1799
Course Overview (AKA Subject Outline)
1799
Course Overview (AKA Subject Outline)
Contact information: Dr. Selia Karsten and your best bet is e-mail selia.karsten@utoronto.ca
In this course, we meet in virtual classrooms. Our main classroom will be in C2C, where you will find different discussion groups to join. As well, you will be conducting chats. The other learning management system used is the BlackBoard system or U of T Portal. These tools give you variety in your online experience and with careful planning, you can visit all areas to read and write without going into information overload.
Being a practitioner of holistic
education methods, I have endeavored to model this approach in the online
version of the course. The focus is on collaboration and activities planned
are student-centred. I aim to be the "guide on the side" rather than the
"sage on the stage" and I want you to be more involved in process than
in product.
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Topics to explore may
be inspired by the following: (additional topics may be suggested)
1. The ideals of the holistic
approach to a specific subject area as supported by Internet resources.
2. The positive and negative
impact of computer technology on education (globally, provincially, etc.)
3. Dealing with technology
related fears and frustrations and with Technocentrism.
4. Researching and evaluating
web resources for holistic or arts education.
5. Creating web, or computer
based, holistic learning experiences.
6. Computer environments
for creative expression and self exploration: arts, music or multimedia
packages; presentation software, creation of web portfolios.
7. On-line communities of
teachers and learners and support groups. Computer mediated communication
- synchronous and asynchronous.
8. Projects involving online
collaboration among schools for enhancing inter cultural understanding
and global awareness.
9. Projects involving online
collaboration among professionals in the ‘real world’ and students in the
classroom.
10. Experiential learning
through computer simulations, micro worlds, AI, VR and Intelligent tutoring
systems
11. E-learning partnerships,
mentoring and coaching
13. Effective communications
with technicians, information overload and other aspects of working with
computers
14. Creation of subject
specific online activities to supplement and support current coursework
15. Web 2.0 and the impact
and use of such tools as are found for social networking, bookmarking,
etc. (example: Facebook)
1. Participation in online class conferences (40 points)
The primary class conference (for emerging teams) on various topics will be opened in C2C Discussion Forums. There will be forums for readings and for general discussions of course content. You will find a "Weekly Update", posted at the beginning of each week - these weekly notes help you keep on schedule and are required reading. Views are set up as meeting places for teams dealing with selected course topics. It is further recommended that teams use the Chat to plan and progress through their project, posting links to the chats in their Team View. You will also find Views for the Learning Partner Readings (developed with tools found in BlackBoard with results transferred to WebKF/KEC) and the Presentation of the Team Project and one for developing Individual Projects as well as for presenting Individual Projects.
Please note: Usually posted messages should not be too lengthy; you should aim for no more than one screenful. Although shorter messages are encouraged whenever possible - one-liners are discouraged. Your weekly contributions will not be measured by length but by quality. Your messages should indicate that you have read previous messages and have thought about them. It is quite important that you keep up with the messages posted. Find a system that works for you. Personal messages one-to-one are best by email or in the social cafe in Holistech2009.
Typically, you will see messages
posted since your last visit. When you read messages, mark them as "read".
Take note of the author, subject line and posting number so you can later
respond to those notes you plan to "build onto". It usually works
best to create your notes in WORD, spell check them, then paste them into
the message form on C2C. It is also helpful if you refer to the note
to which you are responding. At the bottom of the message form, there
is an option to insert the number of the note in your note. If you and
your team are planning a chat, for example, you may want to create a note
that is co-authored by all members of the team, then only one message is
needed and all can edit as to their time available to meet. You are expected
to contribute regularly to the views in WebKF. Namely to contribute meaningful
(like Goldilocks might have said - not too long, not too short - but "just
right") messages to the discussions on project topics in WebKF and to Readings.
2. Learning Reflections Journal and Reflective Paper/Final Project (30 points)
You are expected to keep a Learning Reflections Journal during the course. In this journal you may record your reactions, thoughts, emotions and feelings in relation to your learning experiences in the course. For instance, you may wish to discuss your experiences in learning new technologies, how you reacted to various challenges, triumphs and unexpected problems, or how you felt sitting at the computer for prolonged periods.
Those of you who are already at a more advanced level of experience with computer use and the types of applications introduced in this course will be required to act as coaches (or mentors) to classmates at a less experienced level. Those who act as coaches are encouraged to reflect in their journal about their learning experiences as coaches/mentors to their classmates. Mentors may want to experiment with "blogging" the journal. For more information on blogging, visit the blogger website.
Please note that this journal is not to be confused with a learning log, which would normally include the technical details of your activities at the computer. Keeping such learning logs is also highly recommended since it usually proves to be very beneficial to your learning. You may even wish to record such logs along with your reflections.
The reflective paper/final and the individual project, both to be submitted toward the end of the course, should refer to your learning experiences throughout this course, highlighting those experiences that were the most important or meaningful to you. Your Learning Reflections Journal should be the primary source in writing this paper (but not the only one). This paper also supports and reports on whatever project you have created. You are encouraged to cite, or to refer to, selected entries from your Journal as well as to other readings that have impacted this learning journey.
The reflective paper should be approximately 1,500 words and no more than 2,000 words. It is expected that you will submit this paper on completing your final project. It would be appreciated if your paper is produced according to proper academic standards; please include a cover sheet, page numbers and a bibliography. This document is submitted as an attachment to email (.doc or .rtf - not wpd). Ideally you will word process your paper using a reasonable size font (Arial 12 is good) and line and a half is fine - don't need to doublespace. A good file name to use is "yourname.rtf" and in the message you attach this to, I'd appreciate the following: a self-evaluation and the mark you believe you earned in the course and the link to your individual project. Please do not send your journal.
Your project will typically consist of a web-based, creative product. The product could be a piece of computer art or music, a computer presentation or web portfolio presenting yourself or some aspect of your life, or it could be a web resource or computer presentation for use as part of a holistic or aesthetic learning experience. Other types of projects might also be possible but need to be approved by the instructor. There is a View set up in WebKF where you can propose project ideas and get feedback from your classmates. There are numerous examples to be found in the Class Gallery at http://astralsite.com/1799/gallery.html
Please Note: It is considered unfair to "double dip" that is, to use a project you have already created for another course or purpose. You will need to do something expressly for this course, especially if it is building onto an existing project.
Also note: It is expected that your project will take you beyond the level of knowledge you have at the time you start this course. Remember to develop the project with some sense of context and with the awareness that it must communicate to other educators. For example, you will want to include an introduction, mission or purpose and share any how-to's or resources that help others take your ideas further.
3. Team Project:(30 points)
The team project will be
a web-based, creative product. The product is a Web site presenting
a Web resource related to the topic your team has chosen. Teams
will be made up of 4 members who will assist each other with technical
elements. Other types of projects might also be possible but need to be
approved by your professor. A brief project report will be created by members
of the team to summarize and present the project at completion; this will
be posted in the View for Team Presentations. (For projects of types other
than the ones described above a longer project report might be necessary;
more details on project reports will be given at a later date). Each team
will also prepare a peer evaluation for another team's project. Creating
this project may be done in a variety of web editors, building a Wiki together
is also possible.
Project sharing sessions: You will collaborate on this team project throughout the course, using the assigned Team View in WebKF as your meeting place. Chat sessions with your team are saved and posted to this view. The idea is for everyone to be able to follow the process of the building of these projects. Process is emphasized and is at least as important as the resulting product.
Participation in all course-related
conferences (readings views, partner work, all-class discussion views
40%
Reflective paper/project
- individual 30%
Team Project
30%
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* Please note that small
changes (usually by no more than 5%) in the above evaluation scheme may
be made at student's request but need to be approved by instructor.
** Note: For those class members who started the course with a more advanced level of knowledge in the computer applications covered in the course, participation will include acting as coach/mentor to classmates and to one or more learning partnerships whose members are at a less advanced level. Those who act as computer coach/mentors are also asked to actively participate in the 'Technical questions' conference and are responsible for answering the questions posed by their less experienced classmates.
***Using a Web editor: Not recommended is Front Page - projects could find problems with displaying in some browsers, even using the most recent version. The old 4.78 version of Netscape is one of the easiest editors to use (later versions can be tricky) however Netscape no longer offers user support (since February 2008). You might want to try the Sea Monkey browser which has a built in web editor. Remember the folder where you download a program like Web Monkey. Find the .exe file in your folder and click on it then follow the wizard for installation on your computer. You can have more than one browser on your computer. You'll be asked which one you want to use as the default browser. Tutorials will be provided to help you with web page construction and publishing the pages to your OISENet account. There are other options like freewebs and google sites that can be used for web site projects - both are free template sites that require your registration..
Examples of past projects are available in the 1799 Gallery.