Prototype Review

I really enjoyed the process of being able to review my classmates course prototypes and being able to recieve feedback on my own. I appreciate the opportunity to see things through another’s eyes and see things that I may have missed when I was deep in creating the prototype for my course.

The feedback was generally very positive and since this course is created for teachers, it is great to hear what fellow educators think about it. The following is some of the feedback that was recieved and how I can use it to adjust my prototype going forward.

Super easy to use and navigate. I like that the modules are separated by big numbers. I am wondering if a header with the title of each module would benefit the course.

• This is a valuable point and I did think about this while I was creating the course. The numbers are great but they don’t exactly have any explanation either. I will see if there is a happy medium I can find.

Movement between modules is very simple. I wonder if maybe modules should be hidden/restricted from users until they complete module one (unless it is meant to offer choice about which topics you do/when you do them)

• The course is meant to be done in a specific order, but there is no real reason that somebody can’t jump around to areas that are more meaningful for them. I will have to think about maybe adding instructions or find a way to hide or track progress as the learner goes through the course.

A forum topic was introduced – are course instructors responding to the forum? Because this is an asynchronous course, are students also expected to respond to forums? How are instructors going to control interaction within the forum?

• This is an interesting point and something that I have been thinking about. I would like it if learners responded to other learners comments and it would be great as the instructor to comment and provide feedback as learners go through the course. I realize now that I may not have expressed expectations around this in the current prototype.
• One thing I saw in a classmates course that was also created for adult learners is that there would be an open live meeting (via zoom or MS Teams) every Friday morning where somebody could be present for anybody who wanted to pop in and discuss anything around the course topics. I thought that this is a very interesting idea and something that we can most definately do within our workspace to support this asynchronous course and build some community.

Purpose is clear and rationale is there. Expectations and assessment ideas are all evident, but assessment in this course might be a little simplified in the profile….AND….Meaningful assessment in asynchronous courses is always a concern for me.

• These are very valid points and I appreciate the feedback. Meaningful assessment in an asychronous course is a concern. This is something that I struggle with myself. Currently teacher responses in the forum and completion of the tasks and quizzes is the only assessment.

Overall, I appreciate the time that was taken to review my course prototype. I look forward to being able to use this feedback to make the future modules in my course more engaging and meaningful for the learners who participate in it.

Accessability and Equity

Accessability and equity are both things that I was thinking about while developing this course. I did try and make the layout as easy to understand as possible. I also went through and made audio recordings of all of the text within the course so that people can choose to listen to the course instead of read it.

During our class, we were talking about other ways to make the courses we are developing more accessable to all people.

Some concerns that were discussed are as follows:

• Technology issues – Lack of devices, poor internet, out of date software, no data, etc.
• Lack of access to normal accessability accomodations.
• Lack of relationship building opportunities.

Some strategies to accomodate:

• Have audio and text materials available.
• Survey your students to see what accomodations they need to be successful.
• Provide recordings of live sessions for learners to rewatch at a later date.
• Accomodate poor internet connections by turning off cameras.
• Choose virtual platforms with easy to use accessability features and show students how to use them.
• Choose programs that students who use accessability features are already comfortable with.
• Share resources such as how to turn on a hotspot, troubleshooting tech issues, etc.
• Clarify expectations.
• Consider class collaboration of creation of notes to be shared.