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1
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2
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3
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- “Anytime – Anywhere”
is the way that online learning needs to be!
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4
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- “I will never be able to get my students together for any synchronous
online chat sessions!”
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5
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- “My students will either think it is impossible to do chat sessions – or
– they will not find any value in them anyway.”
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6
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- “By the way - conducting online chat sessions will be too much work for me!”
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7
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- 10 topics each week, +
- 1 “open” topic
- 1 “Water Cooler” topic
- 1 “Report LMS Problems” topic
- Requirements:
- Read all of the topics
- Post in four of your choosing
- Make 4 “original” posts by 11pm Tuesday
- Read your colleagues’ posts
- Make 4 “response” posts by 11pm Thursday
- Participate in (at least) 8 different topics
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8
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- What constitutes “a post”?
- A few salient sentences on the topic (consult the Syllabus ~ rubric)
- Encourage the participation of others
- Defend your position
- Dispute others’ positions with which you do disagree
- Link posts to course / text content
- Cite sources whenever possible
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9
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- Heightens student-student interaction
- Students:
- read the available topics
- post to four topics that interest them most
- read posts of colleagues
- make response posts in four other topics
- participate in at least 8 different topics each week
- spread the work across the week
- no “wait-for-the-one-deadline” procrastination
- Builds learning community
- “Water Cooler” / “Report Problems” / FAQs
- Students can author their own topics
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10
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- 100% of available points
- Read all of the topics in a given week
- Post a salient, original comment in four of them
- Read 80% of the postings of your colleagues
- Post a salient response to four of them (in four topic areas
other than those in which you made your original posts)
- 75% of available points – doing the above, but
- making original and response (O&R) posts (good quality &
meaning) in only 6-7 topics, or,
- making posts of mediocre quality in the required number, or,
- reading 70% of your colleagues’ postings
- 50% of available points – doing the above, but
- making (O&R) posts (good quality & meaning) in 4-5 topics, or,
- making posts of lesser quality in the required number, or,
- reading 60% of your colleagues’ postings
- 25% of available points – doing the above, but
- making (O&R) posts (good quality & meaning) in 2-3 topics, or,
- making posts of little quality in the required number, or,
- reading 50% of your colleagues’ postings
- 0 points - not participating at all that particular week
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11
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- Courses is “seeded” with multiple topics for each week
- Each week also includes space for topics that students author (the
“Open” topics)
- Participation in those additional topics counts the same as the
instructor-authored ones
- Student-authored topics this term could become permanent topics next
term
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12
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- What other approaches do YOU take with Discussions in your courses?
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13
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14
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- Skeletal set of topics to cover during the online chat
- linked to the reading assignments
- Students determine the direction of the chat session
- Instructor role:
- alternate topics (aligned with readings)
- keep conversation going
- redirect / correct ~ only when necessary
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15
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- Four scheduled sessions per term
- 2 in 1st half-of-term / 2 in 2nd half
- 7:30pm-9:00pm or 7:00pm-8:30pm
- 7-10 participants per session (optimal)
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16
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- Students are randomly-assigned to the chat nights (based on enrollment)
- Students can switch chat nights
- session-by-session, or,
- across the term
- Students make “the switch”
- Contact course colleagues assigned to the night to which they want to
switch
- Make the switch
- Students advise instructor of the switch
- Builds learning community!
- Diminishes instructor administrative role
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17
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- Qualitative data from the students
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18
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- David – “NO. I really enjoyed the
chats - I found them great to actually interact live.”
- Matt – “They are perfect, I like the 4 chats too, not too many and not
too few, helps relate the thoughts about the text with others’ opinions
in real time.”
- Christine – “I might consider cutting the chat down to an hour... But
other than that, I think it's great... really pulls everything we've
learned together.”
- Louis – “No, there is definitely a value. The OC requires you to quickly draw on
the information in the text and apply it to not only your experiences,
but to those of others.”
- Abby – “I think the chats are great....had to get used to it. But I
think it's a good way to reinforce reading and discussion topics.”
- “NO! This was the most value added item I have been a part of with any
class I have taken thus far. Half way through the program, and this kept
me focused and allowed me to be more involved with the class then any
other to date. Keep it up and force others to do the same!!”
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19
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- “No - The chats were good. I think it added another dynamic that was
really useful for a human relations class. The only issue I had was
being tied down on a certain night - but it wasn't much of a burden
since the chats were spread out and the dates were given well in
advance.”
- “No! I love these chat sessions! This is the first time I've seen it
incorporated in a classroom environment, and I absolutely love it! It at
least attaches a voice to a name, and give us a chance to be together
similar to a real classroom environment. Perhaps you can ask the
students to post up pictures so we can associate a face to a name too!”
- “No, I think that you should keep the chats. I see it as similar to a
brainstorming session, just being able to bounce ideas off one another.
I did learn from them and think that it is more valuable than tests -
with this subject at least.”
- “Yes. The chats don't let us work at our own pace; they enforce
synchronous interaction that is anathema to the online format. The chats
were very difficult for me on the west coast because I have to leave
work at 3:30, which is 2-3 hours earlier than normal and it's too late
to go back after the chat. They were very good for building camaraderie
with classmates though.”
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20
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- Qualitative data from the faculty
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21
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- “How have you utilized Live Classroom elements in your online teaching,
and, what has that meant to you and your students?”
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22
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- “We meet in real-time to discuss pertinent points about the lecture
material each week. 15 students. Two sessions/week.
- The students and I both enjoy our ToxCHATs immensely, primarily, because
it is a synchronous activity in which we,
as a group, can effectively interact with each other AND the
lecture material in real-time. This type of synchronicity
spurs intellectual engagement and enhances the synergy already
present in the group.
- Our ToxCHATs are also FUN, which I believe is a valuable addition to any
online learning endeavor.
- Overall, ToxCHAT is our favorite way to ‘meet and greet’
each other every week during the term and facilitate both
teaching and learning online.”
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23
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- “This was my first year using the live classroom feature as a teaching
tool at Drexel University. I found it easy to use and many
of the features mimic a face to face classroom experience rather well.
- I used the tool as follows:
- I presented short lectures to the class - using power point
slides.
We would follow the presentation by a short Q/A session. There
was generally good participation.
- Each of the students gave a short lecture to the entire class. About
three students presented in a prescheduled session. The topics were
pre-assigned, some research was required to prepare a 3-4 page paper and
students were asked to present their conclusions and learning to the
class. During the first 3-4 lectures I allowed students to manipulate
the slides. I found this difficult - some did not follow instructions,
others seem to play in the system during the presentations. We
finally settled to a format where I saved their presentations on my
c-drive and controlled the slides while they presented their
conclusions. This seemed to work well.”
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24
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- ”Using the Wimba system means that all of my students may receive full
access to lecture notes and lectures when their schedule permits. The
versatility of having streaming and archival modes is ideal. We are
still waiting for the PodCast version…. “
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25
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- “MBA face-2-face class – I create multiple choice questions to get
instantaneous feedback on course topic areas in the same way instructors
use ‘clickers.’”
- “Approximately one per month,
students present their project updates to us (and the rest of the class)
using Live Classroom. I give the students control of the desktop
so they can present anything they have on their computer.”
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26
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- “I have used Live Classroom to
go through lectures (using PPT slides), and to hold weekly “Virtual
Office Hours” since my student population is 100% online.
In addition, I created Team Section Areas, using Live Classroom,
in which only instructors and team members can join in to discuss team
projects, raise questions, and so on. Next time around, I would like to
use the video capability more, so that students can relate to the
professor.
Finally, one of the nicest tools with Live Classroom is that I
can make my annotations on the PPT slides using my Tablet PC. And that
is cool. The students love it!!”
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27
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- Conduct “online office hours”
- Solicit student feedback
- Should OCs be mandatory?
- Try some optional Chat sessions
- Extra credit opportunity, perhaps?
- Introduce a few mandatory sessions in a class (two, perhaps)
- Regulate the number of participants
- Solicit student feedback
- Should the # of OCs be increased?
- Constantly monitor student feedback
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28
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- Make-up credit
- Prep for mid term / final
- Student “group work”
- Guest speakers
- “Ask a Librarian”
- Mandatory ~ at a low level, at first
- Provide instant feedback
- Appeal to various learning styles
- include the audio and video capabilities!
- Focus on best teaching practices
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29
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30
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31
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- Anytime – Anywhere” is the way that online learning needs to be!
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32
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- Anytime – Anywhere” is the way that online learning needs to be!
- “I will never be able to get my students together for any synchronous
online chat sessions!”
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33
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- Anytime – Anywhere” is the way that online learning needs to be!
- “I will never be able to get my students together for any synchronous
online chat sessions!”
- “My students will either think it is impossible to do chat sessions – or
– they will not find any value in them anyway.”
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34
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- Anytime – Anywhere” is the way that online learning needs to be!
- “I will never be able to get my students together for any synchronous
online chat sessions!”
- “My students will either think it is impossible to do chat sessions – or
– they will not find any value in them anyway.”
- “By the way - conducting online chat sessions will be too much work for me!”
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35
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- Anytime – Anywhere” is the way that online learning needs to be!
- “I will never be able to get my students together for any synchronous
online chat sessions!”
- “My students will either think it is impossible to do chat sessions – or
– they will not find any value in them anyway.”
- “By the way - conducting online chat sessions will be too much work for me!”
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36
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- What other approaches do you take with Chat in your courses?
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37
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- mes27@drexel.edu
- john.morris@drexel.edu
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39
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67
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68
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- A different look at the trends
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69
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75
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76
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- Is there a correlation (that is statistically significant) between the enrollment
in the online class and the number of posts students make over the
minimum required posting level?
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77
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78
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- Is there a correlation (that is statistically significant) between the enrollment
in the online class and the number of posts per student that the
instructor makes?
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79
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Notes