Final Blog Post for EC&I 834

I had no idea what to expect when I signed up for this class. I knew I enjoyed online learning, and I was excited to learn “how to do it right”. I am so happy with all the content we learning this term and I am excited to bring it into action.

My course prototype at the moment is on my wish list for the School of Radiation Therapy. I chose this topic because I believe it is something that should be incorporated into the current curriculum. I used the Canvas LMS, as it is simple, straightforward, and fairly similar to Brightspace which I have experience with. I kept the course design simple. Each week of the course covers one module. Each module has three sections: Didactic material, Extra resources, and Assessments. I am hopeful that this will be incorporated into the RT curriculum. Now that I have the first two modules done, it will be easier to get some buy-in from those who need to be convinced that this is a good thing to do. I am proud of my final course prototype, I feel it is conducive to adult learning while keeping the students engaged.

And well, if it doesn’t become a reality, I still have a new toolbox of skills to bring to my current class that I teach.

I appreciated the way Katia guided us through the process and how it fostered a comprehensive creation process. The ADDIE model, while not the only model available, served as an example of how to use a framework to guide the development of a project through to creation.

The creation was a multistep process using the ADDIE model. The ADDIE template provided by Katia guided the creation of my course profile.

The model puts the course into context by thinking about who the learners are and what are their needs. Creating course objectives from the outset provided direction and helped focus the content and keep the learning content on track. Thinking about the instructional approach then took us to the next step of how is the content going to be delivered.

I felt my course profile in the end was robust and considered all the required elements. Once we had chosen the LMS platform, I felt it was quite straightforward to create the shell and other elements using the course profile.

Once that was done, I appreciated delving into the finer details of online/blended teaching such as community building, interactive content, AI, and accessibility. To be honest I had never considered any of those four elements to any great detail before this class. Sure, I had built in teacher-student interactions as relationship-building strategies, but not with a focus on building a class community. I can see how this approach contributes to class engagement, not only theoretically, but I have seen it in our class, as encouraged by Katia, especially through Discord. I did enjoy the breakout rooms as well, and appreciate the learn by example approach that Katia takes to this class.

While there were some growing pains with learning how to create interactive content, these solidified the lesson in how to create, and the result showed the why. Adding this extra dimension to the course content not only promotes engagement, but it offers yet another way to showcase the course content. The AI content was an eye opener for me and I learned that instructors and content creators can take advantage of these new tools. I also realized it is fruitless to fight against it with the students. Important conversations need to be had at the beginning, laying down my expectations of the use of AI in the classroom, as well as professional integrity and what that means. I wrote about this in this blog post.

Accessibility is important, and in my small classroom, personally, it means addressing the different learning styles and asking the students “What do you need from me to help you learn?”

Having the opportunity to provide and receive feedback is a great way to promote growth. As I said in my blog about feedback, it sparks creativity and improvement.

Please visit my course prototype screencast, and Summary of Learning. Thanks for watching!

Lumi video 1

Lumi video 2