Term 2
The main strand running through the second term was that of research. Moving from the short research paper (that, based on what I was finding out in this term, wasn't really a research paper at all), we had to do a literature review. We also got into more technology, with Flash movies and PHP/MySQL for online data collection.Assignments
WebQuest - The Good, The Bad and The Ugly of Web Site Design
A WebQuest is an instructional design model that helps teachers to integrate internet use into their teaching. The definition of a WebQuest is "an inquiry-oriented activity in which some or all of the information that learners interact with comes from resources on the Internet." (Bernie Dodge - see http://webquest.sdsu.edu/about_webquests.html. Note that this dates back to 1997 and the model has been further developed since then).
I created a WebQuest that I felt I could use in my own teaching. It provides a framework for students to use their own existing knowledge and internet-based resources to learn what good web design is all about.
My WebQuest and my reflections on the assignment (duplicated within the WebQuest also).
Online Data Collection with PHP/MySQL
This assignment was to create an online form and process it using PHP (a server-side web scripting language). The data was to be stored in a MySQL database on the server.
As I'd done lots of web scripting before, this was easy enough for me...luckily as I was already putting myself under pressure to finish the Flash assignment a week earlier than necessary because I was going on holiday to Ethiopia in March.
I'd done a little bit of PHP before and not worked with MySQL but having done lots of ASP & Perl scripting with other database (SQL Server, Access), I knew all the ideas and it didn't take me long to create a simple form and the PHP to process it. This was also thanks to the excellent material prepared by James and Tim. They wrote it in such a way that a novice at web scripting could put together a working artefact without too much effort.
View the artefact Read my reflections on this assignment.
Literature Review
This assignment was bringing me further along the road towards being able to write a complete research paper. It was to write a literature review on an area of my choice.
I decided to look at mobile learning and how it could be used to support trainee teachers in Africa. I chose this so that I would get more insights into what research and work has been done in the area of m-learning in Africa, as I was hoping I could focus my own research on this area.
View the Concept Map I used to plan my writing
Literature Review paper (PDF document)
Reflections on this assignment
Multimedia/Flash
This brief for this assignment was to "plan, design and produce an interactive multimedia movie, using Macromedia Flash, for use in an educational setting."
I had a few ideas for what to do for this. One was to create an interactive game or experience based HIV/Aids awareness, as this is a big issue in Ethiopia. The idea would be to help young adults learn how the disease is transmitted and how to prevent it, in way that was easier to deal with than open discussion. I may still do this in future, however I decided for now to do something that I might use closer to home.
The idea I settled on was to build a movie that would help students learn about HTTP, the protcol used to transfer documents on the web.
View the Flash Movie - HTTP on the WWW (not optimised for in-browser viewing - you can also download the Flash files)
Assignment documentation - in the form of a mini website
Download the Movie files - (zip file - extract to a folder on your PC, then double click on learnhttpmain.exe to run the movie)
Download the Flash files (zip file containing the flash source code - there are several separate flash files)
Reflections on this assignment
