PLO 3 -- Supporting the Needs of All Learners

 Supporting the Needs of All Learners

The following paper is going to discuss personal experience with learning in prior courses, discuss and support the understanding of the importance of design to support the needs of all learners.  Then the paper will share a redesign to a MATLT activity to demonstrate attainment of Program Learning Outcome 3.  Once that is explained then it will explain the challenges of the redesign and how they were overcome.

When it comes to personal experiences with learning the information presented in prior courses there have been both good and bad.  There were many times that it was hard to completely understand what was expected or there were broken links, which made it hard to gain useful information that was needed to complete the work.  Also, there were times that the instructors would not provide timely feedback or answer questions in a timely manner.

I have been able to overcome these experiences by making sure that if I do not receive a response to an email in the allotted time.  I have also had to make a to do list to make sure that I am completing my work in a timely manner and have time set aside daily to do so.  When it comes to asking for help I have had to put my pride aside and just ask.  I have always been told that no question is a stupid one, but when it came down to asking in the beginning of my educational career I thought I should have been able to understand and not have questions.

The positives that have been encountered while learning online were the different types of technology, how to incorporate that technology into a classroom experience, and feedback from the instructor and other peers.  Since starting my journey in my online college experience, I have been challenged when it comes to my critical thinking skills.  Before starting I was using these skills daily with my own family, but now I have had to dig deeper and use them differently.

I have also learned how to work with a group of peers in a few of my courses, which has always been a hard task for me to complete.  I have always preferred to work by myself.  I have also had to learn how to ask questions if I was not understanding the material that was being provided.  I have also learned how important it is to follow the policies that have put in place as they are there to help us become the best students we can be.

When it comes to the importance of designing to support the needs of all leaners the instructors need to be aware of all the different types of learners.  It is very important to make sure that all needs are met in one way or another.  Some students may be verbal learners while others maybe kinesthetic learners.  With the advancements in technology today it is becoming easier for teachers to meet all the different needs.

Original Assignment

The item that was selected was the last journal entry from EDU/648: Teaching and Learning with Technology.  I chose this journal entry because I found it to be the one assignment that made me think more critically.

Recap.  Now that you’ve reached the final week of this course, evaluate your own learning by answering the following questions.

• From learning theories to technology tools, what do you find to be the most challenging aspect of teaching and learning with technology? What do you find to be the most beneficial?

• You have read about and discussed various technologies throughout this course. What technology tool intrigues you the most, when it comes to teaching and learning? Why?

• In Week Two, you discussed principles of instructional design. Summarize how these principles can support you in assessing the effectiveness of learning technologies.

• You read about various learning theories in Week One. Describe how these theories influence teaching and learning with technology.

• In Week One, you reviewed the outcomes of your degree program, identified which one(s) intrigued you the most, and explained how the outcome(s) you selected would contribute to your career.

• Which of these your Program Learning Outcomes do you feel you’ve grown closer to achieving? Which ones do you still find unfamiliar?

Redesign

In the following journal please take the time to explain what theories to technology tools, you found to be most useful and why?  You have read about many different types of technologies in your previous courses as well as this course, which technology tool will you continue to use after you have reached your degree (ex. Bubble.us, Glogster, CourseSites, ect.)?  After reviewing the different principles of design how can you incorporate those into the use of technology?  Lastly, you have learned a lot about learning outcomes, how are those incorporated into learning with technology?  Also, please submit your journal by either using glogster, PowerPoint, or a technology of your choice.

When doing the redesign, I found it to be difficult.  I am unsure if that is because I have had no prior experience in the classroom.  It took a while for me to find an assignment that I would like to redesign and how I would like to redesign said assignment.  I overcame the challenges of doing the redesign by taking my time and thinking more critically on what I would like to have done in this assignment.

The following paper has discussed my personal experiences in past courses as well as the redesign of an assignment in the MATLT program.