CECS 5510 - Reflections at the 10th Week

With only six weeks left in CECS 5510, Technology Based Learning Environments, there is not much time to complete the course project. However, I am right on target to complete the project within the time frame of the course. During the first weeks of the course, we were given the task to complete our own timeline for the components we needed to create for our own online classroom. At the time, I spent many hours developing my timeline so that I would have a balanced work load in completing the work. All in all, I have been able to stay very close to the timeline. At times, I have even been able to work ahead on the timeline.

As of now, I have roughly seventy-five percent of the course completed. The next large task will be to complete the job aid that will accompany the project. In previous projects for instructional design, the job aid has been the most challenging part for me. Within the job aid, I need to have instructions ready for someone besides myself to facilitate the course. This task has been difficult for me previously because I tend to assume the other person will know what to do in some instances. I have to make a conscious effort to address all aspects of the course as if the person has never seen any of the components before.

However, through the peer review process for this course, I have been made aware of areas that someone outside of our school district might not fully understand. For instance, a couple of the initiatives that our district has put in place were not common knowledge for my peer reviewer. Once I explained them to her, the activities I created made more sense. I will also need to incorporate these explanations into my job aid.

As far as implementation, I will not be able to fully implement the course until next summer. This course will be offered to any returning teachers that need further assistance with using the Canvas LMS. Additionally, new teachers hired through the summer will also have the opportunity to complete the course during the summer. We will also offer the online course during the first semester of school for those teachers that could not complete the course during the summer. I look forward to the first group of teachers taking the course. I believe that once I have students in the course, I will have some areas that I will need to update after receiving their feedback on the course evaluation.