MY Non-LMS Toolkit for Photography 10-12
In building a Non-LMS toolkit, I have chosen tools that will suit an online photography course. This year I am in the process of “trying out” tools with my face-to-face photography class. The process of putting together a Non-LMS toolkit allowed me to give forethought to a future online photography course.
How will I build community and inspire discourse? What are the Non-LMS tools that will help me and how?
Community- Weebly is my choice for community and inspiring discourse. My students are familiar with the website and will be able to navigate through the course with ease. The drag and drop build will appeal to all levels of technical skill. Uploading videos and audio files are automatically converted for easy playback and the photo gallery and slideshow are well suited for a photography course. Weebly’s best feature for community is their blogging service. A student has the flexibility to make the blog his or her website’s homepage, a sub-page in the menu, or even include multiple blogs on the same website.
Discussion/Discourse- Voicethread is a cloud application that allows participants to upload, share and discuss documents, presentations, images, audio files and videos. Students can comment on Voicethread slides using one of five options: microphone, webcam, text, phone, and audio-file upload. This powerful tool can connect students through voice, story, imagery and video. VoiceThread can be private, shared with specific people, or open to the entire World Wide Web. I envision this as a great tool for critiquing photographs, discussing fieldtrips and viewing concepts using video and visual images.
Peer Mentoring/Helping- Snagit can be a useful tool for giving feedback, solving problems or presenting ideas. Meeting with peers on Skype or Google+ provides opportunities for mentorship relationships to build.
Communication- Skype allows users to communicate with peers by voice using a microphone, video by using a webcam, and instant messaging over the Internet. Phone calls may be placed to the recipient on the traditional telephone networks. This service offers a user friendly and free option for all communication needed within an online course.
Collaboration- Collaborize Classroom provides teachers with the opportunity to bring structure and variety to their teaching and it complements instruction by prompting discussions, engaging students in debates, and providing students with input on assignments. As a collaboration tool, I think this will provide my photography students a forum for discussion, embedding of photos, videos and pdf files.
How will I provide content, interactivity with content, and organization? What are the Non-LMS tools that will help me and how?
Dashboard- Google sites or Weebly are my two choices for a dashboard, that place where students go first within a course. I am a fan of Weebly and I find it a versatile web space for a multitude of uses. Google sites offer a large selection of templates which could easily provide a great space for a course outline, content and links. Google sites have a great deal of flexibility and are familiar to a wide range of users. It’s easy to edit, invite users to the site and alter permissions, and privacy settings are simple to set.
Content/Lessons/Presentations- Weebly still presents the most simple and user-friendly forum for presenting content and lessons. Snagit is a screenshot program that captures videos display and audio output. Snagit's easy-to-use tools can quickly create images and videos to give feedback, solve a problem, or show off something cool. Snagit enables efficient communication with visuals that give ideas clarity.
File-Sharing- Google Drive is a service to share text, video, images and audio files. It is easy to use up the 5GB of storage available at the free level. Google Drive is useful for collaborating on documents as team members can work together in real-time and always have access to the latest version, and archived versions of the work.
Calendar- Google Calendar is user-friendly interface that is cloud based, has straightforward entry and deletion, and can be shared or synced with others.
How will I handle Assessment as, for and of learning?
ePortfolio- Weebly is my choice for an assessment as, for and of learning. Students can create their own free website. Learning can be organized and documented throughout the course. Blog pages allow for comments and feedback from instructors, mentors, and peers. Blog pages also allow for reflection on their individual learning journeys.
Assignment (handing in, feedback)- Dropbox or Google Drive are my choices for assignment hand-in and instructor feedback. Dropbox is a cloud storage service which allows you to sync your data across all of your devices and share with others.
Self-evaluations/peer-evaluations- Rubistar is a user-friendly rubric creator and my choice for peer and self-evaluations. Teachers can use either pre-existing rubrics or create and design one of their own. Thousands of rubrics are available for peer or self-evaluations that can be "tweaked" to suit each particular need.
Quizzing- Quizlet offers the ability to search quizzes previously created or create one of your own. The visual and auditory effects make it a perfect choice for a photography course.
Grades- Jupiter Grades offer a variety of gradebook options. Teachers can set it up so that parents and students have access. Jupiter Grades is accessible on any device or computer platform. I am currently using Jupiter grades and like that the program is online for students to view assignments and marks.