Tag: communication

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communication tools reflections wimba

Wimba Voice Email

I just tried out the Wimba Voice Email feature that we have access to from our ETEC 565 course site and found it relatively painless and easy to use. It reminded me of our first intro exercises where we each recorded a brief message about ourselves using Wimba. In any case, I had to edit my WebCT Vista profile and add my email as I was prompted by Wimba that my email address was required. Next, I tried to send to specific recipients but was unable to view this list using my IE 9 browser. So, I decided to switch my browser to Opera and was able to view the list and selected one of my classmates to send my voice email. After recording my message using my headset microphone (and also including a text message) I clicked on the send button and was prompted that my message had been sent! 🙂 Now, I’m just waiting for my classmate to try testing it out too by sending me a voice message back using Wimba Voice Email.

*Update: Success! I’m pleased to report that I received a voice reply from my colleague. We’ve sort of made history in a sense as this was the first time we’ve both used Wimba to send voice emails via an online class. Yay! 🙂

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communication tools reflections synchronous communication webct vista wimba

E-learning toolkit: Synchronous communication tools

Synchronous communication example
(Source: Flickr images: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mobology/2755744656/, Creative Commons License).

I recall in high school, my peers were using ICQ, a synchronous communication tool to stay connected with each other and that transitioned into MSN Live Messenger. It was mostly still text-based since the video option was a bit more grainy and unpredictable than it is now. In the past, I’ve utilized Skype to stay connected with my family and friends but more often now I use Googletalk and Gmail’s embedded live chat/video function. Also, in related news it was quite interesting to learn this week that Facebook and Skype have teamed up so that users will be able to use both applications in one interface.

In terms of the practice activity using WebCT Vista, I found it straightforward to set up a Live Classroom using the Build tab, then adding a content link into my folder. However, I was unable to access the Wimba Live Classroom/Admin link at http://wimbaclassroom.elearning.ubc.ca/launcher.cgi?room=etec565. I tried on several different web browsers and still received the error page that it couldn’t display the content.

In any case, I still found the toolkit activities useful to learn about the various third party modules that can be integrated into our Moodle sites for full audio/video conferencing. I recall that the use of Nanogong was suggested recently by one of our colleagues from the course discussion forums but to find out that there are several applications that can be used is very promising indeed. There’s everything from OpenMeetings, Dimdim, Elluminate Live, Wimba, and Marratech. It’ll be important to consider the affordances of each resource and consider how students can achieve learning objectives through the use of these tools.

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reflections

Wiki activity: Social media and learning

What kinds of advantages do you see in using wikis for group collaboration?

The affordances of wikis includes the flexibility for any individual to edit, revise, add or delete content which makes it beneficial for online groupwork. It also occurs asynchronously which enables students to collaborate regardless of a fixed time or place. Additionally, the instantaneous nature of sharing information may facilitate group collaboration. Overall, I found it easy to use to collaborate with others and particularly for the discussions I could decide which ones I wanted to be a part of as it sparked my interest.

What are some of the challenges of working with others in a collaborative wiki space?

Since it occurs asynchronously, it may be difficult to ascertain immediate feedback or understand the nuances of text postings from fellow students. Also, all participants in a wiki setting need to understand that the information that they contribute may be apt to change. Potential challenges that I foresee could arise would be similar to the infamous “edit wars” that occur in Wikipedia. Additionally, due to the dynamic nature of a wiki, there may not necessarily be a final end product in that revisions may never end until all group participation subsides. Another consideration is that with a wiki, it may lack some objectivity (the information could be biased or purely opinion-based) and not credible (i.e. where are the supporting references?). Also, in terms of its currency and relevance- wikis would need to be maintained in order to keep it up to date. Furthermore, there may be varying degrees of experience ranging from students using wikis for the first time to those with more frequent use. I observed that one of my classmates (in anticipation of this) linked a help file on how to contribute to wiki talk pages to help others out. Lastly, like discussion forums on our WebCT/Vista course site, I imagine how difficult it would be for students to respond to every discussion thread and to monitor wiki changes on a continual basis.

Overall reflection on the wiki activity

As well, while I was working on the wiki activity, I noticed that in the beginning of the week the discussions were sparse. In order to effectively contribute to a discussion, individuals need to participate fully otherwise it will lack a sense of engagement and interaction. Thus, without individuals contributions a wiki may remain stagnant until changes are made to it. Something else that may become problematic is that wiki discussions may become lengthy as one of our fellow students Ryan noticed and encouraged the use of indents to help organize the flow of information. Yet, scrolling through a massive discussion list could be a bit daunting too as it may end up being quite unreadable since there will be multiple topics being covered and lack a sense of coherency. Lastly, I found it helpful that students chose to add their corresponding signatures with the timestamp at the end of their postings so that it could be easily identifiable. I think that working on “finalizing” our class strategies and challenges for engaging students using social media may be a potential issue. There will need to be a group consensus that all revisions are finalized and that everyone is satisfied with the final list. I foresee myself re-visiting the wiki to observe the changes and to contribute any additional information that may be helpful to my colleagues.

References
Alexander, B. (2006). Web 2.0: A new wave of innovation for teachign and learning? EDUCAUSE Review, 41(2), 34-44. Retrieved from http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/erm0621.pdf

Mabrito, M., & Medley, R. (2008). Why professor Johnny can’t read: Understanding the net generation’s texts. Innovate, 4(6). Retrieved from http://innovateonline.info/pdf/vol4_issue6/Why_Professor_Johnny_Can’t_Read-__Understanding_the_Net_Generation’s_Texts.pdf

Wesch, M. (2007). A vision of students today (& what teachers must do). Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/blogs/2008/10/a-vision-of-students-today-what-teachers-must-do/

Wesch, M. (2007). YouTube video: A vision of students today. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGCJ46vyR9o

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reflections

Communication and collaboration tools

I developed an e-learning portal for healthcare practitioners with the intention that it would complement the existing f2f training sessions that I currently offer without the constraints of time and location. My goal is that it will help them become more familiarized with the available resources and learn how to use them effectively in order to improve their research skills. One of the first communication tools I created was a course announcements section to relay information to healthcare practitioners asynchronously. Additionally, there is a technical support discussion forum developed for students to troubleshoot and help each other with minor technical issues. However, for more urgent matters, there is a contact email provided for additional technical assistance.

Also, an asynchronous icebreaker activity was created as a discussion forum to help develop a sense of community as clinicians get to know each other. This will also help me gauge what I can do to support them to achieve their learning goals. Here are my icebreaker questions below:

– Introduce: yourself to your fellow colleagues.

– Share: your online research experiences and techniques.

– Reflect: What are the key skills and approaches that you feel you need to develop in order to meet your e-learning goals?

Another learning space I created was a synchronous chat room where practitioners can go to discuss aspects of their self-study modules as a virtual meeting space. Since this e-learning portal is meant to supplement the f2f training sessions that I’ll continue to offer, I’ve also included a calendar widget to alert students to any upcoming learning events. As well, I added a new events section, a who’s online section and a messages box so students would have the option of sending instant messages to each other. There’s also a newsfeed of upcoming events to supplement the calendar view and a recent activity section to help me keep track of online student activities.

All of the modules will be available for students since they can decide to learn at their own pace/time. At the end of each module I’m thinking of using quizzes to assess their understanding of the material. I’m considering embedding some recorded video tutorials and perhaps even schedule a synchronous, live web-conferencing session similar to our Wimba Moodle sessions. Another communication tool I’m thinking of implementing is the use of student webblogs or reflective journals based on an article I recently read about the merits of reflective practice for healthcare professionals at: http://meds.queensu.ca/ohse/assets/reflective_practice__a_systematic_review.pdf. I’ll have to figure out where I want to include the journal activity (if it’s within each module or one at the beginning that they would use throughout their learning activities).

In any case, here’s the link to my Moodle site that I’ve worked on so far: http://moodle.met.ubc.ca/course/view.php?id=243. Any useful suggestions and/or feedback is welcomed.

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communication tools YouTube

Trinh’s available options for managing communication in an online course

Were this a F2F course, she would set up office hours – but that’s not an option in an online course, is it? Post your ideas in the what could Trinh do discussion forum.

After much consideration, I think some of the options available for Trinh includes the following:

– Make the case for getting a teaching assistant (or more for each course section) to help her out with managing 150+ students (addressing their course inquiries, providing formative and summative assessments, etc).
– Distinguish what questions can be addressed to the TA and/or instructor to students enrolled in her course.
– Use one designated email for all course communications and let students know to send course-related messages just to this email address (rather than multiple email addresses).
– Clearly let students know when you’re available/not available (for example let students know when she’ll be away for a period of time via announcements, emails, and/or discussion postings so they understand why you may not be able to reply back to them right away).
– Create different types of help sections in the discussion forums so that students can obtain assistance and support from their peers to address their inquiries.
– Use filter/labelling email management strategies to help organize the content of her emails (i.e. if she’s using Gmail’s mail forwarding service then she can also filter out the messages being sent to her designated course email address and put it into a labelled folder to address all course-related inquiries).
– Offer scheduled online chats and/or videoconferencing sessions essentially setting up “virtual” office hours to address students’ questions.
– Build presence by offering YouTube video presentations (that may also address students’ questions and clearly communicate your expectations of them).
– As Anderson (2008) suggests on p.356, the virtual teacher has to set and adhere to appropriate timelines to help student have realistic expectations and relieves the teachers of the unrealistic expectation of providing instantaneous 24/7 feedback.
– Time management is key for Trinh- rather than checking online activities or email constantly.
– Develop and implement an explicit assessment framework for students so they understand what is expected of them throughout the course (i.e. assignments, participation, etc).
– Make assessments a reflective exercise by assigning students the task of using their discussion postings in their blogs to show evidence of their understanding. As Anderson (2008) states, this moves the responsibility from the teacher to the student and can save the teacher time.
– Use student moderators to help lead class discussions and act as peer support (leading to less emails from students for Trinh to manage).
– Provide an archive of the live streaming presentations so students in different time zones that may have missed these sessions can catch up.
– Clearly communicate course expectations, assignment deadlines, weekly readings, etc. from the onset via the course syllabus. Perhaps this information is not clear for students or it’s located in several different sections so she may want to consider amalgamating into one area and letting students know that it’s their responsibility to diarize this information (i.e. assignment deadlines, live presentations, etc).

Reference
Anderson, T. (2008). Teaching in an online learning context. In T. Anderson & F. Elloumi (Eds.), Theory and practice of online learning, (pp. 343-365). Edmonton, AB: Athabasca University. Retrieved from http://www.aupress.ca/books/120146/ebook/14_Anderson_2008_Anderson-DeliveryQualitySupport.pdf

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