The topic of discussion for this week in CEP811 is the very popular, educational buzzword, (or acronym I should say) known as MOOC. MOOC stands for Massively Open Online Course and these courses are just that; courses that are open to massive amounts of people via the Internet incorporating subjects from General Genetics and Computer Programming to Crafting and Cooking. This week, I am going to outline the plans for a P2PU course of my own.
In my “Capturing Crazy Via Your DSLR Canon Camera” course, my peers will master taking photographs using different settings, by doing an online gallery and sharing their gallery with their peers.
Course Topic: DSLR Camera Basics
Capturing Crazy Via Your DSLR Canon Camera
Anyone who is interested in amateur photography, broadening their knowledge with their camera, and interested in taking great photos is welcome to take this course. The simplicity of this course concocted with the wealth of information this course has to offer is a definite attraction to this course, not to mention the quick tips for taking great pictures in a hurry will attract many. The quick and helpful tips ensure that you will spend more time out “playing” with the camera, the camera settings, and the subjects of your pictures more so than the traditional, slower method of reading the Owner’s Manual, which does not include the helpful hints and quick tips that you would normally find after countless hours of sifting through help forums.
Learners will be more familiar with their camera rather than using the original “point and shoot” method. Learners will use all camera settings and learn more about what each setting is used best for. Photogs should be creative and capture photographs that display their personality, show what they’ve learned, and are appealing aesthetically. Learners can do all of this is a short hour-long reading session equipped with reading and video tutorials. Their gallery creation will depend on the photographer.
Peers will create their own photo gallery using Flickr where they can interact with other photographers, amateur and professional while also gaining inspiration for future photographs. Their gallery will be on display for the world to see and shared with their peers.
This activities within my course are backed by learning theories such as Experiential Learning, and is created based on Dr. Stephen L. Yelon’s Instructional Design. This course is directly related to TPACK, which intertwines technology, pedagogy, and content into one. Yelon’s design plan that this course was based on includes the following components:
- A problem or need– In this course the problem or need is familiarity with your DSLR camera, as well as its functions and settings.
- A real-word performance– The performance task is actually using knowledge learned to take photos with the different functions and settings according to the desired photograph.
- An instructional objective- By the end of the course, learners should be more familiar with the settings and functions of their DSLR camera, and looking more in depth to taking better photos.
- A set of essential content- This course goes through each setting, giving an explanation and example of each.
- An evaluation consisting of a test or observation- The evaluation is based on the gallery the learners created using Flickr with images with all the different settings and functions.
- A method to help participants learn- Students in the course will follow their peers and make comments on their work. The lesson will involve and introduction, instruction, explanation, a demonstration of the desired outcome, practice, feedback, and a conclusion to sum up the learning objectives.
Peers will be able to follow one another on Flickr and give relevant feedback to one another using the comment feature on Flickr.
Although time constraints within this course are limited and I have not launched the outlined course on P2PU, I would eventually like to do so. Once this one has launched, I would really like to dive in to MOOCs that would be useful to other educators, based on information obtained throughout my time at MSU. It’s a tall task, but I have the goal set to begin trying to reach.
References:
Yelon, S. L. (2001). Goal-Directed Instructional Design: A Practical Guide to Instructional Planning for Teachers and Trainers. Michigan State University: Self-published, Not in electronic format.
Capturing Lifelong Learning 