Running Head: SUMMARY OF ONLINE LEARNING EXPERIENCE

Summary of Online Learning Experience

By: Kimberly Jones

ITEC 7481
SUMMARY OF ONLINE LEARNING EXPERIENCE 2

Overview

My online learning experience is designed for a middle school STEM (science,

technology, engineering, and math) class of around thirty seventh graders. Students take

this class as an elective; some have taken STEM before while others are taking it for the

first time. Students are all in seventh grade and are heterogeneously grouped. The class

has students who have individualized education plans (IEPs) student support teams

(SST), gifted students, and students who are learning English as a second language.

Students have a wide range of academic and social needs as well as learning styles and

interests. The school is a Title I school with approximately 65% of students identified as

economically disadvantaged.

The module addresses the seventh grade STEM standards for invention and

innovation. To summarize the standards, students have to learn relevant vocabulary for

invention and innovation, research and identify historical inventions, understand the

engineering design process, and use the design process to create their own invention or

innovation. Students will begin the online learning experience by learning invention and

innovation vocabulary before researching an inventor and his or her inventions with a

focus on one invention of student choice. The goal will be to share their selected inventor

and invention with the class by sharing a student-created inventor trading card using

Padlet which will become a study guide and the basis for the quiz for the first part of the

module. After this, students will review the engineering design process, identify problems

in their daily lives, and apply the design process to create their own invention.

Throughout the module, students will participate in discussions and collaborate with their

Template Created by Julia S. Fuller, 2014

SUMMARY OF ONLINE LEARNING EXPERIENCE 3

classmates through peer responses. Students will also contribute to the class blog at least

once throughout the online learning experience.

Context

This module will be used in a brick and mortar classroom that meets every other

day for one hour and fifteen minutes. It will begin during the second semester, so

students have experience with most of the tools they will be using. Students will use

school-issued Chromebooks and their school-issued G Suite account to complete their

work and will be given enough time to complete all work in class. They may choose to

work on assignments at home as well, but it is not required. Most of the students have

internet access, but some do not. We will begin this unit in January, and I expect it to take

around 9-10 weeks.

Students will work through at their own pace within reason. They will be given

deadlines of when certain items are due, and late work will be addressed on an individual

basis. Students will have to work with a partner during the second module (introduction

to invention and innovation), and they may then complete the third module on their own.

I will conference with individual students multiple times throughout the online learning

experience, so any issues with completion or modifications needed can be addressed

before assignments are due. The largest apart of the online learning experience is

students’ invention project. This can be done pretty simply or as complex as students

choose to make it. This allows for students who take more time to still achieve the goal

while students who take longer or want to do a more complex project can do so within

the timeframe.

Template Created by Julia S. Fuller, 2014

SUMMARY OF ONLINE LEARNING EXPERIENCE 4

Assessment Practices

Most of the work in the online learning experience is project-based and will be

graded with rubrics that are based around the standards and objectives. There is one quiz

which will be graded based on correct and incorrect answers, but students have a chance

to retake the quiz if they do not do well. Students will have access to all rubrics for their

assignments as they work through them so they can self-assess. In the beginning, I will

use the rubrics more as I am conferencing with students to help them self-assess before

submitting anything. Students may have another chance to improve their scores by using

the feedback to make corrections and changes.

Accommodations

There are several elements of the online learning experience the support

accommodations for both special education students and English language learners.

Students who need read-aloud accommodations have Chrome extensions such as Read &

Write or Selection Reader. They also have an extension that will simplify any website to

modify for lower reading levels. Students may also utilize Google Translate to help with

language barriers. Many assignments offer students choice in how they present their

learning which can accommodate students who are struggling readers and writers or those

who have different learning styles.

Universal Design/Accessibility

Universal Design and accessibility were taken into consideration throughout the

online learning experience. Overall, the assignments consider variations in the areas of

Template Created by Julia S. Fuller, 2014

SUMMARY OF ONLINE LEARNING EXPERIENCE 5

representation, action and expression, and engagement. Information is presented through

text, websites, videos, and audio recordings. Students have the choice in how they present

their learning in the engineering design process review assignment as well as choosing

text or audio recording for their blog posts. The invention project that makes up the

largest part of the online learning experience is based around a problem the student

identifies making it completely relevant to each individual student. Although this online

learning experience will be implemented in a face-to-face class with the ability to

troubleshoot, I still incorporated accessibility factors as if it were a completely online

environment; a few examples are included next. Included YouTube videos have the

option of using captions, color is not used by itself to differentiate items, the pages on

Canvas are still easy to view when the page is enlarged, and audio recording is available

for all assignment instructions and extensions are available to read webpages. All student

accommodations will be followed through this online experience. Assignments can be

assigned to individuals or groups of students allowing me to provide different versions of

assignments and assessments as needed.

Differentiation

Differentiation is included in most assignments for the online learning experience.

The first part of the online learning experience is made of items such as an “Introduce

Yourself” and a “Learning Styles” discussion post. This will help me get to know my

students better before beginning the content activities. Students will be strategically

partnered for the inventors’ research assignments to support each other. Students can

choose how they show their understanding of the engineering design process by taking a

Template Created by Julia S. Fuller, 2014

SUMMARY OF ONLINE LEARNING EXPERIENCE 6

quiz or creating a small project. Discussion posts have the option of doing an audio

recording instead of text response as needed. I will conference with students multiple

times throughout the online learning experience in order to support as needed for

academic or technology needs. The culminating project is differentiated based on student

interest and the rubric requirements are fairly simple so students can keep it more

straightforward and simple or make it more complex. I will also have the ability to offer

descriptive feedback on every discussion, assignment, and assessment in order to help

students know what they are doing well and what they need to work on.

References

Morin, A. (n.d.). Universal design for learning (UDL): what you need to know. Retrieved

from https://www.understood.org/en/learning-attention-issues/treatments-

approaches/educational-strategies/universal-design-for-learning-what-it-is-and-

how-it-works

WCAG 2.0 Checklist. (n.d.). Retrieved from Web Accessibility in Mind:

https://webaim.org/standards/wcag/checklist

Vai, M., and Sosulski, K., (2016). Essentials of Online Course Design. New York:

Routledge.

Template Created by Julia S. Fuller, 2014