Hi Everyone,
First of all, thank you all for a wonderful learning experience in this sequence. Participating has invigorated my teaching and made me super excited to try out the ideas, tools, methods, we’ve discussed. It was a real pleasure:)
I am using this week’s post to think about how I can apply some of the knowledge we have assembled in this discussion to my English 100 f2f course this Spring. My idea is to use what I have learned with you to create a technology enhanced English 100 Education, Identity, Academic Success course. I see this course as a gateway to my online English 100 course: a course where the infrastructure is set towards an online course and I am trying out the online tools we’ve discussed in this sequence.
Some of the tools I am already using or would like to try include: Google drive, folders, google docs, google calendar, Canvas discussion, Canvas collaborations, Canvas calendar, Canvas messaging via grade book, Camtasia, and using Sceencast o matic to give students line by line feedback on their essays
Before the course begins I will introduce myself, the work of the course, our routine, and the time needed to succeed using a 10-15 min. video. During week one, I will guide students through a time management workshop where we will use google calendar to review their current weekly schedule (their already set time commitments) and schedule in the work for our class. This serves as a reality check for students to make a decision to commit to this class (or not). During week one students will use the images on their social media to create a story of who they are and use this to introduce themselves to the class.
At noon on Friday students receive an announcement about the work we will be doing that week. The announcement may include a video of me going over the schedule/work for the week. The announcement guides students to our home page where they take a quick quiz then proceed to the work for the week. As mentioned in my discussion post for Unit 4, students have about 4 weekly tasks that are predictable, that allow for scaffolding and innovation, and that are recursive in nature. These tasks will include:
1.Watch video and multimedia lectures: these include pre-reading activities, lectures where I will introduce readings using videos, images, and other activities aimed at activating student’s funds of knowledge
2.Mini and informal assignments: these can include metacognitive reflection, work on the specific writing project we are working on or can be about the academic success theme in the course (Warnock 145 ).
3. Reading: Weekly readings: reading one of the readings clustered around a major writing project (20 pages), readings about one of our key concepts (1 page), readings on the writing process, metacognition, some readings about affective issues and how to succeed in college (less than 10 pages).
Here is an example of a video I might use
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WY0VtXAQqG4
3. Writing: Students write a 1-2 page response to the major readings assignment. These reading responses are reading assignments where the instructor introduces discussion topics or questions for a second reading. These integrated reading and writing assignments ask students to respond to the questions the instructor posed and pose a question or discussion topic of their own. Students use google docs to complete their reading responses and then post their responses on Canvas and on a discussion board by Wed at 11: 59 p.m. These reading assignment are their Primary Posts, they will also complete a Secondary Post (from Warnock’s Chapter 13 and Sample Weekly Plan in Appendix B).
4. Discussion/ work with the readings: Students are also required to respond to one reading response by Friday 11: 59 p.m. These are their Secondary Posts. Their responses are one substantive paragraph. These are graded. The instructor monitors the online discussion taking place between Wednesday and Friday along with one student who is assigned the role of moderator. At the end of the discussion the moderator uses video to comment on the discussion and provide a summary of the work students did as a whole. The instructor works with the moderator to create that video. Students are asked to view that video at the beginning of the next week.
One more thing: this is a zero textbook cost course; all readings are posted online as universally accessible PDF files.
Here are my posts:
At The Intersection of Using Technology to Teach New Media
Course Design and Organization Video
My Technology Enhanced English 100: Education, Identity, Academic Success