Unit 6: Implement and Evaluate

Unit Objective

This unit bring together all of the knowledge you have gathered throughout the past 5 units, and will culminate in a mini design project. Using one or more of the collaborative technologies discussed in previous units, students will design a lesson plan with corresponding learning activities.

At the end of this unit, students will:

Design a lesson plan and learning activities involving one or more of the collaborative technologies discussed
Evaluate the lesson planning process and utility of applicable collaborative technologies

Lesson 1: Picking Collaborative Technologies

Choosing what technologies to use in your course is not a simple task and it is not something should be taken lightly. Picking the right instructional technology requires a lot of planning and forethought as to what your learning objectives are and what learning activities will help your students get there. While technology can enhance your course and make it more enjoyable for students, haphazardly implementing technology could lead to confusion among students and unwanted problems.

There are four basic steps to selecting technologies, and they are as follows:

Consult your project analysis data: Examine the data you have about your students, what their needs are, the purpose of your course and other information to determine if you need to use technology and how it can improve your course.
Think about the support requirements for your teaching method: Based on your teaching style and learning activities, what type of support do you or your students need to make the most of instructional technology?
Consider the pro's and con's of various technologies: After you determine there is a need, weigh the cost and benefits of each technology you are interested in using in your course.
Choose a technology that meets your needs: Make sure the learning activities you design align with the learning outcomes you've outlined for your course.

(Larson & Lockee, 2014)

When considering different technologies for your course, remember that "technology should always be used to meet a specific instructional need" (Larson & Lockee, 2014, p. 184). This means that there should always be a reason why you decide to implement a particular technology. This is important because "when a technology is not clearly supporting a learning strategy and there is no solid reason, basis, or justification for its use, it obscures the propose of the instruction rather than enhancing it" (Larson & Lockee, 2014, p. 184). With that in mind, remember to carefully examine your course and figure out exactly what purpose a particular instructional technology is supposed to serve.

The Assignment

The final part of this mini course is to complete a mini design project that showcases everything you have learned throughout this mini course. Pay close attention to the time it takes to plan and implement these collaborative technologies.

Lesson Plan

Your lesson plan should include the following items:

Purpose: Your statement of purpose is where you explain exactly what your lesson will entail. Make sure you include your justifications for the lesson, what technologies you plan on using and why, what you hope your students will get out of the lesson, and what your learning objectives are.
Materials: Collect any materials you plan to use in your lesson, including documents, images, videos, etc., and list them in your lesson plan.
Learning Activities: Learning activities are the exercises your students will actually participate in. Depending on what technology (or technologies) you choose to implement, please set up the lesson to the best of your ability. For example, if you are using VoiceThread in your lesson, create the VoiceThread you intend to use.

Evaluation

After creating your lesson plan, try your best to put it to the test. You can have your colleagues try the lesson and any accompanying activities and use their feedback to improve your lesson. If possible, have your students take the lesson for a spin and see if students are meeting the learning objectives.

Once your lesson has been tested either by your colleagues or by your students, write the answers to the following questions and include it in your lesson plan:

Were the learning objectives for the lesson met? If not, what could be done differently to achieve them?
Did your students have trouble using the technology you implemented? How can these troubles be avoided?
How satisfied are your students with the quality of the learning activities?
Were your students more engaged in the learning process than before you used a collaborative technology?

Reflection

The instructional design process never ends. Once a course is completed, it should be evaluated and improved for the future. Now that you have created a lesson using collaborative technology and put it to the test, think carefully about the following questions and use them to guide your future lessons:

How easy is it to plan a lesson using collaborative technologies?
Did this experience differ from designing traditional face-to-face lessons?
Were there any setbacks during the design process? If so, how could these setbacks be avoided?
Did your course improve using these technologies, or did they complicate your course more?

What's Next

Congratulations! You've completed the mini course! Since Unit 1, you have learned about collaboration and technology, various collaborative technologies, and have implemented this knowledge in designing a lesson plan for your class.

You can use the following links to review the materials from previous units:

Click here to go back to the Course Homepage.

References

Larson, M. B., & Lockee, B. B. (2014). Streamlined ID: A practical guide to instructional design. New York, NY: Routledge.