Tools in future

When I started this course, I had little Web 2.0 tool use. LinkedIn for professional contacts and Facebook for personal contacts were my primary tools and even there I was often just a lurker. 

Exploring the tools this semester has opened up a world of new tools and ideas. Below is a list of a few tools I plan to continue using. 

I have really enjoyed the suggestions for resources and events that I have found on Twitter. I plan to continue to engage here and I am working on setting up new connections on a true account with my name.

The infographics and visual suggestions on Pinterest provide me useful summaries and examples for topic and format ideas.  

The recipe and accessibilty tip sharing communities on subreddits have peaked my interest and I plan to continue to follow.

I have been loading my Diigo library with links and articles that I had saved in my email.  I haven't found many public Diigo Groups but I may check this out more in the future.

I will continue to use Marco Polo with my family and friends who appreciate the video share.  Used it this weekend to share animal pictures from the NC Zoo, worth a trip if you like Zoos.

I hope to use Padlet/Jamboard, Google maps, and Hypothes.is in my future teaching. 

Which tools will you continue to use?  

Why I (might) start a blog

While taking this course, I have been offering workshops to faculty at my work instution on different design topics. Our senior instructional designer joins me and chimes in to support if needed.  Overall the workshops have gone well.  The topics I have covered so far are course to module mapping, SLO drafting, Using BB Ally. Coming up are two more on principles of motivation and pairing assessments to SLOs. 

This had made me wonder how I could share the examples I have gained and my reflection thoughts with others at my university. In the spring I facilitated a faculty staff learning community focused on universal design for learning. As part of this project we created a Canvas site with resources and examples.  However, adding new faculty into the site creates a little extra work. 

So it seems that a more open space may be helpful.  I tried a Google site before but that was rarely used. Our university is switching to teams so that may be an option. I considered a Padlet board but I am not sure faculty will participate comfortably.  I also wondered about Diigo but I think a little more narrative would be nice. I could share the slides on Slideshare but I want to share more than the slides. 

So maybe a blog where I can connect to different resources and allow others to comment with their experiences?  

What do you think, what are new ways outside of an institutional LMS that you would share a variety of instructional design ideas?  

Overcoming the fear of posting

I started this course with a real anxiety around posting. I am not sure what started this fear, maybe of saying something others thought was stupid or sharing something that was obvious to everyone else.  Not sure. But I know that I would type everything out very quickly and post before I could think about it.

This is a signifcant take away from this course for me. I have much less anxiety over posting.  A little anxiety is probably good so that I don't get too crazy :). 

I have formed or dusted off my personal accounts and have began to build connections there under my name.  I still have a way to go with producing and sharing my own content but I am doing much better than I would have thought.  

I appreciate that this course pushed me, which is why I signed up. I am also glad that I had this experience as a student so that I can support my own students if needed in the future.

I hope you didn't have fear in the first place, but if you did, I hope you are more relaxed as well. Cheers!

Games, Produsage, Authentic, Oh Yeah

 Talking to my daughter tonight, I had a bit of an aha moment. I have been playing the Design Home game for about 2 years. My daughter just started playing on her own a few months ago.The game involves using furniture to design rooms in different homes. It also has a component where you can design your own home from the drywall up.  It also encourages voting on designs and lists the top designs each week for everyone to review.

She was describing her experience with the game to me.  What level she is on, how she is scoring, and what she is spending her time on. 

What we discovered is that while we are both playing the game, we are engaging with it in completely different ways.  She really enjoys the build your own home component which includes picking a city and an exterior of the home.  I hardly use this part of the game at all and have never chagned the city or exterior of the home.  Instead, I really enjoy the challenges and seeing how my designs score against others. She isn't all that intersted in how she score or compares.

What we do agree on is that we both love that it is based on real furniture and an approximate actual price.  It is authentic enough that we actually go to furniture stores and see the products. We happen to currently be living in one of the furniture capitals of the US so there are huge warehouses and display centers that we can visit. 

This just really made me think about how using a Web 2.0 tool can allow different learners to engage in the way that connects for them but may be completely different than others. Nothing different that we have discussed in class, but hit me in a new way tonight.  So excited to share this produsage experience with my daughter and excited about the possibilities for my students.

WCAG global?

 Web content accessibilty guidelines (WCAG) offers guidelines for making web content accessible. These guidelines were developed through by the Web Accessibility Initiative via the W3C process with participation from around the world. They have become the international standard.

In the spirit of this weeks topic, there is variation on how accessibility is handled in different countries. This resource lays out laws and policies by country. It is a litlte out of date although a revision is thought to be in progress.

I noticed that the US has 5 different laws for accessibility whereas most others have 1 or 2. So while countries figure out what laws, policies, evaluations processes need to be in place. As a designer I hope that I can continue to select accessible tools and design with accessibility in mind.  

Pehaps that is the first step, to recognize that nationallity doesn't change one's experience with disability.  Perhaps we each can work a little harder to make a more inclusive world. 

Living Syllabus?

Yesterday we were having a discussion about course syllabi. Specifically, is it a course contract between the instructor and the student or is it more of an operating manual? Is their an agreed upon definition or do we just assume everyone knows?

Much of the discussion evolved around whether students do or should have input into a syllabus.  If it is a contract one would assume both have read and agree? Do both parties need to sign?  

So this made me wonder, is their a role for produsage in syllabus development?  Should syllabi be a collaborative effort between faculty and students? If so, should this be at the beginning of the semester? That seems like it might be difficult to get the semester started. 

If not at the beginning, should the student role be throught the semester? Another topic came up as to whether it is truly appropriate for a syllabus to be a living document?  If it is, does that allow for students to have a role throught the semester?

If you teach have you ever made changes from your syllabus? Did you engage students?  As a student, did you experience a syllabus change? How did that make you feel?

What do you think?

Connected students = Connected alumni

I have been thinking about the debate about social media in higher education. I appreciate the concerns about individual versus group assessment.  But I wondered about something else. 

Alumni Development

Does participating in professional communities of practice while a student lead to improve alumni connections, networking, and relations?

I could see this benefitting the university and its members in a few ways. 

1) Students can connect to alumni and practitioners on a regular basis for authentic learning. Also they can continue those connections in a separate space if agreed upon. 

2) Students see how they can remain connected to the university, or find their way back.

3) Stronger connections may lead to improved job placement.

4) Practitioners can be connected with some of the latest resources or research.

5) Alumni who are connected may be more likely to make financial contributions to the university. 

I am thinking about the possibility of this type of activity for my produsage assignment.  Stay tuned.