UNIV 101 Course
Blackboard
UNIV 101 is a first year student experience course designed to prepare students for the transition to college life and study. As the instructor, I developed a blended course that utilized class meetings for discussion and activities, and the online Blackboard component as a means to deliver content, collect assessments, and communicate.
ORGANIZATION
I made heavy use of the adaptive release tool and temporarily hidden menu items to keep the course visually manageable for students - many whom had not worked with a learning management system in the past. For example, I set a time restriction on each Weekly Activity folder to hide it a week in advance to simply navigation to only current and near-current activities. I also set a completion restriction so that students could not take the chapter quiz before marking the chapter as reviewed. To make navigation easier, I presented the course's navigation in two ways: temporally using weekly folders and categorically as separate menu items (e.g., Quizzes, Assignments). Students started the course with a syllabus quiz with unlimited attempts and a 100% score requirement. The design of the quiz encouraged students to use the syllabus document and provided instant feedback for right/wrong answers.
FEEDBACK
My approach to delivering the course was to make it as adaptable as I could in order to better meet student needs without compromising the course objectives or the mission of the program. To this end, I created very brief reflection surveys to gather feedback on students' perceptions of value, difficulty, and time spent on activities (as well as open feedback for extended responses). I used this feedback to adjust the live directions and discussions of the course's content, and used the aggregate feedback upon completion in analyzing course items for review/revision. To keep this feedback as short as possible I used a simple + (positive) = (neutral) - (negative) measure for student expectations (e.g., "How would you rate your personal satisfaction with this weeks content and activities?).
COMMUNICATION
I made ample use of Blackboard available tools to make communication easier for students including; using Blackboard Collaborate for office hours, keeping an up-to-date calendar of class meetings, due dates, and important campus events, a "Help" discussion board containing FAQs and a forum for asking questions, and scheduled announcements for timely course information and due date reminders,
UNIV 101 is a first year student experience course designed to prepare students for the transition to college life and study. As the instructor, I developed a blended course that utilized class meetings for discussion and activities, and the online Blackboard component as a means to deliver content, collect assessments, and communicate.
ORGANIZATION
I made heavy use of the adaptive release tool and temporarily hidden menu items to keep the course visually manageable for students - many whom had not worked with a learning management system in the past. For example, I set a time restriction on each Weekly Activity folder to hide it a week in advance to simply navigation to only current and near-current activities. I also set a completion restriction so that students could not take the chapter quiz before marking the chapter as reviewed. To make navigation easier, I presented the course's navigation in two ways: temporally using weekly folders and categorically as separate menu items (e.g., Quizzes, Assignments). Students started the course with a syllabus quiz with unlimited attempts and a 100% score requirement. The design of the quiz encouraged students to use the syllabus document and provided instant feedback for right/wrong answers.
FEEDBACK
My approach to delivering the course was to make it as adaptable as I could in order to better meet student needs without compromising the course objectives or the mission of the program. To this end, I created very brief reflection surveys to gather feedback on students' perceptions of value, difficulty, and time spent on activities (as well as open feedback for extended responses). I used this feedback to adjust the live directions and discussions of the course's content, and used the aggregate feedback upon completion in analyzing course items for review/revision. To keep this feedback as short as possible I used a simple + (positive) = (neutral) - (negative) measure for student expectations (e.g., "How would you rate your personal satisfaction with this weeks content and activities?).
COMMUNICATION
I made ample use of Blackboard available tools to make communication easier for students including; using Blackboard Collaborate for office hours, keeping an up-to-date calendar of class meetings, due dates, and important campus events, a "Help" discussion board containing FAQs and a forum for asking questions, and scheduled announcements for timely course information and due date reminders,
Project Management
Trello
In my position as Research Associate at the FDID Center at NIU I was engaged in different projects and activities requiring complicated planning and collaborations. One of my first goals as a new hire was to introduce my colleagues to Kanban project management using Trello in an effort to corral the different responsibilities and project relations into something that could be visualized and shared.
As a free(mium) tool, Trello was easy to convince some early adopters to run for some initial low-stakes projects. Early successes eventually grew to department wide utilization. The flexibility and simplicity of the service makes it useful across many contexts and use cases including; management of the center's technologies, workshop and course creation, event management, and new hire on-boarding . The service enables a project manager to convey objectives, instructions, and processes to individuals quickly and effectively. These highlights were particularly useful due to our high graduate assistant turn over and frequent work orientations.
Anyone interested in learning more about this service can discover more on the Trello Training website. You may also be interested in learning more about the Kanban Method which Trello model's itself after.
In my position as Research Associate at the FDID Center at NIU I was engaged in different projects and activities requiring complicated planning and collaborations. One of my first goals as a new hire was to introduce my colleagues to Kanban project management using Trello in an effort to corral the different responsibilities and project relations into something that could be visualized and shared.
As a free(mium) tool, Trello was easy to convince some early adopters to run for some initial low-stakes projects. Early successes eventually grew to department wide utilization. The flexibility and simplicity of the service makes it useful across many contexts and use cases including; management of the center's technologies, workshop and course creation, event management, and new hire on-boarding . The service enables a project manager to convey objectives, instructions, and processes to individuals quickly and effectively. These highlights were particularly useful due to our high graduate assistant turn over and frequent work orientations.
Anyone interested in learning more about this service can discover more on the Trello Training website. You may also be interested in learning more about the Kanban Method which Trello model's itself after.
GSA Community
Blackboard
I created an online community page in Blackboard for members of the ETRA Graduate Student Association during my tenure as vice-president and president of the organization. Due to the large number of off-campus members we wanted to have a persistent online presence for meetings, events, and conversations. The site continues to evolve as the current board members add to and develop this resource.
I created an online community page in Blackboard for members of the ETRA Graduate Student Association during my tenure as vice-president and president of the organization. Due to the large number of off-campus members we wanted to have a persistent online presence for meetings, events, and conversations. The site continues to evolve as the current board members add to and develop this resource.
Review of Learning Management Systems
Prezi
I developed this Prezi presentation for the Northern Illinois Computer Educators Conference in the Fall of 2013 for an audience of K-12 educators and later to a undergraduate cohort of pre-service educators.
I developed this Prezi presentation for the Northern Illinois Computer Educators Conference in the Fall of 2013 for an audience of K-12 educators and later to a undergraduate cohort of pre-service educators.
Comparing Learning Management Systems and their Impact on Differentiated Instruction
Two major challenges facing educators in 2013 are 1) differentiating instruction and 2) integrating Common Core Standards into curriculum. Learning management systems (LMS) offer an effective solution to address these issues. In addition to being valuable instructional tools, they also open the door for the creation of asynchronous learning environments. Harnessing the power of social media, automated grading, individual education plans, and 24/7 availability, these resources are recreating the modern classroom
Two major challenges facing educators in 2013 are 1) differentiating instruction and 2) integrating Common Core Standards into curriculum. Learning management systems (LMS) offer an effective solution to address these issues. In addition to being valuable instructional tools, they also open the door for the creation of asynchronous learning environments. Harnessing the power of social media, automated grading, individual education plans, and 24/7 availability, these resources are recreating the modern classroom
Flipped Learning Initiatives
Schoology
Samples from my flipped learning implementations during my time at Harrison SD 36
Samples from my flipped learning implementations during my time at Harrison SD 36
Copyright Course
Google Sites
A brief copyright course developed as part of my Master's Program at NIU (2010)
View the course HERE
A brief copyright course developed as part of my Master's Program at NIU (2010)
View the course HERE
Creating Technology Management Protocols
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This was a document I created to work with teachers on creating a technology managements strategy after a pre-existing one was scrapped due to unnecessary scheduling conflicts and general mismanagement by users. Working within different teacher groups, I was able to develop a workable strategy in an asymmetrical environment to their satisfaction.
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Copyright 2023 - Cameron Wills