3.3: Online and Blended Learning
Candidates develop, model, and facilitate the use of online and blended learning, digital content, and learning networks to support and extend student learning and expand opportunities and choices for professional learning for teachers and administrators. (PSC 3.3/ISTE 3c)
Artifact: ITEC 7480 Online Course Syllabus
This artifact is the online learning experience summary for
a Unit of Inquiry planned with a view to delivery as an online course for an
International Baccalaureate (IB) Middle Years Programme (MYP) Year 3 (8th
Grade) class. This was the culminating
task in the first of a three-part ITEC course for an endorsement in online
teaching and learning that discerned and aligned course design. https://sites.google.com/a/aischool.org/myp/
I created this lesson plan outline to start the process of developing an blended online course for a Year 3 (8th Grade) class that had access to 1:1 laptops in their classroom environment and to help them utilize Google Sites as a method of curating their work and collaborative discussions to build class unity and a learning network for future Units of Inquiry. The artifact carefully documents and outlines the blended learning to take place, a time period and develops guidance for the student completing the course (office hours, tasks and expectations, for example). The document also highlights methods by which the student might use strategies for their netiquette and the grades that they might expect to achieve. Multiple digital content methods, including use of discussion groups and “Today’s Meet” facilitate the students building a learning network with in this Unit of Inquiry that can carry beyond its conclusion.
This artifact demonstrates my capacity to look at standard curriculum content and start the conversation and transition of a face-to-face environment into a blended online learning one. Having taught this Unit of Inquiry for many years in the traditional bricks and mortar institution, it was an excellent challenge to start to think about ways of getting the students to think beyond the bell schedule and bring the learning into a more digital paradigm. As the students have only had their 1:1 laptops for two years when writing this piece, there were still observed issues in terms of their use and the student understanding of their capabilities for using these devices for much of their class and homework. This was, in part, fostered by a faculty culture that did not fully understand the laptop in their teaching lives either. Scoping out this artifact with various colleagues on the teaching team while writing helped to illustrate and develop their skills in using online digital tools like Google Sites and Today’s Meet to ring fence student work, document their progress and discuss ideas in a synchronous and asynchronous way. This did help faculty development to the extent that when I did come to take this foundation document and build the full online course for deployment in the school, I had a teacher volunteer to work with me in delivering this as a blended Unit of Inquiry as she saw the further potential in helping her English as a Second Language (ESL) students flourish due to elevated access to an acceptable English reading level in non-fiction texts to further hone their vocabulary and interest in the language.
Therefore, if there was to be one thing that I would do differently, when designing an blended online course that has already been delivered in a traditional setting, I would actively include the teaching team (including special educational needs and ESL teachers) in the foundation process to curate their input for teacher development of skills and buy-in to confidently deliver this in their own classrooms.
While I will be delivering this course with the ESL teacher in the Spring Semester of 2015, she will be working with me while I model many of the techniques so that she can sustain this method of delivery beyond this year. Therefore, there have been many tweaks to the foundation outline of the course from this artifact to the point of delivery. The measurement of our success will be the learning outcomes of the fifteen students taking the course. While summative assessment grades will be important, these students will also give student evaluations during and after teaching to better hone the course for future classes.
I created this lesson plan outline to start the process of developing an blended online course for a Year 3 (8th Grade) class that had access to 1:1 laptops in their classroom environment and to help them utilize Google Sites as a method of curating their work and collaborative discussions to build class unity and a learning network for future Units of Inquiry. The artifact carefully documents and outlines the blended learning to take place, a time period and develops guidance for the student completing the course (office hours, tasks and expectations, for example). The document also highlights methods by which the student might use strategies for their netiquette and the grades that they might expect to achieve. Multiple digital content methods, including use of discussion groups and “Today’s Meet” facilitate the students building a learning network with in this Unit of Inquiry that can carry beyond its conclusion.
This artifact demonstrates my capacity to look at standard curriculum content and start the conversation and transition of a face-to-face environment into a blended online learning one. Having taught this Unit of Inquiry for many years in the traditional bricks and mortar institution, it was an excellent challenge to start to think about ways of getting the students to think beyond the bell schedule and bring the learning into a more digital paradigm. As the students have only had their 1:1 laptops for two years when writing this piece, there were still observed issues in terms of their use and the student understanding of their capabilities for using these devices for much of their class and homework. This was, in part, fostered by a faculty culture that did not fully understand the laptop in their teaching lives either. Scoping out this artifact with various colleagues on the teaching team while writing helped to illustrate and develop their skills in using online digital tools like Google Sites and Today’s Meet to ring fence student work, document their progress and discuss ideas in a synchronous and asynchronous way. This did help faculty development to the extent that when I did come to take this foundation document and build the full online course for deployment in the school, I had a teacher volunteer to work with me in delivering this as a blended Unit of Inquiry as she saw the further potential in helping her English as a Second Language (ESL) students flourish due to elevated access to an acceptable English reading level in non-fiction texts to further hone their vocabulary and interest in the language.
Therefore, if there was to be one thing that I would do differently, when designing an blended online course that has already been delivered in a traditional setting, I would actively include the teaching team (including special educational needs and ESL teachers) in the foundation process to curate their input for teacher development of skills and buy-in to confidently deliver this in their own classrooms.
While I will be delivering this course with the ESL teacher in the Spring Semester of 2015, she will be working with me while I model many of the techniques so that she can sustain this method of delivery beyond this year. Therefore, there have been many tweaks to the foundation outline of the course from this artifact to the point of delivery. The measurement of our success will be the learning outcomes of the fifteen students taking the course. While summative assessment grades will be important, these students will also give student evaluations during and after teaching to better hone the course for future classes.