ITEC 7481 – Designing and Developing Online Learning
I think I have learned that I am a covert designer at heart! The course allowed me to do what I absolutely love – design learning for my students to meet them at their curricular end and to create using Google products. As a Google Apps for Education School (GAFE), this was a chance to use all the cool Google Apps to design an online course. When I started and reflected on what Learning Management System I would deploy, I could have went with what I know – Moodle. But after discussion with my mentor, I decided that this was an opportunity to exercise the Learner Profile in International Baccalaureate (IB)– to be an inquirer and risk-taker so I decided to use Google Classroom – only launched and, of course, in Beta, in August 2014. I’m bleeding edge!
I had already shifted much of this course into a Google Site so the housing of the step-by-step course design was easy. However, what surprised me was the attention to detail and the volume of communication that the students are expected to read. I refined my syllabus from the first ITEC course and designed the four-week course, realizing half way through that this could not be a fully online course – it would have to be blended in nature for the students in my school.
Perhaps the most enlightening part of this course was the opportunity to be a fly on the wall of an online school. However, there were no social studies classes that I could join in the Georgia Virtual School. Therefore, I joined Señora Negrelli’s Spanish class. Not only did I improve my Spanish but got a sense of a progression of learning online and how much time and effort awaited me in the final component of online teaching and learning – facilitation. Having done some blended online programmes for professional development in IB, I knew what went into facilitating these with remote students and prepared myself by insuring that the Unit of Inquiry that I designed met with all of the Online Course Assessment (OCA) and iNACOL’s Standards for Online Teaching and Learning. I also worked on accessibility – everything from visual access to auditory for student that might have difficulty navigating because of special educational needs. I was surprised to learn, however, that most online schools do this for you – the designer designs – the facilitator facilitates. I know have experience in one end – and love the design so after my next semester, I will be better informed as to whether a role and an online designer as opposed to a facilitator might await me in my ongoing career.
I now also have a real tangible that I can share with my colleagues and can’t wait to implement next semester.
I think I have learned that I am a covert designer at heart! The course allowed me to do what I absolutely love – design learning for my students to meet them at their curricular end and to create using Google products. As a Google Apps for Education School (GAFE), this was a chance to use all the cool Google Apps to design an online course. When I started and reflected on what Learning Management System I would deploy, I could have went with what I know – Moodle. But after discussion with my mentor, I decided that this was an opportunity to exercise the Learner Profile in International Baccalaureate (IB)– to be an inquirer and risk-taker so I decided to use Google Classroom – only launched and, of course, in Beta, in August 2014. I’m bleeding edge!
I had already shifted much of this course into a Google Site so the housing of the step-by-step course design was easy. However, what surprised me was the attention to detail and the volume of communication that the students are expected to read. I refined my syllabus from the first ITEC course and designed the four-week course, realizing half way through that this could not be a fully online course – it would have to be blended in nature for the students in my school.
Perhaps the most enlightening part of this course was the opportunity to be a fly on the wall of an online school. However, there were no social studies classes that I could join in the Georgia Virtual School. Therefore, I joined Señora Negrelli’s Spanish class. Not only did I improve my Spanish but got a sense of a progression of learning online and how much time and effort awaited me in the final component of online teaching and learning – facilitation. Having done some blended online programmes for professional development in IB, I knew what went into facilitating these with remote students and prepared myself by insuring that the Unit of Inquiry that I designed met with all of the Online Course Assessment (OCA) and iNACOL’s Standards for Online Teaching and Learning. I also worked on accessibility – everything from visual access to auditory for student that might have difficulty navigating because of special educational needs. I was surprised to learn, however, that most online schools do this for you – the designer designs – the facilitator facilitates. I know have experience in one end – and love the design so after my next semester, I will be better informed as to whether a role and an online designer as opposed to a facilitator might await me in my ongoing career.
I now also have a real tangible that I can share with my colleagues and can’t wait to implement next semester.