5318 Week 2 - Landing on an Idea to Run With

I have bounced back and forth between two ideas for what course I will design.  At first I shied away from designing a course for my current early childhood students.  I do not want to add to cognitive overload as discussed by McNelis (2014).  Early childhood students learn best through hands on activities and movement.  So I thought to design a music course for adults.  However, I think that would be the easy way out for me.  After reading some responses from Dr. M about my ideas and reflecting on it more I decided to go ahead and design my five week course for early childhood students.  I believe this can be accomplished through effective communication and the right tools along with parental support.  At the EC level there must be parental participation and support.  The course will actually not require much time on a device.  For the course learners will need access to a device such as a pc, ipad, or tablet with sound and internet access.  They will need writing, drawing, or coloring tools and scissors.  Paper will be needed.  If the student has access to a printer that is great but not a necessity.  Learners will also benefit if they can get an instrument called a boomwhacker or set of desk bells.  The learner can also substitute a kids digital piano or xylophone.  If none of these are possible, vocals also work.  Finally learners will need to be able to take pictures and submit them to Schoology.  A cell phone should work for this.  The area I work and teach in has issues with access to technology but I am confident many have cell phones and can access the data through the use of a smart phone. 

This is a lecture free course.  There will be plenty of written and recorded instruction.  I will use modeling in short videos along with screencasts.   The learning in this course is accomplished by providing opportunities for experiences in hands on and active learning with minimal activities to play on line for progress checks for understanding or assessment.  The activities are in the form of matching and sorting games.  Students in this course will strengthen knowledge in mathematics in relationship to patterns through the study of rhythm.  Students will strengthen knowledge of basic colors red, orange, yellow and relate those colors to pitches Do, Re, Mi.  Students will create their own music composition that will include at least a three note melody and rhythmic accompaniment using Chrome Music Labs app Songmaker.  The student will be able to share a link to their composition at the end of the course as evidence of their learning.  Morrison (2013) stresses the need in design to stay focused on the user.  I believe I am doing this by taking into consideration the age group, access to technology, and other obstacles my learners are facing.  While doing this I am planning backwards going through the TPACK framework of content, pedagogy, and technology covered by Archabault,Crippen (2016).

Refernces

Archambault, L. Crippen, K. (2016) Examining TPACK Among K-12 Online Distance Educators in the United States. CITE Journal.  https://citejournal.org/volume-9/issue-1-09/general/examining-tpack-among-k-12-online-distance-educators-in-the-united-states/

McNelis, D. (2014, Nov. 6) Cognitive Overload: Rewire Your Brain In the Digital Age. Tedx.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0ztO86ImQg&feature=emb_title

Morrison, D. (2013, Dec. 9) How to Design an Excellent Online Course. Online Learning Insights.  https://onlinelearninginsights.wordpress.com/2013/12/09/how-to-design-an-excellent-online-course/