each week. Online office hours are held by appointment via Elluminate Live v3 a free synchronous audio, video, whiteboard online conferencing site. The syllabus also includes information about students with disabilities and a section about having an alternative technology access plan (in case their computer or ISP goes down).
As I received feedback from students I created resources on the fly and posted them into the course "Resources tool". An example of a resource I created on the fly is interactive avatar glossary of the Laulima (Sakai) tools appearing in the course and an explanation on how the tools were used in the course.
One component of my course that students have commented positively on and I feel has transformed the educational experience for my students are the Learners' Choice Activity (LCA). One of the topics we cover is Howard Gardner's Multiple Intelligences. As future teachers, I wanted to ensure they experienced learning outside of their comfort zone to better understand why assessments in their future classrooms should not rely on a single intelligence. LCA is a formative assessment activity included in the Weekly Overview each week. Students could choose which type of assessment activity to complete each week with the understanding that I would only score a maximum of four activities from each of the categories (A- Crossword puzzle, B- Multiple choice, C-Short answer, D- Audio recorded response.). By the end of the sixteen week semester, they would have experienced four from of each category. I tracked each student's tally of submission using the "Post ‘Em tool," which allowed students to see which categories they had left to experience.
In order to render the first three activities (crossword puzzle, multiple choice and short answer), I used a program called StudyMate. StudyMate produces three files for each type of assessment, which needs to remain linked. I used the "Manage Multiple Resources feature" to WebDAV the files into "My Workspace > Resources" so that the URL would remain constant semester-to-semester. I had tried loading the file into the "Modules tool," but lost some of the supporting files when migrating the tool between courses. When the students complete the assessment, they take a screen shot of the score and submit it through the "Assignment tool."
I also integrate audio recorded responses within my course. For these activities, I used the "Audio Recording" question type found in "Tests & Quizzes tool." I created an assessment with questions and specified that the answers would be audio recordings. It was easy for students to record their responses directly into Laulima (Sakai) without having to use a separate audio recording application. Occasionally, this tool did not work, so as a backup I also allowed students to use a separate audio recording application, Audacity, to submit their audio files via the "Assignment tool."
In addition, I partnered with Kamehameha Schools A‘o Makua Distance Learning Program to provide alternative learning opportunities for students to familiarize themselves with additional online learning and teaching strategies. Our partnership allows my students who are interested in Hawaiian culture an option to participate in online discussions with the Hawaiian community.
I am always looking for new ways to improve the educational experience for my students in Laulima (Sakai). In the hopes of building an even stronger online course community, I have added Google Talk to the course to leverage the Laulima (Sakai) list of online live participants in the lower left corner and allow for spontaneous voice communications to occur between students. The web based version of Google Talk means no additional software to install. I hope to see if and how often students use this innovative feature.
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