-Padlet: This was a new tool for me to try and I liked it a lot. It seems to be very practical and easy to use. It also reminds me of my home. My wife and I always write on post-cards or sticky notes things we are tacking throughout the week. And if there are things to change or update , we easily do this.
Padlet is definetely under my consideration to be used with my students at Dordt.
-LMS/CMS: I have use a few CMS's and LMS's, including Blackboard, Noodle, and a few other corporate training plaforms. They all have their great features and challenges. As for me, I try to use the most basics navigation for myself and my students. Simple and versatile can be powerful, if technology is to meet the purpose of learning.
-Students success: If the CMS/LMS is well managed and properly set up, the other part is up to us, the instructors to create that welcoming environment for students to stick around and do well. I find always harder to help students that have some resistance to using technology for learning. In this days is usually a small group, but this also presents an opportunity to help those students that may struggle, to overcome any preconceived ideas or barriers toward online learning.
-Conquering the content: Content map was very, very useful. I was afraid to use this idea on all my courses, but having seen the model recommended by the author, it makes sense to adopt this method as one to best orient and guide the students toward the process of completion of course work and assignments. I was able to produce a draft content map and soon realized I could do better, so I went back to the drawing board and re-engineering my design. I feel pretty good about this last design. I am sharing this below in case some of you may have some comments or questions about it.
Oscar, I appreciate your comments about CMCs needing to be simple and versatile. I have used Canvas for a few years now, and students who move from one of my classes to the next level, can expect the Canvas structure for the new class to be largely similar to the one they are familiar with. I have heard this helps them locate things easily.
ReplyDeleteBTW, great content map!
I'm not so impressed with Padlet. It seems to be more disorganized and difficult to process. In our case there were multiple response on the same pad which, to me, made it more difficult to follow any thoughts on one specific article. I can see some application if you are looking for more focused responses.
ReplyDeleteI also prefer to keep the use of Canvas simple. I do tend to just use it as a place to post information and to submit assignments. It does allow for easier responses. I am having difficulty envisioning how I would use it for the lab section on the course I have started the mapping process. I would be interested to see how you would plan to use Canvas, if you do, for your courses since by definition they are to be more hands on as part of the ProTech program.
I agree with you, John. This is my second time using Padlet and I also found it difficult to follow at times. Perhaps my thinking is too linear, in which case online learning may be more difficult overall.
ReplyDelete