Our intended audience will be teachers/instructor
in the higher-ed setting.
Learners will have a deep understand
of weblogs and weblog administration tools, how weblogs
can be used in classrooms, and the ability to construct
a weblog from scratch.
Description of the Project
1. What materials will be required?
Students must have computers with Internet access.
2. What will a student or facilitator need to
do to prepare to use this project?
• Students must have basic computer skills, experience
with using the Internet, and knowledge of how the web
works.
• Facilitator must have knowledge of weblogs
and their construction. They also have to be familiar
with all the lesson content in the WBI.
3. How will you gain and maintain learners'
attention?
• An animation will be provided to learners in
the welcome screen to gain their attention. The animation
will demonstrate a user typing information and publishing
it, which will then dynamically update the weblog. This
will provide learners with motivation by seeing the
simplicity in posting/updating information on their
weblog.
• To maintain learners’ attention, the
web interface will be intuitive, attractive, and user-friendly.
The content will be organized and easy-to-read.
4. How will you engage learners in the tasks?
Practice activities will be provided to the learners.
The activities will provide feedback and remediation.
Some activities will provide fixed answers such as multiple-choice
and fill in the blank while others will provide more
deeper processing, such as problem solving scenarios
in which learners will be given a scenario of a problem
in which they will be required to do research and to
critically think about the problem.
5. How will you facilitate deep processing?
There will be some practice activities in which allow
learners to think about the type of weblog that best
fits their needs. These activities will require some
deep processing. For the most part, this WBI will not
have much deep processi
6. How will you encourage ongoing motivation?
• There will be numerous practice activities with
appropriate feedback. The illustrations will be very
detailed and visual • Since plain
text content can be boring and fatigue learners, the
lesson will be delivered via multiple medias such as
text, hyperlink, graphics, and
7. What will the teacher or facilitator do?
• The teacher or facilitator will first greet
learners and provide instructions on using the WBI.
• The teacher or facilitator will provide hands-on
support for learners when needed.
Rationale
Provide a narrative rationale that addresses
each of the following questions.
1. Why is this project worth the time and
effort you will devote?
• The term weblog is a hot topic and it can
be targeted to a wide range of audience. Although
there are a lot of weblogs out there that provide
information on a lot of areas, not much research is
done in which provides information on how it can be
used in classroom settings (for teachers).
• There are lack of sites in which provides
information on choosing the appropriate weblog administration
tool from the different types available ,and procedures
on creating a weblog from scratch.
2. Does it include more than just verbal (declarative)
knowledge?
Our WBI will include not only declarative knowledge,
but also procedural knowledge and problem solving
skills.
3. What learning domains will be addressed?
How?
• Knowledge – provide definitions, descriptions,
and examples.
• Comprehension – teach learner to choose
the correct type of weblog administration tool according
to their needs and skill level.
• Application – provide procedures and
practice exercises for learners. In return, learners
will be able to apply it for their own use.
• Analysis – allow students to critique
other weblog sites. This will allow them to deconstruct
the weblog as well as analyze, compare and contrast,
and identify the positives and negatives.
• Synthesis and Evaluation – problem solving
scenarios and weblog critique activities will allow
students to critique, describe, explain, generate,
and compile.
4. Why use web technology for this topic?
The topic is correlated to the web. Also, this provides
situated learning and cognition for the learners.
Describe how this project addresses each
of Gagne's Events of Instruction.
1. Gaining attention - An animation
will be provided to learners in the welcome screen
to gain their attention. The animation will demonstrate
a user typing information and publishing it, which
will then dynamically update the weblog.
2. Informing learners of the objective
– There will be a page that provides a list
of the objective for the WBI.
3. Stimulating recall of prior learning
– There will be a section that will provide
the prior knowledge for this lesson, including basic
computer skills, experience with using the Internet,
and knowledge of how the web works.
4. Presenting the stimulus –
The lesson content will be divided into three topics/sections.
Learners are given an option to choose which topic
they want to proceed.
5. Providing learning guidance –
Examples and clear content and illustrations will
be provided in which will guide learners from one
topic to the next.
6. Eliciting performance –
provide practice activities such as multiple-choice,
drag-and-drop exercises, creation of a weblog, problem
solving scenarios, and critiquing of weblogs.
7. Providing feedback – Feedback
will be provided immediately after the practice activity.
For multiple-choice questions, feedback will tell
them why they got the question correctly or incorrectly.
For problem solving scenarios and critiquing activities,
feedback will be provided in paragraphs in which students
will try to compare their answers with the ones provided.
8. Assessing performance –
Learners will be required to create their own weblog
and write an essay on how it will be applied to a
particular classroom setting (ex: science class, math
class, etc). Learners will be required to write a
descriptive rationale of how it will be used, what
activities will students be engaged in, and how these
activities will likely promote learning in students.
9. Enhancing retention and transfer
– Learners will have the opportunity to construct
their own weblog using a weblog administration tool.
Learners will apply what they learners, and provide
a descriptive document on how it can be applied to
a particular classroom setting (ex: science, math,
English, etc.).
Anticipated Challenges
Following are some challenges that we anticipate
for this project:
1. Different weblog administration tools might not
be available in the future (ex: address changed, password
protected, etc.).
2. Learners might not have particular plug-ins such
as flash player, java, etc. To resolve this issues,
we will provide learners with certain requirements
in order to fully experience the WBI. One requirement
will be to install a particular plug-in before beginning
the lesson.
Practice & Assessment
1. How will learners practice or apply what
they have learned prior to a final "assessment?"
Various authentic activities will be presented to
the learners. Such authentic activities will include
critiquing other weblogs, problem-solving scenarios,
and the creating of a weblog. These activities will
enhance student retention and encourage deep-level
processing.
2. How will you provide feedback to the learners?
Once the learner makes a response to a practice
activity, detailed feedback will be provided. Some
feedback will be clear and concise (multiple choice,
drag-and-drop exercises) while others will be elaborate
and lengthy (problem-solving scenarios and critiquing
weblog activity.
3. What "tangibles" will be produced?
Learners will create a weblog from scratch using a
weblog administration tools. Learners will also have
a detailed sketch of how a weblog can be applied to
a particular classroom setting (ex: science class,
math class, etc.).
4. How will learning be evaluated? (How will
you know the students have mastered the objectives?)
Student will be required to construct a weblog from
scratch. If a facilitator is present, he/she will
evaluate to see if the student did it correctly. If
a facilitator is not present, then students will be
required to send a link to their weblog to verify
their successful completion. Students will also be
required to write a detailed description of how a
weblog can be applied to a particular classroom setting.
If a facilitator is present, he/she will grade the
document. If a facilitator is not present, then students
are required to email the documents in which will
be graded and comments will be sent back to the student.
