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