Humanizing Online STEM Showcase
Dr. Scot Trodick, Professor, Saddleback College
Reflections
Where I was.
Before taking this course, I was already well versed in technology and had taken all the courses that lead to certifications in Online Teaching & Design as well as and advanced certificate in Online Teaching Principles. I must have had an angel whispering in my ear because I completed these right before COVID hit. I also have been serving on our school's Peer Online Course Review (POCR) team where we analyze faculty canvas content and critique the material based on the rubrics of the California Virtual Campus/Online Education Initiative CVC-OEI. The Rubric is intended to establish standards relating to course design, interaction and collaboration, assessment, learner support, and accessibility in order to ensure the provision of a high-quality learning environment that promotes student success and conforms to existing regulations. With all that said, I still have a strong desire to better myself and my craft.
Where I am.
Currently I am in the phase of organizing all my video assets and providing streamlined content through my own YouTube channel. The assignments in this humanizing course have given me the push I need to smooth over all the rough edges in my content and provide a well structured humanized version of my content as well as given me areas to ponder in terms of usability and a more welcome learning environment.
Where I am going.
My goal moving forward is to motivate students with learning, exploring, investigating, discovering, inquiring, foster listening, and also coach and mentor students. I want to help shape academic goals and dedicate myself to getting students to achieve their life goals. I plan on doing this through enhancing quality learning, working for the benefit of the whole community, learning on the go, improving and maintaining well-being, and strive to be an effective teacher.
Liquid Syllabus
The liquid syllabus is a great easy way to have a friendly easy to navigate syllabus in web page format. The only problem is creating a PDF version from the Google site in order to upload into MySite. this is a requirement at Saddleback College and will require me to create a second syllabus in order to have a readable PDF. Maybe Google Sites will become better at creating PDFs in the future.
Course Card
I created this course card because it shows art from an actual assignment in the class and it also shows the three Adobe program logos for the programs that are used in the course. (Photoshop, Premiere, and After Effects). I chose to depict this underwater scene because it has a soothing effect and students will also recognize this image because it is also used in the banner of my homepage, liquid syllabus, and various instructional videos such as the bumper video and mini-lecture.
Homepage
The homepage for CIMW 134 is designed to provide a sense of friendliness and inclusion. I created a brief descriptive tour of the canvas homepage and various elements within canvas in order to familiarize students with the interface they will be using throughout the class. I made sure I used a friendly smiling photo of myself and also included the banner which runs as a them throughout this course.
Getting to Know You Survey
The Getting to Know You survey is a great way to open up to students about information needed by me the instructor which enables me to understand the needs of my students and better provide for a more efficient learning environment. I can do this through the "notes" column in the gradebook. I am so glad I learned about this and I plane to utilize this in my courses going forward.
Wisdom Wall
The Wisdom Wall is a great way to foster sharing with real experiences. Student interactions are an import element of every class. Students want to hear what other students are saying about their experiences in class. Student experience reflections help reduce student anxiety at the start of the course and help build more meaningful relationships as the course progresses.
Bumper Video
This bumper video allows for easier student learning by offering an explanation of terminology. The video explains what all of the areas of the software are called so that when instruction occurs, the students will understand what area is being referenced. For example, by knowing that the words across the top, (File, Edit, Image, Layer, etc.) are prefaced with the word menu. So if the student is asked to click the "edit menu" they are familiar with the word menu and know exact;y where to go.
Microlecture
This microlecture focuses on the learning objective "Understand the Adobe Premiere software environment and workflow", and walks the student through the Adobe Premiere environment. This instructional video uses assets from assignments that have already occurred at the time this video is being presented. This allows the student to see familiar image when exploring the video editing software for the first time. Walk-throughs are great ways to help students understand software through an explanation of what the various areas of the software perform.