Producing Digital Content - Blog 1

I am very excited about this course and the opportunity to learn more about incorporating sound, video and other media into the courses that I teach. The particular course that I will be working on is a management course for entry level master occupational therapy students. They often remind me of the picture here as they are all still so afraid to work independently and to move away from the "pack". The focus is on the development of managerial and entrepreneurial skills for the development of programs and practices in the community. The students currently develop a program/business plan but are limited by time as to how much they can actually do out in the community. By moving this to an fully online course the students will have greater opportunity to gather information and to learn by going to sites with similar programs and to the agencies or institutions they will need to work collaboratively with to develop their ideas. My hope is that the inclusion of more active experiences will excite and motivate the students. Currently there is often a lack of enthusiasm for this course as students do not always see the relevance to their practice. The problem this course presents is to hold the student’s interest and to help them see the importance of this material in their professional development.
The challenge in designing and developing this course is to produce audio and visual materials that encourage entrepreneurial thinking and begin to develop leaders and managers in the profession. As mentioned in previous blog entries, I hope to use leaders in the field to provide some of the stimulus for these activities via WIMBA, video clips and synchronous learning activities. I hope that what I learn in this course will help me to be able to produce quality materials that will enhance and encourage learning for our students.