This course focused on exploring ways technology can be used in learning environments.  Each week, I reviewed, analyzed, and critically evaluated current research on the effective use of technology in education.  The final project was to create a series of four instructional learning activities focused on a single topic that is entirely technology-based while supporting Bloom's Digital Taxonomy.    

​

My topic for this course project was Healthy Habits.  The intended audience for my mock four-part course was middle- and high-school students (Grades 6 to 12).  Students learn to identify positive and negative health habits and understand why positive habits are essential and why negative habits are counterproductive. The following four topic lessons presented this information.

​

Lesson 1:  What Are Healthy Habits?

Lesson 2:  Why Are Healthy Habits Important?

Lesson 3:  What Are Negative Health Habits?

Lesson 4:  What Do Healthy Habits Look Like?

​

​

PROJECTS

​

Project 1 (U2):  Project Overview: Healthy Habits 

Student Example: Healthy Habits Mind Map (Lesson #1): "What are Healthy Habits?

​

Project 2 (U4):  Presenting Information: Healthy Habits

Student Example:  Narrated Presentation Video (Lesson #2): "Why Are Healthy Habits Important?"

​

Project 3 (U6):  Interactive Technology: Negative Health Habits: "What Are Negative Health Habits?"

Student Example: In this project, I challenged my mock students to create an interactive game-based learning activity that contrasts positive and negative health habits.  This is my example (Lesson #3).  

​

Project 4 (U8):  Emerging Technology: Illustrating Healthy Habits
Student Example: Speed Round Video (Lesson #4): "What Does Being Healthy Look Like?"

​

​

WEEKLY LEARNING CHALLENGES

 

Unit 1:  Introduction Video (not posted for privacy)

​

Unit 2:  The challenge was to create a survey and subsequent mind map depicting the data received.  I created a survey for six colleagues to provide feedback on our monthly town hall events.

​

Unit 3:  The challenge was to select an internet-based data resource and create a learning activity that incorporates using that data.  I used the OCEARCH Global Shark Tracker to create a 16-Question learning task for middle- to high-school students.

​

Unit 4:  The challenge was to create an active learning presentation.  I created a narrated video titled 10 Good Study Habits for College Students.  My experience is shared in this U4 Discussion Board post.

​

Unit 5:  The challenge was to use an online resource to create a simple game that could be used to teach a key learning concept.  The goal was to create a game that actually uses the concept being learned rather than being about the learning concept.  I used Nearpod to create an untitled "matching game" that uses healthy habits as the learning topic.  My experience is shared in this U5 Discussion Board post. 

​

Unit 6:  The challenge was to create an avatar and experience an online virtual activity.  My experience is shared in this U6 Discussion Board post.

​

Unit 7:  The challenge was to use a mobile learning development tool to create a mobile learning activity for a specific learning objective.  I created a short m-learning course on how to feed my dog using the Easygenerator authoring app.  My experience is shared in this U7 Discussion Board post and these screenshots. 

​

Unit 8:  The challenge was to select an emerging technology and to define and describe the possible ways that technology might impact a specific learning activity.  I chose to consider how Augmented Reality (AR) could be used in a corporate environment.  My thoughts are shared in this U8 Discussion Board post.    

​

​

BLOGS

​The following three blogs are a three-part reflection series to demonstrate my understanding and share my experiences using various technology tools.  

​

Blog 1  (U3)

Blog 2  (U5)

Blog 3  (U7)

​

​

Final Reflection

​

As I conclude this course, I remember an adage, "You get what you put in."  I have worked incredibly hard and tirelessly to produce high-quality and well-thought-out digital materials and lesson planning for this course.  While every course demands my utmost attention, EDU625 required me to level up my game even more because of the extra Learning Challenges added to each week and the type of projects assigned.  Sink or swim, I tightened up my running shoes and completed an eight-week educational test of endurance that makes me proud of the outcome.  

 

One of my most enjoyable experiences in this course was learning about Nearpod, an online educational tool that easily creates interactive, gamified learning lessons.  It is free, user-friendly, and an extremely effective approach to engaging learners.  For example, rather than using a traditional True/False approach, I created this activity to contrast positive and negative habits and this "matching game" that uses healthy habits as the learning topic.  Another favorite technology was using Canva to create learning presentation videos like this one and this one.  Although, due to Canva's limitations, I spent considerable time teaching myself to merge technologies, such as Canva, Camtasia, and background music from the royalty-free site, Pixabay.  However, I am better for this time-consuming experience.  I would not have had a reason or the time to "fun explore" these tasks and technologies on my own, so I appreciated being held accountable for acquiring this desired knowledge.

 

Hands down, the technology I least enjoyed working with was virtual worlds.  I am not a fan of virtual worlds aside from augmented realities used for learning and discovery, such as museum tours, NASA testing, and medical procedural practice.  Virtual worlds used for gaming should be easy for novices to begin, which, in my case, during the Learning Challenge, they were not.  Also, it would be great if there were some standardization like Microsoft apps have with their toolbars.  I am a quick learner and veteran tech user who is not afraid to push buttons around technology, fail, and figure things out.  Yet, of all the technology I've ever seen, building "virtual game worlds" feels like nonsense to me and something only a niche audience would enjoy.      

 

The Learning Challenges, Projects, and Discussion Board conversations in this course have taught me that there are various ways to teach (perhaps) any topic.  By witnessing the Learning Challenge outcomes of my classmates, my view of technology for teaching and learning changed.  For example, I considered how I might have approached these challenges using my classmates' topics.  Using my course project as an example, I chose the topic "Healthy Habits."  Before being given the dedicated time each week for these assignments, I would not have imagined the various creative ways to identify (mind maps), present (presentations), contrast (interactive games), and illustrate (speed-round videos) healthy habits.  It's impressive how a topic can be explored and educationally delivered in many ways.  

 

As for incorporating technology into my learning activities, I work in a corporate environment managing the delivery and tracking of global employee compliance courses.  I am fortunate to work alongside great L&D partners and have input into the content of these courses.  Embedding an interactive, gamified lesson plan like Nearpod would be extremely valuable and fun for employees.  From a communications perspective, I want to explore how animated or speed-round learning videos would be received in my work environment.  As a learner, I would enjoy receiving information in this way.   

 

While I am older than Generation Z, the coined digital natives, I "grew up" even earlier embracing technology and have watched it elevate in astonishing ways.  I became excited about technologies when taking an HTML course in the late 90s as a way to "do" something with the photos from a new digital camera (note this was before social media).  However, my interest had always been in communication and marketing viewpoints until this M.Ed. program.  It felt like a natural evolution for me to journey from communicating to educating, as they are not mutually exclusive. I have always been open-minded to emerging technologies, but immersing myself in learning about educational technology this past year has shown me digital tools I had never heard of nor conceptualized.  Therefore, it's difficult for me to suppose where technologies may take education in the next ten years, as I am still catching up to what currently exists.

 

Lastly, while not technologies, there are a few additional noteworthy takeaways I received from this course that I will not soon forget.  I found Bloom's Digital Taxonomy exceptionally valuable, as it offers a hierarchy of leveled (lower to higher) thinking skills in a digital environment.  This is invaluable when creating lesson plans or self-evaluating oneself on a project.  Also, my instructor, Dr. Martha Bless, gifted me with two important tips I can use in places outside this program.  She taught me about "essential questions" and how they differ from questions with absolute answers.  For example, when creating my lesson planning for this course, asking, "What are negative health habits?" is an essential question because answers will differ amongst people.  In other words, there is no right or wrong answer.  I love this new knowledge.  Dr. Bless also taught me that when creating a lesson plan, ask students reflective questions to evaluate their thinking and working process.  For example, instead of only asking, "What is the distance between Point A and Point B?" ask a student, "What was challenging about this question, and what feedback might you have for the designers of this map to alleviate this challenge?"  She told me that asking "why" (as opposed to "what") questions often allows students to reach higher levels of Bloom's Digital Taxonomy.  I soon realized that this is precisely what Post University does with my courses.  I find this brilliant.