Day One

How important is the first day of your online course? Have you sat back and thought about it? Think back to when you were in school and each time a new class began what gave you anxiety or what were you most excited about finding out on the first day? Our students at Baker begin a new course rapidly, yet each new course in some way produces anxieties and/or excitement as well. I have been pondering the question of the importance of the first day of class and began to do some digging. I've aggregated some of the information I've found and outlined some tips or principles to consider when beginning a new online course. The first day can be just as exhilarating for the instructor because you get to apply your skill to a new group and try out the new, or revamped, online shell. What are some particulars to hone in on for that first day that will set the tone for the rest of the course? That's the question I targeted as I began to gather some information for this posting. Below you'll find my suggestions; however, if you have some ideas you'd like to see added to the list send me a message and I'll keep building out the list.

Eye Line:

When students first enter Moodle they are always dropped in at the very top, this becomes their initial eye line. What you place in this space is very important because it becomes the initial space for contact. Spruce this area up. Make it lively and compelling to look at. Consider using images, pronounced colors, video, etc . . . This space is also your first line of communication. The News forum will always be present, but everything else is up to you. I would encourage placing a questions forum, one that you subscribe to, in this space as well. Immediately having that viewable to students sends the message that you are available and willing to curb any anxieties they may have. In this space should be vital documents for students that will help them navigate the course design and content. Either place each file in one by one or create a directory and link to it. The directory is a nice idea because the folder icon connects visually as a recognizable repository source.One of the more effective tools I have been incorporating is brief podcast, students have been providing positive feedback about them. I spend 10 to 15 minutes going over the syllabus, course design, and expectations the same as I would if we were meeting face to face. I follow that up with a Questionnaire asking students to respond to one of two choices: Yes, I have listened to the introductory podcast and have no questions; or, Yes, I have listened to the introductory podcast and would like the instructor to follow up with me. This puts the responsibility on them to listen and then recognize they have a question. I track the responses and follow up if needed. It personalizes the first day in a distant environment that can sometimes feel impersonal. 

Road Map

Depending on where your course lies within the cohort sequence, you may assume students understand where to go or what to do when they first enter a course. I would caution not to make that assumption. Moodle does a nice job of outlining the weeks or topics, so that aspect is clear, but what students should engage in first in regards to assignments, readings, or activities isn't as clear. Don't hide this information, make it prominent each week, but especially week one. The syllabus is important here because of the class schedule and assignment overview sections that provide detail, but in order to ensure a seamless transition from paper to LMS students need that information reinforced. Use the same naming conventions as on your syllabus and provide an outline or "map" of where students should begin. Be explicit. If they need to tackle readings first to begin the forums so they can post and respond by certain due dates then explicitly spell this out. I would even suggest not hiding it, place it directly on the interface. How you set up this first day's material should be adopted in each subsequent week as well. That way the first day becomes the orientation for the rest of the time spent in that shell.

Introductions

I know, you teach in the second to last class of the cohort and the students all know one another so introductions are a moot point. Maybe for the students and each other but not for you. Merely asking the students to tell a little about themselves extends an olive branch or sets a precedence that as the instructor you are interested in each one of them. In addition to that, you never know what information you may glean from what a person tells you that becomes useful later in class. Recently I had a student struggle with a term, he just wasn't making a connection with it when it came to applying it to his analysis. Because I knew a little of his interests I was able to use one of his hobbies as an illustration of how the term is applied, and that's what clicked with him. It was foreign to him until it was placed within a context that he identified with. You just never know where an instructional strategy may originate.

Set the Standard

MLA citation. The previous instructor encouraged this student to continue using outside sources. The standard set by the previous instructor was carried over to my course where the student had adopted this as the norm, only to suffer an alarming awakening.

Plagiarism and Prevention Methods

For some students writing is an arduous task that is quickly remedied with technological advantages available today. Recently Turnitin released internal numbers on which sites students are plagiarizing the most. As students feel more and more comfortable with technology the temptation to cut/copy and paste into a paper will be even more enticing than it already is. Turnitin reported sites such as Wikipedia and AskHow.com as resources students rely on for information. Why read through a journal, book, or periodical when you can query it, copy it, and be on your way? This tactic by students has raised concern across academia with student writing, critical thinking, and academic integrity. One result stemming from this practice is the rise in plagiarism. Protecting and promoting intellectual property is vital within academics so a person's originality remains protected. The pros and cons of the read-write-collaborate- web is the mantra of freeware promotes little restriction on the creation of ideas, which fits in many respects with the impetus for the Internet. As an instructor what measures can you take in order to help deter plagiarism? That's at the heart of this posting.

1. Devise a means to determine where students are with their understanding of what plagiarism is. Some students do not recognize that copying from a website is an act of stealing, so start with defining plagiarism.
2. Let students know from the onset that you will actively seek out plagiarism when grading written work. State this in your syllabus, mention it early on in class or post it in Moodle, and carry through with it. Hollow "threats" are easily sniffed out and shared between students. The best thing you can do it catch early on, educate the students (hopefully just one) on what their error was and how to correct it.
3.  Reinforce sources available to them to help refresh/educate them on proper citation, its importance, and how to do it. Each one of our students gets this in their orientation course and are asked to purchase a handbook, as well as the university has designed a style guide. Combine these resources with what sites such as Noodletools and the Purdue OWL (Online Writing Lab) and there is plenty of information to supplement your instructions. I would encourage you, if you are using Moodle, to make these readily available in your class and refer to them in your feedback on written work.
4. Get to know your students' writing early on. Have short papers, forums, or blogs that stipulate proper grammar, spelling, and punctuation in order to gain perspective on their writing ability and style. This can go a long way in detecting plagiarism.
5. Stipulate in your assignment up-to-date research. One aspect of the paper mills that students can purchase papers from is their papers may be several years old, so asking students to include a source from within (set time frame here) compels them to do original research. 
6. Revision, revision...revision. Catching an issue, especially for those moments when a student is genuinely making an honest error, earlier in the process benefits you as the grader and the student in the long run. The revision process doesn't have to include full and complete drafts, but the more they can offer the better feedback you can provide.
7. As part of the writing assignment require some reflection component where you ask students to review how they researched their topic, what problems did they occur, how they reached their topic or thesis statement, and what would they do differently. This holds them accountable to convey some aspect of their research and writing preparation.
8. Require course or topic specific terminology, outline a specific structure, and assign what type of audience you want students to consider. 

These steps will not fully ensure there will not be the valid attempt by a student to cram a project in at the last minute that was constructed via the entering of a credit card or the paste option on the mouse, but they can help.

The Mundane Discussion

I shared a series of emails with an instructor the other day that made me take pause and realize something worth sharing. Our online content is dependent upon the instructor's ability to engage with students in a meaningful manner and compel students to share and collaborate with one another. How do we accomplish this, currently? More often than not a common tool or resource used within Moodle (Baker's LMS) is the forum (or discussion board, depending on your LMS' lingo). Have our students become numb to the forum? This instructor and I brainstormed ways to incorporate alternative platforms, as well as forums, that motivate (and in some cases force...but this can't be the main basis for discussion) students to share original thought and engage one another. The instructor's initial comment was that students were just going through the motions. Students waited for one person to post, read what they wrote and then summarized that person's view as their own. The result was a stale, thoughtless strand of forum posts that didn't contribute meaningful insight to that week's discussion or topic. How can this be avoided...can it? I contend that it can be avoided but there is a layered process.

First step, as the instructor what do you want to accomplish with the forums...what purpose will they serve? Do you want free/open discussions, will students answer a specific question, will students originate the content, are students graded, will the forum posts count toward formal writing standards, is the forum discussion based upon media, etc...? Outlining which of these is a factor is critical because it sets the tone for you as the course designer on how you will write your syllabus and incorporate specific language to achieve your goal. What course or weekly objective is the forum serving? I realize that we (when I say we I mean administrators at Baker in SPGS) ask for some form of discussion each week from our online instructors in their course design. This stems from the notion that you wouldn't hold class on-ground without having discussions so why is it acceptable online (although there are always those mitigating circumstances and exceptions)? Second thought is the syllabus. How you word and construct the syllabus is vital. Do you have a standard paragraph that applies to all forums? Do you have a rubric?  Rubrics are invaluable because it provides an outline of expectations that you can construct your feedback around...and yes you want to give feedback on the forums. Forums are a place for you as the instructor to....well, instruct. Are all forums structured the same? There is a value in having consistency with how you design an accelerated course, but you can diversify the content. One week you originate the question, the next week students lead the forum, the third week is based off of audio or video, etc... I have had great success when I structure course discussions as a student lead adventure. I assign multiple students as the lead for a given week and by Thursday of their week they are to write a critical analysis of a topic (which I assign), that pertains to the course, of at least 250 words. Then they are responsible for monitoring the forum and replying to anyone that comments to their post; the other students not leading the forum are responsible for reading and responding to at least two of their peers' posts. Points are earned as a facilitator and a responder, with everyone getting at least one turn as a facilitator.  Also, alter how the forums are setup. In Moodle you can have a Q&A forum where students have to respond to a question before they read what others have posted. There is a simple discussion option that places all the posts on a single page, kind of like a wiki page. Or you can have each student post one topic before they can reply to what others have posted. The last consideration is the modality for the discussion. Moodle provides a blog, a wiki, and online chat option in addition to forums. Each of these can be incorporated for the purpose of fostering student collaboration and in-class discussions, as well as break up the routine students endure because the majority of discussions occur within a forum right now. Moreover, forums, wikis, and blogs allow for you to add video, audio, web links, and files to them. Use these options to create an interactive discussion to motivate interest as well.

Dipity

I recently had a project and remembered a website mentioned by a colleague, Dipity, that would let you create interactive time-lines with text, video, images, and share over social media, embed or collaborate. I see Dipity as a meshing of mind mapping, history, and Web 2.0. As I explored it more and more I began to consider its value in a course and became intrigued with it. When you initially enter the site you are hit with a time-line that is covering current events. Each day I visit it is different, but what a great tool to use for my upcoming mass media course. I can have students access the website, review the time-line, and analyze (based upon the principles from chapters discussing visual media, modern journalism, and video games and storytelling) how this tool conveys information, depicts its content, informs its viewers, and shapes the understanding of the world in which we live in. That's just one idea. With the way the site is designed there are time-lines covering a variety of topics. The way the site works is that some time-lines are public, some allow for comments, some allow for viewers to contribute, and some you can embed. The restrictions are important because if you ask students to use it you and them need to know the barriers that may and may not exist when producing a time-line. What about its features? Each time I play with it a learn a little more, which for means they've done a nice job of keeping how to use the site fresh and interesting. First off, you can upload images, type in text, and link or embed videos to your time-line. You cannot upload Word, PDF or PPT to your time-line to share, at least as far as I know. You set the date for each item which determines where it appears on the time-line. There is a +/- bar that allows you to zoom in and out, depending on how much or little you zoom in determines how long the time-line is. You can scroll the time-line by using the scroll bar at the bottom or using your mouse to grab and drag the time-line itself. Dipity defaults to a time-line view, but you can also view it as a flipbook or list. It will also map certain items depending on the wording or imagery used. For instance, I wrote a section about Edward Said and mentioned his roots in Palestine as a youth in 1947, so it mapped Palestine in 1947 and had the names of the cities in both English and Arabic, using Google maps. I thought that was a fantastic little idea. You are one click away from sharing your time-line on Twitter or Facebook, and to retrieve the embed code. If you have an account, and a time-line is public, you can choose to follow it so you are aware of any updates or changes made to it. For me this could be extremely useful. You could embed a time-line in your course and ask students to view it daily or weekly and respond to particular questions of how they interact with it, learn from it, use it, etc...I think it is one of those sites that offers rewards to the creative mind that can devise assignments and student activities to capture its use. I know I will promote it as a means to replace PPT as another format to present over a topic on.

Improving Student Learning

Can screen capture improve student learning? Before we answer that let me define what I mean when I write screen capture: it is when you record all activity done on your computer screen, potentially with audio, and share it through an external website. Screen capturing is literally recording what you are doing on your computer screen and sharing it. I've blogged about my favorite screen capture freeware tool, screencast-o-matic, but there are several available to choose from. What I want to tackle with this blog post is less about how to screen capture or what resources there are; I would rather discuss what the potential benefits are. Are there benefits? That is a fair question, and my response would be there are. To be candid, I am a proponent of screen capturing in an online environment, even though I do recognize potential drawbacks, so my focus here will be to promote its benefits because I believe they outweigh the drawbacks.

Consider relying on screen captures to provide supplemental and remedial information. This will free you up to focus on higher-order learning in your discussions and assignment feedback.

Screen capturing allows you to develop course content and add your personality, personalizing the online environment for students. Having content recorded allows students to record, pause, and playback information. This allows time for reflection and contemplation.  Essentially you are creating on demand instruction that is becoming increasingly mobile.

What types of content are viable screen capture options:

• Instruction on how to complete an assignment, or clarification over an activity, are a beginning point. Even though you have your assignments written out in your syllabus, recording the instructions and adding more detail through explanation adds another level of information for students. Besides, if you think about it when you teach on-ground you don't just have students read the syllabus and call it a day. You go over the content with them to delve deeper into the purpose of the assignment or activity, so why not do that online?
• Demonstrate an activity, dissect an assignment, display a sequence of activities, and/or convey to students how the material threads together from week to week.
• Review of course concepts, reading materials, and/or supplemental materials. The importance of this is that it allows you to bring in your interpretation and explanation of a particular subject and topic. At Baker students are expected to cover a fair amount of material in a condensed amount of time, anyway you can aid students in retaining essential concepts and explain how they correlate to course objectives will increase retention. Screen capturing allows you to bring your voice (literally) into the online classroom.

 The last thought on this is that screen capturing will provide some flexibility to duplicate what you may have successfully done on-ground in an online course. Recently we had an instructor interview someone via a screen capture to bring them into their online course as a guest speaker; we've also had someone create entire video sequences over how to work through college algebra equations to build a support video library. It has had a positive impact on students. With minimal technological skills you can be screen capturing and, I feel, greatly enhance the online environment.

Online Retention

I read an article this week in Campus Technology titled "Strong and Steady Wins the Retention Race" (for those interested in the article click here). The article, written by Angela Naginey, Director of Retention at Cal Lutheran University, outlined steps taken to improve student retention.  Naginey's article provides a brief background into the creation of her position within the university and conveys the principles and recommendations she has employed. Many of Naginey's assertions are logical and reasonable, so it made me think about the online environment. How can we at Baker do better to retain online students, or is it even possible? There are some variables outside the scope of online instructors, such as recruiting and initial orientations, but then there are some variables online instructors can directly address. In a previous blog I discussed how to engage online students, which I think relates to retaining students as well, but for this post I want to present specific strategies for the purpose of retention. Ultimately, once students enter the online environment instructors become the first line for implementing best practices in retention. The university still has an important role with its internal support, but the instructor is often the first line of communication. With that said, what are some ideas to consider implementing in your online course that blend with our students and Moodle?

1.  Do you gauge your student's abilities early on? Particularly with writing or math? Assigning a short assignment in week one or two, informal or formal, provides a beginning assessment point. From there you can evaluate direct areas of needs, provide direct feedback to those areas, and monitor them for the duration of the course. In the instance a student has multiple needs, this is where we can work them to obtain extra assistance, or build a focus plan for them that sets up obtainable benchmarks. Something subtle like this early on can alleviate frustrations later on in the course and build a positive relationship with students that can aid in retention efforts.
2. Do you ever survey your students after a couple of weeks to get a feel for where they are? I would always suggest adding a forum in Moodle where students can ask questions, but have you ever considered adding a survey or choice option (both available within Moodle) to gain a sense of how students are coming along? Particularly if you've taught the course before and know of trouble spots for students, then it may behoove you and the students to pose a survey or choice question in Moodle about their comprehension or progress in a particular area. From that you can target a lecture to better explain that area or hone in on assignment feedback that prepares students for the potential difficulties. This process of coaching students along can assist with retention.
3. How do you build an online community in your class? A constant found within studies of student attrition in online environments is the lack of community, or feeling of isolation. How do you combat that within the confines of Moodle and Baker's policies? Have you thought about it at all? Maybe in week one have a forum available for students where they are asked to say something brief about who they are as a student and person, and you reply with some tidbits about yourself. Add an introductory audio piece where your personality can come out.It should be brief and doesn't have to necessarily be course related. Do you do an icebreaker in week one? I realize that many of our cohorts, depending on where you teach in the program, are familiar with one another, so use this as an opportunity for them to get to know you. Do you put your picture in your Moodle profile? Giving students a visual image of who you are can assist in making a better connection (besides, all those smiley faces begin to drive me nutty after a while). How accessible are you; more importantly, how accessible are students for one another? Do you ever assign peer work outside of learning teams? Incorporating a peer activity where a student is forced to step outside their learning teams is an ideal way to expand their support within a cohort. Small steps such as these can go a long way in reducing the isolation feeling students sometimes have and cultivate the feeling of online community.
4. How do you champion student success? Often as instructors we are immersed in critical assessments, where we focus on what is wrong in order to improve our students. But, how do you give accolades to students that succeed? Do you merely give a "nice job" comment? Do you present their work to the class? Do you go into detail about which aspects were done well, so they can capitalize on those and continue to develop them? It is vital we critically evaluate students, but it is just as important that we give them their earned acclaim as well. Particularly if you are aware of hurdles they've overcome in order to reach a certain point, boosting their confidence makes the accomplishment personal and recognizable.

140 Characters or Less

That is all you get, 140 characters. Not only letters, characters. Twitter has forced its users to condense their thoughts down to 140 characters. I am a fan of Twitter and find its value in education an untapped resource, but I have to admit that the 140 characters stipulation is creating a problematic subculture (although don't blame Twitter, they are merely aligning with your cell phone limit). What I mean is that students in the online environment seem to accept the truncated typing conducive for Twitter (or instant messaging in general) as somehow acceptable when posting to an online forum or discussion board. I've literally added language to my syllabi that attempts to deal with the issue. None the less, Twitter has some benefits for online education and education in general. Twitter allows you to follow some intelligent folks. And by follow I don't mean reading about their lunch or when they open the garage door, I mean substantive information that is meaningful. Twitter has various repositories that allow the character limit to become the point of engagement, then take you through the linking process to more depth and information. Through such sites as TwitDocs, TwitVid, and TwitPic you can upload documents, videos and images that you are able to link to or share. I can place an article that I want to students to read in TwitDoc, tweet that it is there, and they can then access the document and read it either online or save it to their computer. A site such as TwitCam allows you to record a vlog (that's a video blog), link to it, and those following you on Twitter can access it. The TwitCam becomes a perfect way to integrate yourself into an online classroom and add that oh so important instructor voice in. Not to mention that with the shortening of a URL (Twitter will do this, or there are outside websites that can help) what you have on the web becomes part of the 140 characters. What about this idea. I was working with a marketing instructor and they wanted to illustrate how social media works. We took a Twitter feed and did a hash-tag search for marketing, then embedded the result into her course so students in Moodle could read the feed without leaving the course. It gave them a perspective of how dialogue is shaped through social media and how to grab the consumer's attention in an abbreviated form. Not to mention Screenr, which is a screencasting freeware tool, that sends out a tweet after you've posted your recorded message. We've had one creative instructor require students to tweet as they are engaged in their literature reading, giving their immediate impression. It allowed students to follow the thoughts of others and it allowed those that posted to review how their thoughts progressed. There are some creative activities to be built around this medium, but you have to be willing to accept it validity in education first. Here is a link to a Pew research poll on the demographics of Twitter users. The numbers give you some idea of who is engaging via Twitter, but with some creativity and ingenuity the options of how to incorporate Twitter into a classroom are endless (Pew Research Poll).  Here are some folks I like to follow on Twitter that I find are constantly adding information that is useful and meaningful:

ktenkely 

facultyfocus

rmbyrne

 wfryer 

Increasing Online Activity

I have been listening (and reading) of a theme that is troublesome with online education. Too often online education is being packaged as "convenient" for students that want to further their education. I don't know about you, but the term convenient carries an implication of easier when I hear it...but is that how online education should be presented? The notion of online education as being easier, I feel, is a misnomer. Yes, there are some caveats (like staying in your pajamas to attend an online meeting, but I went to class in undergrad in my pajamas, so maybe that's not that different) of an asynchronous online environment that allows for flexibility in how you schedule your day, but does that make it easier? Time management isn't easy, reading and forming critical thought isn't easy, writing elaborate papers isn't easy, retaining information that is often self-directed for a comprehensive exam isn't easy, etc... But what impact does this have on a student and are there ways to get around this initial premise of convenient to engage them in distant education? Let me offer some suggestions, which are based upon my current work and initiatives here at Baker, to increase interaction with students in an online setting:

1. Utilizing forums (and when I use the word forums I also mean blogs, wikis, and chats) for sharing ideas is an ideal way to create class discussions that can be retained for future reference. If setup correctly, it can encourage students to engage in the material for that week and explore their thoughts through writing (maybe even improving their writing along the way...maybe). However, what I do think is underutilized is the requirement of peer responses. When meeting face-to-face there is an accountability of when you speak up in class and share your ideas your peers will hold you accountable for what you have to say. I've heard the concept that anonymity online allows students to engage more open than they would if face-to-face, which may be true; however, asking students to read and respond to their peers is a valid way to entice conversation and the sharing of ideas. Don't allow students to read the initial forum question or assignment, do their reading and post, remaining isolated to fulfill the assignment. Compel them to engage with other students. This requires them to consider their audience and calculate what they need to write so their thought can be shared with others.
2. Building off of point #1, require critical feedback. In one of my assignment descriptions I require students to respond to a set number of peers, but in their initial peer response I ask students to offer a critique. I approach in I way that I ask them to reflect back on the post once they've read it and ask themselves what question do you have, what do you wish would have been clarified more or what could have been explained better? Responding with a favorable view is encouraged and allowed, but they must include a critical point. This causes the person that made the post to respond with clarification and in turn causes them to consider their audience and how they craft their views. This also raises the level of discourse and illustrates how to remain civil and respectful while disagreeing or critiquing, a useful skill for later in life.
3. Directly tie responses with course materials. Too often I see instructors write a description for an assignment that simply asks to "give me your thoughts on chapter 13." Directly target concepts and course materials that relate back to the course outcomes and objectives; and most importantly, give clear directions and guidance on what your expectations are. Something as vague and as general as thoughts on a chapter do little to entice critical thought, your merely asking for a summary or overview, which can show they retained something, but did they think about it? This requires knowing the content and threading together a sophisticated question that draws on all aspects of a chapter, but you are the instructor. 

There isn't a guaranteed blue print, but taking small initiatives, such as the ones mentioned above, can aid in motivating students to engage one another online. That engagement creates a sustainable learning environment and a better online community....at least that's what I think. 

Google Custom Search

Sometimes I come across something and I have to share it. Since I've spoken with everyone in my suite I've decided to take my information out to the web. I came across something I've found to be very intriguing for an online course and student research. I do have to say that I never would have found this if it wasn't for Twitter, but I won't go into details. There is a high probability that when you assign a research assignment for an online student, or face-to-face for that matter, one option a student invokes to begin the project is to use an online search engine. I would venture a guess and say that judging by their success, students are more than willing to use Google's search engine. The regular search engine, assuming they don't go through Books or Scholar, opens them up to the World Wide Web and all its glory...and pitfalls. My thoughts are this type of inquiry requires students to have the knowledge of how to discern what is and isn't a reputable source for them to draw information from as support for the logic in their project. Going off of recent trends in critical thinking skills, I am assuming this is a daunting task for some. What if you could create and embed in your LMS (for us Moodle) a Google search engine that you control the sites it searches? You would be able to go out and vet the sites ahead of time, or drive students to libraries, books, journals, etc...and the entire time it appears to a student as if they are searching Google. Google has the option to create a custom search engine that does just that. You create it, you tell it which sites to search, and you share it with your students. I embedded one into Moodle just a few moments ago and it worked out perfectly. As much as I direct and provide information on how to investigate online sources inevitably students are relying on questionable material as primary forms of information. A tool such as this isn't full proof, but it offers another option to the arsenal. Part of me feels conflicted, as though I am doing some of the work for them...which I am, but I don't have to let that be known.

GoAnimate.com

I have become completely enamored with animation for an online course. I don't know if it is a phase and will pass like my long hair in high school (wish I could grow that now) or if it has staying power. I am leaning toward it having staying power because when I reason it out in my head animation in an online course works, it adds a function that is worthwhile. Hear me out as I work through this. If you can create a short animated video that easily embeds to your online course would you? Or let me ask it this way , why wouldn't you? To date the ways I've seen colleagues use them and the way I've used them I think have aided in grabbing the students' attention and conveyed important message in a unique fashion. The animations I've created have been brief introductions that I place at the very top of my course in Moodle, right in the eye line of the students when they first enter the course. I've even placed them above the scrolling marquee (see previous blog post for that). I worry that the video with a marquee is sensory overload, but so far student feedback has conveyed that it grabs their attention when they log in and they feel compelled to read the marquee and watch the animation. The content I've added so far has been very brief. I've been setting up that week's material and reminding them of upcoming activities. I see this as an alternative to the plain text messages they would receive through a mass email or announcement page. It breaks up the mundane and adds some character and life to an online course. I like Toondoo when it comes to creating comic strips, but so far GoAnimate.com has been an easy animation freeware tool that works well in Moodle. There are many limitations to the free version, mainly in how creative you can be, but never the less it provides an engaging element to add to a course. Much of an online course can be text heavy. We require that students in an accelerated format read mass amounts from a textbook, journals, discussion posts, blog posts, wiki posts, etc...(and I am an advocate for all of these as instructional tools) that I would advocate that anytime you can enhance a course's design through alternative means you grab them. A brief animation that delivers a custom message is one way to break from the norm and still deliver content. 

Join.Me

I know, it has been an inordinate amount of time since I last made a blog post. I planned on giving you some elaborate detailed reason as to why, but my life isn't that exciting. Each week I'd have my plan mapped out and blogging was on there... but wasn't reached. The good news is that I have been exploring the vast world of freeware tools and have some more to share. In this post I wanted to draw attention to a source that both excites and scares me at the same time. Have you ever been working with a student or a peer and tried to walk them through a process and dreamed of a day when you could just access their computer and do it for them, remotely? Ok, maybe you don't sit around and ponder these dilemmas, but someone did, and out of that came join.me. Join.me lets you share your computer with anyone you choose. There is a free and pro version. I've only experienced the free version and was enticed and frightened at the same time. I was frightened because when when you give control or accept control of someone else's computer you literally have control of it all. You can access their files, you can use their web browser, you can change or alter content, etc... I would argue the upside to this freeware tool outweighs the negative; besides, it isn't so bad when you let someone totally control your computer and you can't do anything about it. Of course I say this sarcastically, but I would assume that you would only accept the invitation to share through join.me if you know the person, which should go without saying. Once you get past that little nuance you are all set to begin sharing. The benefit this freeware tool brings is that there isn't a file to download and you aren't bombarded with spam once you create an account, but you are able to genuinely collaborate with another person, in a one on one setting, and assist them in working through an issue. The couple of times I have used it I was amazed at how well it aided in solving what was otherwise a complex problem. I envision a student contacting their stats or accounting instructor with a dilemma, one that might easily be resolved with a face-to-face meeting (I know, easy in the same sentence as stats and accounting typically doesn't appear). If the two are miles apart the next best thing to do is share the computer of the person in need. You are able to communicate and share files through join.me as well. I had it up and running in less than two minutes, it was simple as reading and clicking.This tool is just another way to break through distant barriers in education and collaborate to solve a problem. Click here to go to the website.

join.me

Web 2.0 Resources

Sorry for the delay between posts...this work thing was getting in the way a bit.  With the amount of information available that pertains to Web 2.0 and the available applications it is difficult to grasp it all. I know that one aspect I struggled with early on was where to go or how to find what is available. I would spend hours surfing and reading and end up with one or two possible leads.  Since then I have found a couple helpful websites that embrace the concept of the read, write, collaborate web and gather possible Web 2.0 tools. These sites have been instrumental in me finding new material and staying up to date as best I can. I thought I'd share them, so here they are.

1. Go2Web2.0 houses a variety of possible online applications. Some are free, some are paid and some are both. The initial interface is sleek and brings some of applications right out to the forefront. By clicking on any one of the tags in the column to the right you can begin to narrow your search to specific topics. I like how the brand names are presented too. If you are like me who like to follow more than I do post, tracking them on Twitter can keep you up with additions and new topics. You can get there by linking here  http://www.go2web20.net/.

2. The next one is a perfect example of how to use a wiki (pb wiki to be specific). Digital Research Tools (DiRT) categorizes and compartmentalizes a vast array of Web 2.0 applications. I have been using this site for over a year now. I would encourage you to subscribe to the updates as well. The site has a very clear process for adding material and making edits, giving it some credibility and making it reliable. You can being by linking out by clicking on links under Types of Tools or under the "page" section to the right. Here is the link http://digitalresearchtools.pbworks.com/.

3. The third one is tied more to a person and then the site, but they both offer insight into Web 2.0 applications directed toward education. Wesley Fryer (which I follow him on Twitter and have found some exciting tools because of it) has developed his own wiki (pb wiki again....hmmm...I see a trend) to outline his expertise. Mr. Fryer is available to contract with for seminars on the features found on his wiki (which there is over 140 pages of information) both face-to-face and virtually (at least that is what his website says). I like to click on the word collaboration from the front page. From there I begin linking away. He has a couple of other sites that you can link out to as well (one is his list of apps for the iphone, if you have one it is worth checking out). Here is a link to his site if you are interested http://handouts.wesfryer.com/.

4. This last one is again a pb wiki site that stores links to a variety or Web 2.0 tools that cover a multitude of educational needs. The headings on this site make the navigation simple.  The site is named Teaching with Technology Index. If you click on wiki in the upper left corner of your screen that will take you back to the home page, but the link I've provided will take you directly into the index of applications available. Here is the link if you are interested http://ipt286.pbworks.com/Index.

What About This Screencast Thing?

What is this screencast thing? A theme laced throughout some recent questions I've faced. I recently took part in the KCPDC event at Johnson County Community College where I presented on this topic, so I thought it would be fitting to share it here as well. I have been dabbling with screencasting for over a year now and have a growing affinity for it. In short, a screencast is self created video. I know it sounds simple, and in many respects it is. Sure there are intricacies to consider that make it a useful tool for education, which I'll preview in a bit, but the concept is that simple. Assuming you have a microphone of some sort available on your computer, a screencast is you capturing your computer screen's image with your voice narrating along. I've used screencasting to supplement our transition from Blackboard to Moodle and found them to be overwhelmingly beneficial. I was able to take complex aspects and record video tutorials that illustrate steps and processes for our instructors in the new system. I also, and this is a personal view based on research and collaboration with others, feel that screencasts create a more dynamic online environment and bring the instructor's voice directly into the online classroom, which creates a better sense of community and connection with online students.

What are some variables to consider when contemplating using screencasts in your online course (or on ground, up to you)? One is that adding video and voice to a course broadens the mode of delivery of information. Some students may retain content better when it is delivered visually or orally. This doesn't mean that an online course should abandon text, quite the opposite. Screencasts should be in supplement of text to resonate with a broad perspective of learners. In short, it offers diversity in delivering content. I am an advocate for multisensory learning, particularly in an online environment where there isn't the face-to-face connection (unless you want there to be through Dimdim or Skype...different topic for a different blog). Another perspective is that recorded content (one reason I am an advocate of podcasts as well) allows some versatility for students, it actually gives them some control. Think back to formal lectures where under great duress to not miss information you wrote down everything the instructor presented as quickly as possible. There was little time to fully digest or contemplate deeper what was begin said and how to make connections to the overarching scope of the course (I admit I am making a generalization here...in particular I am remembering one particular course, but the concept isn't too far off). With a recorded video, a screencast, the student has the ability to pause, rewind, write down thoughts, record questions, and control the pace. There is the limitation of needing access to the video, but if they can enter their online environment for class then you should be able to grant them access. I would also then suggest that you consider time. In some respects you will be limited in regards to time depending on where you plan to host the video, but generally speaking a screencast should be concise and to the point.  A final thought on this aspect is how to incorporate screencasts into your pedagogy. If you design your curriculum with screencasts and they are merely there as passive entertainment, then you'll have passive retention and students will have little use for them. Weave discussions around them, create specific tutorial for specific concepts, tasks, or assignments in the course. Highlight key terms or correlative relationship with course text or reading and use the screencast as an illustration.

With all this said I figure it would be worthwhile to comment on some that I use (I know, I should have done this earlier, but I wanted to keep you hanging on with suspense as long as I could...did it work?). My favorite is Screencast-O-Matic. Extremely easy to use  and versatile. Next, Screenr. Screenr connects with another obsession of mine (Twitter), but is simple to use as well. Another one I am a fan of is Jing. I love having the little Sun on my desktop...if you use it you'll know what I mean. Again, it is very user friendly with great support. The very first screencast tool I used was CamStudio, so I will always have a special place for it. But compared to the others I find it the most complex to use (that's not to deter you though). CamStudio is in connection with CamStasia, which I have never used...but I always hear positive feedback about that one as well. With the exception of CamStasia all these are freeware tools, as of today anyway. If your an instructor contact me and I have some tutorials I can share with you.

A Scrolling Marquee

I've had an instructor ask about a way to grab student's attention with a "scrolling ticker or something like that?" Good question. Inundating students constantly with e-mail alerts can quickly become dysfunctional...that isn't to say that you can't effectively communicate with e-mail, but what if there were options? One option I find unique and eye grabbing is to embed a scrolling marquee in your course. I can hear the questions now...a what? A scrolling marquee. Very similar to what you see when you sit in Vegas at a betting agency trying to curb your nerves as you just realized that the star pitcher you banked on is out with a thumb nail injury and now your vacation home is down the drain (not that I've actually lived through this...but I've heard), that kind of scrolling marquee. That doesn't mean you need to fill it with up to the minute scores, but that does mean you can embed it in your course and fill it with useful content. It immediately appeals to users' senses as they enter the course and draws attention to the information. The one that I've used in my courses is gURL. When you link to the site scroll down to the bottom half and you can get the embed code for a scrolling marquee that travels horizontal or vertical, up to you. You can even tweak the code and adjust the font size and style, message, font color, which direction the message enters, etc...Envision your students entering your course at 10:30 p.m. after they have worked all day, managed through dinner, kids' homework, took a quick shower while putting a load of laundry in and then decided to sit down and enter the course you labored over to do some work. You need to be able to cut through the distractions and convey essential bits of information to make them as successful as possible, I think this can help. If you are uncertain how to embed content in Moodle this video can help, Embed Video In Moodle. I know it has video in the title, but it will work for this. This is a subtle adjustment that can make your course more appealing and interesting for students.

THE MARQUEE CAN APPEAR JUST LIKE THIS!

Online Instructional Tips

Online Instructional Tips

As an online instructor part of your job is to stay as current and up to date as possible with how you deliver, develop, and communicate content. With the speed in which technology changes staying current can seem daunting. What does this mean for you as an online instructor?  How can you better develop strategies to deliver to your students a quality online education? Below are some helpful hints, insights and thoughts to consider. Some may be options you already implement, and some may be aspects you’ve never considered. Either way the intent is to conjure up new thoughts and ideas.

 Be Visible in Class

Online courses offer students remote access and by their very nature are distant, but they don’t have to feel that way. Students will appreciate camaraderie and relationships built online as much as they would in a face-to-face course. As an instructor you can achieve this by making your presence known. How can you go about this?

• Access your course daily. The expectation isn’t that you spend hours online each day, but checking your course multiple times a day is important. Typically our students are more active in the evenings or weekends. Making sure you check in multiple times a day and are able to respond if necessary in a timely manner is encouraging to students.
• Keep in mind that even though you may read a forum post, instant message, or email the students may not know that. Communicate as often as possible. Inject stimulating questions or insight into forum posts to spur on the topic and let them know you are active. This can entice better forum posts and open up dialogue, but don’t control the conversation unless you have to. Let students develop their thoughts with your coaxing along.
• If you set up a forum specifically for them to ask questions make sure you are checking it often. It might be in your best interest to subscribe to that forum so any updates are emailed to you…your Baker email account of course J.

Communication is Key

Communication is imperative for students, maybe even more so online. With Baker’s LMS system, assignments, email, and Web 2.0 technology there are a multitude of ways to communicate and reach out to students.

• Assignment feedback is critical. Students need to know how well or poor they did on an assignment. Here are some helpful hints on how to provide feedback:
• Write out specific comments in Grades within Moodle.
• Add comments to their document. Utilize the track changes feature in Microsoft Word to provide feedback directly on their document. Then make sure to upload it back to Moodle for them to access
• Respond to forum posts. Don’t hesitate to step into a forum and inject your experience and knowledge. Another great way to motivate forum responses is to ask a question based off of responses or trends within that forum. If you do this early and often students will get in the habit of checking back and looking for them. That also motivates them to read through the posts.

• Set up online meetings. Moodle has a Chat feature that allows you to instant message in real time with students. In Moodle you can send students messages directly through their profile as well. Also, there are Web 2.0 online meeting sites that are free you can link to. These sites (such as Wiggio, Dimdim, OpenHuddle, Skype) offer various features that will allow you to share documents, communicate with text or audio, link to websites and share a whiteboard.
• Utilize email. Moodle offers two ways to reach students through email. One is the News forum. You can post there and it will archive the message in the course and you can set it to email to students. The other feature is for you to add Quickmail. Quickmail gives you, and students, access to all the participants in your course’s email accounts. Once or twice a week sending out email updates, reminders, or just friendly conversation to students in your course reminds them and notifies them of your presence in the course.
• Web 2.0 expanded collaboration online. One of the intents of Web 2.0 was to make the internet less about one way conversations (where users read information) and more about collaboration (users read and discuss information). Between blogs, wikis, Google Docs, and social networking sites (Twitter, Facebook, Myspace) you can create environments where documents are shared, edited, and collaborated over. Moodle offers blogs, wikis and chats…but don’t be afraid to bring in outside sites that you are comfortable with.
• Utilize videos, podcasts, or screencasts. Creating a video or podcast has become significantly easier. Offering students instructions or supplemental notes for a course through audio or video adds a layer of instruction. Plus, it promotes a layered form of learning; students’ cognitive abilities are engaged through a multisensory format.
• How do I make a podcast?  Here are three easy ways.
• Freeconferencecalling.com allows you to make a podcast making a long distance phone call. http://www.freeconferencecalling.com/
• Rondee allows you to make a podcast by making a long distance phone call. http://www.rondee.com/   
• Audacity works if you have a microphone or webcam for your computer. You can download Audacity to your desktop, record a podcast, export it as an MP3 and then share it with your students. http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
• How do I make videos or screencasts?
• If you have a webcam you can record a video in YouTube. Dong this creates a visual connection and allows you to communicate verbally, instead of just textually.
• YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/
• Using a webcam you can make a screencast. A screencast is when you record audio and visual elements of what you have on your computer screen. It may be as simple as a welcome announcement or as complex as writing a research assignment, either way it offers another layer of instructional methods. Here is a list of freeware for screencasts:
• Jing: http://www.jingproject.com/
• Screenr: http://screenr.com/
• Screencast-O-Matic: http://www.screencast-o-matic.com/
• CamStudio: http://camstudio.org/
• Adding video is another way to bring in contemporary images, build discussions, and keep the course intriguing to students. Take advantage of the many video search engines to find material that correlates with your course and then design activities/assignments around them. What are ways to utilize video:
• Show a video and ask students to critique/analyze it using specific concepts from the course.
• Ask students to synthesize the video’s premise and correlate a connection to a specified course topic.
• Use the video merely as support or illustrate a topic of interests in your course.
• Build forum posts and course discussion around the interpretation and examination of the video.
• Let the video demonstrate or express content. There are videos from professionals and academics that convey material, similar to what a formal lecture does. Great places to find reliable, academically sound videos are news agencies’ websites and http://www.youtube.com/education?b=400 (YouTube’s educational site).

Keep an Eye On Course Design/ Aesthetics

Course design and layout is important for students. Appealing to various levels of learning through verbal, logical, visual, spatial, and content design is crucial to the success of an online course. What are some general tendencies or habits you can develop when assembling your online course?

• Is there consistency with your design? Designing through the use of repetition and ordered structure minimizes confusion. It will orient students with the layout of the course, which allows an emphasis to be put on content and not navigation.
• Do you have images, various font size, colors, or sections labeled? Moodle gives you an array of resources to enhance the visual appeal of your course. You can remain consistent and still integrate imagery while you tinker with the font color or size. Clearly labeling sections and using space as a marker makes for easier navigation too.
• Does your syllabus match up with the wording in your course? It is important that there is continuity between what you have in your syllabus and in your course. Explicit, clear directives and instructions are crucial.
• Do you utilize audio/visuals? These greatly enhance the delivery of content and allow the development of multisensory learning. When using these modes of delivery make sure to include necessary links to software needed or that you clearly explain the use or function of the audio/visual content.
• Is there opportunity for students to communicate if there is a problem? This is important to cut down on frustration and confusion.
• Are the goals of the course, week, and topic clear? It is important to introduce the relevancy or objectives for each topic and make them clearly available in the course.
• Is related content grouped together? It isn’t advantageous to bounce students around the course for information or content.
• Is your contact information and syllabus easily accessible? Placing this information in the very top of your Moodle course is the perfect location. This section always remains at the top and is the first place students see when they drop in the course.
• Do you deliver activities and/or assignments through various modalities? Moodle offers an option for quizzes, forums, wikis, blogs, lessons, and uploading various documents (spreadsheets, excel files, Word documents, etc…). Each aspect can offer a different level of learning. Feel free to explore outside of Moodle as well for useful resources.

I hope these thoughts help you in your design and development. Sharing ideas and perspectives is one way to stay up to date and motivate new ideas. One way I thought I could help is writing this blog. The blog is designed around me trying out new features and sharing my experiences. My intent is to relate the content back to education and how it can benefit our students. I plan to update it at least twice a month…but maybe more.

Clint McDuffie

Online Resource Coordinator

Welcome! What Is This?

Welcome to Baker University's Technology Blog (B.T.B). Education is rapidly changing and the incorporation of technology into instructional methods is quickly becoming a must. In the time you blink your eye something is being added, deleted, or developed that may revolutionize the way we communicate, think or interact with students. So how do you keep up with it all...or how do you keep up with it all and then bring in into your courses? That is the million dollar question ( if you answer it please share it with me :). How can I help? One of the luxuries I have is to "play" on the computer, literally. I spend time adventuring out into the World Wide Web to find the latest, greatest freeware tool that can make the educational experience for our students up to date and relevant...and in the process advancing instructors' understanding and use of "tools." My knowledge is based in exploration. Web 2.0 carries a mantra to be user friendly (but don't worry Web 3.0 is just around the corner). The need for understanding coding was taken out and the average lay person was empowered to add content and become a provider on the web. From that has been an explosion of resources...some stay and are sold for billions of dollars (see Twitter and YouTube) and some disappear as quick as they came (we are probably better off for it too). What this blog can become for you is a place to frequent and catch a glimpse at what is available to bring your courses up to speed with the changing face of education. I'll explore, add to my user accounts list, test, try, and go through the process and then share with you my experiences. I will try to weed out the ones that don't fit with Baker's approach (and the ones that make you pull your hair out trying to use) and offer you options at the same time. I am a firm believer in reading the literature too...so when I come across an worthwhile study or article I will add to your Sunday afternoon leisure reading. Feel free to post comments and follow along. As you try out any suggestions or tools the more we can collaborate the better off we'll all be.

To start, I have links to two books. These are books I use in my Issues and Ethics in technology course. There are parts where the read can be tedious, but overall they do a nice job of over viewing Web 2.0 and the transformation of delivering education we are immersed in. I found these through Google Books (I think you'll find that I am slightly enamored with Google and think it will take over the world one app at a time :) a great Web 2.0 contribution. There may be times that you can't read every page...all depends on the rights agreement Google has (and that pesky court case). Check back soon and I will have another posting.

Blogs, Wikis, Podcast and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms

Web 2.0: New Tools, New Schools