Subject
Outline updated Summer 2024NOTE: from
2002-2016 this
course was CTL1799 - This is the first year with Quercus as
the learning
management system.
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This is a course in holistic
education.
The course explores ways of enhancing teaching and learning
environments
using computer technology. In this course we meet and
communicate
online in virtual classrooms. Designed with holistic
education methods,
the course models a holistic curriculum approach. The
focus is on
collaboration and all activities planned are student-centred.
The professor
acts as the "guide on the side" rather than the "sage on the
stage" and
the constructivist emphasis is more on process than product.
This online course is offered in a six weeks condensed version in the summer term. It is quite a challenge, especially if this is your first online course. It is important to take the course survey linked from the information site at http://astralsite.com/5011 and to read the information posted on that site to have a clear understanding of what is involved. The survey identifies your interests and technical skill levels so that beginners can be given extra support by those with more experience who act as mentors. It aids in setting up teams and partnerships.
The Quercus learning management system used for this course is entered at the University of Toronto Web Portal - http://q.utoronto.ca once you have completed your registration. When the course opens, July 2, from your Quercus account, you will have access to our main classroom in the OISE learning management system Connect to Create (C2C), where you will find discussion groups to join. As well, you will be conducting synchronous chats online. Throughout the course, you will be using Quercus and C2C that give you variety in your online experience. With careful planning and good time management, you can participate in all areas without going into information overload. You may request personal feedback by email throughout the course - selia.karsten@utoronto.ca or drkarsten@astralsite.com
1. Participation in CTC
discussion
forums and learning partner collaboration (40 points)
The primary class forums on
various
topics will be introduced online in C2C. 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.
There is a Course
Schedule page as well. Forums are set up as
meeting places
for teams dealing with selected course topics. It is
required that
teams use synchronous Chat to plan and progress
through their project,
posting
links to these chats in their Team Forum.
In C2C you will find a Forum (Reading 5) for the Learning Partner Reading and Design Assignment (developed with various tools with results transferred to C2C); there are Forums for All-Class Discussions, for the Teams and for the Presentation of the Team Project, a Forum for developing Individual Projects as well as a Forum for Presenting Individual Projects.
Please note: Posted messages with appropriate subject captions should not be too lengthy; you should aim for no more than one screen size. Although shorter messages are encouraged whenever possible - one-liners are discouraged. Your weekly contributions will not be measured by length but by quality. 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 done by email or posted in the social cafe in Quercus and Holistech2019.
Typically, in C2C you will see messages posted since your last visit. When you read messages, mark them as "read". Take note of the author and subject line so you can later respond to those notes that you plan to "build onto". It may work best to create your notes off-line in WORD, spell-check the notes and when back online, paste them into the message forms on C2C. It is also helpful if you refer to the note to which you are responding. If you and your team are planning a chat, it is best for teams to create a note that is co-authored by all members of the team, then only one message is needed and each member of the team can edit the note as to times when they are available to meet. All class members are expected to contribute regularly to the forums in C2C. Contribute meaningful (like Goldilocks might have said - not too long, not too short - but "just right") messages to the discussions on all topics in C2C.
If members of a team do not live in the same time zone, careful planning for synchronous (chat) sessions is necessary. Logs from planning chats are posted in C2C forums for all to read.
2. Learning Reflections
Journal,
Reflective Paper and Individual 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 example, 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 asked 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 only 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. Neither the journal or log are submitted.
The reflective paper and the individual project, both to be submitted near 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 not .docx). Ideally you will word process your paper using a reasonable size font (Arial 12 is good) and line and a half spacing is fine - no need to double space. A good file name to use is "yourname.doc" and in the message you attach this to, please include the following: a self-evaluation and the mark you believe you earned in the course along with the link to your individual project.
Your individual project will typically consist of a web-based, creative product. The project may 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 will be an Individual Project Development Forum set up in C2C where you can propose project ideas and get feedback from your classmates.
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 or inspired
by 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. It is important to include an introduction,
mission or
purpose and share any how-to's or resources that help others
take your
ideas further. Examples are in the Gallery.
3. Team Work: 30 points
Teams have an opportunity to
moderate
a weekly discussion. The core assignment: The team project is
a web-based,
creative product. The product is a Web site presenting Web
resources related
to the topic your team has chosen. Teams are made up of four
or five members
who assist each other with technical elements. Other types of
projects
might also be possible but need to be approved. 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 Forum 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 their team
project and feedback for another team's project. Creating this
project
may be done in a variety of web editors, building a Wiki
together is also
possible. It is helpful to see examples of Team projects in
the Gallery.
Project sharing sessions: You will collaborate on this team project throughout the course, using the assigned Team Forum in C2C as your meeting place. Chat sessions with your team are saved and posted to this Forum. 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. In addition to the Team Project, each Team will also facilitate one of the All-Class Discussions. The topic of the team's discussion does not need to realate to the theme or topics covered in the team's web site project.
Course
Evaluation
Participation in Forums
(Class readings,
Partner work, All-class discussions) 40%
Reflective paper and
Individual
project 30%
All Team Work including team
self-evaluation
and peer feedback 30%
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Feedback during the course
can be
requested by a personal email to the professor.
** 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
Holistech2019 Technical questions' discussions on Quercus and
are responsible
for answering the questions posed by their less experienced
classmates.
***Using a Web editor: You might want to try the SeaMonkey browser which has a built in web editor. Remember the folder where you download a program like SeaMonkey. 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. Advice regarding various webpage making options will guide construction and publishing of web projects. Programs such as webs, weebly, wix and google sites are among the various free programs that can be used for web site projects - these are sites that require your email registration. You can see examples in the class gallery for these FREE website making programs. Here's a recent ranking of 7 site makers.
****For both individual and group projects there are numerous examples to be found in the Class Gallery at http://astralsite.com/5011/gallery.html
Subject
Outline updated Summer 2024