Sophie’s World

Course Title: Getting to know Excel 2007
Course Provider: Microsoft elearning
Stated course objectives or outcomes:

Goals:
•    Get a handle on the new look of Excel.
•    Find everyday commands on the Ribbon: cut, copy, paste, insert sheet rows, insert sheet columns and sums
•    save workbooks in the new Excel file formats.
Achievement of outcomes: Yes, I successfully achieved all outcomes.
Stated course duration: 2.5hrs    Actual course duration:    1.5hrs

Administration:
Were you provided with any support contact details? No

Did you need to contact admin support? NO
No

Materials:
Were you supplied with any support materials? No
If Yes, what materials?
Were you issued with a certificate? No

Technology:
Did you have any issues with any of the technology used by this course? No – I had trouble downloading the sessions quickly, but they did all eventually download.
Virtual Classroom:
Which components of the virtual classroom did the course offer? No aspects of what I consider to be virtual classroom were offered in this course – none of the work was done in synchronous communication or in collaboration with anyone.
Did you use any of them? No

Interactivity:
Rate the degree of interactivity:
None     Low    Some High    Very High

Feedback:
Was there any feedback during the course? No
Was it personal? No
Or Computer generated? Yes
Rate the quality of feedback: Poor    Fair Good    Very Good

Content:
Did the content cater to differing learning styles?  Yes
How?
Audio was available for the whole course, and images, charts, diagrams and simulations were used for visual learners. All script was also available for reading/writing learners to follow along with.
Was the content logically sequenced and organised? Yes
Were there options for different levels of expertise? No
Were there any exercises that allowed you to practice skills? Yes
Was the content in plain English or jargon? Plain english
Was there a “real” facilitator? No
How could you make contact with the facilitator if you chose to?
An option was available to send an email to the ‘helpdesk’ team for that unit of Microsoft elearning, but I’m not confident any enquiry would be responded to in a timely manner.
Navigation:
Was the navigation of the course content logical? Yes
Were there “breadcrumbs”? Yes
Was it simple to navigate to the last point where you had left the course?Yes
Did the site have FAQs? Yes
Did you use them? No
Did they help? n/a

Additional Comments: Even though this course ticked most of the boxes in terms of things you should do when designing an online course, it was still hard to get used to because the course would show up on the student’s screen in a ‘simulation’ window that wouldn’t maximise and hence made the screen look busier than it needed to be. The navigation panel wasn’t always visible either, so the learner couldn’t track their progress, only at specific intervals, when they finished each module. The content I think they attempted to cover was definitely covered, but a few of the small details like self navigation and giving the learner more autonomy (acknowledging them as an adult/capable learner?) could have been great additions to the considerations when designing it.

I hate to say this, but I’m celebrating the fact that the excel 07 course is I took for this assessment is finished! I’ll be posting my full assessment shortly, plus the additional assignment, but in brief: thank goodness! I learnt a bit but not enough to warrant the time it took out of my days.

stay tuned…

So the SMH have put out a piece heralding e-learning as the latest solution to the literacy levels in indigenous students in the NT. This was following a damning report form the NAPLAN (the National Assessment Program in Literacy And Numeracy that replaces the basic skills test) results that these children are the worst off in the country in terms of their reading age and ability to compete with other children across the nation.
The article outlines the great initiative and the amount of sponsorship it has from both government and other organizations.
The only thing missing is pretty crucial though. Are these kids ready to learn in an e-learning context? I guess this jumped out at me because I did one of my assignments on learner readiness, but it seems like a pretty obvious thing that should be assessed before rolling out yet another initiative in the NT. If the issue being addressed is a serious lack of education access, how can policy makers and tertiary institutions assume that access to the internet and new technology is any better?
It seems like a nice idea, but I’m not sure it’s been implemented with all factors taken into consideration…

You can read the article here.

Chris has also written about it on his blog, you can read what he has to say here.

So I’m nearly finished the course I’m doing and even though I’ve gotten some useful things out of it, and the frustration has calmed down a little, I still feel like it could have been better designed. I think part of the blame could be laid on me, I think I might have chosen the wrong level of course to start off in. It turns out I’ve chosen one of the later stage ‘intro’ versions of this course that takes learners through how to use excel if they’ve never used it before. The content isn’t totally basic, but there was nowhere I could have found out that this was what I was enrolling in before I actually started the course. I think this is what has caused the most frustration.

 That aside, some of the tips and tricks I’m learning are great. The layout makes a lot more sense now, considering it’s an intro level course, as does the step-by-step nature of the practice exercises. I guess I’ll just have to sit back and relax a little and stop expecting so much out of a beginner’s course.

Oh dear. I think it’s just that I’m naturally impatient but this course is starting to really frustrate me. The general setup is great, it uses all forms of delivery – aural, visual and text – and interaction is used in all stages, however this interaction is very prescriptive which is what I think is frustrating me. When I’m learning something new I like to try to move at my own pace, exploring new parts as I feel comfortable, which for this course is a lot sooner than it’s letting me.

That aside, I have learnt how to customise the program to suit my needs and reoriented myself to find all my most often used functions. I’m halfway through and I thought I would have covered more than this by now, however. It’s ok though, because I can see exactly what I’ve achieved in the progress tracker and exactly how much more I have to go, so I’m hoping that I can get a lot more out of the second half than the first.

patience is a virtue, so here goes…

Having just done the first 25% of the course on excel 07, I’m feeling pretty good. The course was really easy to enrol in and learn how to use, however finding the course I thought would be right for me was a bit of a challenge. Anyway, I think I’ve got it and I’m looking forward to the rest of it. I’ve covered basic differences between older versions of excel and the new 07 version for PCs. This followed on from an introduction to the aims and goals of the course and how long I could expect it to take me as well as how to get the most out of the course.

It’s set up to be quite interactive and is very step-by-step, first showing the learner what they should do and then providing them with a simulation so they can try themselves.

Here’s hoping I can get as much out of the next couple of sessions as I have from this one….my only worry is that the slower step by step pace will get frustrating.

What are the stated course objectives and outcomes?

Goals:

• Get a handle on the new look of Excel.
• Find everyday commands on the Ribbon: cut, copy, paste, insert sheet rows, insert sheet columns and sums
• save workbooks in the new Excel file formats.

What are your expectations?

What outcomes do you expect to achieve?

All of them! I expect to be able to complete all objectives once I finish this course. The software is something I will have to use everyday at work and if I can’t perform the tasks I need to I am going to be in a difficult spot.

What do you expect the learning experience to be like?

I expect the learning experience to be a slow but well planned and executed course. I hope it’s a little challenging but also covers the basics just so everyone is on a same page and that no one (i.e. me!) misses out on anything they were expecting to learn.

What type of support are you expecting from the course?

Not much from this course, I assume it has been extensively tested and that it is largely a self-sufficient type course because that is the style of elearning that I have experienced from Microsoft in the past. After they roll a program out they don’t usually provide ongoing support outside of a discussion board type environment.

I’ve decided to find a course that covers the microsoft 07 suite of software. We’re currently upgrading the systems at work to this version and it think I could get a lot more out of my use of the programs if I looked at the differences and some advanced uses of the newer versions. Microsoft have provided all companies who buy the upgrade with a lot of online courses for everything from word to visio and project which is great because I’m also hoping to pick up  a few new programs through this phase as well.

So, the courses I’m taking are at: www.microsoftelearning.com

Anyway, back to the question in this activity:

How do you find a short elearning course?

Google – way too broad when I don’t know what I’m searching for.

ask around my friends – not very productive either.

look at what’s available at work – Finally, some progress! With the gradual roll-out of Microsoft Office 07 by IT there is a real need for at least a couple of people within each department to be confident in the new versions to guide the rest in troubleshooting. So I took on this role for the HR department and have helped out most people in the department with the transfer. As a result I’ve also been provided with online training in all the new versions of office so that I could do this better. Eleanring course found!

After taking the questionnaire on the Vark learning styles site, my hunch was well and truly confirmed. I am a raeding and writing learner. The detail that the learning style went into was amazing – I really do love to learn with glossaries and list and notes and handouts…the list goes on! (scuse the pun

I think the way I like to learn is also reflected in the style of assignments I have been presenting this semester – largely going for the report angle. Even down to this blog for Elexp, I have included the same tags and categories in most posts because I like the consistency and they way a list can effectively group posts together. It’s bizarre, but true!

Hopefully I’ll be able to take on some of the suggestions on my learning style in terms of study. Most of my assignment/tests are already structured in a similar way to that of a typical reading/writing learner (that is, essays, writing out lists, creating heirarchies and practicing multiple choice questions), but I’m sure my notes could be improved by adopting the SWOT approach (study without tears – I love it).

Everyone should give it a go – check out your learning style here

“Successful learners in the online environment need to be active, creative, and engaged in the learning process.” Palloff & Pratt, 2001, p.7

“Without experience or other guidance, most learners – of all ages – are not adequately prepared to learn effectively from the technology-rich training opportunities offered…” Watkins, 2005, para 6.

What are both these articles suggesting about online learners?

These articles suggest that online learners are just as demanding if not more than learners in other contexts. This is demonstrated in their need for engagement at all points in the learning process. This goes hand in hand with the need for this engagement to be guided by a facilitator who is experienced in the technologies used so as to coach all levels of learners through a new and possibly daunting learning experience.

A great example of this from my everyday experiences at work is helping other employees in my department orientate themselves with the new Office 07. Most often users are totally capable of learning the software as they have extended experience in older office versions, however when faced with a different interface their confidence is slashed because they are not familiar with the visual layout of the new version. Being able to work with people to do simple things like run a spell check is usually enough to show them that they are capable of learning the software themselves, but also gives them the knowledge that there is someone around who can help them out who has been using the application longer than them.

What do you already know about your preferred learning styles?

I know that I am a learner that can draw from all learning styles but I learn best when multiple styles are used. for example, when discussing learning styles in high school I found I learnt most effectively when the teacher was using a combination of auditory and visual learning aids (i.e. writing on the board or using posters or a presentation). I read in an article somewhere that we only retain 10% of what we read on a static page, however I am sure it must be more than this because I have remembered a lot more than just 10% of what I have read for any particular subject at uni, either journal articles or lecture notes.

What influence will your preferred learning styles have on your e-Learning experiences?

I think my preferred learning style has had a great impact on my e-learning experiences. I know that I learn well from a combination of learning styles being used but I also know that one of my strongest is visual and this is used particularly well in e-learning experiences, just take a look at any quality online course!