Session 9 - I have confirmation that Dr. Newberry is a mind reader!

In applying the skills we have been learning to my own class, I have been considering many of the very things that Dr. Newberry has asked for us to type about this week. Therefore, I must conclude that he is not using the weak spell Legilimens to read my thoughts, we must have entered into a full on Vulcan, wait for it, MindMeld!!!

All kidding aside, thank you for asking questions which give me additional time to really consider the application in my own classroom.

1.     Identify three different technologies that support discussions in online classes. Describe each technology in terms of its ability to support worthwhile and rewarding discussions.

Technology #1: Schoology Discussion Forum

The Schoology Discussion Forum as seen below allows for students to have student-to-student interaction. While students could conceivably be online at the same time and posting back and forth in real time, this ideally situated as an asynchronous discussion technology that allows each individual student to engage with the question and with each other in a blackboard style setting. The ability to work at any time and from any location (Schoology even has smartphone apps from which students may engage), edit their work and consider the posts of others work together to promote quality discussion from all students. 

Technology #2: Blog Responses to Questions

Like the Schoology discussion forums, blogs (google or otherwise) allow for student to engage student-to-student and student-to-content asynchronously so that students can work in their own time and place of most comfort. Unlike the Schoology discussion forum, the blog of each individual is housed wherever they keep their blog. But, if like Dr. Newberry, an instructor keeps a list of links with the blog of each student attached available, students can readily navigate from blog to blog to interact with their fellow students. The benefits of the blog over the discussion is that the individual contributions of each student are kept more visibly distinct so that each person is able to maintain their own, more distinct, discussion on their page.

Technology #3: Google Docs – Comments and/or Chat

Finally, a third and final technology for discussions would be Google Docs. Google Docs have both an option for commenting and/or chat amongst members with whom the document is shared. The greatest benefit to this particular technology is that while it works very nicely as an asynchronous discussion area (anyone with document access is able to show a revisions history to see what has been done and when) with particular areas highlighted with comments (or not) by contributors, it has the added advantage of working nicely as a synchronous technology via chat should group members so desire.

2.     Describe an eLearning context (type of class, students, and specific content) where you would advocate the use of an online discussion. Identify the technology you would use to facilitate the discussion.

I have already been working to pull together the online aspect of my AP Statistics course for the upcoming 2014-2015 school year. As stated, the course is AP Statistics, which means that it is a college level class in Statistics (not calculus based). The 89 students enrolled in the course are predominantly self-motivated seniors, but there exists a handful of juniors and even a sophomore or two. The online aspect of this course (from what I have discerned through informal interviews) will be relatively new to these students, though many have worked with blogs in English or history or both over the course of the past school year.

I discovered last year that my AP Stats students were NOT well-equipped to read the college level text and discern that which was important from that which was less critical, nor were they proficient or persistent in seeking sources to illuminate the topics they did not understand. It is for the purpose of helping them to read, understand, and interact with the text, their classmates, and myself that I am choosing to use discussion with these students.

As shown above in either the blog picture or google docs picture, my students (very like what we do for this class) have a series of question with which they need to engage for each chapter through a blog post. They will answer these questions with the help of the text and outside sources from their own vantage point and then visit at least 3 other blogs and either leave feedback or ask questions which demonstrate the extension of their learning.

3.     Describe how you would plan for the discussion described in question 2. For example, how would you prepare students for the discussion, structure associated presentations, plan other activities that students be doing along with the discussion, and how you would ensure that the student workload was balanced and appropriate.

To prepare for the aforementioned blog discussion, students will read the weekly assigned readings. As I am just beginning to start with this application in my coursework, students will primarily engage with the text. In the long run, I’d like to add videos, powerpoints/prezis, articles, etc. to add dimension to the material and support any weak points or add extensions to the chapters to guarantee quality student preparation.

The blog questions for each chapter will be posted (along with the due date and rubric) on the schoology website. Students have already come to an informational lunch time meeting with me where they were 1) walked through the Schoology website, 2) shown how to use the calendar to keep track of due dates, 3) shown how to access the questions for each blog and 4) shown the organization of the folders so that they know where their assignment papers, etc. are housed.

Last year, I assigned more practice problems from the book to give the students assigned, structured time to engage with the material. I have reduced the number of assigned problems as the blog questions allow the students the structured time to engage with the application of the vocabulary in a much more fluid and dynamic manner, those questions have been stricken from the assignment to allow the students time to actually read and complete their blog.

4.     Develop a set of guidelines or policies that you would give to students to help them engage successfully in the discussion.

To begin with, I am borrowing Dr. Newberry’s rubric for grading the blog posts (THANKS Dr. Newberry!) and I intend to revise as necessary to inspire the best work from my students. I also intend to have an in class unit in which we discuss netiquette for both their published work and also for their interaction with other students. (From my trial run of blogging with my current set of AP Stats students, I have found that many lack an academic register when typing for the Internet because they had never considered aught else. They need to learn to distinguish from their typical social media posting style.

The merged social media of the future where no one has to split their time...

As with my rubric, my netiquette guidelines will be something I start with and expect to modify to suit the needs of my students and myself over time. I rather liked these heavily stolen from Boise State:

Be respectful!	Be polite!	Be open-minded!
Don’t argue!	No complaining!	Write properly!
Spell Correctly!	Avoid slang!	No lol’s!
No cursing!	Show pride!	No advertising!
Don’t gossip!	Don’t spam!	Be fair!

1)   Exercise Proper Manners

We all know the golden rule for how to treat others and that is how you want to be treated. It is normal to disagree, as we all perceive things based on our experiences, influences and reasoning skills. You may be wrong about your ideas sometimes and right about them at other times. In fact, there may be no right or wrong answer in some contexts. Also, choose your words carefully as online communications are easily misinterpreted. Please be objective and understanding of other's input at all times. If you don't have anything nice to communicate then don't communicate at all.

2)   Control Your Emotions

We all have bad days - it's a part of life. Everyone is dealing with unique circumstances in their life, both good and bad. Sometimes it is difficult to control your emotions. However, online communications is not the appropriate arena to display negative feelings and ideas. Often, the emotions that consume us are temporary - our good will and better judgment prevails and our feelings change once again. Don't make the mistake of communicating your feelings online, only to later regret it. Once you communicate something in writing it becomes permanent and easily distributed to many. Control your emotions in online communications and avoid the embarrassing consequences.

3)   Be Professional

Remember that first and foremost, every single thing you write or produce in this class is tended towards producing success on the AP Stats test and in college in years to come. When communicating online, it is important to write in a way that can be easily understood. Be careful not to write in the manner in which you speak. Verbal communication offers simultaneous, two-way interaction that enables misunderstandings to be resolved in real-time. Online communications does not afford us the opportunity to clarify our thoughts instantly. A lot of productivity can be lost in online communications as we wait on responses for clarity. For this reason, it is important to form sentences properly and avoid misspelled words. Also, avoid the use of slang and short-cut acronyms, as others may not be familiar with such words or phrases. Cursing is absolutely prohibited. Take pride in your writing and how you represent yourself. Choosing not to be professional may create a negative reflection of your work and character.

4)   Do Not Spam

Online communications offer the ability to broadcast a message instantly to many people, thus it is a popular way of communicating upcoming events, news and promotions. Although it may be convenient for some people, spamming in general is considered a bad practice. Spamming is unsolicited communication and is neither appropriate nor fair to those who did not express an interest in receiving such messages. It is opportunistic behavior that offers nothing to the academic foundation in which these online communications services are intended for. Please do not waste your time and other's time communicating anything that is not relevant to the content in which you are required to learn

5)   Don’t Over Do It

Online communication is not intended to replace traditional forms of communication. There will always be situations that warrant verbal dialogue. If there is something you don't understand that is complex in nature, it may be appropriate to go to your teacher or seek the support of other students. Do not spend a lot of time typing a message that is long and detailed - it wastes your time and the recipient's time. Also, it is not appropriate to copy and paste large amounts of text inside the body of a message. Please place large text, including graphics, in another document and attach it to your message. Following this simple rule allows messages, particularly messages with many replies, to be navigated and read more easily.

5.     Describe and/or develop a system for assessing student participation and learning in the discussion.

As previously stated, I intend to start the year using Dr. Newberry’s own rubric for grading our discussion posts as seen below:

Each blog post is worth up to 10 points according to the following: 10 points: Post is made before required deadline, is well written, and appropriately addresses any topics raised by the instructor or discovered through your own investigation of course-related topics, response may include the use of graphics, images and/or links to information related to the topics of the course that bring quality content into the course environment. 8 - 9 points: Post is made before required deadline, is well written and adequately addresses any topics raised by the instructor or your own investigation into course-related topics. 0 - 7 points: Post is made late and/or the post is poorly written or inadequately addresses course related topics.

As this is a new teaching methodology for me, I would like to work into is slowly. Over the course of the summer, the students will learn to work the blog and how to interact with the text and material in such a way as to learn the material from the readings and additional resources.

Once we return to school in August, I have slated time to work with the students (via the Chromebook cart that is being added to my classroom) to develop an understanding of how to leave meaningful feedback for their classmates. (I really do NOT want to read, variations of good job or nice work over and over again as it, I am sure, becomes frustrating and often is not true.) I would like to work with the students to develop a framework for what constitutes good questions, feedback comments and responses so that they have a) considered it thoroughly, b) understand why the framework is what is and c) take ownership.

6.     How would you prepare the instructor for participating in the discussion?

As the instructor, I will work to model quality feedback, questions, etc. to the students through the first two blogs, which the students will be completing over the summer. Additionally, I need to make sure that I am prepared to find or create additional materials to answer questions that I have not anticipated in both the content and creation of their work. Finally, as the instructor, I need to be prepared to help students grow to meet the guidelines of posting over time as they are all relatively new to the online classroom environment.

Final Project

I am still working to record, caption and, sadly, reshoot the "how-to" videos of my triangular tools website. This worked out nicely as my students said they'd like the videos captioned in my formative evaluation with them.

I have been struggling with whether or not I should just use a weekly type site to set up my site or continue to code it myself. On the one hand my current site is obviously home created and lacks professional polish, but on the other, I like having complete control and access to my site. More to come in the future!

Michelle