Edited by Margaret Elizabeth Richardson, Friday, 30 Apr 2021, 09:37
Following the given process to create a course was very interesting. My aim was to
prepare a digital skills course for Middle School Teachers who will need to
support their students in the development of these skills in the context of
their own subject. To support further, the content, for the teachers, will be based around a
deepening understanding of the understanding the MYP pedagogy
I first
designed my course outlining a list of topics based in work I have done previously, focusing on
efficient search techniques and evaluation of sources, followed by
collaboration online and creating
presentations, videos and podcasts. This fits with the MYP Inquiry based curriculum where students are expected to work collaboratively on research projects. In some cases teachers set this task and provide little support for the development for research and digital skills.
Initially I imagined that the development of research, digital and collaboration skills would be mainly
within the school community.
Once I
began to search the OERs, I found resources which would
widen the scope and at the same time change my priorities for eth course. The course from Saylor: LiDA100:
Learning in a Digital Age drew my attention to the important of digital
citizenship which is especially important when working with teens. It is something which I have always
encouraged teachers to include as part of what they teach rather than a stand-alone lesson teaching skills which may be later forgotten or ignored.
Digital citizenship is something which I think needs to become habitual
and part of the school culture and personal value systems.
Upon
further searching I found the Open Learn course materials: Digital
Skills: Succeeding in a digital world
This made me think again and
refocus. From the title this is exactly
what is needed for both teachers and their students. I
began to consider restructuring the course based around digital
citizenship and building community, knowing that the tech tools will
follow as tools of eth trade. Follow the spirit of the
MYP inquiry approach, I would now base
the course around questions such as:
Why do I need to be
successful in a digital world?
Why are digital skills
necessary?
Why should I have a positive
online profile?
Why is this important for
teens?
Why is it necessary to
evaluate online sources and check their attribution?
How do I created a positive
online profile?
How do I help my students to
created a positive online profile?
How do I search for and
evaluate sources?
How do I contribute to a
supportive online community/
How do I build beneficial
relationships online?
How do I become successful in
the digital world?
The use
of both the Open Learn and the Saylor materials is possible under the CC Share
alike attribution with the provision that individual resources used within the
course may have a different attribution and will need to be checked before use. Adaptions may be made as long as the original
sources and authors are credited. In
addition the Open Learn clearly explains their guidelines around non-commercial
use. For this course it may be that as a
professional development course for teachers, used in one of two ways:
In-house
with no additional charge,
Advertised more widely and
presented with for a fee.
To use
the Open learn materials in the second case, they would need to be significantly adapted and
supported, with fees set at a level which cover these costs.
These OER
materials are excellent resources to develop the chosen course. Both have far more than I could use for the length of the course I am to design. Time wise, I would first take time to review
all materials, before deciding which to use, adapt or re-make. I feel secure in basing my course using these
researched and well prepared courses. I
frequently develop courses based resources from the internet which I would then
inform my development as I use or adapt as needed for my context.
Following
this exercise makes me see that I need to check more carefully for the CC
attribution when I am searching for
resources and background for a course I am preparing.
In addition, I can see the benefit of starting with one of the given
OERs as this would save me time, giving me reputable sources and narrowing the pool for my search.
Developing an OER course (H817 W8)
Following the given process to create a course was very interesting. My aim was to prepare a digital skills course for Middle School Teachers who will need to support their students in the development of these skills in the context of their own subject. To support further, the content, for the teachers, will be based around a deepening understanding of the understanding the MYP pedagogy
I first designed my course outlining a list of topics based in work I have done previously, focusing on efficient search techniques and evaluation of sources, followed by collaboration online and creating presentations, videos and podcasts. This fits with the MYP Inquiry based curriculum where students are expected to work collaboratively on research projects. In some cases teachers set this task and provide little support for the development for research and digital skills.
Initially I imagined that the development of research, digital and collaboration skills would be mainly within the school community.
Once I began to search the OERs, I found resources which would widen the scope and at the same time change my priorities for eth course. The course from Saylor: LiDA100: Learning in a Digital Age drew my attention to the important of digital citizenship which is especially important when working with teens. It is something which I have always encouraged teachers to include as part of what they teach rather than a stand-alone lesson teaching skills which may be later forgotten or ignored. Digital citizenship is something which I think needs to become habitual and part of the school culture and personal value systems.
Upon further searching I found the Open Learn course materials: Digital Skills: Succeeding in a digital world This made me think again and refocus. From the title this is exactly what is needed for both teachers and their students. I began to consider restructuring the course based around digital citizenship and building community, knowing that the tech tools will follow as tools of eth trade. Follow the spirit of the MYP inquiry approach, I would now base the course around questions such as:
The use of both the Open Learn and the Saylor materials is possible under the CC Share alike attribution with the provision that individual resources used within the course may have a different attribution and will need to be checked before use. Adaptions may be made as long as the original sources and authors are credited. In addition the Open Learn clearly explains their guidelines around non-commercial use. For this course it may be that as a professional development course for teachers, used in one of two ways:
To use the Open learn materials in the second case, they would need to be significantly adapted and supported, with fees set at a level which cover these costs.
These OER materials are excellent resources to develop the chosen course. Both have far more than I could use for the length of the course I am to design. Time wise, I would first take time to review all materials, before deciding which to use, adapt or re-make. I feel secure in basing my course using these researched and well prepared courses. I frequently develop courses based resources from the internet which I would then inform my development as I use or adapt as needed for my context.
Following this exercise makes me see that I need to check more carefully for the CC attribution when I am searching for resources and background for a course I am preparing. In addition, I can see the benefit of starting with one of the given OERs as this would save me time, giving me reputable sources and narrowing the pool for my search.