Final project

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NOTE: The sections in the following examples are just suggestions. I'm giving you a lot of freedom on how to approach this assignment. You can add and combine sections as you wish. Basically, I want to know: WHO, WHAT, HOW, and WHY.

  • WHO are the students
  • WHAT do they need to learn
  • HOW are you going to help them do that using any of the tools we've discussed
  • WHY did you choose those tools

Sample sections

Name: Daniel Roggenkamp
Student number: cl123456
Contact: dan at cailab.net

Students

Define and describe your students here. How old are they? What are their skills with regards to your lesson? For example, if this is an English lesson, what level are they? What are their computer skills? Do they know each other?

Class type

What type of class is this? Is it a traditional face-to-face (F2F) class? Is it a blended class? Is it entirely on-line?

Learning goals and/or lesson

Describe the lesson here. Choose something manageable. Keep it specific.

Tools used (list)

List the tool(s) you will be using.

Implementation

How will you use the tool(s)? Be specific here. Describe precisely how the students and teacher(s) are expected to use the tools to achieve the learning goals. If you can't describe how the tools are meant to be used, how will your students ever know what to do?

If possible, include some justification for your choice; that is, try to provide theoretical justification for your choices. Theoretical justification is not required as some of you may have not taken education classes. Do your best.

Project home

Put a link to where your project lives on the Internet.

You do not have to create a polished, fully-working example of your project. However, you need to at least try to get as much done on it as possible. We'll discuss this on an individual basis. Some projects will be more doable than others if only due to technical and time constraints.

If you have a clear idea of what type of project you want to work on, there's no reason you can't start working on it fairly early in the semester.

Sample final project

Name: Bob
Student number: cl123456
Contact: bob at cailab.net

Situtation

(This part is optional.) First there was bird flu, then there was pig flu, then in March of 2011, our city was hit by the dreaded gecko flu.

Roughly 30% of the population was affected, and the government made the decision to cancel all classes for six weeks. However, given the length of this shutdown, teachers were required to find a way to continue their classes using technology. Basically, they had to continue their classes for the six-week period as distance-learning classes.

Students

First-year English students at NPUE. All belong to the Department of English. There are 48 students in all.

Class type

This is a traditional F2F English reading class, or at least it was before the dreaded gecko flu hit, forcing us to take extraordinary measures to continue our class. The class was scheduled to meet once a week for three hours. Students must read three novels during the course of the semester and complete a variety of group and individual tasks for each novel.

Learning goals and/or lesson

During the six-week period, we will be reading The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. The goals of the lesson, in additon to the obvious one of improving the students' reading skills, include:

  • Familiarize students with the period of American history during which the story takes place
  • Encourage students to infer cultural and linguistic meaning from unfamiliar references and expressions
  • Encourage students to recognize how their own preconceptions of context influences their perceptions of texts
  • Improve general English reading fluency and confidence
Tools used (list) and how they will be used
  • An HTML 'home' page for links to all other on-line elements.
  • Paper-based books. The students all have individual copies of the novel that they can read at home.
  • Discussion forum. We will have weekly discussions relevant to specific chapters of the book using the forum.
  • Wiki. Students will be required to complete one small-group, collaborative writing project using a wiki.
  • Podcast. The teacher will post weekly podcasts that essentially serve to address each week's activities and any questions and/or problems that arise in the class. The teacher can also use the podcast to discuss each week's readings, calling attention to important details. A link to the discussion forum can be used to discuss each podcast.
  • Movie segments embedded in HTML page. The teacher will post a section of the movie, The Grapes of Wrath, every week that corresponds to that week's chapters. The movie will be embedded in a web page so students can watch it from their computers. Dicussions about the movie can be carried out on the forum.

Although all of the above on-line tools are available in Moodle, I wouldn't use Moodle because some students will be quarantined on campus (how horrible!) and will not have access to my Moodle. Therefore, I will create my own mashup of free services, all of which are accessible both on and off campus.

Implementation, additional information, and/or theoretical justification

One of the goals of using this combination of tools and activities is to encourage as much discussion about and collaboration on the reading of the novel as possible. At the same time, the teacher does need to have some method of addressing the entire class in a semi-formal manner that somewhat fulfills the function of the traditional F2F classes that are being cancelled. The podcast fulfills this need.

Aside from the podcast, all the other tools serve to create an on-line class presence and encourage interaction. Students will be required to participate in weekly forum discussions relevant to each week's assigned reading, and this will serve to keep students 'on track' and engaged in the class.

The class will be meeting again F2F before the end of the semester, so their is no need for a 'final project' type activity, such as a report. However, the wiki project does serve as a focus activity for the six-week period, and not only requires students to share notes in small groups, but to publish their observations about one pre-selected element of the novel.