Ask the ExpertPre-Conference Workshop

Sloan ConferenceOctober 28, 2009

Introductions

Susan Cannata, University of North Carolina Pembroke, Associate Professor, English (2009 University of North Carolina Board of Governors Award for Teaching Excellence)

Damon Gatenby, UMass Dartmouth, Instructional Technologist

Phil Ice, Director of Course Design, Research & Development, American Public University System

Jen Riley, UMass Dartmouth, Academic Director of Online Education; Associate Professor, English and Women’s Studies (Sloan 2008 Excellence in Online Teaching award recipient)

Tracey Russo, UMass Dartmouth, Instructional Technology Manager

Workshop Goals

• Identify how to determine an effective mix of instructional technologies to facilitate student interaction and learning in online courses

• Develop ideas about your course assignments and how various tools might work

• Learn tips for assignments and strategies for online course design

Workshop Plan• Presentations (1:10-2:40 with Q&A included)– Tracey on course site structure and design – Susan on discussions boards– Jen on wikis and voice boards– Damon on instructional technologies– Phil on implementing and assessing new technologies

online• Break (2:40-2:55) • Group Conversations (2:55-3:30)• Group report outs (3:30-3:40)• General Q&A session (3:40-3:55)• Wrap up and Resources (3:55-4:00 )

Guiding Questions

• There are some questions we can ask ourselves as we consider what makes an effective learning experience:– What learning behavior do I want to see?;– How will I get the students to engage in that

behavior?; and– What markers will I build into my assignments that

will help me determine if the class learning objectives are accomplished?

Effective Online Course Site Design: Strategies and Tips

Tracey RussoInstructional Technology Manager

Course Redesign

• What are your objectives for the online course or online component?

• What activities work well in your f2f classroom?• What activities do you think could be

redesigned for the online environment?• How will the learner demonstrate what they

have learned?• What content should be taught, in what order?

Putting It All Together

• Gather course materials, resources• Course organization– Clear and straightforward– Consistent design– Decide how to organize content • activities• topics• weeks

• Keep it simple

Storyboard

• Storyboarding is simply a visual interpretation or visual sketch of your ideas for organizing your course site contents and activities and their relationship to one another.

Storyboard

• Benefits– Overall view of course

site/structure– See the

relationships/links of your course design

– See missing pieces– Aids in organizing and or

sequencing instruction

Tips

• Keep your levels of information to a minimum.• Try to avoid folders inside of other folders.

This makes it more likely that students will miss course material because it is buried too deeply.

Think “Units of Instruction”

• Structure learning paths• Break your content into logical units or topics• Be consistent• Vary content and resources• If possible, integrate activities such as

discussions, assessments and assignments

Redesign for Online

• Design with scanning in mind• Small “chunks” of information• Take advantage of formatting techniques• Add text descriptions for links, folders and

modules so students clearly understand what they are viewing before they click.

Recommended Course Components

• Course Syllabus includes:– Course learning objectives– Detailed assignment explanations– Grading polices– Course schedule in one place and easy to print– Course texts and where to purchase those texts– Policies regarding plagiarism– Policies regarding late assignments and missed classes– Policies regarding disabilities (see

http://www.umassd.edu/catls/resources/nfi_resources/teach_dss_syllabus.cfm)

– Policies regarding incompletes – Faculty member introductory and contact information– Faculty member office hours (or offer Chat office hours)

Recommended Course Components

• Communication Policies:– Faculty member's email response time– Discussion board and chat room etiquette

guidelines– Procedures for course questions (i.e. a general

Q&A discussion board)

Recommended Course Components

• Course Specific Information for Students includes:– How often students should access site– How often students should check course email– Reminders to students for checking site for

announcements– Reading expectations– Participation requirements

Recommended Course Components

• Welcome Statement• Overview of course– Course tour

• Getting help• Orientation to Your LMS• Announcements• Calendar

Blended Example

Discussion Board and Critical Engagement

Susan M. Cannata, University of North Carolina at Pembroke

Main Objectives for Discussion Board

• To create forums to discuss reading assignments

• To foster critical engagement with reading assignments

• To create a site where faculty and students can interact with each other

How to Accomplish Objectives

• Have a separate site, e.g., assignment descriptions, where you explain what exactly you want in Dboard

• Provide initial thread/s• Model the kinds of posts you want to see• Reinforce the good practices of students

What you can also accomplish with DBoard:

• Use student posts as teaching moments• Establish good habits in forums that carry over

into other assignments• Create a record of discussions for review

Structure Your Availability

Voice Boards and Wikis

Jen RileyAcademic Directory of Online Education

Voice Boards

• Voice Boards– Learning objective: students learn pace, tone, and

sound of poetry– Learning objective: students practice speaking

extemporaneously online– Learning objective: students practice critical

thinking verbally

Poetry Podcasts

Benefits / Drawbacks• Benefits– Students learn to “hear” poetry and appreciate hearing

classmates’ voices– Some students learn more effectively through audio

lessons and class is not just static text– Technology is easy to learn and use– Students can set up a RSS feed to get automatic updates

when classmates post• Drawbacks– 20 students X 3-5 minutes each = a lot of listening– Not all students learn through listening– Students may receive podcast, but no guarantee they

listened to it

Wikis

• What are Wikis?– A fully editable web site– Open to all (permissions can be enabled)– Multiple authors– Online discussions– Keeps a history of revisions and author’s name– Automatic notification of changes in content– Ability to review and revert to previous versions

• Multiple teaching and learning uses– Research projects; writing assignments; project

development; peer review; resource sites; course sites; study groups; a presentation tool; track group projects

• Net generation “gets” collaborative spaces on the web

• Addresses team dynamics

Why Wikis?

Wiki Example

Grading Team Projects

Grading Team Projects

Benefits / Drawbacks

• Benefits– Wikis foster group work and collaboration– Wikis are easily accessible and free– Wikis require students to create knowledge in the

classroom– Wikis draw students into the internet and demonstrate the

possibilities for social networking and public communication

• Drawbacks– Wiki formatting can be a bit pesky at times– Assignments need careful preparation and structuring;

significant time commitment on part of faculty member

Group Discussion• Individually, take a few minutes to think of a learning

objective in one of your courses. Jot down some notes in response to these questions:– What is your learning objective? – What assignment(s) will you blend to achieve that learning

objective?– What instructional technologies will you use to develop

and present the assignment(s)?– What are the benefits of your approach?– What are the drawbacks of your approach?

• Then, within a group of 4-5 people, present your ideas for feedback. Each group should plan to share 1-2 ideas wth the larger audience after the small group discussion.

Online Instructional Technology Overview

Damon GatenbyInstructional Technologist

Instructional Technologies• Synchronous Virtual

– Chat/Instant Messaging– Virtual Classrooms

• Asynchronous Virtual– Threaded Discussions (Voice or Text)– Wikis– Blogs/Journals– Weblinks

• Self-Paced Asynchronous – Standard text lectures– Audio lectures– Camtasia/PPT presentations with or without audio voice over– Podcasts– Self-tests– Tutorials/Simulations

Guiding Principles

• Find the right tool to fit the desired learning outcome

• Keep it simple– Don’t over use bells and whistles

• Start small• Let the instruction guide the technology use• Reusability

Asynchronous

• Wikis– Ancient Art and Culture

of Mexico

• Blogs– UMassD Blog Hosting System• http://blogs.umassd.edu/

Synchronous

• Wimba Classroom– Gap Conversation

• Second Life– Temple of Quetzalcoatl

Self-Paced/Reusable Learning Objects

• Embedded Streaming Video– Seneca Reflections

• Tutorial– Online Course Design Strategies

• Narrated PowerPoint– 19th Century Women’s Movement

Thank You

For more information:

http://instructionaldev.umassd.wikispaces.net/Sloan+Workshop