CMS Critical Review
In developing my online course, my mind was (and still is) constantly thinking about ways to make it better and improve the delivery of the content. I think this is true of everything I do, so I really should not be too surprised. What I found was that I just needed to pick a Classroom Management System (CMS), stick with it, and develop the content. Then, I could go back and do the best I could to make the course easily navigable, visually appealing, appropriate for various learners, and rich with content.
When I began this course, I was extremely intimidated because I never thought to use a CMS to teach 4th grade. Since I don't like to give a lot of homework and we only have one computer lab for our entire school, I didn't think it was realistic to have my students do an online course in addition to their daily school work. However, I realized that I could make a hybrid course that enriches what is taught at school. This was especially appealing because our district is going to be cutting the time allotted to teach Science and Social Studies because of the huge focus on reading, writing, and math. With this, I created a course that compliments the Geography curriculum. The projects that I generally had to skip because of time constraints are now able to be implemented by the use of a CMS. The lesson and assessments can be short, to the point, and available to be viewed by students and their parents. This not only enriches the curriculum, but it also brings parents into the classroom.
Though I wanted to challenge myself by learning a new platform to use, I realized that Wikispaces would probably be the best fit for what I wanted to accomplish with my students. I have used Wikispaces before, but I was not familiar with many of the advanced options. To challenge myself, I was able to incorporate widgets that I had never worked with before. For example, I tried out a few discussion boards before I decided to use Nabble on the Questions and Answers page.
My decision to use Wikispaces was strengthened when I thought back to what I learned in my hybrid courses. It does not matter which tool you use as long as it fits with your pedagogy and content. I was first introduced to the TPACK framework by Punya Mishra last summer. I ended up realizing that the best thing for my students this year is not to learn how to use another technology, but to learn the content within my geography course in an organized and engaging way.
When I thought about the layout of the course, I found it very helpful to think from the students' point-of-view. This was easier than it sounds because I am an online student right now, and I know what makes sense to me in my courses. Looking back, I wish I would have created the syllabus before anything else. I think that would have kept me focused on my main goals. With the other pages, I took what I liked from the various courses that I have taken (Assignment Tracker, How-To, Lessons in one area, Home page with the syllabus, Calendar) and added them to my course. In addition, I thought that I would like to have an easy way of tracking when students turned in their work. That is why I added the Assignment Drop Box. I thought that it would make sense to students to use a Drop Box because they are already familiar with turning in their homework to a bin in the classroom. Not only does it give my students responsibility for turning in their work, but it is also easy for the teacher because all their work is in an organized spreadsheet.
I also added the Google Translate widget to help ELL students and their parents. I want parents to be involved in their child's education. However, this is not always possible because of language barriers. I hope that parents who would normally not be able to participate with their children are encouraged to help because of this tool. In addition, my ultimate goal is to make everyone in my classroom (and their parents) feel comfortable and like they can learn. This was not always the possible when I was not able to translate the rich vocabulary into multiple languages.
The tool that was most useful for organizing my course was my Developers Notebook. Each student in our class was asked to create a Google Doc to share with our instructors. The purpose was to keep us thinking critically about the technology, pedagogy, and content of our course. I could freely write my ideas in a safe place while receiving feedback from my instructors. I liked using my Developers Notebook for this course, but I also like the idea of using one with my own students. That way, students can feel comfortable experimenting with different ideas, writing their thoughts, and, all the while, communicating with the teacher.
Overall, I am happy with my project (so far). Like I said, it is a "project", so there will always be changes. As new technologies are introduced and different learning styles enter my classroom, it is my goal to customize my course so all students in my class are successful. Additionally, I will continue to think critically about the content, pedagogy, and technology in this course and all the courses I teach.
When I began this course, I was extremely intimidated because I never thought to use a CMS to teach 4th grade. Since I don't like to give a lot of homework and we only have one computer lab for our entire school, I didn't think it was realistic to have my students do an online course in addition to their daily school work. However, I realized that I could make a hybrid course that enriches what is taught at school. This was especially appealing because our district is going to be cutting the time allotted to teach Science and Social Studies because of the huge focus on reading, writing, and math. With this, I created a course that compliments the Geography curriculum. The projects that I generally had to skip because of time constraints are now able to be implemented by the use of a CMS. The lesson and assessments can be short, to the point, and available to be viewed by students and their parents. This not only enriches the curriculum, but it also brings parents into the classroom.
Though I wanted to challenge myself by learning a new platform to use, I realized that Wikispaces would probably be the best fit for what I wanted to accomplish with my students. I have used Wikispaces before, but I was not familiar with many of the advanced options. To challenge myself, I was able to incorporate widgets that I had never worked with before. For example, I tried out a few discussion boards before I decided to use Nabble on the Questions and Answers page.
My decision to use Wikispaces was strengthened when I thought back to what I learned in my hybrid courses. It does not matter which tool you use as long as it fits with your pedagogy and content. I was first introduced to the TPACK framework by Punya Mishra last summer. I ended up realizing that the best thing for my students this year is not to learn how to use another technology, but to learn the content within my geography course in an organized and engaging way.
When I thought about the layout of the course, I found it very helpful to think from the students' point-of-view. This was easier than it sounds because I am an online student right now, and I know what makes sense to me in my courses. Looking back, I wish I would have created the syllabus before anything else. I think that would have kept me focused on my main goals. With the other pages, I took what I liked from the various courses that I have taken (Assignment Tracker, How-To, Lessons in one area, Home page with the syllabus, Calendar) and added them to my course. In addition, I thought that I would like to have an easy way of tracking when students turned in their work. That is why I added the Assignment Drop Box. I thought that it would make sense to students to use a Drop Box because they are already familiar with turning in their homework to a bin in the classroom. Not only does it give my students responsibility for turning in their work, but it is also easy for the teacher because all their work is in an organized spreadsheet.
I also added the Google Translate widget to help ELL students and their parents. I want parents to be involved in their child's education. However, this is not always possible because of language barriers. I hope that parents who would normally not be able to participate with their children are encouraged to help because of this tool. In addition, my ultimate goal is to make everyone in my classroom (and their parents) feel comfortable and like they can learn. This was not always the possible when I was not able to translate the rich vocabulary into multiple languages.
The tool that was most useful for organizing my course was my Developers Notebook. Each student in our class was asked to create a Google Doc to share with our instructors. The purpose was to keep us thinking critically about the technology, pedagogy, and content of our course. I could freely write my ideas in a safe place while receiving feedback from my instructors. I liked using my Developers Notebook for this course, but I also like the idea of using one with my own students. That way, students can feel comfortable experimenting with different ideas, writing their thoughts, and, all the while, communicating with the teacher.
Overall, I am happy with my project (so far). Like I said, it is a "project", so there will always be changes. As new technologies are introduced and different learning styles enter my classroom, it is my goal to customize my course so all students in my class are successful. Additionally, I will continue to think critically about the content, pedagogy, and technology in this course and all the courses I teach.