Capstone Log Instructional Technology Department

Candidate: Kali AlfordMentor/Title: Thomas Garrett Asst Principal Kris Hale Social Studies ChairSchool/District: Riverwood International Charter School/ Fulton County

Capstone Title: Creating Online Elective Courses for District Wide Use

DateActivity/Amount of Time (Please total the time after the last entry.)PSC/ISTE Standards

November-December Conduct research into the use and effectiveness of online courses Examine various Learning Management Systems from company representatives Demo with Canvas representative Development of course objectives in reference to quality Matters and iNACOL Familiarization with Canvas platform.

Total.12 Hours

Reflection: My first immediate actions were streamlining my course goals and objectives to an appropriate format for an online platform. This proved to be difficult as it caused me to disengage myself from activities that I had long enjoyed assigning my students. Regardless, I began researching new activities that would be more effective for an online course. Much of this research was conducted by reading through journal articles, but the most beneficial aspects of the research was conducted while attending GaETC. While there I was able to talk to vendors, fellow teachers already facilitating online courses, and Dr. Tammy Powel, the Director of Distance Education for the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Kennesaw State. Following the phase of my research, I selected Canvas as the appropriate LMS for my project and felt better equipped to continue developing my course.

January Re-examine course activities to fit and pre-created lessons to fit into capabilities of Canvas Demo Collection and transfer of resources for modules 1-3. Creation of module 1-3 in Canvas platform Meeting with School membership about online course pilot

Total.22 Hours

Reflection: Following the demonstration by the Canvas representative, I felt confident that selecting Canvas was the right decision. Having learned about basic functions I need to go back to and organize my course outline to better fit the capabilities of modules within Canvas. This involved scanning and digitizing hard copies of readings and handouts according to iNACOL standards. I meet with Thomas Garrett to discuss the objective of this project and garner interest in serving as my Capstone sponsor.

February Collection and transfer of resources for modules 4-5. Creation of modules 4-5 in Canvas platform Usability Testing on course modules 1-5 Contact district humanities coordinator

Total.....17 Hours

Reflection:Usability testing consisted of former students who had taken the face to face and would be at least somewhat familiar with the course content. The students were asked to work through 3 of the sample modules and note any directions, content, objectives, etc that were unclear or confusing. The students returned valuable feedback in those areas, but also illustrated an important point. They were unfamiliar with the program and I had not included a module to go over basic functions. This is something Quality Matters includes in its best practices. I also had members of the Fulton County Vanguard team go through my course looking for pedagogical errors. Such as non-measurable goals, broken links, and non-ADA compliant components.

March Collection and transfer of resources for modules 6-7. Creation of modules 6-7 in Canvas platform Pilot testing with sample of current students.

Total.....17 Hours

Reflection:Having received mostly positive feedback regarding my course and making corrections to the errors pointed out by my former students and colleagues, I allowed a sample of my current students to pilot the course in lieu of in class assignments. Following the piloting of two modules my students taking the online course score 2% higher on the assessments than a similar sample of my in class students.

AprilCollection and transfer of resources for modules 8-10. Creation of modules 8-9 in Canvas platformThe Finished Course presentation to school leadership

Total.....17 Hours

Reflection: Having concluded the creation of my course, I presented it along with the limited piloting data to my Department Chair Kris Hale and Thomas Garrett. They were both impressed by the project and also agreed with it being a possible solution for the need it is addressing. From this meeting Kris Hale and I reached out Dr. Keena Riles-Jenkins, the Chair of Humanities for Fulton County Schools. I was seeking a meeting to present my course and propose my idea as a solution to limitation of elective courses for our high school students.

May Meeting with humanities office postponed indefinitely Meeting with school leadership about implications of online learning for faculty Procured Part-time position in Office of Distance education at KSUTotal.....17 Hours

Reflection: I received a meeting from Dr. Jenkinss office asking to reschedule the meeting at a later date to be determined. The Office of Instruction and Learning was amid some sort of freeze due to leadership changes. Nonetheless, I continued to seek out ways to polish my course. Procuring a position with Dr. Tammy Powel was one of those ways. Working as Dr. Powels graduate assistant afforded me access to KSU workshops and her expertise in design principles. Ive been able to see the process of designing a course as well as the review process that Quality Matters and KSU conduct on their classes. This has informed me greatly in what I must to polish my course to increase its caliber.

June Further polish course with concepts of instructional design and technical writing Presentation with county Humanities Chair and other humanities representativesTotal.....17 Hours

Reflection: I have scheduled a meeting on the 27th of July with Dr. Jenkins regarding my course and online elective idea. I feel as though the work I been conducting under Dr. Powel has granted me a skill set that I think will be most beneficial as I continue in online and blended learning.

Total Hours: (104 hours ]:

DIVERSITY(Place an X in the box representing the race/ethnicity and subgroups involved in this capstone.)

EthnicityP-12 Faculty/StaffP-12 Students

P-23-56-89-12P-23-56-89-12

Race/Ethnicity:

Asian

BlackXX

HispanicX

Native American/Alaskan Native

WhiteX

Multiracial

Subgroups:

Students with DisabilitiesX

Limited English Proficiency

Eligible for Free/Reduced Meals