A hypothesis is simply defined as an “educated guess”. In class, I have my students create hypotheses all the time. I am looking for my students to make predictions (or educated guesses) as a centre of focus within their exploration of topics.
Okay – so I have had a change of heart with the module that I am going to be working on. I have decided to forgo working on Science 10 and focus on Environmental Science 20 AP – a course that I am teaching semester 2. Why the reason for the switch? Simple – I want to take canvas on a “test run”, and the only way to accurately do that was to test it out on a class that I am currently prepping for. My rational is very similar to Sarah’ s post about her grade 9 music class. To gather data, and feedback from my students. I have chosen the advanced placement students for this data collection for a few reasons: they will need to be independent learners (I teach the at the same time as the regular environmental science group) and I feel that they will be the be very honest about their experience with Canvas. I also think that these students will be very strong advocates for themselves and their educational goals, therefore if something is not right on Canvas, I will no doubt hear about it immediately! The data I am searching for is how user friendly this platform is and I am looking to see if the students will be able to independently keep a pace that is required for completion of the course (I have entered all important dates into their class calendar as gentle reminders and I have entered approximate timeframes for each lesson on the google slide presentation – we only have 3 months to complete the course). I also really like how it is compatible with Google Drive, which I use all the time now.
Photo Credit: old-fogey Flickr via Compfight cc
My hypothesis for this course module is: IF I use the Canvas LMS platform and create a self-directed course module (Atmospheric Systems) for my APES students, THEN the students will become comfortable with the program within 5 school days and be able to keep pace and move through the course content independently of the regular ES20 students.
I am very intrigued about Google Classroom, although I have decided not to look at it simply because I don’t want to be focusing on a LMS platform that my school division will not support, right Lindy?
So I decided to explore Edmodo, I really liked how easy the platform looked and it allowed for quizzes and polls. I also really liked that you could attach directly from Google Drive right into Edmodo! This is something that I went back to canvas to search for and did not see it right away, but once I added on the app, voila, there is was! In the process, I also found a lot of other LTI apps to add to Canvas!
In the end, I found that Canvas was going to be more functional for me than Edmodo, and although I would love to try out Google Classroom, I just don’t want to dip my toe into something I know that I will not be allowed to implement into my own teaching practice right away.
While reading Audrey Watter’s post, I, like Katherine, did some sole searching about the way I am using technology in my educational pedagogy.
“We in education can reclaim the Web and more broadly ed-tech for teaching and learning. But we must reclaim control of the data, content, and knowledge we create.”
It had me thinking about the closing date that I have put on my APES modules; do I really want the course to close on June 30? Or, should I keep it open forever? If I keep it open forever, will I lose control of the data, content and knowledge that I have created??? I know that I can make my courses by invite only, but I can also share them on commons. Do I want to do that, should I?
Does anyone else feel this way too?
I then did some more research on LMS and VLE‘s. I wanted to know more about these systems and stumbled upon this video from Stephen Downes where he discussed the difference between an LMS and a PLE.
I really liked the way he described the LMS as being personalized, while the PLE is depersonalized. Also, his smiley face drawings were fun! Maybe what I have been wanting to create all along for my students are PLE’s and I just haven’t figured it out yet. I am hoping that canvas will allow for this with their collaboration tool.
Maybe this will become an add on to my hypothesis?