E-Learning at UW-Stout

Link for my final project, however, use a different browser than explorer.8 Google sites doesn´t interface well with it. As you will see in my project, that is one of the issues of this particular tool.

The week flew and I believe all of us were wrestling with different issues related to the final project. I did review the readings on Excel although I have to confess that I did not spend a lot of time on it. I have been using Excel as my preferred way of doing my grades for over 10 years now and one of the advantages of college teaching is that tracking and managing a gradebook is a whole lot simpler that the horror stories I have heard from K-12.

In any case, I have been working on the project and hopefully I will finish it before the weekend is over. Everybody seems to be struggling with similar issues and the traffic on the discussion board did not picked up until later in the week. The more I think about the different tools, the more I am starting to be concerned about how time consuming reviewing assignments can be. For the course I designed for this final project, not that much as it is an intro class, but for an interpreting course where scoring units need to be identified a 5 minutes rendition can easily take more than half an hour if we want to be fair to the student. I am not quite sure if I am coming full circle or not, but online teaching of Spanish at advanced level is starting to give me second thoughts.

What are my thoughts about the final project? I wish I knew, I am still struggling with some issues and I am lacking in perspective. It has taken more time than I anticipated and I have really learned a lot about two of the tools, ooVoo and Google Sites, the other two, quizzes and Audacity have been long time companions. I am using Google Sites myself for the final project and I found it quite versatile. If I continue with the program, I might use it for an e-porfolio.

Check list for module 6:

Link to Khalsa precourse survey
Link to my precourse survey

Link to my recent update to the final
Taxonomy and final

Weekly reflection:
A highly enlightenning week for very different reasons, and let´s don´t forget that there is light at the end of the tunnel. In the academic arena, we were comparing the concept of “cybercoaching” to two papers that even though happened to have very similar content matter they did have a complete different purpose. Casey was focused on content, Khalsa on learning approaches in an experimental setting and the intelectual exercise was to analyze how Khalsa´s experiment reflected cybercoaching. According to the readings,
“Cybercoaching is specifically intended for personalized feedback appropriate for the higher levels of thinking, i.e analysis and synthesis” (Petersen, p. 2) Khalsa’s model of cybercoaching starts with the precourse survey by raising the awareness about the course, the students learning styles and their intentions and plans. The model is constantly emphasized by the weekly evaluations, and interview surveys. The model allows not only for individual “soul searching” in regards to his/her own learning development, the evolution of their interests, goals and interests but it also allows the instructor to become a very efficient facilitator of the knowledge process. By getting constant information about the learning process experienced by individual students, the instructor or cybercoach can personalize her feedback providing the right encouragement and direction. The personalize part is the most important one as Khalsa’s course allow for a complete freedom of choice in regards to the students’ learning styles.
Khalsa acknowledges that “from the start of the course feedback and reflection are enunciated as the keys to course structure” (p.19). This statement matches the definition of cybercoaching mentioned above. The implementation of the model is the perfect circle of constant formative assessment presented as a reflection about open ended questions with no right or wrong answers and feedback. The model only needs to be change to match the age group and subject matter. In fact, by the end of the course, it had been considered to be taught in a Master program and to a homeschooled highschoolers.
If a were to adopt cybercoaching to my subject matter (foreing languages) at intro level which is the ones with higher enrollment would require some modifications from the point of view of technology. The basic model of coaching doesn’t need to change because in general, a foreign language instructor whether he/she teaches face to face or on an oline environment has always been more of a coach than anything else since the main goal is for the students to develop the skills of the language, constant feedback and encouragement are essential to help a student to be successful and in the end the true measure of success is the direct application of the language skills to many different real life situations: from travelling, to its use in law enforcement, nursing or education environment to mention a few.
The issue now is to make the coach a cybercoach, how to do that in an online environment would require to set the formative assessment in the form of at least twice a week videoconferencing sessions just to “talk” and record those sessions so feedback can be provided to the students. So the model would be essentially the same but to help with the aural and speaking the journaling would me essentially transferred to the videoconferencing.

Katie, as per your indication I a linking now to the page where I have indicated the tools I will be using for my final project. Please go to the bottom of the page and you will see that I did in fact posted an update on my thoughts for the final project. Thanks!

Casey´s goes online taxonomy table

This week assignment was very interesting. We had to transfer a face to face journalist class to the online environment while tying learning objectives to Blooms´s taxonomy. In my opinion that transition can be done very seamlessly and it can lend itself to very interesting collaborative projects. I was personally interested in the analysis and application of the Journalist Code of Ethics since I have been working quite frequently with the Interpreter Code of Ethics. The first similarity I noticed was the both of us work with case scenarios. Having attended to several webinars discussing ethics scenarios, I know for a fact that the discussion can be really enriching and thought provoking.
The transference of a face to face class to the online environment presents difference challanges based on the instructional content to be deliver. Some like Casey´s or other humanities courses will can open the door to very intriguing posibilites, in others like the introductory course on FL or the prealgebra and algebra, seem to need a more repetitive format as opposed to a discussion format. Granted, movies, songs, soapoperas and games can be introduced but I cannot help to thing that it is more interesting to discuss the ethic dilemma of publishing or not a controversial piece of information than it is discussing if the plural of a word is one way or another!

The forum also debated the semantic issues that go with the concepts of learning objectives, versus learning outcomes vs learning aims. I have to confess that I don´t believe that the debate will ever be settled! but at least we got some basic guidelines to tackle the final project. From the discussion it was obvious that everyone had understood something completely different, so it was good to come to an understanding. So the next step will be to start tackling the final project. Somethimes I think that choosing a culture course my targeted online course, I could have made a whole lot more attractive that the intro course I have chosen. But it is more realistic to think that the online intro course would have more of a demand than the culture course, if for no other reason than to fullfill requirements!

This module has been a little different since we were focused in finishing the midterm, which by the way, for me was a great experience in collaborative efforts. See my post below about it and don´t forget to check the Assessment Tool Box

We were kind of late to start the reading because we also had a technnical glitch that prevented our access to the posted readings. Both reading discuss the ways of valid a reliable assessment. “Assessment for Understanding” discussess assessment under a constructivist perception but then it also raises the dilemma that educators face today when they have to prepare their students to the dreaded “state assessment” tests. The problem that educators confront today when assessment becomes the criteria for accountability. Because of this equation, “the teachers reported dropping longer units which rich assessment components in favor of more traditional lessons that reflect the type of material and format common in most state assessment”
As a mother of two school age boys, I have witness this trend first hand. My kids are being prepared to pass “standarized tests”, they are given “techniques” on how to determine what is the “predetermined” correct answer. I have seen the frustration in my son when he had very good reasons to choose an answer over another only to be counted wrong. The opportunity of arguing, explaining and justifying decisions based in life experiences or additional information are not contemplated at all. I am guilty myself of telling the kids, “just give your teachers what they want to hear even if you think there is another possible interpretation of the reading” I have taken practice exams not only to test myself but more importantly to determine the mindset behind the test to gauge what answers they wanted to have. In some instances, I did not agree at all, but “who I am to contest the infinite wisdom of those who designed the exams?

The reading “Assessment in Online Teaching” for me raises a very important point how to determine the validity and reliability of online teaching. I have been teaching undergrads for almost a life time and I agree that with serious and motivated learners, the teachers becomes a facilitator and the students really drive the class. However, not all my students are taking my class because they are motivated to learn the subject matter, granted if they can learn by osmosis they would love it. At least 50% of the students that enroll in my classes are motivated by reasons beyond the actual learning: requirement, schedule, reputation, you name it. I have seen cheating increasing exponentially over the years. How do we prevent that in an online enviroment? To me, that´s one of the biggest points raise by this reading in my quest to apply my learning on assessment to an online environment.

It is done, please check our Assessment Tool Box

It was a great experience and I was fortunate to be part of a great team where everybody contributed their best. We worked together using Google Docs and Google Sites and conferencing via Scribblar. This assignment made me tackle these tools, something I have been evading and avoiding. I am glad I learn how to drive them at a basic level. Hopefully, I will use them more often now.
It was a true collaborative effort but the technnical part was assumed by Katrina who guided us in our baby steps. Thank you so much Katrina! You really taught me a lot about these collaborative tools!

Highlights from Module 3 discussions
Some of you took on the challenge of concept mapping and others were challenged by Bonk.
Here are some highlights from the lively (and thorough) Bonk discussions:

…the world of education and online gaming/simulations seems to be colliding. I continually here more and more from online content providers such as Apeva, that they are including simulated labs and learning games into their courses. My question is, Do we feel this is going to make the class more viable?
Group work is challenging online. …it is our job as educators to try to recreate the face-to-face learning environment in the online environment.
I want to see the idea of “course management software” completely rethought as to how the tools mentioned in the article might be incorporated into learning experiences (and therefore into assessment of those experiences, since the assessment strategies should match the learning.)
I believe that an e-portfolio can be an incredible tool with limitless possibilities for employers and jobseekers alike, but nobody uses it. … I think it’s a great tool that is just being wasted.
With the lack of the face to face interaction it is difficult for students to be immersed in the environment. Being able to build a community of learners where people know and care about each other can really enhance the learning.
The asynchronous or discussion forum is of interest because in many of the countries there is limited bandwidth, although some are moving to fibre optics. This means that we are unable to become involved in tools and software that require high speed.
Katie

I find the concept mapping incredible useful and I think that most of us have been using it just with a pen and a paper or with a marker and a whiteboard. I found the software useful to develop RLOs, however, learning how to use it was really time consuming, but again the result is “neater”, more appealing, and recyclable.

May be it is the dinosaur in me, but to me mindmapping is giving a new name to a concept that instructors have been using traditionally because of its increadible teaching results for visual learners and to teach how to organize thoughts and concepts. Personally, I cannot develop a project or a course without one; would I use the software now that I have a grasp of it? It will depend on the intended goal, for my own brainstorming, I don´t think so, for a group or a class where uploading it will have instructional consequences and/or I can reuse again for other class, definitly!

Check out my mindmap

This week it has been intense not only in the discussion forum but also learning new software to create mindmapping. Starting with the main reading, Bonk´s E-storms, one comment that surprises me was this candid statement “[Educators] thirst for online instructional activities which are fresh, innovative and engaging. Unfortunately, most online learning technologies are designed for the management of learners online, not for online learners to manage their own learning. Too often courseware provides access to records and tests, but not rich, interactive learning experience. Consequently, too often there is no learning in e-learning” (p.3)

For FL this has been most of my experience with online technologies, they are course management tools like Oncourse and Sakai (I have used both and they are very similar if not identical), they are very helpful for communication or/ and feedback. They are multiple online exams, quizzes and homework, in fact they are now part of the ancillary materials provided by publishers and many of them are linked to an online gradebook. They are very useful for the recall/remember information stage, but yet again they do not provide the rich, interactive learning experience that FL requires.

While reading Bonk´s article I kept considering which technologies would work best for FLs instruction that would provide the interactivity I am looking for, plus that would take them to the higher levels of the cognitive domain. By its own nature, FLs require students to build on all the steps of the cognitive process: from the recall, to understand, to apply and so on until they reach the “creation” stage whether in oral or written communication. For this reason, the technologies mentioned by Bonks that I found more promising in their ability to take the students to the highest level are Digital Libraries, Simulations, Interactive News Media, IP Videoconferencing, MMOGs, Virtual Worlds/Reality, Adventure Learning. Most of these seem to have the capability of providing a very true context and/or an intense interactivity in which to actually “communicate” in the target language. The most efficient way of acquiring a FL is in an immersion context. In theory at least, these technologies are able to re-create different contexts in which the student needs to navigate in a FL, taking them from the basic knowledge level to the application and creation levels. I would have to experience them myself before testing them in a course. But the promise is intriguing to me!

This assertion seems to be validated by the latest reading uploaded in the course http://www.c4lpt.co.uk/recommended/”>
which updates elearning technologies. In this presentation, Second Life seems to take a life of its own. Someone in the course mentioned Second Life a couple of weeks ago and I did get an account and create my own avatar, however, as soon as I started it became too “interactive” when someone tried to fondle my avatar and the initial impression was that of an online virtual dating place. At least that was what the avatars were doing. Probably I have not yet learn how to set limits in that enviroment, and the reference source indicates that it is widely used for Spanish, so I better get to know it.

Cognitive advantages of studying FL

http://www.utm.edu/departments/french/flsat.html

This is a good summary and explanation with many useful links to this topic so key for developing learning objectives:  http://www.vanderbilt.edu/cft/resources/teaching_resources/theory/blooms.htm
Another good resource. Thank you Sue!
http://techlearning.com/article/8670