It's been a busy month or two, but my e-learning site (and this blog) are nearing completion. Typically, I keep seeing things I'd like to tweak, but I have to get the report finished so I'm drawing a line in the sand where it is now, and calling it done. What do I think of the result?
First things first, here's a link to the site for reference. You'll notice a [blog] link at the top of most pages - these link to some hidden posts in this blog giving some extra details on individual pages, so the blog proper is just about more global themes, process etc.
I'm reasonably pleased with the result as a whole, but at the same time I'm acutely aware of some issues that I wish weren't there, mostly caused by platform limitations and time restrictions. What it does well I think, is illustrate the concept and principles I was aiming for, even if it does contain a lot of what I feel are placeholder elements.
On the plus side I've managed to implement a vision of blended learning I think finds that balance between suitability both in and out of the classroom. It is a valid teaching tool I can easily see myself using in lessons, but is still a useful tool to learners when at home. It definitely isn't stand-alone, and would need the tutor's input to help learners navigate the contents, but that is as intended.
I've managed to squeeze in a few more gadgets than I expected to. Codepen is clearly the most used, and served a very useful purpose, but I also found a couple of useful tools to embed, even if some of them could be better implemented. Other gadgets embed documents into the page for easy access, Google's own add-ins being used in particular. There's no filler here either; I did consider adding a quiz or something, but decided against it, as progress in the module is measured by success in coding - a quiz would be such low-level as to be largely irrelevant, possible even condescending - and trying to implement anything like udemy or codecademy would be far beyond the scope of the project. Instead, ongoing assessment of progress would need to happen in the taught lessons. More work for me, but a better compromise than a pointless quiz.
I'm happy I managed to get my own custom gadgets in there too. Okay they were very basic, but demonstrated my aim of including bespoke teaching aids directly in the VLE. In a full site you can hopefully imagine many of these, each illustrating a concept that may be too abstract to explain in words alone. It's a shame the gadget implementation was so glitchy - the Skype button was a shame, especially since the code was exactly as it was supposed to be.
The biggest downside, for me at least, is the dated feel of the site right out of the gate. I'm sure I could have torn into the template system and come up with a custom design more suited to my preferences, but I was conscious over the whole project of not turning it into a programming exercise. There were principles to demonstrate that needed the attention; the look of the thing, while certainly an important UX consideration, was not the main focus.
That's the other thing really, the GSites platform proved more of a limitation to me, given what I wanted to do with it. Certainly, most users won't have the same experience I did, but I had to curtail my vision several times when I realised I couldn't easily do what I'd hoped. The result lacks some of the immersion, convenience and consistency I wanted, but given the limitations I can't say it came out badly, necessity being the mother of invention and all that.
First things first, here's a link to the site for reference. You'll notice a [blog] link at the top of most pages - these link to some hidden posts in this blog giving some extra details on individual pages, so the blog proper is just about more global themes, process etc.
I'm reasonably pleased with the result as a whole, but at the same time I'm acutely aware of some issues that I wish weren't there, mostly caused by platform limitations and time restrictions. What it does well I think, is illustrate the concept and principles I was aiming for, even if it does contain a lot of what I feel are placeholder elements.
On the plus side I've managed to implement a vision of blended learning I think finds that balance between suitability both in and out of the classroom. It is a valid teaching tool I can easily see myself using in lessons, but is still a useful tool to learners when at home. It definitely isn't stand-alone, and would need the tutor's input to help learners navigate the contents, but that is as intended.
I've managed to squeeze in a few more gadgets than I expected to. Codepen is clearly the most used, and served a very useful purpose, but I also found a couple of useful tools to embed, even if some of them could be better implemented. Other gadgets embed documents into the page for easy access, Google's own add-ins being used in particular. There's no filler here either; I did consider adding a quiz or something, but decided against it, as progress in the module is measured by success in coding - a quiz would be such low-level as to be largely irrelevant, possible even condescending - and trying to implement anything like udemy or codecademy would be far beyond the scope of the project. Instead, ongoing assessment of progress would need to happen in the taught lessons. More work for me, but a better compromise than a pointless quiz.
I'm happy I managed to get my own custom gadgets in there too. Okay they were very basic, but demonstrated my aim of including bespoke teaching aids directly in the VLE. In a full site you can hopefully imagine many of these, each illustrating a concept that may be too abstract to explain in words alone. It's a shame the gadget implementation was so glitchy - the Skype button was a shame, especially since the code was exactly as it was supposed to be.
The biggest downside, for me at least, is the dated feel of the site right out of the gate. I'm sure I could have torn into the template system and come up with a custom design more suited to my preferences, but I was conscious over the whole project of not turning it into a programming exercise. There were principles to demonstrate that needed the attention; the look of the thing, while certainly an important UX consideration, was not the main focus.
That's the other thing really, the GSites platform proved more of a limitation to me, given what I wanted to do with it. Certainly, most users won't have the same experience I did, but I had to curtail my vision several times when I realised I couldn't easily do what I'd hoped. The result lacks some of the immersion, convenience and consistency I wanted, but given the limitations I can't say it came out badly, necessity being the mother of invention and all that.
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