Final Program Reflection

I began the Masters of Education program 3 years ago due to a growing interest in appropriate assessment of teaching methods. I was given a role in the design of our new curriculum that inspired me to move to a role with greater emphasis on classroom teaching. As I finish the program, many friends and colleagues are asking me, “What are you going to do now that you have this degree? Are you going to do something different?” Originally, I had planned to take the MEd and find an educational specialist position. At this point, I’m not sure. I don’t plan to do anything different immediately. I want to get more experience in the classroom using the knowledge I’ve attained. I like that having this additional training enables me to have more options for positions in the future.

I began the program with courses that were theory-oriented and required a lot of self-reflection. This forced me to consider what bias I bring to the classroom as a teacher. I was required to state my teaching philosophy. I have revisited it at times to revise and update as I learned more about myself through the program. Then the courses moved into more practical application. In Program Planning I was able to develop a new faculty orientation program. I used educational research methods courses to advance progress on an educational research project that was just an idea waiting for an opportunity. The great thing for me about this program, that I will miss very much, is the ability to take something I would love to do in the classroom and develop it as a class project. I will miss having courses that prod me to make the ideas I have a reality.

Of course I have brought much of what I have learned in these courses into my classroom. Often it seemed I was one of the few students in the classroom who had the luxury of immediately applying what we were discussing. I was able to see what worked and what didn’t or how I might need to adjust things to make it better next time. I really enjoyed hearing the various perspectives from my classmates. I learned much about corporate training environments, K-12 system, adult education in libraries, and curricula of other health professions on this campus. I made great friends, some of whom share common teaching topics!

The experience of being a student again has made me a better teacher. I relate to my students in a different way because I, too, was a student 2 nights a week. I consider the student’s perspective when I’m creating activities, providing detailed directions, and developing methods of evaluation for learning objectives. Returning to the classroom makes me more cognizant of what it is to sit in the classroom for 2 hours especially after a full day of work. As a student, I craved something active and engaging to get me through those 7:00-10:00pm courses. I also needed clear guidelines on the expectations of my professors.  When working full-time, there is no time to be lost in misunderstanding an assignment! Now, when developing my material to deliver in class I consider whether I have made my expectations clear to my students. I know the more direction I give them initially, the closer the final product will look to what I have pictured in my mind.

The philosophy I had the strongest connection to was Schein’s principles with inquiry. I find I use this almost daily. I’ve learned how the use of questions can be the intervention. I pause to access my ignorance about the situation. I stop myself before offering solutions to a problem. I find this is difficult for me at times and also seems difficult for the person asking for my input. It can be frustrating for them when they expect me to give advice and all I do is ask them more questions.  Learning about Schein’s philosophy and Peter Block’s methods of consulting have been standout moments of learning for me and I find I apply these skills not only at work with colleagues and students but also with personal relationships.

The teaching with technology track was a perfect fit for me. I’m so glad I discovered it! My work environment is very progressive in the area of integrating technology in the classroom. Taking these courses helped to bring me to a level that was on par with several faculty and even get a few steps ahead of others. Although I have been overwhelmed at times with learning about the various programs available, just having the background or recognizing the terminology has been beneficial in exploring more on my own. I look forward to keeping up as I move forward.

What I will not miss is the hectic schedule that I have had for the past 1.5 years as I have taken 2 courses a semester in addition to my full-time work schedule. I look forward to having time to contemplate what I’m working on rather than rushing through to get to the next task. I also look forward to having my evenings and weekends to myself and time to spend with my husband.

What I’ve learned about designing e-learning.

I began this semester feeling fairly confident about designing e-learning modules and motivated to apply the tools we had learned in the previous semester. I looked forward to the design of a project that could be applied to the course I currently coordinate and teach. I love it when class work can also be used to accomplish tasks for work! The textbook, Conquering the Content, offered a great step-by-step guide to putting together a course with practical insights. In my experience in course development, with each iteration of a course I learn better ways to organize content and improve the overall navigation of the course site. Smith has included some of her key points in managing and updating the content from one semester to the next that I can incorporate into my own methods. My favorite idea is the development of the learning guide which has all of the details (page numbers, due dates, etc.) that change each semester that can be easily updated. She suggests the rest of the structure of the course can remain in place without the need to update details every semester. In this course, my classmates have taught me a lot from their experiences. I even discovered there are others in my class who teach some of the same topics I teach. This was a wonderful learning experience and we were able to get some ideas from each other. I hope that we can get together in the near future to talk about how we might be able to integrate some of our ideas into improving our courses.

The biggest challenge I encountered in developing my project was the need to change topics. Once I discovered there were multiple options already available for calculations that do what I wanted to do but better, I had to change to another topic in order to make this project still useful for me. This is a lesson in doing a good job of researching prior to reinventing the wheel. At this point I am glad I did have to change projects. The development of the ethics module is much more useful and will be more widely used than the initial idea for calculations remediation. The topic of ethics is challenging in itself because so many students do not feel there is a need to teach this material. However, it is a required part of our curriculum so it isn’t going away anytime soon. I like that the module I developed is flexible and could be moved to any point in the curriculum. We have implemented a new curriculum and are still in the process of revising and improving it. With a stand-alone ethics module we can potentially put this content into any semester of the curriculum with little disruption. This will be a great way to demonstrate how we are meeting this requirement rather than the way we have integrated this topic through multiple courses at this time. An ongoing challenge for me is the number of students enrolled and the ability to design activities and assessments which are authentic but do not require large amounts of time for grading. With the use of technology tools in Course Sites I am able to use the types of activities and assessments I want and efficiently collate them through assignments, blogs, and wikis.

I don’t know that my thinking has changed about e-learning design from the beginning of this semester until now. I think this course has enabled me to apply the tools I have learned throughout the teaching with technology course sequence. When I consider how I have changed my way of thinking about e-learning it has been more of a process over the past 3 courses. There are areas that, previously, I had not specifically considered such as explicit ways to engage students with the instructor and with each other. I have also become very interested in how to use social media in my course to facilitate interaction particularly with our distance campus. There is a challenge from our education specialist about what content within the curriculum can be moved to an online setting. How timely! I will be working with her over the summer to see how we can use the module I developed as well as create some additional modules that can support other courses. I look forward to applying what I’ve learned in this program to this real-life scenario!

The Future of My Project

Today, our education specialist asked me what content within our curriculum could be delivered on-line. I described the ethics course module I have developed for this class as well as the course Elizabeth has developed as part of her project. The education specialist was very interested in these 2 courses! We discussed a little about how delivering this content on-line could free up some space in students’ schedules as they could complete the on-line content at a time that is convenient to them which may not necessarily be during the standard Monday through Friday structure. However, we also discussed how contact hours must be considered for on-line delivery as well. I think having a hybrid course where students do their own work outside of class which is supported by on-line materials can really enrich the classroom experience. My concern is how to hold students accountable for the outside of class preparation. As an instructor this would also free up some time that I don’t have to spend teaching!

I discussed the module I’ve created with a few students working with me. They didn’t seem particularly fond of having to complete outside activities to prepare them for in-class discussions. They were especially wary of using tools like blogs and wikis as part of the group work. This reminds me of how much we take for granted regarding our students’ readiness to engage with these technologies as a part of their education. To them, it felt like more “teaching themselves” than getting what they pay for. How do we change this perception?

Virginia Historical Society Visit (4.8.11)

Visiting the Virginia Historical Society was an interesting culmination for the course this semester. The guide who walked us through the project was enthusiastic about the content, design, and showing off the final product. He began the tour with a basic “why are you here?” Q&A. This helped him to understand his audience, a needs assessment of a type. As he walked us through the exhibit he was able to explain a little background about why they chose the type of interactive technology they did, the intended audience, and how he communicated those needs to the IT companies who ultimately made it happen. He shared some of the learning about design in general including wishing they had a more cohesive look to the interactive exhibits. Because there were multiple contractors involved, each has its own interface and structure. He also discussed ways of making the information relevant for today’s youth. This was particularly showcased with the texting vs. telegraph exhibit.

As I interacted with some exhibits I found myself compelled to touch the screen to play with a game or look through a map. Others were designed to be interactive but seemed slow to me. For the exhibits which had cartoons and short films that I was required to watch before moving on to the next stage, I was easily distracted, impatient, and moved on without completing the exhibit. I liked the ones that allowed me to move through the exhibit at my own pace that was often quicker than the ones with programmed storylines. Even the one that centered around medical treatments which intrigued me at first was a little too pedestrian to hold my attention long term. This gave me insight into considerations for design. Exhibits which allow learners to be more self-paced and to jump around to what they find interesting seemed to be better for long-term engagement. However, there was 1 exhibit which used no technology where I spent a large amount of time. This was a basic comparison of 2 paintings representing Lincoln when writing the Emancipation Proclamation. I found it even more interesting and engaging than some of the fancy, expensive, touch screen computer exhibits. This shows that technology isn’t always the answer when you want to engage learners. It’s knowing the appropriate means to engage your learner.

The guide was happy to hear our feedback about the exhibits including technologies we’ve used in class that could be applied. We suggested the use of technology to provide feedback rather than the written notebook they currently use. He also discussed ways they are planning to revise the exhibits before they leave for the traveling tour around Virginia. The runaway slave interactive exhibit is going to be modified to make the interactivity more apparent in the beginning. I’m grateful to Aaron Paula for arranging this visit. It is an exhibit I wouldn’t have otherwise taken the time to visit but I learned a lot about the Civil War and museum exhibits at the same time!

Change of project topic (week of 3.30.11)

My colleague and I had an idea for an online calculations remediation course for students who struggle with pharmaceutical calculations. We often have students who can’t grasp some of the math concepts and end up needing extra help so we spend our time essentially teaching math. We thought that if we could direct them to some online course it would save us some time and put the student in charge of learning the material. So, when we had the assignment in this course to develop an e-learning project I thought the online calculations tutorial would be a great way to accomplish this idea. I began researching. I started by looking at the supplemental materials provided to the students through their required textbooks. One of them has a CD with a few calculations examples including steps on how to complete the calculation. The other has online resources with a quiz bank of 3-5 questions for each type of calculation. It also showed steps for completing the calculation. I felt these were both good examples I could adapt and expand upon for a more comprehensive tutorial with different modules of types of calculations.

About this point in the semester I gave an assignment in my course that involved calculations. Several students did not perform well. I reached out to another faculty who is responsible for teaching this content in the first year of pharmacy school. She was able to share online calculations practice that she makes available in her course. I thought this was convenient that she already had something like this put together. This sounded a lot like what I was planning to do. She had a bank of over 50 questions! So, I imported her practice calculations into my Blackboard course and made it available to the students. I reviewed the content of her practice calculations and saw that it did not include the features that I had planned to include which showed how to calculate the correct answer by walking the student through the steps. With this in mind I thought that what I was planning to create was definitely an improvement in what she already had available. I did not sway from my project plan at that point. Then I get an email with the subject, “Fwd: Pharmacy Calculations Course.” It describes a website, created by an alumna no less, which has a math skills evaluation tools with a test bank of over 150 questions. The description: “This interactive, web-based program teaches fundamental math skills through 8 distinct lessons using practical examples from pharmacy work-settings. At the end of each lesson, a secure exam is administered online and successful participants can immediately print their certificate of completion.” The screenshots are better than what I could’ve come up with. The questions are all contextual with prescriptions associated with them. The feedback for the answers shows step-by-step how to work through the calculations. This is when my idea was killed! On to plan b, a module in pharmacy ethics.

MOOCs (week of 2.23.11)

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) intimidate me both as a learner and as a teacher. I can’t imagine having thousands of students who are viewing content, completing assignments, and interacting with each other. Who manages all of these tools and students? How do you keep track of all of these tools? At the same time I can’t imagine as a learner how I would stay engaged under such circumstances. I would have to choose a topic that I had a strong interest in and have a lot fewer things on my plate in order to stay and participate in such a course.

However, I think MOOCs may be a good fit for a certain niche of the population. The key characteristics of MOOCs are autonomy, diversity, opennesss, and connectedness and interactivity. The key audience for MOOCs is one that is self-directed and motivated. Are those participating in the MOOC the same people who would otherwise check out books from a library on a topic of interest to teach themselves? Are these the same people who would audit a college course for fun? enroll in an adult continuing education course at the local university just to enrich their lives? Now, they have a more convenient avenue to explore topics they have a passion for. MOOCs may help bring these motivated learners together in a way they haven’t been able to connect before. And there is flexibility to take the course for college credit or simply for free at your leisure. This works well when you only need the knowledge but not the credit.

The idea of being able to come and go in a large course with some anonymity may be attractive on some level. But what do you do if you check out in the middle of the course and when you decide to come back later it has already ended?

How to structure the content (week of 4.20.11)

So, as I use CourseSites for my rapid prototype of the course module I have developed, I find myself considering how my structure of content has changed over time and using the most recent structure of course organization with a few tweaks. If you were to review the courses I have designed over the past 6 years of course coordination you would see an increase in details of organization and a decrease in the clutter of unused Blackboard tools. Initially, I paid little attention to the tool buttons and their names. I just dumped in the course syllabus and posted a lot of announcements. Occasionally there were links to readings but most often I included information about all of the assignments in the syllabus and schedule so there wasn’t much need for additional postings. I did post lecture slides for each class meeting because most of the course was heavy on Powerpoint slides. I was simply coordinating and did little teaching as a part of that so I was dependent on my invited faculty to present the content as they saw fit.

Previously, the courses I participated in only met a few times over the course of the semester or I taught only a few classes within a course. I now coordinate a course that runs the entire semester with weekly meetings of both small groups and large groups. As my courses have grown longer and more complex I have come to use more of the features of Blackboard. I have extended my use of folders which are titled by week but also include the date. I have added bullet points associated with each folder that describe the week’s activities and emphasize if there is an assignment that must be completed prior to that week’s class meeting. This organization is as much for me as it is my students. When I have 13-15 weeks of material I can’t remember if the medication reconciliation activity was in week #3 or week #7 by the time week #13 rolls around. And for purposes of ensuring all students have completed all assignments for the final grade book I do have to browse my course at the end of the semester so I know what the heck we did.

The features in Blackboard have also helped me manage my course more effectively. The discovery of generating an assignment that can be assigned to individual groups with a group grade assigned quickly via gradebook has been a Godsend as my class size grows each year. With each Blackboard course site iteration I find a little more detail is needed to clarify what is going on with each week of the course. For my CourseSites course I have decided to not only include the week and date for each folder but also to name the folder based on the topics covered. This could be a creative process as I redesign my course for the fall! I also specifically want to add a tool button that goes directly to the course schedule so it is just 1 click away. Not that my students ever look at the schedule, but I do.

What do I do now? (week of 4.6.11)

When I chose the pharmacy ethics module I was basing the idea off of something I had already planned with another faculty member. The plan for this semester was to improve over what we had done last year that was an ultimate disaster. This year we were planning to have more interactivity with the students. We were going to ask them to prepare outside of class so that when we asked them to come in for discussion they would be ready to go. I insisted that we have them complete cases individually before working together as a group. I felt that asking them to commit to something on their own would enrich the discussion as they defended their position to other group members. For the group assignment I required they agree as a group to the ultimate action they would take which should also encourage discussion. So, he and I planned to give them assigned readings and slides so they had a good understanding of the background material. We discussed asking them to do a basic self-assessment of their understanding prior to completing an assignment. He was going to record some basic voice-over-slide set material to supplement the readings and I carefully selected 2 cases that were relevant to this semester’s material. When it came time to post the mini-module, the other faculty member seemed to have little recollection of what we had discussed. Under the time crunch, it turned into posting a couple of slide sets and asking them to complete a template for the assigned cases. I was disappointed that the material was not going to be presented well for a second year in a row. But, this is an opportunity for me to develop an online module that will be structured as I envisioned it and ready to go for next year, hopefully.

At this point in the development of the course there are many possibilities that I am struggling with. I have never taught ethics and don’t have a good understanding of how to teach such a potentially sensitive topic. All I have to go on is what has been done in previous courses which has had mixed success. I do have a list of basic learning objectives but I’m struggling with what types of activities should be done online to support these objectives. And I always have to consider the volume of any assignments they are asked to complete because of the sheer number of them, 130+ students. Do I use a required textbook? I’ve found a great one that is full of pharmacy-related cases. But, since this is only part of a course instead of a course by itself I don’t want it to take over the rest of my material. Do I ask them to work in groups? Starting the dialogue outside of the classroom may enhance the dialogue inside the classroom but I fear they may see it as redundant and have nothing left to say. How do my assignments outside of class contribute to contact hours and credit hours assigned? I only have a 1 credit hour course.

Design of websites (week of 3.9.11)

When researching examples of websites for our client project I reviewed multiple sites with an eye towards their design. Was the content easy to navigate? Were there multiple modes of presenting the material? Did they use too much text? If there was a video did it also have a transcript available in case the person didn’t have audio capabilities?

When reading the articles about location of toolbars and navigation sites this reminded me of some of the key features of websites I reviewed. So often we take for granted how a website is structured and I only consider the design when I’m having a hard time finding what I am looking for. I have learned to quickly go to a search box when I can’t find something quickly. I find I have become more and more impatient in all aspects of my life when I need to get something done. I just want to get to the point as quickly as possible. I went to Target last night because I have filled my USB to capacity and need a new one, I was frustrated while wandering around the electronics department. I just wanted to get what I wanted and leave, not meander through Wii games and HDMI cables. Finally, I found a store employee and he was able to direct me to the correct aisle. That’s what I’m always looking for, efficiency!

When considering how site design might relate to the development of my project I am somewhat limited by the structure of Blackboard. It has already decided that the toolbars shall be on the left. The “breadcrumbs” feature will be used to navigate through depths of folders. In fact, I have become so accustomed to the structure of Blackboard that I’m not sure how I might change things if I were to start from scratch. My navigation is already efficient because of the nature of experience.

Client project (week of 3.2.11)

When we met with our client to discuss the project I was surprised at how little work the client had invested in researching the type of project described. It seems there had not even been a basic Google search. Doesn’t everyone do a Google search during the exploration of a topic? The client also had neglected to develop any particular objectives for the project. Since the client is a graduate of the masters of education program I couldn’t believe a set of objectives hadn’t been developed. That’s been one of the main take home points for me during this program, what is your objective?! However, the lack of preparation made our initial questions seem profound and earned confidence with the client right away.

It was apparent that the client had not clearly defined the project or the expectations so part of our task was to help her envision the end product. One of my group members asked her favorite question, “what does success look like?” which stumped the client for a while. I clarified our assignment by reflecting back the various ideas the client had presented. By asking for clarification about the task at hand the client was able to narrow the focus to two related ideas. This experience helped to reinforce the need to ask the right questions in the beginning.

However, we would soon discover that the client did not know the intended audience well. We were assured that the clientele were savvy internet users who would seek out information on the website. In meeting with a small group of the target audience, we discovered they rarely use the internet for finding such information and seek out their peers when they have questions. They also had different ideas about what content should be included on the website. They were looking for more interactivity and community than had initially been described by our client. The client seemed to have an idea of a passive way of communicating information. However, the audience wanted ways to submit questions, ask experts, and hear from other members of the community. This aligned well with what we have been learning in class about developing on-line community and even personal learning networks. We also discovered in meeting with a key stakeholder that there were grander plans for the website and center than had initially been described. As always, the communication between stakeholders was part of the problem.