Session 3 - Respiratory System

30/7/2012

Good to have eaten before the session.

One participant didn’t turn up but we started on time. Once again participants were great. They had some concerns that were easily resolved. No technical problems today so I included Lynne in some of the activities – Icebreaker, Poll.

Both of the students who attended are familiar with PowerPoint so that will make it easier for the presentations for digestive system. Next time I will use a Poll to find that information.

Concerns

I had duplicated some of the medical terms, etc. I think this is because I was trying to work too fast when I created the ppts and obviously didn’t proof read well enough by comparing one slide to another. I will check all of the other ppts I have created to ensure that I have not done the same thing.

This presentation did not flow well so after the session I have rearranged the slides for a better flow. Am also starting to review the other presentations for flow.

I was concerned about the student who didn’t attend as she was the student who had not learnt her work the previous week. After the session I opened my email to email her. When I checked my email I found that I had an email from her telling me that she would be unable to attend but saying that she would attend the following week. I replied to that.

In future I will check my email before the session and leave it open while the session is in operation.

Session 2 - Basic Word Structure

23/7/2012

We changed the times for this session as I was in Footscray till 4.30pm and didn’t know how long it would take me to get home. Gave participants a choice of 7.30 or 8pm start – they chose 8pm.

Changed my presentation to add a Poll to find out what time they would like the sessions to start – 100% for 8pm. So we have changed the times to 8pm - 9pm. This will suit everyone better and I will be able to eat before the session.

Session went well. One learner had obviously not learnt her medical terms or word parts and was trying to look them up, but it became obvious to her that the others had learnt them as their responses in the session were immediate, she said that she hadn’t realised that she had to learn them – will check that that is clear for future classes. With f2f sessions I usually get some learners who thought that they could get away with not learning the work. They soon find out that they do have to learn the work.

I had created cheat sheets for myself to cover me in case I went blank in the middle of a session – this worked well. Realised that in f2f classes I have all the answers in my book so consider this the same thing.

Participants had done their work during the week from the book and detailed some problems they encountered. These were easily resolved. They needed reminding about how to write and draw lines on the whiteboard – they were so good last week that I forgot to remind them – next time I will remind them before they ask. Pleased to see that they will ask if they are not sure about anything.

They were very good at dividing medical terms into word parts, pronouncing medical terms and word parts, understanding the meaning of medical terms.

Concerns

I am having a little trouble understanding my Asian learner when he just says one word/word part.

Starting to worry that learners will get bored as most of the sessions have the same format but I think about f2f classes and they do essentially the same thing each session until we get through the body systems and they have lots of fun. So, I will bear it in mind but continue with my plan and prepared presentations at present.

Lynne says that she is learning a lot!

Session 1 - Introduction

16/7/2012

I was very nervous all day. Not sure why, maybe because I had put so much preparation work into it.

Lynne & I went into Elluminate at 6.30pm and I had no problems uploading my presentation. Lynne was invaluable as she noticed new participants while I was talking to those already in the room, so she told them how to do their Audio Setup.

I had planned to use this first session to make the learners comfortable in Elluminate and then to explain how to divide medical terms.

Session structure:

·         welcome

·         explained the Elluminate window

·         encouraged learners to try the emoticons and explained their use

·         went through guidelines for online web conferencing

·         question Who are we? intended that the learners would write their names and something about themselves on the whiteboard. In fact, they wrote their names on the whiteboard and used the mike to tell us something about themselves

·         explained course structure

·         ice breaker – How do you feel about doing this course? happy/sad faces – all very positive

·         Poll – any experience with medical terminology?

·         basic medical terminology

·         shared the wiki

·         review session & prepare for next session

The learners were great they really took to online web conferencing. I extended the basic terminology section with learners dividing medical terms with lines on the whiteboard and reading medical terms from the whiteboard. They spontaneously applauded each other! A sure sign that they understood and had embraced the technology and the class!

All replied to my Welcome message on the Discussion Forum.

Tech Support:

Lynne welcomed participants as they arrived if I was otherwise occupied and explained to them how to do Audio Setup.

One participant was late so Lynne took her through Audio Setup while I continued with the session.

One participant was having audio problems so Lynne took him into the Tech Support room, dealt with the problem, sent him back to the main room, while I continued with the session.

The structure and timing worked well; the participants were great!

Concerns

Great start! No concerns yet

Preparation for Online Course

Setting up an online course is an enormous undertaking. It requires:
Planning
Why? because I was asked to set up and deliver an online course.

What? BSBMED301B Interpret and use medical terminology appropriately.

When? Term 3 2012

How?A daunting task as I have to assess spelling, pronunciation and understanding of medical terms as well as the ability to divide medical terms into their component word parts.
1. We have a Private Label Wikispace, so I will use that to provide information and learning resources for the learners.
2. Fortunately I had been practising some of the programs I had learnt as an e-champion by creating learning resources for my f2f learners. Feedback from them has been good.
3. Gained access to Elluminate for online web conferencing.

Development
Based on my f2f classes I divided the course into 10 sessions. Started to set up a new wiki with general pages for:
- Course Information
- Protocols
- Discussion Forum
- Assessment
Terminology Pages for:
- Basic Medical Terminology
- Respiratory System
- Digestive System
- Cardiovascular System
- Musculoskeletal System
- Urinary System
I created a CoolText Heading for these pages to give a consistent look to the site then began to populate these pages with information and learning resources - flash movies created with Microsoft PowerPoint and iSpringFree to give guidance to learners for pronunciation and dividing terms into word parts; Hot Potatoes crosswords, Quizlet flash cards and scatter games for practise and self assessment. Also searched for relevant YouTube videos.
Elluminate: planned the sessions then started creating Microsoft PowerPoint presentations and lesson plans to use with online web conferencing.

Reflection
Preparation of an online course is very time consuming but quite exciting. I was lucky that I had a lot of online resources already created and trialled.
Quizlets are very effective, easy and quick to create learning resources and learners like them.
PowerPoints take more time than expected for Elluminate sessions
Still not sure how to cover the reception content.