An artifact that demonstrates my competency in the ability to communicate knowledge is my final report for my eLearning module that I created for EDCI 56900 Introduction to eLearning. My final paper describes the analysis phase, learning objectives, prototype and evaluation of an eModule that I created that teaches teachers the foundations of the reading and writing workshop model at the American Embassy School (AES). This final report on my project along with the project itself required me to communicate knowledge of the instructional design process to the client as well as communicate knowledge of the content to the learners.
Competency Artifact
This narrative explains how my artifact (the final report of my eLearning Module) demonstrates the following three characteristics of communicating knowledge.
Characteristic 1: effective oral and written communication
The project background is an example of this characteristic because it supports the rationale for the module. The project background clearly describes why the module I created was needed and what it hopes to achieve. An example of effective written communication is on page 1:
The subject of the training will be on the reading and writing workshop model’s structure and its components. The American Embassy School (AES) in New Delhi, India is not an official Teacher’s College workshop school. However, the school views the workshop as part of their pedagogy and has adopted the model and uses its program resources. The training will teach pre-kindergarten to grade five teachers at AES why the workshop model is important to teaching and learning, what the structure and components are, and when and how they are used.
The administration has identified a need at AES to adapt to teacher turnover and improve student achievement as well as improving inclusive educational practices and collaboration. To meet their needs, the school firsts needs to clearly articulate their pedagogy to create a common understanding of the school’s desired method and practice of teaching (i.e., the workshop model). This shared understanding is particularly important because the school hires teachers with varying pedagogies and experiences, which make adapting to teacher turnover and collaboration challenges. Teacher planning meetings are often spent discussing each other’s approach before coming to a final agreement, or time is spent teaching one another about the approach versus planning effectively. Another reason articulation and training are important is that each teacher works with a teacher assistant. These teacher assistants support the implementation of instruction but have little understanding of the workshop model. AES hosts reading and writing workshop consultants; however, the training is often ineffective, as they are not based on the teachers’ needs.
An example of oral communication is in the introduction of the module when the narrative orally states:
The elementary school at the American Embassy uses the workshop model to teach reading and writing because it embodies their school’s literacy beliefs. AES provides a balanced education that inspires lifelong learning through inclusive educational practices and collaboration among teachers and students. To achieve inclusive practices and collaboration, as well as a productive and cohesive learning environment, there must be a common understanding of the reading and writing workshop model at AES. This module will teach you the foundations of the workshop model and how it’s unique at AES’s elementary school.
Characteristic 2: communicates content through integrating design, teaching/learning activities, and pedagogy
The module I created meets the criteria of these characteristics because there is a variety of Absorb, Do, and Connect activities (Horton, 2012) for each objective. This way, the learning was scaffolded so the learner would have a variety of experiences in meeting the objectives. Important design decisions were also taken into account in the visual layout of information such as placement, colors, fonts, and consistency without being too repetitive.
Characteristic 3: adapts instruction and assessment techniques for a range of diverse learners
This artifact meets the criteria for this characteristic for the following reasons:
- The module’s instruction was accessible using techniques such as:
- Adobe Captivate’s accessibility feature
- Closed captioning is included for all original audio narration
- Some information is audio, while other information is text or video, so the user is not ever relying on only one sense
- The module is self-paced with frequent knowledge checks, so the user never has to hold on to too much knowledge at once.
- The module can be completed in a way that meets the users’ desires and needs by providing options in the way they want to navigate through the module.
In my future design work, I need to continue to work on communicating my knowledge of Absorb, Do and Connect activities (Horton, 2012) by ensuring I have a variety that holds the learners’ interest and helps them achieve the intended objective. I will continue to read about the different activities, so I can quickly identify which would be most appropriate, given a specific objective.
Reference:
Horton, W. K. (2012). E-learning by design. San Francisco, CA: Pfeiffer.
Allison Brinkerhoff 