Overview of Course Prototype: Introduction

And here it is! The ‘final draft’ (it’s always a work in progress, right?) of my Course Prototype for Creative Writing 20! This has been quite a learning process for me – I chose to use my division’s Moodle as a way to explore its potential outside of using it for content throughout Covid-19 “emergency remote learning” (language matters!). I learned a lot about Moodle as an LMS, it’s possibilities, opportunities, and some limitations.

Walkthrough Screencast Link

Here is a link to the screencast I created as a walkthrough of the Creative Writing 20 Blended Course Prototype.

Course Prototype vs Course Profile: Was it a Match?

As my course prototype came to a close, I was happy with what I accomplished based on what I set out to do in my Course Profile & ADDIE from the start of this semester.

Course Prototype: Reflections on the Creation Process

In creating both of these modules, are the areas I feel I can reflect on the most in the creation process:

1. 1. Using Lumi and Getting to Know H5P

   • Learning a completely new system to create engaging and interactive content 
     • Thinking about my learners in the content area for how the H5P that I developed would work for the blended course design
   • I was able to experiment and explore different interactive types such as the Interactive Video and an Interactive Presentation 
   • Using YouTube tutorials as a means of troubleshooting the issues that I encountered with the content creation process. 
     • This also helped me view the access of the interactive content through a student lens and I could better anticipate their needs when using and learning through the content. 

   2. What Can Moodle Offer?

   • I was able to expand from my previous Moodle (emergency remote teaching/learning) experience and branch into new areas and explore the variety of plugins and opportunities (Moodle workshop, pages, URLs, inserting media, etc) 
   • I tried to explore creating “Pages that connected” and/or “books” so that students could click through the content with more ease, however this proved to be very challenging for me despite reaching out to Moodle creation forums and YouTube tutorial assistance. So, I stuck with creating a logical flow of different pages. 
   • While Moodle was not being used as an assessment tool (our division uses Edsby so students would need to go back and forth between the two), I still wanted students to have access to the rubrics and resources in one spot
   • I would constantly change between “edit mode” and “student mode” so that I could see what I was creating from a student perspective
   • I also enrolled myself as a student so that I could practice the log in and other user processes 
     • I would have liked to create a tutorial for this as provided in my feedback on Module 1

   3. How Can I Use/Incorporate Ed Tech?

   • By exploring much of what I listed in point 1 above, I feel that the ways in which I incorporated Lumi will add to the students’ learning experience
   • I aimed to use Padlet as an interactive discussion board that would work to replicate discussion and sharing in a face-to-face setting
   • I wanted to find a balance between incorporating ed tech/interactive learning with not overwhelming students with links and various platforms 
     • This was done as a means to branch away from some of Moodle’s limitations 

   4. Accessibility Assessment: Is This Accessible?

   • After our class discussion, I realized that much of what I had done (i.e. images, etc) had the potential to be very confusion to adaptive technologies such as screen readers and I am looking forward to opportunity to change this in my practice so as to be more inclusive – especially in a digital learning environment
   • I tried to consider multiple ways in which students could participate in both the assessments (formative and summative), and in discussions/community building
   • I learned more near the end of doing accessibility checks on the content that I created and I hope to go into some of the content I’ve built for things outside of this course and see what they show for areas of improvement in future practice 
   • I wanted to ensure that the course navigation, the instructions, and of course the layout were clear and easily accessible for learners 

Concluding Thoughts

Throughout the process, I was able to create an engaging first module for Science Fiction/Fantasy writing with a focus on World Building, use H5P content via Lumi such as an interactive video, and create a logical flow for students to follow. Module two’s focus was on writing workshops. For this, I was able to create an engaging interactive presentation via Lumi as a means of creating community through learning about feedback (in how to give it, and how to receive it). I kept my learners top of mind through the activities in how they would be interacting with the content: are they face to face? are they online? Is it a mix of both? How can I best support them, and how do I need to structure these activities so they are successful for students no matter how they are accessing the content?

Are the modules perfect? Absolutely not. Do I have many pages of loose leaf covered in notes on how I can improve and a to-do list of what more I can learn on Moodle? Yes, yes I do. But, this was a great start in learning something new, and a great start in creating a different arena of learning experiences for my students.

Walkthrough Screencast Link

Here is a link to the screencast I created as a walkthrough of the Creative Writing 20 Blended Course Prototype.