BP_Final Project

Relevant and Innovative Learning Scenario

Dawn Blair

Brief Overview:  Communication and collaboration can be challenging in a global environment.  When you have learners and/or coworkers in multiple locations, what’s the best method to getting everyone’s ideas in a centralized location without spending countless hours in meetings? With this RILS I hope to provide one solution that may alleviate some of these challenges.

1.    Target Audience- Adult Learners

2.    Materials-

a.     Computer with Internet access

b.    Free Mindomo.com account

3.    Objectives- At the end of this scenario the learner will be able to:

a.     Construct an individual concept map using personal data.

b.    Arrange ideas on a pre-constructed concept map surrounding a single topic.

c.     Collaborate with multiple users to create a finalized product in real time.

d.    Manage complex data using a Web 2.0 tool.

4.    Procedure-

a.     Connect to the Internet and type in http://www.mindomo.com.

b.    If you haven’t done so already, sign up for a free account.

c.     Review the tutorials on how to use Mindomo.com’s mapping tool.

d.    Create a map named “Family”.  Create 3 topics named “Parents”,  “Children” and “Siblings”.  Add subtopics to each topic with the names of your family members.

e.     Once you’ve completed the Family map, I will share a map with you named “Company Picnic” through email.

f.      Brainstorm, collaborate and plan a company outing, i.e., a picnic using the concept map in real time.

g.     Add topics and subtopics based on the needs and wants for this particular activity.

h.    Record your thoughts about the ease of use of this tool as you add to the map and the map gets updated.

i.      Share your Family map and the final Company Picnic map with me once you’re finished, by adding me as a collaborator.

5.    Web 2.0 Tool- The Web 2.0 tool I chose to use is http://www.mindomo.com.  This tool is used for concept mapping, collaborating and organizing ideas, plans, and thoughts.

6.    Social Participation/Social Learning- The social learning piece of this scenario comes in the form of the participants creating a single product from remote locations.  They will initially learn to create a product on their own, using their family members as topics and subtopics.  I will create a map then add the participants as collaborators and give them permissions to view and modify the map so that they can add information, create notes and tasks.  This map will be the final product of the scenario.

7.    Making Connections-

a.     The learners will use their previous knowledge of outlines, and note taking and apply it to the new concept map approach.

b.    This tool will allow the learners to develop a new way to organize and plan ideas and thoughts.  By having this tool in their arsenal, the learners will be able to save time, become more efficient in their tasks and be able to accomplish more no matter where they are located.

c.     As this tool is Internet-based, participants are able to reach out to a wide public audience or a public forum where anyone is allowed to add to or modify the product.

8.    Create/Produce- For the purpose of this RILS, the end product will be a company picnic planning concept map.

9.    Assessment- Please see attachment.

10. Reflection-

a.     The participants will record their progress during the process and reflect on ease of use, what they learned, how they think they’d improve the process and if and how they’d use this tool in the future.  I will roll up this information in a brief to accompany my results.

b.    I will conduct a short interview with each participant to find ways to improve this process.

Results:

Once each learner created their Family map, they shared it with me via the Mindomo.com interface.  I had the learners go through this process in order to become more familiar with the tool.   Here are their products.

Brumskill Family

Campbell Family

The real time collaboration among the three of us flowed smoothly and rather quickly.  I asked the learners to add one or two additional items to the map, but as they came up with ideas, they wound up adding three and four extra items and adding more topics and subtopics.

Both individuals offered some great feedback.  One will be using this tool to plan her family reunion with others in her family.  She mentioned the ease of use and how fast the learning curve is.  My other subject also plans to use this tool in the future for office planning and collaboration.  She mentioned how effective this tool will be to keep time-consuming meetings to a minimum and to allow a focus on the important topics.  Here is the finalized product from my RILS.

Video: