Crafting Meaningful Reflections For ePortfolios OLTD 504
Learning Management Systems
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Evidence: Weekly Blog Posts/Non-LMS Toolkit Build
Website: http://jjaceklearnsonline.weebly.com/oltd-5041.html
http://jjaceklearnsonline.weebly.com/oltd-504-non-lms-toolkit.html
Learning Outcomes Addressed:
The first involved us writing a weekly blog post, the focus for week one was, “What challenges and opportunities do you see for the realization of your philosophy of education in the evolution of eLearning as we know it?” The following weeks posts could relate to the readings, what was going on in your own teaching or whatever we wished to discuss in relation to the topic of learning management systems. We were also required to respond to three specified cohort blog posts a week and respond to comments made on our blog posts..
The latter piece of evidence, the creation of a Non-LMS Toolkit, involved two stages. One week we broke out in to small groups and were assigned to one of three categories, community, content and assessment, in relation to the development of an online course. I was assigned to “assessment 2” and then chose to find tools in relation to “assignment (handing-in, feedback)”. We each then posted our information in the course Non-LMS wiki, OLTD 504 Wiki (http://bit.ly/15rmKvS ). The following week we each created a blog post that was a Non-LMS toolkit. This involved looking at all of the different tools posted and choosing from each category those which we would use.
When writing the weekly blog post and responding to comments made on by blog post, I reflected on my understanding, thoughts, and change over time in relation to being an online teacher as well as the use and development of LMS and Non-LMS both at the K-12 level and post-secondary. One of the key points I learned over these weeks is that it is important to take time for oneself, for in our goal to create teacher presence there is an urge to go online regularly but it should not be life consuming as like any teacher the virtual teacher has to lead a real life.
In relation to the Non-LMS toolkit, I had the chance to explore the many online tools that are available for the creation of an online course with a focus on creating community, content and assessment and looking to best practices in relation to brain based research as well as looking at what our school district allowed, presently it must be Canada based or hosted on our own server, as those hosted in the US are not subject to the Canadian privacy act. Added to this was my personal preference, which is for free tools and resources. With these guidelines in mind, I created my toolkit.
We can grow and learn as teachers by working independently but of equal importance is learning from others, through communication and collaboration.
We want students to be engaged in their learning and see themselves as successful learners. We therefore need to make sure we are meeting the learning needs of all students. As an online teacher it is important to be knowledgeable about the research and brain based theories when looking to the different management systems and tools that can be used in the design, implementation and management of an online course. Whether we incorporate LMS, Non-LMS and/or PLEs, we must focus on best practices in relation to community, content and assessment; keeping in mind the importance of student to student, student to teacher and student to content interactions and the need to give students the opportunity to take control of and manage their learning.
Website: http://jjaceklearnsonline.weebly.com/oltd-5041.html
http://jjaceklearnsonline.weebly.com/oltd-504-non-lms-toolkit.html
Learning Outcomes Addressed:
- Be familiar with common terms, definitions and elements related to Learning Management Systems (LMS) and non-LMS environments.
- Demonstrate basic competency with design and implementation within a variety of LMS and non-LMS environments and tools.
- Plan learning opportunities most suitable to the strengths and challenges of a variety of LMS and non-LMS environments.
- Create assessment and evaluation methods/tools most suitable to the strengths and challenges of LMS and non-LMS environments.
- Integration of current cognitive learning and brain-based learning theory.
- Examine current research around best practices and emerging practices for both LMS and non-LMS environments.
- Develop skills to optimize learning experiences through personalization based on characteristics, needs, stages of development, current personalized learning mandates, misconceptions etc.
The first involved us writing a weekly blog post, the focus for week one was, “What challenges and opportunities do you see for the realization of your philosophy of education in the evolution of eLearning as we know it?” The following weeks posts could relate to the readings, what was going on in your own teaching or whatever we wished to discuss in relation to the topic of learning management systems. We were also required to respond to three specified cohort blog posts a week and respond to comments made on our blog posts..
The latter piece of evidence, the creation of a Non-LMS Toolkit, involved two stages. One week we broke out in to small groups and were assigned to one of three categories, community, content and assessment, in relation to the development of an online course. I was assigned to “assessment 2” and then chose to find tools in relation to “assignment (handing-in, feedback)”. We each then posted our information in the course Non-LMS wiki, OLTD 504 Wiki (http://bit.ly/15rmKvS ). The following week we each created a blog post that was a Non-LMS toolkit. This involved looking at all of the different tools posted and choosing from each category those which we would use.
When writing the weekly blog post and responding to comments made on by blog post, I reflected on my understanding, thoughts, and change over time in relation to being an online teacher as well as the use and development of LMS and Non-LMS both at the K-12 level and post-secondary. One of the key points I learned over these weeks is that it is important to take time for oneself, for in our goal to create teacher presence there is an urge to go online regularly but it should not be life consuming as like any teacher the virtual teacher has to lead a real life.
In relation to the Non-LMS toolkit, I had the chance to explore the many online tools that are available for the creation of an online course with a focus on creating community, content and assessment and looking to best practices in relation to brain based research as well as looking at what our school district allowed, presently it must be Canada based or hosted on our own server, as those hosted in the US are not subject to the Canadian privacy act. Added to this was my personal preference, which is for free tools and resources. With these guidelines in mind, I created my toolkit.
We can grow and learn as teachers by working independently but of equal importance is learning from others, through communication and collaboration.
We want students to be engaged in their learning and see themselves as successful learners. We therefore need to make sure we are meeting the learning needs of all students. As an online teacher it is important to be knowledgeable about the research and brain based theories when looking to the different management systems and tools that can be used in the design, implementation and management of an online course. Whether we incorporate LMS, Non-LMS and/or PLEs, we must focus on best practices in relation to community, content and assessment; keeping in mind the importance of student to student, student to teacher and student to content interactions and the need to give students the opportunity to take control of and manage their learning.
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Evidence: Final Project PowerPoint
The link below leads you to the reflection portion of my final project. Here you will also find the links to my PowerPoint presentation (included as portfolio evidence piece) and the link to my Blackboard Collaborate PowerPoint presentation.
http://jjaceklearnsonline.weebly.com/final-project-oltd-504-non-lms-course-build.html
Learning Outcomes Addressed:
I have chosen as evidence my final project. This was developed in relation to the “Critical Challenge Question” question posed by Avi Luxenbourg our instructor:
“How can Learning Management Systems (LMS and/or Non-LMS) help me develop courses where students learn in the best way for them (teacher-structured/personalized), while providing me with the tools I require for efficient and efficacious presentation, moderation, support, and assessment (for, as, and of learning)?”
We were introduced to this question from the very beginning of the course and asked to keep this in mind throughout the course. The goal being that, through the learning activities (blog postings and responses, D2L jigsaw course creation, Non-LMS Wiki and Toolkit Build) and the recommended readings we would develop the knowledge to successfully answer this question. This understanding was then to be presented in our final project.
My final project turned out to have multiple parts. I started building a PowerPoint presentation that was going to look back at the course as a whole. The project took a turn, part way through, and included the creation of a course in Canvas a LMS and then I tried building the same course in Weebly a Non-LMS. Throughout this I wrote, on my blog site, a reflection looking at the process. I completed the PowerPoint and then presented the PowerPoint in Blackboard Collaborate to our instructor Avi Luxenbourg and my project partner Laura Mann.
This project helped me bring together all of my learning throughout the course and thus demonstrate that I had fully met the course learning outcomes. It showed me that in looking to a management system that could contain all of the components of a well-built course which are community, content and assessment, that for me, a LMS best meets my needs. Non-LMS have multiple uses, I was able to build almost a full course there and for those who do not want or like the confines of a LMS it meets their needs, but I feel Non-LMS are best suited as a place where students may house their work, when thinking of Weebly or Wordpress, or they are tools that teachers can incorporate in to their courses or direct students to use so as to meet the learning needs/styles of all their students.
We want students to be engaged in their learning and see themselves as successful learners. We therefore need to make sure we are meeting the learning needs of all students. As an online teacher it is important to be knowledgeable about the research and brain based theories when looking to the different management systems and tools that can be used in the design, implementation and management of an online course. Whether we incorporate LMS, Non-LMS and/or PLEs, we must focus on best practices in relation to community, content and assessment; keeping in mind the importance of student to student, student to teacher and student to content interactions and the need to give students the opportunity to take control of and manage their learning.
Evidence: Final Project PowerPoint
The link below leads you to the reflection portion of my final project. Here you will also find the links to my PowerPoint presentation (included as portfolio evidence piece) and the link to my Blackboard Collaborate PowerPoint presentation.
http://jjaceklearnsonline.weebly.com/final-project-oltd-504-non-lms-course-build.html
Learning Outcomes Addressed:
- Be familiar with common terms, definitions and elements related to Learning Management Systems (LMS) and non-LMS environments.
- Demonstrate basic competency with design and implementation within a variety of LMS and non-LMS environments and tools.
- Plan learning opportunities most suitable to the strengths and challenges of a variety of LMS and non-LMS environments.
- Create assessment and evaluation methods/tools most suitable to the strengths and challenges of LMS and non-LMS environments.
- Integration of current cognitive learning and brain-based learning theory.
- Examine current research around best practices and emerging practices for both LMS and non-LMS environments.
- Develop skills to optimize learning experiences through personalization based on characteristics, needs, stages of development, current personalized learning mandates, misconceptions etc.
I have chosen as evidence my final project. This was developed in relation to the “Critical Challenge Question” question posed by Avi Luxenbourg our instructor:
“How can Learning Management Systems (LMS and/or Non-LMS) help me develop courses where students learn in the best way for them (teacher-structured/personalized), while providing me with the tools I require for efficient and efficacious presentation, moderation, support, and assessment (for, as, and of learning)?”
We were introduced to this question from the very beginning of the course and asked to keep this in mind throughout the course. The goal being that, through the learning activities (blog postings and responses, D2L jigsaw course creation, Non-LMS Wiki and Toolkit Build) and the recommended readings we would develop the knowledge to successfully answer this question. This understanding was then to be presented in our final project.
My final project turned out to have multiple parts. I started building a PowerPoint presentation that was going to look back at the course as a whole. The project took a turn, part way through, and included the creation of a course in Canvas a LMS and then I tried building the same course in Weebly a Non-LMS. Throughout this I wrote, on my blog site, a reflection looking at the process. I completed the PowerPoint and then presented the PowerPoint in Blackboard Collaborate to our instructor Avi Luxenbourg and my project partner Laura Mann.
This project helped me bring together all of my learning throughout the course and thus demonstrate that I had fully met the course learning outcomes. It showed me that in looking to a management system that could contain all of the components of a well-built course which are community, content and assessment, that for me, a LMS best meets my needs. Non-LMS have multiple uses, I was able to build almost a full course there and for those who do not want or like the confines of a LMS it meets their needs, but I feel Non-LMS are best suited as a place where students may house their work, when thinking of Weebly or Wordpress, or they are tools that teachers can incorporate in to their courses or direct students to use so as to meet the learning needs/styles of all their students.
We want students to be engaged in their learning and see themselves as successful learners. We therefore need to make sure we are meeting the learning needs of all students. As an online teacher it is important to be knowledgeable about the research and brain based theories when looking to the different management systems and tools that can be used in the design, implementation and management of an online course. Whether we incorporate LMS, Non-LMS and/or PLEs, we must focus on best practices in relation to community, content and assessment; keeping in mind the importance of student to student, student to teacher and student to content interactions and the need to give students the opportunity to take control of and manage their learning.