This week I have been learning about MOOCs, or Massive Open Online Courses, that can provide thousands of people with the opportunity to explore interests or have access to higher education that they might not have otherwise been able to afford. I created an Ultra Mini MOOC based on a recent interest of mine. While sewing is a very useful and practical skill to have not many people know how so I thought giving people the chance to delve into it is a great idea!
In my Sew Much Fun! course my peers will master basic sewing skills by learning to use a needle and thread and a sewing machine and will be creating pillow covers. Peers will problem solve through blog posts and a group forum where questions can be posted.
Course Topic: Sewing
Course Title: Sew Much Fun
Audience: This class is for anyone who is interested in learning how to sew. If I can do it, anyone can do it! This class will allow for students to try out a new hobby and to have the support of not only the teacher while doing it, but the support from their peers. It’s also cost free so they don’t have to worry about trying out an ‘expensive new hobby’.
Course Objectives: During this 6 week course students will be learning the basics to sewing. They will learn how to use a needle and thread to sew a button on to something as well as use a sewing machine. I also want students to be able to share with the world what they are doing and how they are doing it. Joining that network of learning will really help support them through this course. Keeping the many different learning styles that students have in mind, I made this course using instructional design. Dr. Stephen L. Yelon says that there are many components that need to interact in order to facilitate learning (Yelon, 2001). These components, which are further detailed below, interact with one another helping students who do have many different learning styles. It will meet their needs because information is being presented in a variety of ways.
Target Skills:
- Students will share pictures and blog posts about their projects
- Students will utilize multimedia aspects to demonstrate their skills
- Students will learn how to use a needle and thread
- Students will learn how to use a sewing machine
Students will be required to:
- Create a Twitter account to connect with other sewers
- Create a blog to post pictures & video of their work along with updates
- Create a video demonstrating their proficiency of a sewing skill
- Sew a button on to something
- Sew a pillow cover
Course Design: This course was designed by keeping in mind several factors. Based on my research on learning styles I know that students come to me with many different learning styles in their back pocket. No student learns one specific way — rather they learn a multitude of ways. This course is presented in a format to accommodate that. I also took instructional design into account. According to Dr. Stephen L. Yelon many components need to interact in order to facilitate learning (Yelon, 2001). These components are a problem or a need, a real world performance, an instructional objective, essential content, an evaluation and a method to help students learn (Yelon, 2001). This course will keep these components in mind as it presents its material.
Peer Interaction: During this course students will reflect about their progress on their blog. They will also share pictures and updates. Students will be commenting on each others blogs with tips and tricks to help problem solve. There will also be a group forum where more general questions and problems can be posted. Students will be supporting each other throughout this course by problem solving together.
Course Architecture: The format of this course was created using the Understanding by Design model (Wiggins & McTighe, 2005). I thought about what I wanted my beginner sewers to accomplish at the end of this course and built upon that idea from there. This MOOC is something that I want anyone to feel comfortable taking so I thought that designing the course in a way that slowly builds up to the final project would give students time to get well acquainted with their sewing skills. Each week’s course is broken up into learn, explore, create and share so that students have a multitude of ways to take in the information that they need to know. They also are able to find examples of what it is that they’re creating through the explore section of the course, further helping students with various learning styles.
Week 1
Create a blog using WordPress and create a Twitter account. On your blog write a post about yourself and why you chose to participate in this class. Write about any (good or bad!) sewing experience you have. Share one question/concern on the group forum you have about sewing.
Week 2
Students will learn the basics of using a needle and thread.
Learn: Read over this overview.
Get a few more tips here.
Explore: Practice threading a needle and tying a knot. Then practice making various stitches (at least two different kinds!) on a scrap piece of fabric.
Create: Using a needle and thread, sew together two pieces of fabric using one of the stitches you learned.
Share: Document this process by taking pictures. Post these to your blog along with your thoughts, frustrations/problems and reflections of using a needle and thread.
Week 3
Students will learn how to sew a button on to something.
Learn: Read about sewing different types of buttons here.
Read about the steps to sew a button (with pictures!) here.
Explore: Watching a video with step by step instructions can often be an excellent way how to learn to do something new. Explore YouTube for videos that show you step by step how to sew on a button. This instructional video is great!
Create: We all have that one (or two….) clothing items that need a button to be sewn on. Whether it’s a shirt, pants, shorts or a coat you will be finally sewing that button back on!
Note: If you are the one exception in this world and have no clothes with buttons missing then feel free to just sew it on to a piece of fabric. The whole goal is to sew it on securely!
Share: Take pictures of this process and post it on your blog along with at least one video you used to help you learn this process.
Week 4
Students will learn the basics of a sewing machine.
Learn: Read this tutorial on the basics of using a sewing machine with some tips.
Explore: Practice using your sewing machine on scrap pieces of fabric. It can feel awkward at first but practice makes perfect!
Create: Create a video of you using your sewing machine and demonstrating a sewing skill. This can be anything from threading your sewing machine (no curse words please! 🙂 ) to sewing scrap pieces together.
Share: Post your video to your blog. Share a question or comment about this process on our group forum.
Week 5
Students will find a pattern and select fabric for their pillow cover.
Learn: What makes a good fabric when sewing? Glad you asked! Read this blog post and watch this video to find out more! You will be making a pillow cover — not a pillow case. This is to spruce up any old pillow you have lying around. I used throw pillows from my couch and found that this blog has an excellent pattern to follow with step by step directions! Here’s another one to look into.
Explore: Go to your local fabric store and check out what types of fabric you might want for a pillow cover.
Create: Write a blog about this process with pros and cons about different fabrics you looked at. Share pictures of the final fabric you chose and link to the pattern you will be following.
Share: Tweet the link to your blog post. Comment on 2 other peers’ blogs.
Week 6
Students will create their pillow cover.
Learn: Make sure you have a sufficient pattern and steps to follow. This was a great blog post about how to make a pillow cover if you haven’t found one yet!
Explore: Look on YouTube and watch several videos on how to make a pillow cover.
Create: Sew together your pillow cover. Document this process with pictures.
Share: Post your pictures on your blog along with a description of how you went about making your pillow cover and why you chose to follow the pattern that you did. Tweet the link to your blog post and comment on one other peers’ blog.
Resources
Blog. (2013, January 23). Retrieved September 19, 2014, from http://nicolesclasses.com/sewing-101-choosing-fabric/
Hand Sewing 2 Sewing on a Button. (2011). Retrieved September 19, 2014, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjmUaWkzF-I
How to Sew. (n.d.). Retrieved September 19, 2014, from http://www.wikihow.com/Sew
How to Sew. (n.d.). Retrieved September 19, 2014, from http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Sew./?ALLSTEPS
How to Sew on a Button! (n.d.). Retrieved September 19, 2014, from http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-sew-on-a-button/
How to Pick a Fabric | Sewing Lessons. (n.d.). Retrieved September 19, 2014, from http://www.howcast.com/videos/454049-How-to-Pick-a-Fabric-Sewing-Lessons
How to Sew a Button. (n.d.). Retrieved September 19, 2014, from http://www.wikihow.com/Sew-a-Button
How to Sew an Envelope Pillow Cover! (n.d.). Retrieved September 19, 2014, from http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-sew-an-envelope-pillow-cover/
How to Sew (using a sewing machine). (n.d.). Retrieved September 19, 2014, from http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Sew-using-a-sewing-machine/?ALLSTEPS
5 Minute Pillow Covers Tutorial. (n.d.). Retrieved September 19, 2014, from http://www.thewonderforest.com/2013/06/5-minute-pillow-covers-tutorial.html
Yelon, S. L. (2001). Goal-Directed Instructional Design: A Practical Guide to Instructional Planning for Teachers and Trainers. Michigan State University: Self-published, Not in electronic format.
Wiggins, G. and McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by Design, Expanded 2nd Edition. Prentice Hall. pg 13-33.
Technology Teacher Confessions 
I love the title of your course! Also, very nice job on your course design. It looks great.