I’m an Experimenter!
The activities in this module were very interesting, and encouraged me to use technology tools that I had either not considered or had not used in an academic setting.
First, I chose the H5P activity. Although I had used a few content types in H5P in the past (primarily the flashcards and quizzes), there were many that I had not yet attempted. I chose to try the “Documentation Tool” and set up an example to see how it might help my students to easily populate and export a template used to document user requirements in systems development. Activity Bank: Documenting Use Cases with H5P
The second activity I chose was experimenting with technology tools on mobile devices through challenges presented in the UDG Agora Challenge Bank. The specific challenge I chose was Find an Educational Use for Fun Apps, which challenged me to consider a single purpose app (generally used for personal or entertainment purposes) and design an activity that could be used in my course. I decided to consider how I might use MindMeister (a mind mapping tool) to help students collaboratively brainstorm and generate a map or “tree” to graphically represent the connections from users through to functional requirements. This “tree” can be a valuable resource with which to draw information as they continue to model user requirements in greater detail. Activity Bank:
Finally, using the tool Piktochart, I created an infographic to present the steps involved in solving a problem, from the perspective of a Business Analyst. I used one of the preconstructed templates as a base, and modified it to suit the data (i.e. adding “blocks”, adjusting the colour scheme). I chose to try representing what would normally be delivered as a simple list of steps on a slide as an expanded infographic for the improved visual organization of the steps as well as to create a tool that students may choose to reference following the lesson.
While I have become accustomed to experimenting with technology in the classroom (due to the nature of the program within which I teach), the activities presented in the Experimenter Module challenged me to use tools in ways I had not considered. Lessons learned from this module include (1) the learning curve to applying a familiar tool in a new way is much more gradual than trying to experiment with a tool that must be learned first, (2) there is often a cost-benefit trade off in terms of the conversion of an activity to a new format and the increased impact that activity might have (such as the high impact of an infographic at the cost of significant preparation time), and (3) engaging in challenges (such as the module’s activities or the UDG Challenge Bank) on a regular basis will be a valuable to my own professional development.
The activity I completed on a mobile device was creating a mind map using the tool MindMeister. The tool has a native app for the iPhone, which was very easy to set up and start creating and collaborating with right away. The advantage to using this tool on a mobile device is similar to most apps; the convenience of creating, updating and collaborating remotely. Similarly, the disadvantage is common to most apps as well; the limited screen size makes some of the functionality cumbersome. However, overall the app was well constructed, organized and easy to use. I would consider using this tool on either collective brainstorming activities during case study analysis) or as a means for students to organize their thoughts while planning a project. Given that there is a native app available for both iOS and Android devices as well as through a mobile browser, most students should be able to access the tool. There is a restriction on the free license (3 mind maps per account), which is certainly reasonable for use in an academic setting.
Looking forward to completing additional Modules in the Empowered Educator series!
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Example for "I’m an Experimenter!":
https://youtu.be/YPJNUMWtCnU
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