Minutes for September 1,2005 - 4 P.M. - 5:30 P.M. AS192
In attendance at the DLMG meeting : Shereen Lerner, David Schultz, John Beshk, and Peggy Johnson.
Good URL's
Faculty brought URL's for courses they identified as being examples of good online offerings.
Dave Schultz
Dave showed MAT 517, a math class he co-taught at Montana State University which can be accessed at http://www.mc.maricopa.edu/~dschultz/ .
Dave likes the presence of a "First Week" icon on the homepage , as well as a "Click here to start" icon. The course has no textbook; all resources are accessed online. The first week is spent doing introductory work (getting hardware and software in place and learning how to use it). The second week begins calculus concepts. Readings are links to the worldwide web or to E-reserve.
Dave really likes the E-reserve system. Lorna Peralta of MCC's library says that we have the ability to do E-reserve. They just need someone to write the correct code for students to understand how to access it. The library is working on this issue.
Directions as to deadlines are very specific, e.g. the bulletin board posting is due by 8 P.M. Eastern Standard Time as students in the class are from all over the world. A detailed rubric is provided for students so they understand what is expected of them on bulletin board postings. Some work on the bulletin board is done in groups, rather than as a whole class.
Dave recommends making directions for bulletin board postings extremely specific, e.g. "Discuss this problem... Give one example of .... Identify any assumptions you made in your decision. Identify any factors that might be pertinent but were neglected in your model..." etc. For this class, students make an initial posting (answer to the instructor's original posting) by a particular date. Then they are directed to respond to at least three classmates' postings by another deadline.
Dave liked the one-week task module format, as well as the specific deadline lists. Student resources were revealed on Monday of the week students were to work on it. However, future weeks' work was not visible until the Monday of each week.
Because MAT 517 is a graduate class, there were no exams or quizzes. Students submitted all assignments electronically. Dave plans for his online undergraduate students to come to campus to take several exams each semester.
Dave thought this sixteen-week course was about the right length. Peggy mentioned that you are free to make your online course any length you deem suitable. Research suggests that student retention is greater if you have an eight-week format. Students may fatigue with a longer length. However, many instructors create sixteen-week courses because they believe it will take students that long to get through the material and assignments.
Dave also showed Amadou Gaye's online calculus III class that was developed as part of DLMG several semesters ago. Amadou includes a questionnaire on "Is this the right course for you?" so students can determine if they are likely to be successful in an online course. If you email Amadou (amadou@mail.mc.maricopa.edu), he would likely give you the information to enter his class as a guest.
Peggy recommended you create a webpage that describes your course, has a questionnaire to help students decide if they likely to perform well in an online course, and a demonstration lesson that students can access outside of WebCT (before they register for the course). You might put a link to this page on your MCC homepage. Then when students email you with questions about your online course, you can direct them to this page.
Be sure that in your description of your online course, you state that it is not an open-entry open exit class. Some students expect online classes to be of this nature and are very distressed when they find there is a firm start and stop date and deadlines that must be followed.
Dave likes the icon leading to "Known WebCT Problems". This can save you and your students a lot of time and frustration. For example, if the student has a pop-up blocker on their computer, they need to inactivate before taking a WebCT quiz. Otherwise the blocker sees the quiz as a pop-up window and immediately shuts it down. Alternatively, most students will be able to see the quiz if they are using a PC computer and hold the Control key down while they click on the "begin quiz" option to start the quiz. This process keeps most pop-up blockers from being active
Another problem Dave identified is having a window that is too wide for the computer screen. Then students have to scroll back and forth to read across a line. If you use Front Page software to create your file, you can make the text page a table (Insert>Table).
Then set the borders on the table to zero. Set the "specify width" setting to 90 percent. Then your text you input into the table will take up no more than 90% of the computer screen the student is using, no matter how small the monitor is.
John
John indicated that the real estate course he will be designing will be a hybrid class. On-campus students will be using online materials. After an evaluation of how that process worked, John will be trying to convince the Arizona Real Estate board that an online course is suitable for a pre-licensing class.
Shereen
Shereen likes the World Civilizations site from Washington State University at http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~wldciv/. It includes many excellent online readings as well as a photo tour.
Other sites Shereen likes are:
1. Agricultural Revolution at http://www.wsu.edu/gened/learn-modules/top_agrev/agrev-index.html which contains lots of open-ended questions for student discussion.
2. Language and Culture at http://anthro.palomar.edu/language/default.htm which includes self-tests (such as flash cards) and a printable version of what is seen on screen. Peggy mentioned that we will be having a workshop on StudyMate software which easily creates flashcards, crossword puzzles, fill-in-the-blank etc. learning games for your students.
3. Shereen likes The Online Global Problems Reader at http://faculty.plattsburgh.edu/richard.robbins/legacy/global_problems_reader_nf.htm
Although it is designed for graduate-level students, many of the readings would be suitable for undergraduates and would facilitate good discussions. It also includes various activities you might want your students to do and a current events section. Finding a site like this can save you a lot of work and give your students a rich learning environment.
4. Shereen shared the MCC anthropology website at http://www.mc.maricopa.edu/dept/d10/asb/
It is very rich in photographs and links to useful sites, has case studies, and contains some learning activities. However, Shereen wants to organize it better so students can navigate easily.
David Jankofsky
Although David was unable to attend the DLMG meeting, he sent an email with a URL to an International Financial Management site he likes. It is http://www.oberlin.edu/faculty/dcleeton/syll_306.htm
Several other items were discussed:
Bobby Approved
A free service will evaluate individual web pages to see if they are following guidelines for visually impaired readers. You can access this site at http://webxact.watchfire.com/ Type in the URL for your web page and you will get an immediate report of any problems you should correct. When your webpage is fixed, you earn the right to apply the "Bobby approved" logo to your webpage.
Note: It is recommended that you try not to use red and green text in your web sites. Approximately 10 percent of the population is red-green colorblind and thus have trouble seeing this text.
WebCT versus Blackboard
Peggy explained that MCC is in the midst of evaluating whether to continue using WebCT as our course management system or switch to Blackboard next year (2006-7). There are advantages and disadvantages to each system. In the next few weeks, representatives of both WebCT and Blackboard will be coming to campus to show what their product can do. Keep an eye out for these presentations and attend if you can. As far as DLMG goes, we will be developing your online course so that either system will work to deliver it to your students.
DLMG Schedule
A schedule of future DLMG activities was distributed. DLMG members are to make an appointment with Peggy by October 6 to show her what their plans for their course are. Ideally, a template of one unit (one week?) activities will be available. If not, detailed plans of the format and pedagogy you plan on using should be provided.
Common Mistakes and Critical Elements
A hand-out was distributed describing the six most common mistakes of new online instructors and critical elements of a well-designed online course. Discussion followed.
Next week: We will be looking at Peggy's online biology course as an example of an online course and discuss pertinent features.
Peg Johnson