Final Project

Well, here it is - my final project.

The following is description of what was expected in our written paper and technology product:

Written Paper
You will create a unit of instruction on the topic of your choice within which a technology that you have “mastered” is integrated to improve student learning. The instructional unit, which acts as the setting within which this technology is integrated, should be described with a focus on the design process. This written portion of the project should set the stage for how the technology is used. This paper should show an understanding and ability to implement the design process and include topics such as: audience, definition of the problem, goals and objectives, learning and teaching styles, implementation, assessment, etc. As with all projects completed in this course, you are asked to use correct spelling and grammar, write in a scholarly manner, and use references where necessary to strengthen and support your ideas. All references should follow APA guidelines. This paper should be no longer than ten pages in length.

Technology Products
Depending on your project choice, your technology products should include 1) all technology-related instructional products you create for use in your unit and, when appropriate 2) a model of a student project resulting from your lesson.

As mentioned previously in Week 13, my unit of instruction was a teacher training course covering the use of social bookmarking for sharing resources online. As also previously mentioned, my social bookmarking tool of choice was Diigo, primarily because of its popularity, great mix of features and ease of use. I also developed my course using a free online course authoring called Udutu. I decided to go with Udutu rather one of the mainstream course authoring tools (e.g. Adobe Captivate, Articulate Studio, etc.) for a few reasons: 1) Cost (Udutu is free), 2) Ease of use (Udutu is fairly intuitive), 3) Accessibility (Udutu courses can be accessed from any computer). Although use of Udutu isn’t so widespread, I still feel like it afforded me a valuable first experience in eLearning course development.

Aside from the tools, working on the paper was also highly beneficial. Reflecting back on all the theories we covered over the term and actually applying them in a lesson was priceless. It felt like everything we learned about finally paid off.

All in all, no doubt it was a lot of work, but an experience I will value for some time to come. I honestly never expected to learn so much in just this one introductory course. I am really excited about what other opportunities future classes in the Masters program will present.

My written paper can be found here: Final Project - Paper (http://bit.ly/iS6Bol)
My technology product can be viewed here: Final Project - Technology Product (http://bit.ly/iHoCFb)
The accompanying storyboard for my technology product can be found here: Final Project - Storyboard (http://bit.ly/jDbD6M)

My presentation is here (as posted in Week 14): Final Project - Presentation (http://bit.ly/iiJjmk)

Any comments and feedback and greatly welcomed and appreciated.