As part of the Digital Learning and Leading program at Lamar University, I was tasked with creating an Online Course that could be used in my classroom. This course, previously outlined in a prior course, was the opportunity to take the concepts of Online Learning that I’d learned about and make them come to life. I was very excited to begin the process and looked forward to the prospect of having a course that I could share with my current students immediately.
In the initial planning phase, we were asked to think in detail about the course we would like to design. To help ensure my success, I reflected on questions 1-5 in the Planning Questions that were presented to us to help organize our thoughts. This led to the creation of my Course Goals, Learning Outcome Table and a list of materials that I that would build inside my Learning Management System (LMS), Schoology.
S.T.E.A.M. Unit 2- Fourth Grade
Based upon The Recess Queen by Alexis O’Neill
Course Goal:
Learners will use technology to research cost-effective and safe playground components and create three-dimensional renderings of a playground to submit to the Board of Education for the proposed playground being built in the 2020 school year.
| Learning Outcomes | Learning Activities | Materials to be entered
into Schoology |
| Foundational
Learners will identify the types of available playground equipment and analyze our current playground equipment for strengths and weaknesses. |
Reading and discussion of The Recess Queen by Alexis O’Neill, blended learning, tour of local playgrounds, School-wide student survey via Google Forms | · Week 1 Discussion Post
· Video Link- The Recess Queen by Alexis O’Neill · Google Slides Presentation- Playground Equipment · Kahoot! Review Game Link · Google Doc- Playground Observation Log · Google Form- Student Survey · Google Doc- Partner/ & Group Sign-Up · Course Calendar
|
| Application
Learners will generate a list of playground components they would like to see as part of a newly constructed playground and create a cost and safety comparison for those components. |
Review and assess available resources and data to identify possible components that would be a best-fit for our school in the areas of cost and safety. | · Week 2 Discussion Post
· Google Slides Template- My Dream Playground · Google Sheets- Cost/Safety Table Template · Google Docs- Formal Playground Proposal Template
|
| Integration
Learners will be able to create a three-dimensional model of their playground components using Scratch. |
Using prior analysis, design a three-dimensional rendering of the playground you would like to see built. | · Week 3 Discussion Post
· Scratch Introduction Video · Link to Scratch Website Signup · Screencast Video- Using Scratch · Google Docs- Google Hangout Sign Up Form for Scratch “Tutoring” |
| Human Dimension/Caring
Learners will be able to evaluate other proposed designs and justify their chosen design. |
Learners will post a video blog that conveys their playground’s purpose and function. They will then watch and respond to videos recorded by their peers. They will end by writing a blog post about their learning in this activity. | · Week 4 Discussion Post
· Google Doc- Video Blog Requirements · Link- Seesaw · Seesaw Tutorial Video · Google Doc- Blog Post Requirements · Link- KidBlog · KidBlog Tutorial Video |
| Learning How to Learn
Learners will compile prices and safety reviews into a formal proposal and print their finalized three-dimensional playground for formal review. |
Learners will create their final proposal to submit to the BOE. They will add the proposal to their portfolios, and they will reflect upon their experience in this project. Additionally, they will explain how they plan to continue to build on their idea in the future. | · Week 5 Discussion Post
· Google Doc- Final Proposal Guidelines & Template · Google Doc- Seesaw Blog Post Guidelines · Google Doc- 3D Printing Guidelines |
I left Week 1 feeling as though I was excited and ready to build a course! In Week 2, it was time to begin the actual course design within Schoology. I began the week by continuing to use the Week 2 Planning Questions, and then I started building the shell of each week within my LMS. Through doing this, I began to see that more materials would be needed than I originally anticipated to ensure the success of all my learners. As I worked on building the organizational components of my course, I also created a detailed outline of the first half of my course. This would enable me to easily keep track of the items I needed to upload into the LMS, as well as ensure that I didn’t miss any important components that learners would need to be successful in the course.
In Week 3, I completed my detailed outline for the course. It is accessible here. This outline was essential to helping me begin the process of inputting my resources into Schoology. I was worried that it would be hard to plan my course materials and learn a new LMS. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the clarity and simplicity of Schoology. After only being on for a few minutes, I felt immediately at ease. This allowed me to focus my time and energy on developing the course materials.
When my course was nearly complete inside Schoology, I really began to think about how I could use what I’ve learned in this course to improve my school. I spent some time thinking about how I was going to use this LMS in the future, and I immediately identified to areas that would benefit from an upgrade to online learning.
The first topic that came to mind was World Language for Grades 3-5. While this would be a massive undertaking, it would be so beneficial for our students. Currently, students only receive language once a week in 6th grade. However, the State of New Jersey mandates that students receive World Cultures in grades 3-6. I envision a course that is broken into three different units, one that could be covered by each grade level. It could be vertically and horizontally aligned, as well as self-paced. This would allow students to work on mostly new content in a way that best fits their understanding, and it would also provide teachers with more opportunity to support students in this area. Teachers would be able to use a blended approach to support students. Additionally, the online course would allow future teachers to see a child’s progress and immediately equip them to provide individualized education. This would be extremely helpful for the Spanish teacher when she receives the students in 6th grade.
The second course I would like to see move online would be a course on Money in 2nd Grade Math. Students seem to spend so little time learning about actual dollars and cents, and many of them believe that a debit card is magical. I would love to plan an online unit that uses virtual manipulatives, coding, videos, scenarios, and projects to help students really grasp the importance of money. I believe there would be much that could be included in the course, such as budgets, saving, tracking funds, shopping lists, etc. I also think that using an online course would help the young students get comfortable with navigating a virtual classroom and show them the limitless possibilities that exist for their future education.
After entering my last piece of information into my module, it was important to take some time to analyze my final product. I asked two of my closest teaching friends, my principal, and my curriculum lead to take a look at the final product. As I talked with each of them, I jotted down a few notes. I also reviewed my course using the OSCQR 3.0 rubric for course design. This helped me to really focus on changes that I would need to make my course as effective as possible.
Overall, I’m extremely proud of the way that my course turned out. If you would like to view it, you may click on the link below and use the course code. Happy exploring!
Schoology, Access Code: 474C7-NMGDP
Caleigh Heenan 