Final Video Submission and Skype Experience

Who knew that Skyping could be as much fun and informative as it was during my first experience.  I was a little apprehensive at first, but once Joseph arrived and we began talking, it was as if we were old friends.  Margaret, Joseph, and I spend roughly 40 minutes discussing our video, the class overall, and solving all of the world's problems.  At the end of the discussion I had a better idea of who Joseph was and that his interest in instructional technology stems from the corporate aspect, whereas, Margaret and I are looking at instructional technology from a K-12 education perspective.

Using the advice I gained from my conversation with Joseph and using the initial rubric from Dr. Timothy Powell, I made a few changes to my first video.  I was able to find a short clip that discussed the definition of critical thinking and researched how to embed that clip into my video.  I am attaching the link to the entire video as I only used the section that I needed.  I will admit that I am still very new to video making.  For the knowledge that I entered this project with, I am very pleased with the finished product and hope that this stems more creative projects in the future, especially for my students in 8th grade Georgia History. Links and Resources Critical Thinking by Gary Meegan, http://youtu.be/ZLyUHbexz04

Video Posting (Module 6)

Please enjoy the following video presentation.  This is the first video project that I have designed and developed.  In terms of the topic, I chose to introduce a key note speaker covering critical thinking in the distance education setting.

Static-Dynamic Continuum (Module 5)

As technology has progressed, so have the ways that instructors can design online curriculum.  Last week I provided examples of ways that instructors can use content, collaboration, and communication to design effective and engaging online experiences.  The graphic organizer takes that information a step further and divides activities into static and dynamic.  Static opportunities create a "one-way" approach to gaining information, while dynamic opportunities create a "highway" of information between multiple sources and people. Moeller (2008) suggests that a higher level of creativity and understanding is needed to use dynamic technologies as opposed to static technologies.  This may also suggest that higher order thinking skills would be needed as well.

As for my location on this continuum, I would say that I am somewhere in the middle, but a little closer to the static end.  As I have progressed through one graduate level course in an online setting and now navigating through my second, I tend to use more static technologies.  Up to this point, most of my assignments and learning opportunities have only required me to use static technologies.  I have an in-depth knowledge of all of the technologies listed on the graphic organizer, but have only needed just a few.  By the time I finish this graduate program I would like to have used all of the activities mentioned above in some way as a means to complete an assignment or activity.

I must also admit that both types of technology is needed to create the optimal learning opportunities.  Earlier in the course we discussed the use of hybrid classroom that employ both traditional methods and distance education methods.  This is also case where mixing the two forms of technology can create the optimal learning environment where assignments are differentiated and require multiple skill sets to accomplish.

Resources
Anderson, T. (Ed.). (2008). The theory and practice of online learning (2nd ed.). Edmonton, AB: Athabasca University Press.

Moller, L. (2008). Static and dynamic technological tools. [Unpublished Paper].

Engaging Students in an Online Environment (Module 4)

It is important to use technology in the online setting that students use in their everyday lives.  Because society has become immersed in technology that allows for quick communication and constant collaboration, online education should employ those same technologies as a means of engaging students.  The comfort level that students have developed using social technology in a non-academic manner will create a least restrictive environment in the online setting. Not only does comfort promote usage, it ensures that students are using the technology that they will continue to use in their social life and professional life (Siemens, 2008).

While it may seem that content it this context is not related because of the lack of technological tools listed, the methods listed above are directly related in that the technology used promotes the methods listed.  The tools used to ensure collaboration and communication should promote critical thinking skills, problem solving skills, a variety of assessment methods to ensure learning, and rubrics to assess learning in a fair, equitable manner (Eison & Bonwell, 2010).

This graphic organizer demonstrates the relationship between all three categories.  The combination of all three categories yield online learning experiences that will engage learners and promote learning and achievement.

Resources
Durrington, V. A., Berryhill, A., & Swafford, J. (2006). Strategies for enhancing student interactivity in an online environment. College Teaching, 54(1), 190−193. 

Eison, J. A., & Bonwell, C. C. (2010). Active learning strategies across the curriculum. ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 364 135.

Siemens, G. (2008, January). Learning and knowing in networks: Changing roles for educators and designers. ITForum.

Trying to Assess Collaboration (Module 3)

In reading multiple blogs from various distance education experts (see list of blogs below), assessing group work and collaboration has been a headache for instructors for a long time.  George Seimans (Laureate, 2008) offers an interesting perspective in saying that students, since kindergarten, have been conditioned to think in a singular fashion.  From day one of our academic careers our success has been largely dependent on...ourselves.  Not only has education conditioned students to be loners, but the set up for most group work and learning communities have always given rise to the doers and the followers, the hard workers and the slackers, and those that work best alone and those that work well with others.

Assessing collaborative work presents an interesting situation where the instructor has to create learning expectations and experiences that are aimed at developing in-depth learning, but the instructor must also take into account the learning style of the participant.  One thing that I have noticed in my post-secondary education is that instructors in educational classes are quick to point out that all lessons should take the learners preferred learning style into account.  However, these same instructors present learning experiences to higher education students that neglect their learning styles.  This is important to think about this when assessing collaborative work.  

The undesirable scenarios created through collaboration present instructors with the hard task of assessing collaborative efforts in the distance learning environment.  Seimans (Laureate, 2008) contends that distance education should mix individual assessments and collaborative assessments to provide opportunities to measure learning in both scenarios.  Luke’s Learning Blog (address listed below) also gives great insight into assessing collaboration, asserting that assessing students exactly the same as the other members of the group is simply assessing individual work that has been done in a group setting. When analyzing one particular sociology blog (listed below), I noticed that this could very easily be the case if someone were to simply generalize the group learning process.  Instructors must remember that collaboration in a distance learning community must be treated differently than a traditional group project setting, and evaluate the group holistically and individually.

One of the age old problems with group work, even in a traditional setting, is the group member that is reluctant to participate in the ongoing collaboration.  In most cases the first reaction of the learning community is to turn to the instructor for help.  However, the inner workings of the group should always be the responsibility of the members of the learning community.  Dewiyanti, Brand-Gruwel, Jochems, and Broers (2007) contend that all members should keep a constant line of communication, determine their goals and strategies, and handle all internal conflicts that may arise.  By allowing the community to deal with problems that arise, the instructor is giving the members responsibility in hopes of giving them more of a sense of connectedness to the other members.  Instead of feeling as though policy has been dictated, the group members feel a part of the process.  Another commonly used practice is peer review as a means to motivate students to do their part in the collaborative process. Which, based on some research, is a highly debated concept.  Palloff and Pratt (2007) contend that peer reviewing is a way to allow students to hold each other accountable for their actions and keep others focused on the task being completed.  However, Weimar (see blog address below) suggests in her blog that this may be counterproductive to the learning process.  It was interesting to read how students were more concerned about doing their part of the process and less focused on the content and knowledge obtained. 

See the following blogs for more information:

http://lukebilger.blogspot.com/2012/10/assessing-collaborative-efforts.html

http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/teaching-professor-blog/peer-assessment-is-not-an-elixir-for-all-group-work-challenges/

http://sociologysource.squarespace.com/home/2011/12/11/grading-group-work-effectively.html

Resources

Dewiyanti, S., Brand-Gruwel, S., Jochems, W., & Broers, N. (2007). Students experiences with

collaborative learning in asynchronous computer-supported collaborative learning

environments. Computers in Human Behavior, 23, 496-514.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). 2008. Learning communities. [Video webset]. Retrieved from  https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_2643771_1%26url%3D

Palloff, R. M., & Pratt, K. (2007). Building online learning communities: Effective strategies for the virtual classroom. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Critical Thinking Video Storyboard

Frame 1: Introduction	Music starts and fades. Narration: Explain and introduce topic “What are critical thinking skills?” Est. duration (0:20) Background: student working in groups or pairs. Setting: Classroom, computer lab
Frame 2: Information	No music, facial close up Narration: how to develop critical thinking skills Est. duration (0:40) Background: empty classroom Setting: classroom
Frame 3: Information	Fade to classroom with students working Narration: recognizing and assessing critical thinking skills Est. duration (1:00) Background: computer lab with students working Setting: classroom/ computer lab
Frame 4: Informational chart	Briefly show chart showing characteristics of critical thinking skills Est. duration: (0:20)
Frame 5: Information	Fade to close up of teacher Narration: interview teacher, ask questions about critical thinking skills and using distance education principles in traditional setting Est. duration (1:30) Background: library Setting: library with students
Frame 6: Information	Fade to close up of narrator Narration: where critical thinking skills and production is headed Est. duration (1:00)
Frame 7: Key Note Speaker	Fade to classroom setting Narration: draw video to a close, introduce keynote speaker and his qualifications Est. duration (1:00) As narration gets close to ending, fade music from very low to louder as screen goes black

The Evolution of Communication (Module 2)

It would be very hard to deny the fact that online, distance education has evolved into a new creature with characteristics that are different from traditional, face-to-face education. While it is true that there are overlaps in the two forms of education, the means by which students participate and reach their academic goal are drastically different.  One of the glaring differences between the two forms of education is the system of communication that is necessary to participate.  This not only means the communication from the instructor to the student, but also from the student to the instructor, and from student to student.

As technology has evolved so has the ways that people communicate.  This has never been more evident than in distance education programs across the globe.  The fact that there are programs across the globe equipped to educate people at a distance lends validity to the fact that communication has evolved.  Without turning this blog into a history of communication, it is important to see how it has evolved to the point that distance education programs are becoming ultra successful and an equivalent option to traditional, face-to-face academic programs.

Communication has evolved from drawings on cave walls to the invention of the printing press, from telegraphs to telephones, and from letters to emails.  However, communication extends past those to includes real time video communication from the smallest hand held devices. This evolution has given rise to a number of ways that students and instructors can communicate with each other throughout the course of study.  Some example of online tools that exist today are video conferencing programs such as Skype, but also hand held applications such as Facetime.  Of course these programs are in addition to traditional online forms of communication such as email, instant messaging tools, and social networking sites.

Not only is it important to have an idea of the types of communication that are available, but it is equally important to know what type of experience will be elicited from the form of communication used. As mentioned in Jill Schiefelbein's blog (linked below) the online forms of communication provide a richness to the experience that outweigh those from simple forms of written communication.  In the context of a distance education program this is vital to ensuring that the student has a positive learning experience, but also that the forms of communication used promotes learning.  Steve Wheeler compiles numerous documents and presentations in his blog to show the future of online, digital communication and its effect on the world of education.  Based on the previous history of communication and its effect on learning, as communication continues to progress, so will the ability of humans to use those forms of communication as a means of educating others.

http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/online-education/media-richness-and-communication-in-online-education/

http://steve-wheeler.blogspot.com/2012/12/communication-and-learning-in-digital.html