The team sat down for two days to design the upcoming course SPED4400, which will be flipped. We found it effective to do co-writing and to share all working documents in Google Drive, while at the same time brainstorming and discussing face-to-face.
During the two days, we focused more specifically on:
- Planning the framework for the course: how to structure and balance the different types of activities during the course (e.g., topics for each week, to-do tasks before contact sessions, activities at contact sessions)
- Canvas as the learning platform: looking at what are the options in Canvas to use for teaching and learning (e.g., videos, quizzes, discussion forum, submitting assignments), and designing the structure of the course page so that all necessary components are easy for the students to find.
- Finding out different ways to record the videos of lectures: we will try out different programs, which each of us will find the most suitable for themselves to work with. The videos will be shared via YouTube course channel.
- Planning of the exam: there will be short assignments given for each week's topic, which in the end will form the whole exam (final written work extended with introduction, and conclusions and reflections). This way, we aim to emphasize engagement in and the learning process along the course, instead of having a high-stakes exam in the end of the course.
- Evaluation of the course: the course will be evaluated at three time points. Now, we designed a questionnaire to be given in the beginning of the course, and that will follow a mid-way and a final evaluation. Canvas will be used for creating the questionnaires.
Although the framework for the course starts to be now ready, there is still much work to be done related to the course material, such as making the videos, designing the activities for the contact sessions, and making questions for the assignments.