She advised us that the best way to create a course is to immerse yourself, to get your hands dirty by trying it out yourself. She has worked on a number of learning management systems (LMS) and has been using Moodle since 2008 and finds that it is the most user and teacher friendly.
She gave us another slide to illustrate the process of creating a course on the work of Gilly Salmon. The process is broken down into 5 stages - the slide is shown below.
First of all students need to be supported and encouraged, they need a map of the course so they know the direction the course will take and what they are expected to do. It is best to personalise this as much as possible so the students know that they are dealing with a real person. Pre course communication is also important. There is also a zero page for students to learn about the technology and what the course entails. She gave us a run through of her zero page which seemed to be specific to a teacher training course.
Having the students relaxed we can now move onto stage 2 - online socialisation. Personalising the course makes it more motivating for students and having the opportunity to socialise with other students also helps to motivate them and engage them. You can use polls, differentiated questionnaires, Students can create their own goals within the course and then at the end of the course they can look back at how they progressed. They can choose the groups in which they will work and Ludmila creates tasks which require the students to work together. The prime objective is to create a community of learners.
Stage three is information exchange.There are a number of tools within Moodle which enable the exchange of information, the ones that Ludmila recommended are summarised in the picture below.
And needless to say there are a myriad of tools available for sharing information outside Moodle including youtube, livebinders and webquests to name but a few. I hope to have a look at a few of these later when I have some time. Some I have heard of and used but some are completely new to me.
By using a variety of tools learners engage with the material, interact with fellow learners and the professor and identify useful sources of information.
We then moved on to learning construction, so now learners are active and independent but learning in a social context. New knowledge is constructed based on their interactions with other students and finally they reflect on their learning to create a deeper understanding of their knowledge. Ludmila talked about synchronous and asynchronous learning and then when through some of the asynchronous tools available on Moodle including glossary, database, lesson module (this sounds like it is very useful for differentiated learning) and workshops which allows for self and peer evaluation.
She then went on to look at some asynchronous tools which are available outside Moodle and presented the following slide.
By using these to explain the work which they have done they will actually improve their learning! Then she went on to talk about synchronous tools including WizIQ, the platform that we are having our sessions on. Google Hangouts which is free and Adobe Connect which isn't! It is important that students are encouraged to contribute and refine their contributions and their learning.
Finally we moved onto the fifth part, development. Development of critical thing skills, creative skills so students have to show what they have learned. She showed us a Bloom's Taxonomy of technology tools that can be used by students to show their progress.
Tools that she likes to use include padlet, glogster, voicethread, knowmia and a new one for me, jognog. the students use the tools autonomously and take responsibility for their own learning. They develop the skills of critical thinking and reflection.
This was s useful session as it gave us a good insight into the way that Ludmila, a seasoned professional, prepares her courses and the tools and logic in selecting the tools she uses. Thank you
Ludmila.
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