As mentioned in my design project tour,
the inspiration for my online unit was born out of our 2nd design
experiment; a comparison of Edmodo to Google Classroom. I have used Edmodo for a couple of units as
an online collaborative tool that afforded students opportunities to develop
thoughts and contribute to discussions as a reflection of learning. I found Google Classroom to have many similar
features, but still lacked a few that I find useful in Edmodo such as allowing
parents to participate as viewers.
However, I do feel that Google Classroom is an evolving tool with a
higher likelihood of sustainability and the affordance of many more connected apps
to choose from.
Furthermore, I think each student in
this course added a great deal to my knowledge of these and other tools. It seems that no matter how well I knew any
one tool, I found at least one new affordance each week in someone else’s blog
post. Being connected to a community of
learners while exploring new knowledge has been an experience like none other. It makes me wish my graduate program wasn’t
nearing the end. Although, I am sure I will
not miss the deadlines and responsibilities of weekly assignments, I will truly
miss the shared collaborative experiences of reviewing technology tools and
discussing their potential impact on learning both in and out of the classroom. In the past, I have mostly explored new tech
tools on my own, not even realizing what I was missing out on by not being
connected to a community of learners in the process. This course brought to light the power of
distributed learning and the potential for cognition that exists in within this
learning environment. While I have had
some mixed feelings on the effects of peer ratings on my design experiment
grades, I have seen the value in these as they have pushed me to reevaluate my
thinking and see where I might have been lacking some development in my
thoughts and reflections. Overall, I am
grateful for the opportunities this course has afforded and the online
community it has built. It truly
reflects well planned learning experiences for a learning community with a wide
range of backgrounds and current roles.
While we all may have varying needs and prior experiences, we were given
the freedom to construct knowledge in a meaningful way that was relevant to our
current work, no matter the age of our students.
My final learning product demonstrates
my ability to design an online blended learning experience for a class of
gifted 5th grade students.
Just as in the design experiment peer reviews, my peers didn’t fall
short of helping to challenge me by pointing out areas where my design project could
use some adjustments. Their advice,
encouragement, compliments and suggestions made this project one to be proud of
as I wouldn’t have seen its shortcomings on my own.
