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For my second evidence of learning in OLTD 505, I have chosen “My Learning Journey” in which I was to learn something new about any topic of my choice, and to record my venture. This learning project was to be done using a variety of free online materials. What Will I Learn About? The first step was to decide what I wanted to learn about. I was debating if I should learn something for pleasure and my schooling (i.e. Photoshop) or something more oriented towards my work (i.e. delivery of course content). There were talks at my school that we might be changing LMS once again and I wondered if there might be a way to make the transfer of courses from one LMS to another less painful. In the past, I had been told by a friend, who previously took OLTD, that course content created in SCORM was compatible with all LMS. With this information in mind and with the fact that I live a busy life with a family, schooling and work, I decided to focus my learning journey on something that I could use right away. SCORM seemed to be the best choice at this point in my life.  During the time spent creating a French Immersion program online, I discovered an affinity for developing course content with the goal being to allow students to learn the language in an online environment similar to what they would experience in a French Immersion face-to face classroom. I have to be honest that although I did not know much about SCORM, I made the assumption that creating course content in SCORM would be a similar experience as in an LMS. So, I embarked on this journey thinking that I could learn how to use this platform while at the same time working on something that I am passionate about: creating content for French Immersion courses. I was excited to think that I would no longer have to experience the painful transition from one LMS to another as I thought that it could easily occur using SCORM. This was going to be a win-win situation.  source Although I did not know much about SCORM, I began my learning journey pretty sure of myself that it would be very productive. However, it did not take long for me to realize that this was not going to be as easy as I thought. I first searched what was SCORM about and its history. Lots of the documentation that I read and pictures that I looked at made SCORM seem pretty complicated to use, but some did not.
complicated source less complicated source At this point, my enthusiasm for learning about SCORM was still strong. Next, my online research led me to its key terms and how it was put together. I realized that compared to creating course content and setting it up in an LMS, working in SCROM required a course designer and a content computer programmer. I felt pretty confident with the designing aspect but I was definitely not a computer programmer. At this point, my motivation to learn more on this topic was fading fast. However, since the option of stopping my search was not an option, I just kept looking online for some sort of resolution. So, when I first learned that SCORM was being replaced by Tin Can API, my hopes of creating course content in a platform compatible to all LMS grew. However, I learned that Tin Can API is a tool to use to track the learning journey of a student. With this tool a student can create statements about what and how it was learned which can either be stored in SCORM Cloud or an independent server. At this point, I realized that I was getting further away from my end point of creating course content in a platform universal to all LMSs. However, I decided to create a statement in the Tin Can API lab to be able to say that I had tried it. The outcome of my statement looked like something that had been coded, which I was not comfortable with. In some way, I feel like my learning journey was a failure but in reality like this image says, it was just the beginning of a learning journey.  Reflections Now that my learning journey in SCORM has come to an end, I realized that although I did not end up with a final product, such as course content created on SCORM, I still learned a lot about myself as a learner and how to learn using free online material. The idea of learning something new at first was not really stressful for me; but, as I kept moving into the unknown, I felt more and more disheartened. Every time, I would sit in front of my computer to attempt to learn more about SCORM or Tin Can API I felt like quitting but that is not how I usually face adversity in life so the same applied to this venture. Perseverance helped me to get through the five weeks of my learning journey. Every week, I kept searching hoping to find something that would be familiar to me. I realized that learning something new can be challenging, frustrating and also demands commitment and innate motivation.  source
In general, I enjoy searching information online to learn about a variety of topics, to find the answer to a question, and to find new to me resources for my courses. The outcome is usually a positive experience. However, I found this learning journey was difficult mostly because I was doing it on my own. Usually, when I find myself in a situation where I am facing difficulty and I cannot find the solution on my own, I ask for help from people around me. This time, I did not know anyone who knew about SCORM or Tin Can API. So, I was on my own and this made it even more challenging for me. Overall, this learning project helped me reflect on what a learner needs to be successful. Students need to be driven by motivation, to receive support when they face adversities and to work in collaboration. They should also be taught that the process of learning is more important than the final product. Life is changing so fast. Who knows, what students are learning now may not be relevant in the next decade. What they really need to learn is how to be critical thinker and to motivate themselves to learn something new.
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