This course will explore the continuum of learning that can take place in online environments from supplementing face-to-face class teaching to mounting hybrid/blended or fully online courses. Topics include comparing pedagogical approaches, creating and selecting resources, building levels of interactivity for learning, Universal Design for Learning (UDL), and facilitating change.
OLTD 502 Final Project - Technology Implementation
OLTD Program Outcome Adressed
Develop practical and technical skills in all phases of concept, development, design, implementation, etc.
Evidence to Support Outcome
Over the course of OLTD 502 I successfully implemented a project management program called Basecamp.com into my place of work. This was my concept for the company. After much research, I went forward with a proposal to the CEO and gained approval. From there, I formatted the web based program to suit the needs of the company, and I implemented it with the appropriate staff working on over 20 projects. Due to copyright restrictions I can not post an actual screenshot from my company so I found a few examples of the types of things we are able to do with Basecamp.com.
Reflection to Support Evidence
This project took the full six weeks of the course to implement and is still undergoing growth as I learn more about the capability's of the program. It took a fair bit of buy in from the staff and some are still begrudgingly using it. Funny enough, it is the most technical of the staff that do not want to use this very simple program (interesting).
In reflection, there is a number of things that I learned from completing this project.
I learned that I undeniably have an influence in my company and can confidently implement change. This was my project and it was my responsibility to choose the right material and inspire the staff to use it.
I quickly became the expert and then the teacher for the staff. In the world of DL it is important that you know enough to lead your students so that they are confident with the materials and can execute their tasks. For the students that were not as confident, I attended two separate webinars with them then answered any questions they had at the end.
It was very evident that, even those who are the most technically sound, some people do not like change or challenges. It was my encouragement that aided in pushing the staff over the hump and diving into something new. Just as in business, many students are afraid of DL. We as teachers will need to help students through this for the next few years.
I was reminded that it takes time an research to find the tools you need in the online world and it helps to be connected so you don't need to go at it alone. I reached out to people in the industry along with people in project design before I started my research. This probably cut my time in half as I came into the project more prepared then if I would have gone at it alone. This reminded me to not reinvent the wheel. Look for help and use the connections you have.
I am so happy that I was given this project. It strengthened my confidence online and I learned alternate ways to "Learn Online" myself. I think it has also allowed me to practice my teaching in a DL setting.
Here is the paper I wrote to go along with my project. It has been edited due to some copyright restrictions
Demonstrate basic competency with design and implementation within a variety of online learning environments and tools
Evidence to Support Outcome
Challenged with the question, "Is online learning the same or different than face to face learning?" In a group of three, we successfully came together to design a presentation to demonstrate the differences between face to face learning and online learning. We then presented our findings to the Cohort 3 with a YouTube video
Reflection to Support Evidence
At first, this was an intimidating assignment for me. I typically like to work alone so group work is not in my comfort zone. I find that putting my grades in the hands of others very scary. I learned with this assignment that it definitely is not a scary place to be. I ended up in a group with two other ladies with very diverse backgrounds. We fit the assignment perfectly! We were each able to speak to different learning environments and came up with a great presentation. Since we were all familiar with Pecha Kucha from OLTD1 we chose that format for presentation. Through email, we all had availability to edit and then assigned different tasks pertaining to the actual presentation. We did a trial run earlier in the week and there were issues uploading the presentation into Blackboard Collaborate. As a team, we problem solved and decided to post it to YouTube and give the students the opportunity to view it there if it did not work during the presentation. It worked for most in Collaborate but for the few that could not see it, the backup worked just as planned. The presentation was a hit and we got a perfect score :)
With this assignment I learned that I can work in a group with outstanding results. We all brought our different strengths to the table and produced a great presentation with outstanding results. I also learned how to post to YouTube (kind of embarrassing that I did not know how to do that)and I learned that being uncomfortable can really pay off!
This activity has jump started a new professional journey for me. I have always believed that only I could do it best but it turns out that when I pulled strengths from around me, I became even better and we all got a chance to grow. I guess if you want it done right, do it in a group, Collaborate and produce better results :)