The three sub-competencies of Competency 3 are all met by my final project for EDCI 569: Introduction to E-Learning. My final project was an e-Learning course called, “OER101: How To Find OER For Your Course.” This niche faculty training module is built around a simple goal: Faculty interested in incorporating open educational resources (OER) into their class will be able to locate appropriate OER for their subject area of expertise using the Open Textbook Library and the Creative Commons search engine.
This artifact effectively demonstrate the three sub-competencies of:
- Communicates effectively in oral and written formats;
- Effectively communicates content through the design and delivery of teaching/learning activities that integrate content and pedagogy;
- Demonstrates the ability to adapt instruction and assessment techniques to the needs of diverse learners.
In addition to designing the course, I also served as the subject matter expert. This latter role allowed me to communicate effectively with my audience in both written and oral format. All the content on the course website was either created or curated by me. Some of the learning materials are visual, some are textual readings, and some are videos I recorded. These different formats show my ability to communicate effectively in oral and written formats.
Different formats of learning materials also demonstrates an understanding of good pedagogy for online learning. I leveraged the medium to communicate with my audience in various ways.
Moreover, my user-friendly design enabled this content to mesh well with sound online learning pedagogy. My learners are guided through the course in a linear fashion, are provided with multiple opportunities for engagement and assessment of knowledge, and are supported with feedback and encouragement in spite of the asynchronous learning environment.
One of the strengths of this course is its brevity. This was a direct response to the learner analysis I conducted which solidified that if university faculty are my target audience, they won’t have much time, nor patience, to complete a long drawn out course that serves no benefit to them other than their own personal enrichment. I adapted the instruction to the unique needs of my diverse audience. The asynchronous nature of the course further allows for a diverse group of participants who may be globally dispersed with various life and work commitments.