Implementation:
From the list of questions developed for your organization, select a subset that you believe are critical to the effective implementation of the course/training you are planning. For those questions, address the following questions:
Why are these critical concerns?
Which (if any) of these concerns are your direct or indirect responsibility, either individually or in partnership with a team of collaborators?
What ideas do you have for addressing these concerns (regardless of who is responsible for them)?
If applicable, what additional resources or information might you need before being able to address one or more of these concerns?
The first and second items listed above are critical to the effective implementation of the Introduction to Digital Arts course I am planning. The items three and four work towards developing faculty that can support the college’s needs and expand the digital arts program.
Since this course is an online and computer graphics related course, students will encounter LMS, computer, and graphic software issues at home. If the troubleshooting takes too long, it will frustrate students and discourage them from continuing the study.
Both concerns are my indirect responsibilities. They deal with the system, equipment, and software tool troubleshooting services.
If the college wants to expand its online program, it must invest more time and energy to build quality non-instructional services. The quality of services can reduce the number of dropouts, improve the educational quality, and increase student and faculty satisfaction.
For items three and four, It is one of the reasons I enrolled in the PECO program. I believe online education is the future of higher education. It helps meet many of the challenges in our rapid technological changes. No one can stop learning. Online learning satisfies the needs of the majority of the population. I am passionate about promoting and developing online education. Hopefully, I will inspire others to do the same.
Evaluation:
For the course/training that you are planning, address the following questions:
What types of formative evaluation are typically used in your organization? What additional or improved types of formative evaluation would you suggest, given your organization’s context and unique constraints?
What resources or information would be necessary to implement the kind of evaluation procedures you are suggesting?
Describe how you could conduct formative evaluation on your unit or course/training, and the rationale for your choice.
List the questions you will ask or simply describe the aspects you will evaluate.
In our college, faculty members serve as the expert in the formative evaluation process. He/she writes and designs the first course draft on Blackboard, then sits down with the college instructional designer. She will go over the design structure with the faculty member and make suggestions. She makes sure the course meets the standards of the Universal Design for Learning (UDL), online pedagogy, and the ADA compliance and assessments. After her review, the course is ready for the college catalog.
Before full-scale implementation, the college should add at least one more step during the development stage. Our college currently only has one instructional designer. It would be beneficial to have another person or a group of people who have taught or are familiar with online teaching to examine it again. They would go over the content and structure in detail before implementing it in full scale. It can help improve the course’s effectiveness.
The college needs to allocate more money and energy to ensure high-quality online courses. If the college does not have the budget, I would recommend inviting a small group of students who are in the major to take the course for free with a responsibility of providing feedback on the course’s content and structure.
During the field testing period, I would ask students to answer the questions listed below on #3. The feedback will help refine the details and improve the efficiency of the digital photography unit.
The evaluating questions for the field testing are:
Do any of the slide(s) in the video lecture need adjustments to help you better understand the concept of digital photography, and its unique style and expressive power?
Do the Photoshop tools demonstrated in the lecture provide enough information for you to complete the unit project?
Are the unit objectives clearly stated?
Do the unit content, structure, and assignments support the stated objectives? Do you have any suggestions for improvement?
Is the content interesting and relevant to you? What type of project(s) would interest you more?
Did you use any resource or materials that were not provided in the lesson to complete your unit assignments?
Were you able to access all the online course components?
What is your general impression of the unit?
How many hours did it take to complete the unit?