my pls learning_activities_lams0811

Creating Learning Activities in myPLS using LAMS

.............................................................................................................................Learning Activities 3

..................................................................................................Planning a Learning Activity/LAMS sequence 3

................................................................................................................................................The LAMS Tools 4

...........................................................................................................................The Learning Activities portlet 4

..........................................................................................................Initial set up of Learning Activities portlet 4

.................................................................................................................................................Author in LAMS 5

.....................................................................................................................Create a LAMS sequence - Basic 6

......................................................................................................Create a LAMS sequence - More complex 10

..................................................Create a LAMS Sequence - Collaboration and Higher Order Thinking Skills 12

................................................................................................................................Assign a Learning Activity 13

Table of contents

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Learning Activities

The Learning Activities portlet allows you to create sequenced learning activities and assessments via the award winning LAMS (Learning Activity Management System). These activities can include a range of individual tasks, small group work and whole class activities based on both content and collaboration. LAMS allows for activity pathways based on student ability and learning style. Some students may progress immediately onto harder topics while other may need more practise until they understand the topic. You can assign a learning activity to some or all of the students in the community. The activity can be scheduled to start and end on specific dates, or left as an open ended activity. You can use the activity monitor in LAMS to track the progress of students and view results. Note: LAMS consists of a range of tools that can be included in the sequence. It is important to note some LAMS tools such as wiki and forum have equivalent portlets within the myPLS portal. These tools do not share content. Content created in LAMS will remain within the sequence.

•Visual authoring environment•Sequence activities•Individual tasks•Small group work •Whole class activities•Both sychronous and asynchronous activities•Content and collaboration

Planning a Learning Activity/LAMS sequence

Planning a learning activity is exactly the same as planning an offline activity - you have to have a purpose. You may want your users to • Reflect on their understanding of a topic or issue• Compare their understanding before and after using a resources• Collaborate with others to dissect an issue• Compare sources of information for accuracy• Experiment with online tools• Debate views on controversial issues, and justify their beliefs• Moderate the discussions of other learners• Critique art or writing published online or offline• Design a solution to a community or societal problem

Teachers can create sequences that allow students to do the above - synchronously or asynchronously,Individually, in small groups or as part of a class or larger group.

Teachers using Learning Activities are able to;•Track student progress through, and completion of, activities•View and download student journal entries, discussions and other contributions•Move students on from one activity to another•Split students into groups from within a sequence

3myPLS Learning Activities

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The LAMS Tools

There are a large number of tools available in the LAMS authoring view. To begin, we are going to look at the most immediately useful. Use these to gain confidence, and experiment with others as you continue using LAMS.

A complete description of all tools in LAMS is available at the following link;

http://wiki.lamsfoundation.org/display/lamsdocs/Home

The Learning Activities portlet

The Learning Activities Portlet is the conduit between LAMS and your community members. A Learning Activity takes a LAMS sequence and delivers it to designated members of your class, packaged with a title, description and start and end date.

You must create a LAMS sequence before creating the activity ‘package’ to deliver it.The view shown in this image is a teacher’s view, as the user is able to create a new activity, author in LAMS and manage each activity via the Actions button.

A Learning Activities Portlet, Teacher view

Initial set up of Learning Activities portlet

In order to access LAMS and create a learning activity, teachers will need to add the Learning Activities portlet to a community. Each community requires its own Learning Activities portlet. Teachers can access their saved LAMS sequence from any community they own.

Each user can have the Learning Activity portlet in My Pages; this will display an aggregation of all learning activities assigned to them.

1. On the Add menu, select Add Portlet.2. Either type learning or browse the Learning category in the portlet menu3. Drag the portlet to your chosen location on the page, or click Add to place it in the default location.

• Note: You can move the portlet around at any time by dragging it to your chosen location on the page.




Author in LAMS

To create a LAMS Sequence, go to the Author in LAMS button on the Learning Activities portlet.

A new window will open, and the LAMS authoring canvas will appear.

1. Drag a tool onto the canvas (the Noticeboard is an easy one to start with).

2. Double-click on the tool to open it up and add content or define its behaviour.

3. When you have added several tools, click the Transitions button and draw transition lines between the tools.

4. The sequence must be saved before it can be used in the Learning Activities portlet. Click the Save button in the menu bar. Click your folder, name the file and click Save.


Create a LAMS sequence - Basic

This sequence is a basic comparison of internet searches using a basic search, and then conducting an advanced search. Students will use the tool Boolify to construct a Boolean search.

The tools we will use are the following;

• Noticeboard - a good tool for giving initial instructions.• Share Resources - a good tool for delivering links to websites, learning objects and more. Instructions

can also be included here.• Survey - this allows teachers to collect feedback from participants.

Activity Content LAMS Tool

1. Introduction

2. Activity



3. Feedback

The sequence will appear to participants as follows;

1.Introduction


2.Activity


3.Feedback


Create a LAMS sequence - More complex

Using a simple scenario, we will create a short Predict-Observe-Explain sequence.

Note - The POE strategy is taken from the book Practical eTeaching Strategies for Predict-Observe-Explain, Problem-Based Learning and Role Plays by Professor James Dalziel, Macquarie e-Learning Centre of Excellence (MELCOE), Macquarie University.

The book can be ordered here - http://www.lamsinternational.com/resource/


1. Introduction What effect does gravity have on a rolling object? What about an object that is rolling up or down a hill? What about a roller coaster? Let's find out!

2. Your Activity Using the Funderstanding Roller Coaster, we can experiment with this single variable and see what effect gravity has on a rolling object.

In this learning activity, we are going to Predict what will happen, Observe what really does happen, and then Explain the results.

As you can see in this image, there are several variables that the user can control. These include;

• Speed• Friction• Gravity• Mass• Size of the hill• Another hill - size• Number of loops

If we assume that the settings are such that the coaster car can travel the length of the roller coaster successfully, what will happen if we decrease the gravity?

3. Voting - Prediction

What will happen when the gravity is turned down to zero? Choose from the options listed, or write your own prediction.

•The car will go faster without gravity.•The car will go slower without gravity.•Your own idea______________

4. Voting - Confidence

How sure are you of your prediction?Users select from 10% sure -> 100% sure.


http://www.lamsinternational.com/resource/

http://www.lamsinternational.com/resource/


5. Observe When the Funderstanding Roller Coaster loads, run it without changing any of the variables.

Next, change the gravity setting so that it is as low as it can go. Run the coaster again.

URL provided in activity;

http://www.funderstanding.com/coaster

6. Reflect What did you observe?

7. Forum - Explain Use the forum to discuss what you found, how it differed to your prediction and what the result means.

With the tools renamed to make more sense in the context of this activity, the sequence would now look like this to the teacher (within the LAMS authoring environment).

Relabelling the tools in LAMS




Create a LAMS Sequence - Collaboration and Higher Order Thinking Skills

This activity is about child sponsorship organisations. Students are required to research the organisations from the point of view of one of four roles. They must contribute to a wiki on the topic, and then participate in a forum, reflecting on what they have learned. The sequence, from the teacher’s point of view, looks like this;


Assign a Learning Activity

After creating a LAMS sequence, you use it to create a Learning Activity in myPLS via the portlet.

1.Click Assign an Activity/New Activity

2.Give the activity a name and description.

3.Select a sequence from the folder tree.

4.Select a starting and ending date for the Learning Activity to be available.

5.Click Create.

6.To make the activity available to users, you must add members to the activity. Go to the Actions button next to the activity you wish to use.

7.Select Manage Members.

8.Select members for this activity from the list of users in your community. You can choose individuals or all everyone in the community by clicking Add All.

9.Click OK when finished.

Note: Once you have one or more LAMS sequences created and saved, you can reuse them in the same or other communities.


myPLS Help Files

Assistance with adding and using the Learning Activities portlet is available in the myPLS Help system. Assistance with using LAMS is available via the LAMS Documentation wiki located at the following web site:





my pls learning_activities_lams0811

Education