Amanda’s E-learning Blog

Now i have completed almost four hours of an e-learning course I am able to come to conclusions regarding the effectiveness of the course. Most of my evaluation is shown through my final reflection which you can see by clicking on the link at the top right hand corner of this page.

It was a good course, I do not regret choosing it. It was easy to follow and understand. The only negative thing I can see (which i keep saying) is lack of different activities at the end of each small topic. And feedback, which is hard to do through a computer (at this stage in technology – im sure in a few years this comment will seem very outdated).

Last night I did another hour of the BBC German language course. I finished module 3 and got up to ‘Holiday Accomodation’ in module four. This hour was not too bad. As i knew i only had a small amount of time to complete I was enjoying it. However as I had not really retained that much from the modules before, I was finding it hard when we were asked to call on the knowledge of basic things such as introducing ourselves.

I was planning to complete the final 1.5 hours to make it four hours of the course, however after the hour I had had enough and did not want to complete anymore. Each module was pretty much the same, therefore I felt i had seen enough to be able to make judgements and write my final review (Plus I was running out of time and did not want to waste time doing the same things when I could use that time to write more blogs).

Yesterday I completed a further 1.5 hours of my BBC German online e-learning course.
Before starting my second part of the course, I had a think of what I remembered from the first hour of the course, which was a few days ago. I found that i could remember the course structure and the layout perfectly, however could not really remember much of the German, which I was supposed to be remembering. 

My comments are fairly the same as they were after the first hour. Structure and layout of the course is very appealing, however the repetitiveness is annoying.

By the end of this 1.5 hours i have completed module 1, and worked my way through module two. I began module 3 however stopped after the first point. Next time i start back will be at ‘Having a snack.’ This time I was not spending as long on each topic. The choice is there wether you participate in the activities or not. Therefore sometimes I did not. I believe the flexibility to do this is a great idea. It also offers the opportunity to complete any tasks again if needed.

Activity 3.3

The Course Objectives and My Expectations

What are the stated course objectives and outcomes?

“German Steps is an introduction to German language and culture, designed for use in social and work contexts” 

The stated objectives are as follows: 

To learn: 

Stage 1: Meeting People
Basics of the language: greetings and introductions, Group introductions: members of the family, Asking and saying what you do, Exchanging information about country of origin and place of residence 

Stage 2: Getting Around Berlin
Identifying and recognising sights, Basic conversation with taxi driver: stating destination and paying, Basic formalities, Attracting someone’s attention, Asking for and understanding directions, Asking about public transport: lines, fares, tickets, Buying a ticket. 

Stage 3: Food and Drink
Basic food orders: typical cakes and hot drinks, Ordering a snack: typical dishes and cold drinks, Asking for and understanding the menu, Basic conversation to buy foodstuffs.

Stage 4: Taking a Holiday
Understanding, discussing and agreeing on leisure events, Understanding key driving language and reading signs, Understanding instructions and information about key facilities, Understanding and discussing what the weather is and will be like. 

Stage 5: Making Arrangements Asking about and booking a hotel room over the phone, Arranging time and date for a meeting by e-mail, Asking about and buying a train ticket: arrival and departure times, seat reservation and station changes, Basic business introductions and meeting openings.

Stage 6: Shops and Services
Buying items in a shop: describing and differentiating similar items, discussing your budgetRenting items: negotiating budget, contrasting options, making a decisionDescribing symptoms, buying medicine, understanding how to take it, Asking about, describing and reporting lost property: filling in form with personal details
MY EXPECTATIONS:

What outcomes do you expect to achieve?

At the completion of this short course I expect to be able to understand and speak basic German in the topics they have chosen to focus on. (Meeting people, Getting around Berlin, Food and drink, Taking a holiday, Making arrangements and Shops and services).

What do you expect the learning experience to be like?

In the users guide it explains that the course has many interactive features. Such as sound, pictures and text. This will suit my multimodal learning stlye (as recognised by completing the VARK questionnaire).

 What type of support are you expecting from the experience?

As listening and speaking are a major part of learning a language, I expect there to be many opportunities to practice my new skill by interaction such as being encouraged to repeat after the computer. In the users guide it also says the course provides support by offering activities at the completion of each unit. I expect these activities to be interesting and help me to summarise what I have learned.
Other support outlined in the users guide includes a vocabulary list, grammar tips and cultural notes.

Activity 3.1 

Learning Online 

Learning Styles 

What do you already know about your preferred learning styles? 

From my experience in both classroom learning and personal learning, I know that I learn best in a variety of different ways. For example, when learning a practical skill I learn best when it is first demonstrated for me then I do it myself with the teacher observing. When learning facts and figures, rote learning is the best and being able to see it written down. I assume this would be the same for most people. 

What influence will your preferred learning styles have on your e-Learning experiences? 

I’m sure that my preferred learning styles will be similar to if I was learning online. However, from my experiences in this subject so far, I would expect e-learning to have a higher level of participant interaction. As I enjoy learning practically, this should suit me perfectly. 

Complete the Learning Styles questionnaire from: http://www.vark-learn.com 

My scores were:

Visual: 11
Aural: 8
Read/Write: 8
Kinesthetic: 10

I have a multimodal (VARK) learning preference. 

Explain how your preferred learning style might be reflected in the layout of your weblog, your approach to learning and what influence it will have on the short course you have selected! 

The website explains that 60% of any population are multimodal (http://www.vark-learn.com/english/page.asp?p=multimodal). I agree with my personal result as I do believe I can learn from many different ways, however they need to be suited to the situation. For example, learning a practical skill needs to be practiced (i.e. kinesthetic learning). My highest was visual, which means I have a preference to learn by looking at charts and diagram because they stay in my memory more effectively than looking at a paragraph of words on a page. My results showed that I learn from Aural and Reading/Writing equally. They are slightly lower than the other two, however are still fairly high. 

At the beginning of semester, when we began working on our weblogs, I chose a design that was very organised and straightforward. It is a gray background with red and black writing, which is not that interesting, however it is set out well and is easy to follow. The explanation of the VARK Questionnaire states that as a strong visual person “You are interested in color and layout and design” (http://www.vark-learn.com/english/page.asp?p=visual) which I feel is reflected in my weblog design due to the practical layout of the page. If there had been more options of the same layout, I may have chose one with a bit more colour. 

Therefore, from the VARK Questionnaire results I can conclude that my approach to learning is fairly equal in regards to learning methods. As my highest were Visual and Kinesthetic, I believe that a short course that incorporates these two aspects strongly will best suit my learning styles. 

Activity 3.2 Searching For E-Learning Courses. 

We are each required to search for an e-learning course to complete. This will give us real experience in e-learning. We can choose a course on anything we are interested in, however in the activity guide there are a list of suggestions. The main requirement is that it is FOUR hours duration. 

I have decided that I would like to do a beginners course in a language. Not sure on what language yet. Maybe German or Italian. I also would like to do one that is online (not cdrom or m-leanring).

 How do you find a short e-learning course?

1. By using a search engine, eg Google or perhaps Google Scholar.
2. Stores that sell computer programs, such as touch typing on CD ROM.
3. Subscriptions to certain training websites, like the ones Victoria has access to.

Yday in class we started on module 3 and we have to complete an online course. I have decided to do one learning a different language. The BBC website has a good range of languages and seems to be a easy set out to follow, this website was recommended in the activities guide. Thinking I will do German because I have always wanted to speak that language. or maybe Spanish.