Back in the saddle...

RE-INTRODUCTION

It's been many months since I've used this blog for communicating with fellow ed tech students and faculty during the course of working on a degree. I've since graduated with a Master's degree in Educational Technology and continue to work part-time for the Department of Educational Technology at Boise State. It's a dynamic, thriving Department, with an incredible rate of enrollments. A great place to work with faculty and staff who have a strong work ethic!

SURVEYS/ASSESSMENTS NEEDED

I'm looking for surveys that may apply to our program. I would like to find a well-validated survey to elicit data on the satisfaction of students graduating from our programs, how they are using their newly-acquired skills, in what jobs they are working, what emerging ed tech needs they see will be needed in future in their career field, and how existing courses need to be updated based upon field practitioner experiences. If someone is willing to share what they have developed, I would be humbly grateful. If you have any suggested leads for resources, that would also be fantastic!

My regards to you all...
Paul

Back to the blog after a long vacation!

INTEGRATING TECHNOLOGY INTO THE CLASSROOM CURRICULUM

My last postings were related to coursework in another class in educational technology. This one is to shake off the rust and get used to composing on the fly. The class is interesting and I find that I'm mildly surprised. What it seems to be is the fact that I, who have never taught in the public schools, am excited about the possibilities and really humbled by the dedicated, resourceful, and often underappreciated practitioners that I share these classes with.

The same holds true of Instructional Message Design which I am also currently taking. In my undergraduate work leading to a degree in geology, I took several psychology classes (one, abnormal psych, from a professor who himself and family should have been committed!) since I found it really interesting. IMD incorporates many of the things that I found fascinating about psychology: the incredible complexity of the human brain, the effects of trauma, drugs, chemicals upon it, as well as the ability of the brain to heal itself. The ability of the brain to learn and to remember was always an awesome topic to me.

Since many students are used to chat and e-mail, I believe that using blogs or wikis in a classroom setting would be very productive. Many kids are reticent to speak up in class, but are more comfortable writing a response. Even though it is a personal response, there is an element of anonymity involved. Perhaps using the blogs or wikis for very non-threatening uses that are fun could lead to the use of blogs/wikis for more serious purposes. Even under light-hearted circumstances, students should be taught that what they say in blogs/wikis potentially could be read by anyone with internet access and to think accordingly. With consistent application, the student will take it as second nature to be guarded in his online communication about anything personal that could have adverse consequences.

I would encourage a dialogue with anyone who would like to share their experiences, thoughts, or interersts in any of these areas...

Managing Students Online

Managing students online; particularly behavior, seems like an impossible task, doesn’t it? I wondered what it would be like when I started teaching GENED 197, Introduction to E-Learning at Boise State. I found out after a couple of iterations of the 5-week course that I had to be very proactive and clear about my expectations. I had to communicate in writing (which, fortunately, I prefer!) more frequently than I would have thought necessary. Despite the fact that most of the questions that the students were asking were answered clearly in the introductory material or in the lesson itself, it seemed that they needed the assurance of a personal answer. I have resisted the response, “For the fifth time, read the instructions in Lesson One; the paragraph beginning…”!! Instead, I have used the opportunity to apply a little patience, not something I’m noted for, and have found it to be good for both me and the student.

I have not had issues of disruption, threats, abusive or foul language or anything more extreme than apathy or hopelessness. Online students are very prone to procrastination; they know that, they learn what the characteristics of a successful online learner are, and yet some of them still attempt to do half the assignments during the last week of class!

As Ko and Rossen (2004) discuss on pages 228-238, I have dealt with several students in their categories of “Quiet Students”, “The Staller”, “The Must-Pass-This-Class” student and others. On the other hand, I have had students who were highly capable and motivated, completing the entire course in the period of a 3-day weekend! The one technique that I use with most of the problem students is to provide them with the information that they need and emphasize that it is their responsibility to apply it to the assignment. I often have to remind them of the requirements for passing the class. Like most people, they like to test the boundaries. I do not spoon-feed students; it’s demeaning to them and too time-intensive for me. It doesn’t take long to identify the student who wants (not necessarily needs) excessive hand-holding, to avoid the tedium of reading and understanding the directions!

For some other tips on dealing with problem online students and teaching online in general, refer to the following resources, they’re pretty good, though not as comprehensive or focused as I would like:

http://research.microsoft.com/scg/papers/Bad%20Behavior%20Survey.pdf

http://www.classweb.hs.iastate.edu/tips/default.asp

Preparing Students for Online Learning

This topic, the subject of Chapter 9 of Ko and Rossen was of particular interest to me, since I facilitate an online course designed for beginners: Intro to E-Learning at Boise State University. When Ko and Rossen discuss problems that students typically encounter; terminology, technical problems, and mismatch of learning styles, all were very familiar. However, to ease the transition to the online course world, a welcome e-mail letter is typically sent out just before the beginning of each class to each student, the purpose of which is to orient them and welcome them to the class. The e-mail presents a lot of information; the one I use is presented below in detail. You are welcome to use it as a model. It follows the basic elements of a good student orientation in Ko and Rossen.

Welcome & basic information
Welcome to Boise State University! You are enrolled in the GENED 197, Introduction to E-Learning at Boise State Fall 2005 3rd 5-Week Internet class, which is conducted online via Boise State’s web-based course management system, Blackboard. The specific class you are registered for is Class #72663, Section #4038, Special Topics – Introduction to E-Learning, Fall 2005 Catalog. The 3rd five-week session begins October 31 and ends December 9, 2005.

Class start deadline
This course is being conducted with Boise State’s web-based course management system, Blackboard. The course will be available on October 31 or shortly thereafter. You must LOGIN to Blackboard the first day of the semester. This confirms that you have actively participated in the first week of the semester. Students who do not LOGIN to Blackboard before noon on Wednesday, November 2, may be administratively dropped. Blackboard login instructions are provided in detail below.

Instructor information
My name is Paul Castelin. You may contact me by e-mail paulcastelin@boisestate.edu, or by telephone (208) 426-1962. My preference is email, unless the need is urgent. My (virtual) office hours are generally from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on M-F or you may contact me via e-mail anytime. Please be aware that even though e-mail is available in the middle of the night, I am generally not. I will do my best to respond to your inquiry within 24 hours.

Expectations

Note: It is better for you to drop a class that does not match your expectations immediately than to continue if you are not prepared. For the GENED 197 class, you must drop the class by the end of the second day of class (since it is only a five-week class) to get a fee refund and no “W”-withdraw on your transcript. For the 3rd five-week session (this one!), the drop deadline is midnight Wednesday, November 2.

This class is not a self-study or online correspondence course. Though you may access Blackboard anytime and complete most of the work asynchronously, this course has weekly deadlines and requires mandatory regular participation. Each student must complete assignments, tests, quizzes, and all other course requirements by the posted deadlines. If you encounter an unexpected problem not related to coursework, please contact me immediately. Late and/or incomplete assignments or projects are only accepted when prior arrangements have been made.

This course is not easier or less time-consuming than its on-campus equivalent. In fact, because all of the content for this course must be read, you will likely spend more time than you would in a face-to-face class. It is generally recommended that you set aside 3-4 hours per week per credit hour (as for this class, for example) for working online and submitting assignments. Also, learning online takes a different skill set than does learning in a classroom. If you are unsure about your ability to learn online, consider taking the self-assessment survey located at: http://www.boisestate.edu/distance/forstudents_selfscreen.htm

Technical & skill information
This online class will not teach you how to use the computer, the basics of how to navigate the web, or manage your electronic files. At a minimum, you should be able to: navigate the Internet using a browser; navigate among and between multiple open windows; open, close, and save files and attachments; and send and receive e-mail attachments.

For the best experience, you must have (daily) access to a computer with the following recommended requirements for equipment and setup:
o Pentium PC Computer;
o DSL or cable network connection (recommended) or at minimum, a 56K modem with dial-up Internet Service Provider (ISP),
o Windows 95 or higher OR a Macintosh running System 7.5 or higher;
o Minimum of 64MB RAM;
o Web browser - Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 or higher is recommended.

Blackboard LOGIN instructions
This course is being conducted with Boise State’s web-based course management system, Blackboard. The login page is located at http://blackboard.boisestate.edu.

If this is your first time signing into Blackboard, please follow this process:
Use your student ID for both your LOGIN and PASSWORD the first time you visit.
Access "Personal Information" to change your password.
Be careful to SAVE your password. If you lose or forget a password it must be reset by Blackboard Personnel. I do not have access to personal passwords to retrieve them, nor can I contact Blackboard on your behalf.

Directions for the course site
When you are active in Blackboard, please click on the Introduction to E-Learning link and review class features and requirements. You will find the syllabus under the Course Documents link, assignments under the Assignments link, and announcements under the Announcements link. To locate help and reference information for Blackboard, see the information listed under “Manual” and “Tools”.

Support Information
The following support is available to you as an online student:

Blackboard Help
Hours: 8AM – 5PM M-F
Email:
Phone: 208.426.583

BroncoWeb Help
Hours: 8AM-6PM M-Th & 8AM-5PM F
Email:
Phone: 208.426.BWEB (2932)

BroncoMail Help
Help Desk Hours: 8AM-5PM M-F
Email:
Phone: 208.426.4357
Website with instructions and FAQ available 24/7:

Distance Education Help
Sandy Howell
Hours 8AM-5PM M-F
Email:
(208) 426-4216

Finally, I checked out Portland Community College's "Online Learning Orientation" and found it very helpful, though it is more generic than the orientation provided specifically for my Intro to E-Learning class. It provided a detailed orientation in a pleasing web-based presentation. It can be found at: http://www.distance.pcc.edu/orientation/intro/intro.cfm

Converting to Online Courses

Well, this has been an interesting week or so...kinda where the rubber meets the road. As a former military instructor, I don't have what I can call a "traditional" course that I can convert to an online course, as we are considering in our Online Teaching course. I inherited a one-credit course that I facilitate in Blackboard, but as for developing a course from scratch, this was a new, and humbling experience for me. I decided to model a fictitious course Beginning HTML based on the first couple of weeks of my JavaScript programming class. The process went alright and I'm very thankful that I am a well-organized type familiar with Blackboard, because without that background, I would have found the whole process very time-consuming.
Ko and Rossen (2004) cover the topic of course conversion very well in Chapter 3. Since they are using Blackboard as an example LMS, their examples and discussion were very practical and immediately applicable. Their use of case studies was also especially helpful, based upon the nature of the course that was being converted.

Another very helpful conversion tool, using a different LMS, nevertheless made conversion a more straightforward process. It maps traditional classroom features to the corresponding online features in a tabular way. It can be found at: http://casl.umd.umich.edu/distancelearning/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=58&Itemid=114.

One of more distasteful aspects of course conversion is the necessity to do all this development work in addition to your normal 8-to-5 (right!). At least one university (University of Colorado, Denver) sweetens the pot a little bit by paying selected faculty to do course conversions and provides the technical resources to assure that it is done in an efficient and timely manner. See more about this at: http://thunder1.cudenver.edu/CFD/webcamp.pdf. I get the sense from much of this reading that online courses are poised to explode as conversions from traditional classroom courses really gets underway. This whole process, though, needs to be guided by experienced instructional designers to avoid simply putting all the "stuff" from a face-to-face course into an electronic format. The electronic medium allows for much greater richness in features and content than that...

Week 6 Reflections and Observations

I particularly liked the opportunity this week to investigate hybrid courses and techniques of teaching hybrid courses. In fact, I enjoyed it so much, I almost feel like a convert to the hybrid model! I have been teaching a fully-online course at Boise State since June of 2005. While it has been a great learning experience for me, I find that I really miss the face-to-face aspects of classroom teaching and somewhat resent the limited options that a course management system provides. I collect data every 5-week session of the course from the students and they continually express their frustration at aspects of totally online learning; particularly the connection with the instructor and some of the difficulties of communication. Part of my students' issues are related to the fact that the course is an introductory one to online learning and the use of Blackboard. More experienced students don't have the negative view that the new students do. In any event, I believe that, where practical, the hybrid model provides the best of both worlds for now.

A website that I discovered (WorldWideLearn.com) contained many articles on advances in education, one of which I selected to discuss this week because of its conciseness regarding the basics of hybrid education. It can be found at: http://www.worldwidelearn.com/education-articles/hybrid-education.html.

The article stated that "hybrid instruction, or hybrid courses, refer to classes where there is a carefully planned blend of both traditional classroom instruction and online learning activities." The author also asserted that the classes combine the best of both kinds of instruction. Some of the advantages to resident classes are that "students are able to make a meaningful connection with their instructors, as well as other students, and yet they are no longer required to travel to campus on a regular basis in order to attend courses because the majority of the coursework can be completed on the Internet." While she did not specify the percentage of coursework to be done in residence versus online, obviously, that will probably depend on the type of course being presented. A course in English, for instance, requiring a lot of writing is much more amenable to having the bulk (80-90%) of the course online. A course in Geology, requiring rock and mineral identification, would require the students to be able to experience the tactile sensation of rock texture, density and sheen, all things that do not translate well to the online world (yet!).

The author also makes the point that "instructors must adjust their class content--particularly their lecture materials. However, in doing so, they are often making their materials more effective than traditional classroom instruction. The reason? Rather than having students sit in a lecture hall taking notes, instructors can teach through more “active-learning” assignments such as case studies, self-tests, tutorials, and online group projects, all of which takes place over the Internet." Notes are available online any time of the day or night for review and download. I would have loved to have instructors' notes available this way! As it was, the lecture hall experience was one of "sprint notetaking" with very little comprehension taking place or opportunity for questions. This feature, in my mind, is one of the really strong aspects of hybrid or fully-online courses: having the lecture notes and assignments always available for reference. Besides these advantages, the reduced necessity to spend the time and frustration to travel to campus, find a parking place and make it to class on time is huge! On the other hand, if you want your courses to be available to a wide geographic distribution, having students drive 150 miles to campus once or twice a week is a real hardship. So, in some circumstances, hybrid classes simply might not be an option. Some other advantages, which have already been identified as predictors of success in online classes, are the time management skills, development of self-direction in learning, increased computer skills, and writing ability (I'm not so sure about this one!)

A final point that the author makes is with regard to how much improvement in subject-matter knowledge takes place in hybrid courses rather than strictly online courses or traditional classrooms. I was interested in her summary statement that, "While it's still fairly new, many instructors are reporting good success with hybrid courses, and here's why: Students are required to do more work on their own--and this kind of “active learning” results in better test performance and what is known as subject mastery (or subject knowledge). In addition, students in hybrid programs are more likely to participate in group discussions and collaborate online with other students because there is not only ample opportunity to prepare a response, but also because they are not physically speaking in front of a group. In fact, hybrid class participants tend to be more outgoing and responsive because they are “speaking” online versus in a classroom setting. However, even though students seem more confident about being involved with discussions online, it is important to keep in mind that it is because of the actual on-campus classroom component that students are more likely to find success in a hybrid course than in a strictly online class." There's just something about the hybrid course model that really appeals to me. As someone who is interested in adult education, I'm thinking that this model will fit the bill for adult learners very well, and I intend to pursue that avenue of inquiry.

Finally, the author provided a link to another good resource for your future reference regarding hybrid education, located at: http://courses.durhamtech.edu/tlc/www/html/Special_Feature/hybridclasses.htm

Week 5 Reflections and Observations

In the preface to Palloff and Pratt, they make the statement: "Collaboration. This is a word that sends chills up the spines of some instructors. For them, collaboration brings visions of students who resist working in groups, the struggle to create equitable teams of students, uneven participation, and the difficulty of evaluating and grading the products produced by a group." As a student, I can readily relate to this statement. In the online world, communication is more difficult, is visual rather than verbal, requires much more time, and is often asynchronous...so that the thread of the discussion is more difficult to maintain. How do you develop "equitable teams" when you know so little about each student? And, who hasn't been frustrated at some time about the student who doesn't pull his weight in a group collaboration?

Despite these frustrations, I have seen that collaboration can work more smoothly. Just from my observations, I have seen that as students are exposed to collaboration more, they tend to respond more appropriately. In addition, as communication becomes synchronous and visual, as with Breeze, collaboration becomes much more enjoyable and more analagous to a classroom situation where you can see and hear each other. As technology improves to bring the online world more in line with the ways humans like to interact, the more I believe online collaboration will succeed.

I found myself in total agreement with the process P&P described with building a learning community online; it's very much in sync with the face-to-face process: build trust, have integrity, and have concern for others. I also have directly experienced the process (in the face-to-face world) of the process that all teams go through as they collaborate on a project or assignment: normative phase, problem-solving phase, disagreement or conflict phase, an action phase and termination. I had heard it described briefly as: norming, forming, storming, and performing. The most significant statement made by P&P in this regard, in my opinion, is the fact that it takes TIME to move through both the community-building process and the phases of the collaborative process.

Palloff and Pratt also comment on the fact that collaboration has been defined as "the heart and soul of constructivism." I frankly admit that I have been struggling with aspects of constructivism; in particular the concept of "constructing knowledge". This sounds too much like the atmosphere of moral relativism that pervades this country: right and wrong is relative; what's wrong to you is not necessarily wrong to me. Therefore, knowledge is what you happen to think it is. I see knowledge as truth-based. We may debate right and wrong, but that doesn't change those things which are true or false. It would be much more worthwhile to focus on the fact that we are never at our destination when it comes to knowledge; we're always at some point along the path of "knowing" the truth.

While we will never have full knowledge of any topic, we can develop a degree of understanding "constructed" from what we learn (or are told) integrated with what we already "know". The point that I am trying to make is that there can be no fully common ground between individuals on any subject. Constructivism says that each person's knowledge of a subject is based on internally stored experiences and learned information which cannot be the same experiences and learning of others. So, does that mean that collaboration is the preferred vehicle for achieving a higher percentage of "common ground"? I've expressed my views; I'd like to hear yours...