As a second-year teacher, I am still establishing the best way to lesson plan and budget time. Ironically, one of my goals during the summer was to begin creating lesson plans by starting with objectives, moving to assessment, and then finding the best activities that facilitate the objectives. I even began using the lesson plan found in Understanding by Design (2005 p. 22) back in March.
Reading through (and watching) Dr. Stephen Yelon’s (2001) instructional design plan, I found the perfect script to follow for designing the best lesson plans. First, Yelon (2001) states that there must be a problem and that it must be related to the real-world. As a math teacher, I feel that this approach will change students’ minds about the content and stop the questions of, “When will I need this?” The next step in Yelon’s (2001) instructional design is to set out the objectives that you want the learner to be able to demonstrate and then find activities that match these objectives. Finally, the teacher must come up with a way to assess whether the learner has met the objectives and figure out a way for the learners to interact with one another (Yelon 2001).
After learning about how to create a lesson plan, I began exploring Massively Open Online Courses (MOOCs) through Peer 2 Peer University. I found some awesome courses such as how to create an app, how to use python, and a course on how to teach creatively that I would definitely be interested in taking. I had a lot of fun exploring and reading through the tasks of each course. The tasks seemed to flow from having no knowledge about a subject to becoming a mastered learner. In addition, the courses built upon knowledge that the learner obtained in the previous task.
This week’s project didn’t become difficult until it was time to pick a topic for my Ultra Mini MOOC. I thought about everything including how to set-up a raspberry pi, and how to solve a two-step equation. Finally, I began thinking about CEP 810 and the awesome project I created using iMovie. I realized how easier it would have been had there been a MOOC to support me. A lightbulb went off in my head and I knew the perfect topic for my MOOC.
In my iMovie for Beginners course my peers will master editing video clips and adding text by creating a video in iMovie and blogging about their journey.
Course Topic: Creating Videos in iMovie
Course Title & Photo:
iMovie for Beginners
Photo by Blair Chamberlin
Who is coming to your course? What will attract them? Why would they want to participate in this experience?
When I think about how I felt when I began using iMovie, I see myself as someone who had no experience with creating videos. My course is perfect for anyone who wants to learn how to create a simple movie with text, and has no experience with making a video. My course will have pictures to help guide the learners through their tasks and learners will have the opportunity to interact by blogging about their experience after every task and helping each other through difficulties.
What do you want learners to be able to do when they are done? How long is your course experience?
During this course, learners will focus on mastery learning by becoming masters of adding text and editing clips. Becoming Masters requires learners to “fully understand the material before moving on to the next topic” (Coursera 2013). In order for students to become masters, they must “keep practicing each concept until they have mastered it” (Coursera 2013).
For learners to become masters in my course, they will complete tasks in their own iMovie software and must master (or complete) a task before moving onto the next one. My course will last 2-4 weeks and will be self-paced.
What will learners make?
By the end of the course, learners will have their own iMovie ready to be published onto YouTube.
Course Outline
Introduction – Choose a Topic and Duration (one day)
Learners must first choose a topic for their movie and a duration for their video. They will take a day to think about their topic and write about a post in their blog. They will post their blog in the comments section of the introduction task which will allow other students to comment and give feedback to their ideas.
Task 1 – Collect Videos (one week)
Learners will take a week to collect video of their subject. They may do this by using their phone, a video camera, an iPod, an iPad, etc. Learners will collect as much video as possible to make their video (learners will need to keep in mind that only certain clips will be used and the duration that they chose in the Introduction).
Task 2 – Upload Videos to iMovie (one day)
During this task, learners will begin following steps to upload their videos in iMovie. The first step is to create an event in iMovie. Next, they need to connect the device they used to collect videos and upload it to their event.
At this time, learners will blog about their frustrations and successes with using iMovie. Once again, learners will post the link to their blog to allow for discussions.
Task 3 – Create a Project and Edit Clips (two weeks)
Once learners have their videos, they may now begin working on their project. They need to create a project and name it with their topic in mind. Once they have done this, learners will begin editing the videos they collected by taking only certain clips and making their video flow. Learners will work on this for two weeks and will blog about their experience. Learners will post their blog link and allow other classmates to comment on and help them through any frustrations.
Task 4 – Add Text (one day)
Since learners have now created their video and have the perfect clips in the correct order, they will add text to their video to introduce their subject.
Task 5 – Export Project
Once the learners have perfected their video and are ready to publish, they will export their project and post it to YouTube. Learners will post their links to the comments section of the task and allow other classmates to see and comment on their finished product.
References
Coursera (May 13, 2013). 5 Tips: Learn More Effectively in Class with Mastery Learning [blog]. Retrieved on July 27, 2013 from http://blog.coursera.org/post/50352075945/5-tips-learn-more-effectively-in-class-with-mastery
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.
Wiggins, G. and McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by Design, Expanded 2nd Edition. Prentice Hall. pg 13-33.
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