Collaboration & Assessment

Maintaining Social Interaction
Some learners thrive in the online environment because they work well independently, but social interaction should also be an integral part of the virtual classroom. Most students enjoy reading and posting comments in a threaded online discussion because it is often more balanced than a verbal interaction that can be dominated by a few dominant students.

Even though collaboration can be well-received by learners, Palloff and Pratt point out that "many students come into an online experience believing that such courses promote independent study and are resentful when asked to work with others" (Palloff & Pratt, 2005, p.31 Ch.3).

Instructors can help students embrace collaboration by explaining the benefits of online social interaction. Learners will be more likely to partipate if the experience is educational and rewarding. Students should be trained to use short, concise sentences. Chapter 4 of Collaborating Online advises, "Make some notes before typing a message online to help you figure out what you need to say" (Palloff & Pratt, 2005, p. 49).

This link provides good advice for instructors about the need to become facilitators and not overdo the interaction: http://www.uwsa.edu/ttt/articles/spilka.htm

Online Classroom Management

Okay, I've decided I really love the Ko & Rossen book, Teaching Online. They have really put together a fabulous guide for online educators. This is definitely a book I will not be selling back to the bookstore. I am sure I will refer to it many times in the next few years as I start my own online teaching adventures. For example, chapter 9 gives a suggested outline for writing a student orientation program to help new online students adjust. Furthermore, examples of these orientations are provided.

Orientation Program
Here is a list of things from pages 185-188 that should be included in an orientation to be used at the beginning of an online course:
1. General introduction, including expectations
2. Requirements for computer equipment and software
3. Computer skills needed
4. Introduction to the course management software
5. A first assignment to check student skills

Email reminders
Chapter 10 gives some great tips for good online classroom managment. One suggestion on page 198 is to "remind students about upcoming due dates and stages of the course." My courses with Dr. Lisa Dawley are the first where the instructor sends an email reminder to let students know when it is time to start a new assignment. She also attaches a copy of the weekly instruction guidelines. This is so helpful and keeps my feeling connected to the instructor even though we don't meet in a classroom environment. This helps to realize ways I can keep my students engaged and simulate the onground experience as much as possible.

Online Group Interaction
Page 201 talks about how important it is to use groups in a class that has about 30 students. "At this level, group work and presentations become a necessary part of your course design" (Ko & Rossen, 2004, p. 201). I plan to incorporate groups into my hybrid course. These small groups will work together to share rough drafts of their projects and give critiques that used to be done in class.

Noisy Students
More tips for classroom management are found in chapter 11 as well. The section on noisy students is an eye-opener! "This type of student is actually easier to handle online, in asynchronous discussion, than in the regular classroom. There are more space and time in an online classroom for such students to perform without seriously affecting others" (Ko & Rossen, 2004, p.226).

Check out this article for more infomation about students who find their "voice" in an online course: http://chronicle.com/free/v48/i28/28a03301.htm

Issues with Online Courses

This posting will address the following four topics:
1. Student Activities (Teaching Online, ch. 6)
2. Creating Courseware (Teaching Online, ch. 7)
3. Copyright and Intellectual Property (Teaching Online, ch. 8)
4. Online Collaboration Process (Collaborating Online, ch.2)

1. Student Activities - Using the Web as as Resource
I agree with Ko & Rossen that online educators should not be afraid to use the Internet as a resource for their courses. It is so helpful when online courses include a list of website links to check out as quick references. The instructor can provide good background sites for students to look up information and there is no sense if making each student search for hours to find appropriate sites when the instructor can provide the list. This way you "let the students spend their time learning instead of searching" (Ko & Rossen, 2004, p. 104).

2. Creating Courseware - Adding Sound & Streaming Media
Online instructors often use written instructional text so students can read the steps for an assignment or read a lecture. Adding a video tutorial or slideshow is an added visual bonus that may help some learners grasp the material better. Slideshows can be unscripted or scripted. The unscripted narration is more desirable to most students because it "creates a sense of intimacy between the instructor and student" (Ko & Rossen, 2004, p. 158), especially when the instructor ad-libs and makes a few natural pauses or mistakes in delivery.

3. Copyright & Intellectual Property - Fair Use
The Fair Use Guidelines for Educational Multimedia is a document that explains how instructors and students may incorporate portions of others' works into their mutlimedia creations for teaching curriculum and for student projects. This is acceptable as long as if is for academic materials and assignments. ALso, instructors should use copyright notices to discourage intellectual theft of their lesson materials. This will discourage some, but not eliminate all of the problem. Using a password-protected website is a better method. (Ko & Rossen, 2004, p. 167-174).

4. Online Collaboration Process
Online collaboration may not be successful if the instructor does not remain present and involved. This encourages students to stay actively involved if they see postings and comments from the instructor as the course discussions progress.

"Collaborative activity requires that instructors empower students to take charge of the learning process" (Palloff & Pratt, p. 20).

Check out this article about a UCF study that shows hybrid courses to be more effective at keeping students engaged than fully online courses or traditional courses:
http://www.educause.edu/LibraryDetailPage/666?ID=ERB0407

Course Conversion

Introduction
Research and anaylisis are important pre-cursors to converting a traditional course to an online environment. Research can provide some important insight into the process. Why not learn from the failures and successes of those who have gone before? Each element of a course should be analyzed to see if it could be effectively be delivered online and what modifications should be made to improve the learning outcomes. The real goal of online teaching should be to improve the learning experience. Conserving classroom space is a nice side benefit, but hopefully it won't be the only advantage to online or hybrid courses.

Getting started
One of the first questions to be answered, is what should be done with the lectures, demos, and in-class presentations? "Putting your class online doesn't mean copying your lectures and syllabus word for word?" This quote from Online Teaching by Ko and Rossen sums it up nicely. Reading text should be only one method of delivery for online instruction. Many who have taken online courses can attest to the fact that reading a large amoung of text may be just as boring as hearing it verbally from an instructor. Remember the goal here is to improve the learning environment. Adding appropriate visual images next to related text is one step that will help the learner, but why not also add a link to an animated instructional video and sample project from a past student? This will help reach more learning styles and the repetition will reinforce the learning as well.

Reaching more learning styles
I have a good professor friend who says each concept should to be taught five different times, in five different ways in order for students to grasp and retain the information. I plan to use a software program called Camtasia to capture my mouse showing a software skill at the same time it records my voice instruction. This "video tutorial" can be played, paused and played again by students until they grasp the concept.

Improving PowerPoint presentations for online use
Using a PowerPoint slideshow online can be tricky. First the images and slides must be compressed for faster uploading. To do this you can open a newer version of PP, then go to View-Toolbars - Picture. Then find the compress tool in this toolbar (a square with arrows at the corners) and check the box to compress all the images in the slideshow for screen resolution. Say yes when it asks if you would like to crop deleted areas, etc. This will make the file size much, much smaller.

Excessive text should be eliminated and long shows should be divided up into shorter segments. Slideshows are for creating a visual reinforcement of the material, not for reading text instruction. Ideally, the instructor's voice should recorded in small clips and inserted in each slide. Richard Mayer, author of Multimedia Learning, has done considerable research in this area. He claims that a combination of audible voice instruction along with visual images provides one of the best learning situations. Check out this link for an interview with Mayer about how to make effective PowerPoint presentations that enhance cognitive learning. http://www.marketingprofs.com/login/signup.asp?source=/4/atkinson10.asp

Are Hybrids Better?

Many students who try hybrid college courses say they prefer the flexibility. "I lose interest in a classroom setting, but meeting 50/50 is nice -- it helps keep me in check and also gives me freedom," wrote Sarah Hangen of Sinclair Community College.



Hybrid courses are proving to be more effective and popular with students and administratorsa alike. Check out this article about how colleges are saving money and meeting students' needs by blending the online and traditional classrooms into hybrid offerings that typically meet half of the time in a face-to-face setting.

Check out the article by following these three steps:
1. Link to the BSU Library article index: http://library.boisestate.edu/indexes/
2. Click on the first search aid, Academic search premier.
3. Search for the article title: "Hybrid Teaching Seeks to End the Divide Between Traditional and Online Instruction."

Chris Dede, a Harvard professor in the Graduate School of Education, claims that research and experience is showing hybrids to be a superior learning environment over traditional and online courses because hybrids appeal to a variety of student learning styles to ensure that every student is engaged in at least some of the activities. He claims many students "find their voice" in the online environment but also value the personal contact of the face-to-face meetings.

Many colleges are requiring at least one online course in order to teach students how to succeed in virtual classrooms, which is a growing trend that will surely be part of our educational future. One student said taking an online course is like taking a foreign language. The hybrid adds some face-to-face meetings which provide an opportunity for a struggling student to get help and encouragement.

Blogging may not be for everyone

I have enjoyed some interesting comments and reading about blogging and I can see that not everyone shares my enthusiasm for blogging. It is time consuming and some people may get caught up with the visual appeal and let the quality of their writing suffer. Kelly made a good point about this.

I have to agree that adding the visual appeal with graphics and images is time-consuming and sometimes discourages me from adding a posting, because I know it will take too long. So tonight I am trying to just write an entry without adding a picture. It is a bit boring, yet much quicker.

I enjoyed hearing about the different blogging sites from Kelly and also I was surprises to learn from Dr. Dawley about some cool ways instructors can use class blogs where everyone submits posts on the same blogsite. That sounds interesting! You can check out some examples at the links provided by Dr. Dawley:

http://www.mpsomaha.org/willow/blog/greenwaldstudents

http://edweb.sdsu.edu/courses/edtec670/edgames/index

Blogging: Newest tool for online courses?

Introduction
The popularity of online courses is exploding, yet the quality of online education varies greatly. Students often complain they don't feel connected with the instructor and/or colleagues all working asynchronously. Ko and Rossen provide a nice summary of tools that can enhance the communication in an online course. Chapter 5 explains that in addition to weekly discussion forums, a "student lounge" can be set up to provide an informal place for students to interact and share thought, frustrations or simple chitchat. Ideas such as this can help solve the disconnect that is inherent with online courses. Chapter 12 of Online Learning also discusses ways for traditional courses to incorporate online tools, such as the Blackboard discussion forum. Moreover, Paloff and Pratt claim the "second wave" of online learning is upon us and it is time to improve "interactivity in online courses." (Chapter 1 Collaborating in the Online Environment.)

It should be the goal of everyone in this business to look for better ways to improve the social interaction. According to an article at www.distance-educator.com under the higher education popluar sites, the three most important factors of a successful online course are:
1. Consistency in course design,
2. Interaction with course instructors, and
3. Active discussion

Blogging connects learners
The use of blogs is one of the newer tools being used by online educators to enhance learning and build community in an online course. Of course those of you reading this already understand the basics of blogging, yet many people are baffled by this new use of technology. Let's start with a definition, or at least an attempt at one. :)

A blog is one half webpage - one half online discussion forum. It is a quick, easy, free way to publish a website that is often called "push-button publishing." A blogsite has the visual appeal of a webpage and the regularly updated content of a discussion board. Jason Ward, of American University, sums it up nicely, "In short, the weblog offers a free online publishing house for anyone who cares to write and for those who care to read it."

Check out this great article about weblogs: http://www.teflweb-j.org/v3n1/blog_ward.pdf

Blog has become the nickname for "weblog" that started in about 1993 to describe a website that is continuously updated. Since then, many sites serve as a free host with pre-designed templates for anyone wanting to create an instant website for sharing content of any type. Most first-timers are fascinated with this new world of communication and learners in an online course develop new skills that can help them setup their own personal blogs to share photos and life stories with friends and family.

Disadvantages
Blogging is so darn fun it can become addicting and much too time-consuming. Furthermore, it is not as convenient for online learners to link to classmates blog sites as it is to look at comment threads in an online discussion forum that is all contained on one page in a resource such as Blackboard. This problem can be minimized if the instructor creates a list of quick links for everyone in the course, but it still may be necessary to copy and paste the URL, or right click it to open in a new window. It also may be daunting for some online learners to tackle yet another new way to communicate asynchronously.

Blogs vs. Discussion Boards
In summary, blogging is the new technologically savvy alternative to online discussion forums in online courses. There is something about blogging that makes you feel as if you are on the cutting edge and you are amazed how easy it is to make something look so good. It is easier to add photos, links and visually appealing article-critique than it is in a discussion board. One of my favorite features to blogging is how you can set it up to email you when someone makes a comment on your blog! Now that you can see my opinion, I am curious if my colleagues share my preference to blogging as a means for online course discussion.

Anyone care to comment?