Introduction
Hello, my name is Barb Hall, and I'd like to welcome you to my e-portfolio. This website is a collection of my artifacts, reflections, and comments, all gleaned from my experiences as a Master of Distance Education Student at Athabasca University, and any relevant experience that follows. I started my studies at Athabasca University in the Fall 2009 session, as a non-program student. I had been eyeing the AU calendar for several years, and had wanted to return to graduate school following a lengthy absence from my undergrad days. I was going through some difficult times. Both of my parents became ill and had to be placed in nursing homes. It was my responsibility to ensure that their needs were met, and in so doing, I became overwhelmed with the day to day tasks that came with it. I needed an escape from a world that had become so emotionally, physically, and financially draining. My decision to start school was a matter of finding the funds, and digging deep to find the dedication and motivation required to complete the program. Once I started, I didn't look back. I have enjoyed every course, every assignment, and every experience in the program, and can honestly say without exaggerating, that the progr saved my life. I am currently self-employed as a Piano Tuner/Technician. It is a very gratifying and interesting way to make a living. The training for this type of work is limited, as there is only one program in Canada, and only a handful in the U.S. One of the reasons I decided to pursue the MDE at AU was initially to learn how to create an online or hybrid style program in Piano Technology that would make it possible for anyone interested in the program to study at their own pace. I like the flexibility in an online program and want to make other learner's opportunities possible, just AU has done for me. I naively and truly believed that I could graduate with a working model of the program. I now know how difficult it is to create just one hour of instructional material, or a 3 minute video. What I created was just the beginning of what will be a very long process. As my learning in the program progressed and I acquired new skills, I realized the potential that I could achieve with these skills had a much larger scope. I was fortunate that there was tremendous flexibility in subject matter permitted for most of the required assignments. While many of my assignments dealt with the steps required in developing an online program in Piano Technology, there were some that did not. The courses were well designed and permitted me to experiment with subject matters like instructional analysis and design that I had no previous experience with. I was taught how to apply this theory to any program and look forward to a career in instructional design and creating courses for other students like myself who appreciate the opportunity to study online. The artifacts I have chosen for my capstone experience are listed below. It was hard to choose such a small number of them, since I enjoyed every assignment in every course. I chose those that would best demonstrate my competencies in as many areas as possible. The result is a selection that is as different as it was interesting for me.
Compentencies and Related Artifacts
Artifacts Artifact 1 - MOODLE Instructional Unit - MDDE604 - Reflections Program Website (Including link to MOODLE Instructional Unit)
This was a project that I created outside of the course, to serve as an information portal for the Moodle course I created. I have experience in web design, and took advantage of the google site platform (the same one used for this portfolio) to design and develop it. It was a fun project and functionality to register and pay for the program will be introduced at a later date, when it is ready for commercialization. I also embedded links to connect the site visitor to social networking sites, where updates to the program will be published. The instructional unit can be accessed here below, from the "Login" tab. Please sign in id and password provided to you for the oral defense. You will arrive at the program page, and under the category "Piano Tuning, Regulation and Repair", you will see two active courses. You have been enrolled in PT100 - Piano Lounge, and PT101 - Foundations of Piano Technology. The courses should be taken in that order. The Moodle instructional Unit and the program website I created demonstrate problem solving, analysis and decision making competencies. Specifically, this assignment taught me how to recognize the problem of a non-existent online program in Piano Technology, and how to find out information that would help me design and develop one. I presented arguments that would lead to a workable solution, and was able to justify my solution of the problem. I developed the program website to give visitors a glimpse of the rationale for the program, and how I see it eventually coming together. Designing both the Moodle unit and the program website made me take various learning theories and methods into consideration.
The instructional unit also demonstrated competencies in instructional design and development. I was able to apply learning theories learned in MDDE603, and develop an instructional product using Smith & Ragan's (2005) instructional design and development models. Learning that the method of presenting material varied depended on the type of learning, whether it was motor skills, problem-solving, concept learning, or procedures, was significant for me because I hadn't realized that until I took this course.
Because I was able to create my instructional unit on my own personal server, and not the one at AU, I was able to incorporate many features that, for security reasons, were not permitted on the AU server. I was able to use Javascript and embedding, which, according to my prof and peer review partner, made the unit that much more user friendly. My knowledge of technology and being able to apply it here was one of the highlights of my time here, and my instructor's comments of "wow", solidified that opinion for me.
If you do not see an embedded web page below, please click here (new window opens).
Final Report This was the
final assignment in this course. It was made up of two components. The
first part is the completion of our instructional unit demonstrated above. The second part,
included here, was a short report on our reflections about what
constituted good instruction, and how we felt our instructional unit met
those requirements. It was based on contributions to the first forum
in the class entitled "What Makes Instruction Great". Since my
background is non-educational, most of my contributions to that forum were anecdotal
and not grounded in theory. What this exercise did was teach me how to
do self evaluation and take what I learned in this course to determine
if my instructional unit could be considered great. Both the comments
from the instructor and the effort put into the unit indicated that I
had met or exceeded most of the requirements to make instruction great.
This report demonstrated the instructional design competency to discuss personal perspectives and epistemological orientations, in that I had to address the various types of learners that could show an interest in this type of program.
We were asked to continue
the analysis of our instructional unit, but this time we formed a
partnership with a classmate and did a formative evaluation of each other's
instructional unit. When you are a subject matter expert in something,
it is very hard to put yourself in the position of somebody who knows
nothing about it. The review I wrote was for a college information data
management system, and my program was in Piano
Technology. Both writing and receiving the review was a very rewarding
process. While reviewing someone else's work, I was not only thinking
of ways it could be improved, I was thinking what I could do for my own
instructional unit. The remarks I received about my unit were extremely
helpful and I adopted every suggestion that was made. It was a great
learning experience, and made the changes for my instructional unit
extremely worth while. The result is a unit that is more concise,
provides better feedback and is clearer to understand for anyone not
familiar with the subject. It taught me how to give and receive constructive criticism, through effective collaboration, clear writing, and clear articulation of ideas. Even though the assignment only carried a small percentage of our final grade, it became one of the most memorable ones, and possibly the one I learned more about myself from than any other assignment.
Artifact 2 - Personal Learning Theory - MDDE603 - Reflections
Just as there are some people who, when starting a new book, read the last page before returning to the beginning, I found myself doing that with all of my courses, and when I did it with MDDE603, I had a slight panic attack when I read the requirements for the last assignment. As many other assignments that I had done to this point in the program, this one said to use a situation "in your own teaching context". I am not a teacher, and when I approached Mary Kennedy about how to proceed, she wisely told me to consider the assignment from a learner's point of view.
Up to that point, I knew the "what" that I was learning a lot at AU, and I had a mission to create my own program, so I knew the "why". The "when" was when it was convenient, and the "where" was anywhere I had an internet connection. What I didn't understand was the "how". This assignment gave me the opportunity to explore that further, and demonstrated competency in describing my personal perspectives on learning theory, and enhanced my analysis skills.
I discovered that there were many approaches that worked together to help me learn. The "how" question was answered with the following principles explained in Driscoll (2005):
This assignment demonstrates competency in the analysis and design of my instructional unit, and prepared me for MDDE604, which would use these learning theories as the foundation for its development.
Artifact 3 - Business Plan - MDDE605 - Reflections
I had a slight advantage in this course, that I gathered many of my classmates didn't. For the first time, I was not expected to have any teaching or instructional design knowledge, as this course approached a learning enterprise from a strictly business standpoint. Lucky for me, my undergraduate degree was in business, so I felt I had a slight edge, especially when it came to producing financial statements.
I know from experience that a business, strategic and change management plan is created for entrepreneurs who wish to obtain financing to help them get started. It is like an organization's resume, of sorts. This assignment was a cumulative effort throughout the entire semester, that resulted in a finished plan that was good to take to any bank.
My lack of experience in education enterprises from a business perspective may have resulted in unrealistic numbers, but the exercise was very meaningful, and eye-opening for me. Naturally, because I had no involvement in an enterprise other than the one I will be creating someday, I had to create a plausible example. I chose my pet project, the Piano Technology Program. I had never thought of it from a management perspective, and this assignment made it necessary for me to do so.
This assignment demonstrated competencies in problem solving, communication, and management. I had to provide a detailed overview of the problem situation (the lack of online training in Piano Technology), compare it to other face-to-face alternatives that were available, justify the solution to the problem that I had chosen, and present it in report form. The report explained the problems in terms that would suit a variety of readers, those familiar with the problem, and those who were not. I explained and articulated my position well in this assignment.
Artifact 4 - Feminist Theory Position Paper - MDDE613 - Reflections
This was the final assignment for MDDE613. Up to this point, I had shed many tears in this course, wondering if I would ever "get it". I felt out of my element in most of the conversations, yet scored well on forum participation. I had at one time even considered withdrawing from the course and choosing another elective, but decided to stick it out to the end. The other assignments were meaningful, but what I liked most about this assignment was that we were given many options on the subject matter. One of them was introducing a community college to feminist learning theory, and suggesting the use of it in programs. On top of everything else, this was a position paper, and I'd only ever done one before, in this course.
I approached the assignment with excitement because even though we had discussed many other adult learning theories, only scant mention was made of feminist learning theory. This meant doing considerable research in an area that I hadn't ventured into before in any other course or any other assignment in this course.
While I didn't touch upon all of the research and writing competencies, I did demonstrate several of them, as I ventured into this unknown territory. I was able to gather information from many sources on the subject, and determine through further research the reliability of the information I obtained, and I made rough notes in critique of these sources. I approached the assignment as if it were a speech to a group of distinguished educators who may have had doubts about feminist learning theory, or even what it meant. I believe I created an argument that would have given the audience pause, and may have even convinced them that incorporating this theory into their college courses would be a sound decision for everybody, and communicated it well so that they could better understand what they were being asked to do. And above all, I made my position clear and persuasive, which was the primary purpose of the assignment, and conveyed it effectively through written communication.
I was also introduced to bell hooks, who I now know to be a leading and highly influential scholar on the subject. I enjoyed reading her work and found her extensive research easy to apply to this assignment.
Artifact 5 - A Comparative Study of Web Conferencing Software - MDDE610 - Reflections
The assignment demonstrated every component of the technology competency well. In it, we were required to choose a topic of interest about technology and form groups to create a presentation on how it would benefit a DE environment. Our group presentation was on Web Conferencing software. The entire class could view the presentation, and posed a number of discussion questions in the presentation. From these questions, we were expected to monitor conversations in the class forums as well. We chose four diverse web conferencing technologies, and presented an easy to read comparison of features table. Since team members were from across Canada, we used synchronous technology to meet and discuss strategy. Each of us researched our own chosen software, and then prepared it for the presentation website. Each of the technologies had a detailed explanation of its pros and cons in real-life use. The application of each choice in a real-life context was justified, and included a "best practice" section.
The communication competency with respect to group work was well demonstrated in this assignment too. Even though we lived in different time zones, had diverse backgrounds, and kept different schedules, we were able to make equal and significant contributions to the group collaborative process. Designing the presentation was also a collaborative effort, and all participants had input regarding its final content and appearance. We communicated both asynchronously and synchronously to complete the assignment.
One of the titles reviewed "Google Wave" no longer exists and "Sococo", once free, is now a paid application with a 30 day free trial, and looks completely different than the presentation video. Google Wave didn't catch on, the way its founders thought it would, and Sococo was in its infancy when this report was completed. If this report would be updated, it would most likely include new web-based free ad-supported titles that are available such as "Anymeeting" and "Vyew". Both were used by classmates in other courses to create online presentations.
Final Reflections
As I near the end of this three year journey, several questions come to mind. After going full throttle with the program, many semesters doing two courses, I wonder, "What will I miss"?
I will miss the interaction with new like-minded yet incredibly diverse friends and profs from around the globe, and the adrenaline rush I got when submitting an assignment. I'll miss the excitement of receiving and unwrapping a new set of course materials and putting the ones from last semester in a safe place in my growing library. I'll miss the daily challenge I faced and conquered as an AU student while I tried to juggle work and family responsibilities. I'll miss signing in with my student id and password several times a day to check for updates in forum conversations I was a part of, and those that I wasn't. I'll miss the pride in receiving an awesome grade for an assignment I found difficult, or one I thought I didn't understand well, only to find out I had nailed it all along. I'll miss not having a reason to bow out of some function I didn't want to do anyways, and telling friends "I'm too busy, I have homework to do". I'll miss the "interest only" payments on my student loan that becomes a regular loan one year after I graduate. But most of all, I will miss having my mind stimulated and pushed to limits I never thought possible.
To be fair, I also have to ask "What won't I miss"? I won't miss falling asleep with a textbook on my chest every night. I look forward to reading a trashy novel or two that I can rip through in one or two nights. I won't miss buying printer ink at an alarming rate after printing off hundreds of pages of articles to be read, or assignments to be proof-read. I won't miss feeling overwhelmed, even though I was often in good company with classmates, and we often pulled each other through that feeling. I won't miss the "forum: cde digest email" that comes to my mail box every day. I won't miss feeling so tired that I could cry, and often felt that way. I won't miss having to push my two kitties away every time they craved attention and I was on an assignment deadline.
So what is next for me? I'll be taking a bit of a break from learning, but I know I will be doing something else soon, and am excited about the numerous opportunities that doing my MDE has created for me. I am so proud of myself because I come from a background with no teaching or course development experience, and have somehow figured out a way to find a place in every course I took, something, I believe, that was a joint effort between AU and myself. They created the opportunity, and I grabbed it.
References
Driscoll, M. (2005). Psychology of learning for instruction. Boston, MA: Pearson Education Inc.
Smith, P., & Ragan, T. (2005). Instructional design, 3rd edition. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
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