Presenters
Beau Corkins, Keri DeDeo, Stoney Gaddy, Math Faculty English Faculty Director of Distance & Gillette College Sheridan College Distributive [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]
Reaching Students at a Distance
Why is it important?_________________________________
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Web Conferencing in Academia
Virtual office hours
Scheduled lectures/presentations/discussions
Fully online synchronous courses
Technical support
Academic support
Student support
Other uses?
Web Conferencing Platforms
Solution Address
Adobe Connect http://www.adobe.com/products/adobeconnect.html
Blackboard Collaborate http://www.blackboard.com/Platforms/Collaborate/overview.aspx
Cisco WebEx http://www.webex.com
GoToMeeting http://www.gotomeeting.com
Saba Centra http://www.saba.com/online-collaboration-tools
Google+ Hangouts http://www.google.com/+/learnmore/
Transactional Distance Theory
More than just a physical separation, the variable "transactional distance" is defined as "a psychological and communications space to be crossed, a space of potential misunderstanding between the inputs of instructor and those of the learner".Michael Moore. Theory of Transactional Distance. 1993. In D. Keegan (Ed.), Theoretical principles of distance education . Page 23. London: Routledge
Transactional Distance Theory
Key interactive components that have to work together to shorten the transactional distance and provide for a meaningful learning experience:
Dialog between students and faculty where both parties contributeStructure of the course to include text, media, and communication toolsAutonomy of the student to be responsible for their own learning
processes
Farhad Saba’s systems dynamics hypotheses
In 1988, Farhad Saba proposed a system dynamics model to represent the relationship among dialog and structure.
• When structure increases, transactional distance increases and dialog decreases.• When dialog increases, transactional distance decreases and structure decreases.
The success of online distance education may well depend upon the ability of educational leaders to personalize the teaching and learning process to satisfy and retain distance students (Saba, 1999).
Saba, F. (1999). Architecture of dynamic distance instructional and learning systems. Distance Education Report, 3(8), 1-5.
Narrowing the Gap
If a large transactional distance exists between geographically dispersed learners and instructors, can Web conferencing be used to:
reduce feelings of disconnectedness increase engagement (dialog) reduce confusion increase learning reduce attrition increase motivation increase satisfaction (students AND faculty)
reduce travel time and expensehttp://wyoroad.info
A Brief NWCCD Timeline
(from pilot to Bb Building block) – Implementation to Usage
Summer 2010 – Purchased ElluminateLive!
Fall 2010 - Blackboard 9.1 implemented (20% of online courses, 52 courses)
Fall 2010 - ElluminateLive! building block implemented in Blackboard 9.1 Only a handful of instructors used it
October 2010 - DEC began using Elluminate exclusively
Spring 2011 – ElluminateLive! menu item added to each course shell
Team sites begin to sprout up Sp11-Sp12 Nursing, Dental Hygiene, ITS, Library, GC Writing Center
Spring 2012 - New sessions now in Collaborate 11
Summer 2012 - Complete migration to Collaborate 11
Virtual Classroom – Keri DeDeo When you can’t get to class.
Present a lesson from home Students in the classroom
Virtual Office Hours Co-presentation for online & traditional
classroom. Synchronous sessions Caveats & Solutions Feedback
Virtual Office (One-on-One Help) – Keri
Schedule
Materials
Instructions (video & print)
Emergency number
Expectations
Schedule individual sessions
Virtual Office (One-on-One Help) – Keri
Discussed essay via phone while looking at the same document.
Student expectations unclear.
Co-Presentation – Keri
Co-presentation for online & traditional classroom
Synchronous Session – Keri
• Pick Topic.• Schedule poll for session.• Remind students often. • Practice with the
technology so it runs smoothly.
• Record session for later use.
• Give students completion survey.
• Make improvements as needed for future session.
• Link students to recorded session
Caveats & Solutions - Keri
Technology issues in the classroom Get in early Have a practice run Have IT standing by
Online students relying on recording & not attending Let them know if no one is there, a recording will not be made.
Students do not have proper technology Set up expectations beforehand: speakers, broadband, any handouts, texts. Optional equipment: webcam, microphone (can use phone). Do what you can so students do not incur charges via phone or internet.
Student Feedback– Keri
A few of my favorites: “This was very helpful.”
“Wow! This is awesome!”
“Oh. I wish I knew about this earlier in my college career.”
“Sometimes, your voice cuts out. I think it’s my Internet.”
“Can we do this every week?”
“This was fun, but we miss you!”
Virtual Classroom - Beau Corkins
Virtual Classroom - Beau
Student Perspective Very helpful Work can be clearly seen and then copied down in Collaborate Responses in emails are sometimes hard to follow It is nice being able to get questions answered in real time versus waiting for email
response
Instructor Perspective Drawing Math symbols are much easier than typing a half hour email Showing work/method is usually much simpler to demonstrate Application sharing to show my desktop or see their desktop
Academic Support
Tutoring We are currently using Smarthinking extensively Some discussion on using student tutors in Collaborate to supplement
Smarthinking and reduce costs
Writing Center We are currently using Smarthinking extensively Some discussion on using student tutors in Collaborate
to supplement Smarthinking and reduce costs
Library Implemented an “Ask a Librarian” chat solution
staffed by full-time, part-time, and studentemployees
Co-presentation for online & traditional classroom.
Student Support
Counseling Deanne Wyssmann, Director of Counseling Services, has
expressed interested and participated in ElluminateLive! Training.
While online students who are distanced from campus have a social and support network, we need to provide these services to our online students.
Advising This is not yet on our radar screen
Admissions, Registration, Financial Aid Our proposed Student-operated Online Concierge Service will be able to address
some admissions, enrollment, and financial aid questions
Committee Meetings
Two colleges separated by 99 miles
A fair number of staff and faculty members drive this on a frequent basis
Weather is a factor in the winter
ITV video conference rooms and classrooms in 16 locations
Committee work with document distribution and on-the-fly editing difficult
Distance Education Committee began meeting exclusively in ElluminateLive! starting October 2010.
What do we have in store for the future
Student-operated concierge service – evenings and weekends
100% Web conference courses
Workforce Development Training Initiatives
What Web conferencing initiatives has your institution pursued?
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