Overview
On This Page
This week you will refine and publish your final media pieces, and take an opportunity to browse through each others’ collections. This is also the time to wind down this course. I hope that the connections you have made here will endure in your teaching practice. The most effective support for developing online educational media, and developing online learning in general, is a network of colleagues with different backgrounds and experiences that you can draw upon for help.
In this course you’ve learned about the theory behind educational media and the practical tasks behind developing it. More specifically you’ve explored text, graphics, audio, and video and created your own examples in each genre. You have examined the need for accessibility in educational media and the principles behind universal design for learning, reflecting on how these impact your own educational practice. At each stage you’ve considered how student activities could include the creation of media and how larger projects can be developed that integrate student-created media. All of this has culminated in your ePortfolio, which is an opportunity to revisit your learning over these few months.
Learning Outcomes
When you have completed this week, you should be able to:
- Describe and discuss the pedagogical and technical aspects of media produced for learning.
Topic 1: Course Reflection
Reflection is an important tactic for extending learning on a topic, particularly one that has included a significant project. Reflection can be an opportunity to connect all the parts and see a larger picture in the completed project. It can also be an opportunity to consider your process and evaluate how you got from A to B or how you might alter that route next time. While we will take the opportunity to reflect on our learning in this course, there are resources on reflection as a component of project-based learning in the Optional Readings and Resources section.
Activity 1: Celebration and Reflection
Participate in the course closing activity or activities during the final week of the course.
Topic 2: ePortfolio Review
The ePortfolio you have developed for Assignment 3 has a specific purpose for assessment within this course. In a wider view, ePortfolios offer opportunities for reflection and sharing in wide range of settings. What might start as an ePortfolio for assessment in a specific course or program can become a professional portfolio in your pursuit of a position, or it may evolve as a place to share your growing interests outside of a formal educational program. Within a program, ePortfolios can also be a place to extend learning after an artefact has fulfilled its initial place in a course assessment. Opportunities to reflect well after the initial development, to revise with the advantage of hindsight, or to extend a work mean that more learning can be supported through an ePortfolio. If you would like to explore the use of ePortfolios further, there are resources in the Optional Readings and Resources section.
Activity 2: Review and Comment on ePortfolios
Share the link to your ePortfolio as early in the week as you feel comfortable, even if it isn’t finished yet. Review the ePortfolio items from your fellow students and offer encouragement and constructive criticism. Your ePortfolios are due as an assignment at the end of Sunday (Week 13). If you need an extension please contact your instructor.
References and Resources
Required Readings and Resources
There are no required readings or resources for this unit.
Optional Readings and Resources
Boss, S., & Krauss, J. (2014). Chapter 10: Celebrating and reflecting. In Reinventing project-based learning: your field guide to real-world projects in the digital age. International Society for Technology in Education.
https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/trulibrary-ebooks/detail.action?docID=4395788
Davis, V. (2017, November 17). 11 essentials for excellent digital portfolios. Edutopia.
https://www.edutopia.org/blog/11-essentials-for-excellent-eportfolios-vicki-davis
Higgins, A., & Cherrington, S. (2017). What’s the story? Exploring parent–teacher communication through ePortfolios. Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, 42(4), 13-21.
https://journals-sagepub-com.ezproxy.tru.ca/doi/abs/10.23965/AJEC.42.4.02
McCrea, B. (2012, October 24). A balanced approach to ePortfolios. THE Journal.
https://thejournal.com/articles/2012/10/24/a-balanced-approach-to-eportfolios.aspx?=THE21
Parsons, C. M. (2017, April 19). PBL in the mirror: Planning for student reflection. PBL Blog. Buck Institute for Education.
https://www.bie.org/blog/pbl_in_the_mirror_planning_for_student_reflection
Watson, C. E., Kuh, G. D., Rhodes, T., Light, T. P. & Chen, H. L. (2016). ePortfolios: The eleventh high impact practice. International Journal of ePortfolio, 6(2), 65-69.
http://www.theijep.com/articleView.cfm?id=254
