EDTC 6332 Educational Technology Practicum

Practicum Project
Project Description
This project addresses a need within the Quality Schools International school network to
better train students to create effective digital Writing Portfolios. The 7th/8th grade Writing
curriculum requires all students to create and maintain a portfolio to showcase their
writing throughout the year. The project consists of an e-learning course of 8 lessons
that teaches students about the purpose of portfolios, how to write reflectively, and helps
students set up a digital portfolio on a website.
Standards Met
This project demonstrates proficiencies in the following AECT standards: Standard 1
Content Knowledge, Standard 2 Content Pedagogy, Standard 3 Learning
Environments, Standard 4 Professional Knowledge and Skills, and Standard 5
Research. The chart below illustrates the performances that fulfill the AECT standards.

AECT 2012 Standards

Standard 1 Content Knowledge: Candidates demonstrate the knowledge necessary
to create, use, assess, and manage theoretical and practical applications of educational
technologies and processes.
Performance indicators:
1.1 Creating. Candidates demonstrate the
ability to create instructional materials and
learning environments using a variety of
systems approaches.
1.2 Using. Candidates demonstrate the
ability to select and use technological
resources and processes to support
student learning and to enhance their
pedagogy.
1.3 Assessing/Evaluating. Candidates
demonstrate the ability to assess and
evaluate the effective integration of
appropriate technologies and instructional
materials.
1.4 Managing. Candidates demonstrate
the ability to effectively manage people,
processes, physical infrastructures, and
financial resources to achieve
predetermined goals.

Justification
1.1 Instructional materials were created
using both interactive video as well as a
static web page.
1.2 Adobe Captivate was used in
conjunction with a website as the
technological resources for this project.
Captivate was used in order to make use
of the quiz feature as assessment tool for
some of the lessons.
1.3 Both formative and summative testing
was conducted with the target group to
evaluate whether the technologies used
were effective.
1.4 People, processes, physical
infrastructures, and financial resources
were used effectively in the following
ways: regular communication with project
stakeholders and evaluation participants;
allotting time and physical locations for

1.5 Ethics. Candidates demonstrate the

contemporary professional ethics of the
field as defined and developed by the
Association for Educational
Communications and Technology.

formative and summative evaluations; and

ensuring that institutional money was not
spent on this project since no money was
budgeted for its development
1.5 The project was ethical, not violating
any of the ethics defined and developed
by the Association for Educational
Communications and Technology.

Standard 2 Content Pedagogy: Candidates develop as reflective practitioners able to

demonstrate effective implementation of educational technologies and processes based
on contemporary content and pedagogy.
Performance indicators:

Justification

2.1 Creating. Candidates apply content

pedagogy to create appropriate
applications of processes and technologies
to improve learning and performance
outcomes.

2.1 Processes and technologies

corresponded to correct pedagogical
theories, also making use of cognitive
theories of learning to ensure instruction is
effective and has minimal distractions for
learners.

2.2 Using. Candidates implement

appropriate educational technologies and
processes based on appropriate content
pedagogy.
2.3 Assessing/Evaluating. Candidates
demonstrate an inquiry process that
assesses the adequacy of learning and
evaluates the instruction and
implementation of educational
technologies and processes grounded in
reflective practice.
2.4 Managing. Candidates manage
appropriate technological processes and
resources to provide supportive learning
communities, create flexible and diverse
learning environments, and develop and
demonstrate appropriate content
pedagogy.
2.5 Ethics. Candidates design and select
media, technology, and processes that
emphasize the diversity of our society as a
multicultural community.

2.2 Adobe Captivate and the

corresponding website where lessons
were hosted were used successfully for
learning sessions. Users reported no
issues with the technologies themselves.
2.3 Assessments were conducted for
each of the 8 lessons. One set of
assessments allowed for instant feedback
and correction; the other involved the
teacher of the course which allowed for a
human element to ensure all course
outcomes were met.
2.4 Lessons had built-in tools and breaks
to allow learners to pause/replay/review
content material in order to learn at their
own pace. Content incorporated audio,
visual, and kinesthetic components to the
training. Course designer email is
provided to students for further support if
needed.
2.5 Examples in the lessons include multicultural characters. Lessons have been
purposefully designed with an international
audience in mind since the target group

are international students.

Standard 3 Learning Environments: Candidates facilitate learning by creating,

using, evaluating, and managing effective learning environments.
Performance indicators:
3.1 Creating. Candidates create
instructional design products based on
learning principles and research-based
best practices.
3.2 Using. Candidates make
professionally sound decisions in selecting
appropriate processes and resources to
provide optimal conditions for learning
based on principles, theories, and effective
practices.
3.3 Assessing/Evaluating. Candidates
use multiple assessment strategies to
collect data for informing decisions to
improve instructional practice, learner
outcomes, and the learning environment.
3.4 Managing. Candidates establish
mechanisms for maintaining the
technology infrastructure to improve
learning and performance.
3.5 Ethics. Candidates foster a learning
environment in which ethics guide practice
that promotes health, safety, best practice
and respect for copyright, Fair Use, and
appropriate open access to resources.

Justification
3.1 Instructional solution is designed to
minimize unnecessary distractions
(animations,etc.) while maintaining an
informal and amiable script/narration to
engage learners on a personal level.
3.2 An online learning environment is used
to allow for individualized learning as
learners proceed through the lessons at
their own pace. Lesson videos are sized
to fit a variety of devices so that learners
do not need to scroll back and forth to
view content.
3.3 Feedback forms from target group
participants as well as stakeholders are
used to assess lesson design and
effectiveness. Verbal discussions and
involvement of key stakeholders in the
original design process are also used.
3.4 Technology infrastructure used is 3rd
party software and hosting that will not be
affected by technology issues/interruptions
within the QSI organization. Both Adobe
Captivate and www.weebly.com are
recognized and respected
services/software within the technology
industry.
3.5 Sources and third-party materials are
used correctly with no copyright violation.
All materials used are used with
permission and have been cited
appropriately.

Standard 4 Professional Knowledge and Skills: Candidates design, develop,

implement, and evaluate technology-rich learning environments within a supportive
community of practice.
Performance indicators:

Justification

4.1 Collaborative Practice. Candidates

collaborate with their peers and subject
matter experts to analyze learners,
develop and design instruction, and
evaluate its impact on learners.

4.1 Peer (fellow teachers who teach the

target group and will use the finished
project) collaboration was used in the
design phase as well as the evaluation
phases of this project.

4.2 Leadership. Candidates lead their

peers in designing and implementing
technology-supported learning.

4.2 I designed the project, reached out to

fellow peers, and completed the project
with the help of my peers, all the while
maintaining a leading role in this project as
designer and creator. Interpersonal skills
were used to create strong connections
between peers that were helping with
project feedback.

4.3 Reflection on Practice. Candidates

analyze and interpret data and artifacts
and reflect on the effectiveness of the
design, development and implementation
of technology-supported instruction and
learning to enhance their professional
growth.
4.4 Assessing/Evaluating. Candidates
design and implement assessment and
evaluation plans that align with learning
goals and instructional activities.
4.5 Ethics. Candidates demonstrate
ethical behavior within the applicable
cultural context during all aspects of their
work and with respect for the diversity of
learners in each setting.

4.3 Both formative and summative

evaluation were conducted in order to
accurately reflect on the effectiveness of
the project.
4.4 Assessments corresponded directly to
the learning objectives for each lesson.
Each lesson goal was assessed either by
end-of-lesson quizzes or teacher-graded
rubric.
4.5 Project demonstrates use of ethical
behavior within the international
environment by incorporating multi-cultural
elements without disparaging or
minimizing the value of any culture. Small
humorous elements were included in
several lessons without being offensive to
any group.

Standard 5 Research: Candidates explore, evaluate, synthesize, and apply methods

of inquiry to enhance learning and improve performance.
Performance indicators:

Justification

5.3 Assessing/Evaluating. Candidates

apply formal inquiry strategies in assessing
and evaluating processes and resources
for learning and performance.

5.3 All participants completed uniform

feedback forms designed to gather
information about the project in order in
improve learning and performance.

5.4 Ethics. Candidates conduct research

and practice using accepted professional
and institutional guidelines and
procedures. Candidates demonstrate
foundational knowledge of the contribution
of research to the past and current theory
of educational communications and
technology.

5.4 Research methods used for data

collection followed accepted professional
and institutional guidelines (by QSI) and
procedures.

Modifications Made
After the solution was published, summative evaluation began with members of
the target group. Although no large-scale modifications needed to be made,
smaller changes/improvements were made based on feedback from this group.
Some changes made were the following:
1. Clarified the wording on a question in the Lesson 2 quiz.
Before

After

2. Removed Next buttons from quizzes since participants found them

confusing.
Before

After

3. Renamed the Submit buttons to Check Your Answer to make it

clearer to learners what its purpose was. (see example above)
Both during and after summative evaluations I continued to make small
improvements to the course, especially in the area of the website. Some
changes made were the following:
1. A Course Overview was provided on the home page to clarify the
scope/sequence for teachers.

Before

After

2. A contact form was provided on the Resources page to allow

teachers/students contact with me if questions/comments arose about
the course.

3. An example portfolio was created and posted to help provide a clear

example for students.

4. Feedback from users indicated the volume level was not loud enough
so I adjusted the volume on the videos and then sought additional
feedback on the adjustments. Since the feedback was positive I
incorporated the new volume level into all video lessons.

5. Based on the Temporal Contiguity Principle (Mayer, 2009) I edited the

audio narration to ensure that the title of the lesson was visible when I
spoke it. Previously the titles narration was on the next slide.

Before

No narration

After

Narration of the title spoken on this slide

instead of the next one.
6. Based on the Coherence Principle (ibid) I removed extraneous material
from one part in Lesson 3. The extra images were not at all necessary
to learning so they were removed.

Before

After

7. Based on the Multimedia Principle (ibid) I added graphics to

correspond to my narration on the review slide that starts each lesson.
These graphics appear as I speak about each.

Before

After

Work Cited
Mayer, R. (2009). Multimedia learning (2nd ed.). Cambridge, New York: Cambridge
University Press.