Communication Tools
Addendum
I chose to use the chat (synchronous) communication tool within my LMS because teachers at my school, work effectively in collaborative grade groups, (when time is available, i.e.: pro-d days) and having the chat communication tool available to them so they can discuss and reflect on the course content will support their learning. It has been my observation that teachers need to have sufficient feedback within professional settings if they are to fully participate in the activity (LMS course). Therefore, the chat feature builds on peer feedback that can support each teacher as he/she attempts to navigate the course. Teachers using the LMS site to further refine their numeracy program would need to review material on the course with their grade group and the chat feature would give them the ability to do this during mutually agreed ‘chat times’. The chat tool has the effect of providing teachers with instant support (scaffolding to a certain point) from each other. I think that what this tool brings to the educational experience is that it affords teachers with a new way of communicating knowledge to one another. There are some teachers at my school who are wary of technology, but will try new approaches to learning if they have collegial support. This tool would give them the support that they require. I also think that some teachers would fine this tool useful enough that they may try integrating it within their own numeracy programs to support student learning.
With the hectic and busy schedules that teachers have, one limitation of the chat feature is that it may be challenging to get teachers to mutually agree on set times for synchronous discussions. Even if teachers can agree on times to chat with each other, they have limited time to use the tool within the instructional day. I think it would be challenging for teachers to use this feature when they are not teaching (at home). Teachers would need to see the personal and instructional benefits as it relates to numeracy if they are to meaningfully use the chat feature during out of school hours.
I tried testing this feature, by clicking onto one of my chat links within my LMS and entered a generic message.. Unfortunately, without another participant online with me, I wasn’t able to carrying on a real-time conversation.
I chose to add an asynchronous communication tool to my LMS course because I wanted to capture teacher thoughts, reflections, concerns and challenges of the LMS course in a space where they could collectively support each other’s learning during any time of the day. I’ve talked about how difficult it can be for teachers to meaningfully collaborate with each other during the school day because of the nature of the school day (instructional time dominates schedule, no free time to work in grade groups). Therefore, this tool gives teachers control of their own learning in that they can personally decide when they want to access it. This control may spur more use of the forum by teachers. It may take some time, but eventually I think teachers will use this discussion forum if there is evidence that they are benefiting from the collective efforts of their grade group with respect to improving their numeracy program.
I think that what this tool brings to the educational experience for teachers is that it gives them access to another support system in their colleagues. In my experience, working with students daily, there is little time to gather and reflect with my colleagues, let alone collaborate on units of study. Therefore, having an online forum that teachers can utilize for their own learning is very useful.
The limitation of this communication tool is that there is no way to compel teachers to use it. If a teacher posts to the forum, and then doesn’t receive a timely reply, he/she may stop using the forum altogether. Teachers who sparingly use the forum may not feel as connected to the group as others, who avail themselves more frequently of it. Therefore, the risk of having unmotivated users increases, further decreasing the capacity of the learning community to support learning.
I tested the tool by selecting the ‘add a new discussion topic’, see figure 2. I created a ‘test post’, and selected to have message replies displayed in a ‘nested format’.
Module #3—Unit #2
Exploring Communication Tools in WebCT/Vista and Moodle
During the first term of each year within my classroom I assign students to homogeneous reading groups. These groups are determined by a variety of tests and pre-assessment tools. Reading fluency, comprehension of text and reading strategies are some of the elements that I assess when determining how to build these groups. Based on each group’s reading proficiency I provide a number of appropriate texts for each group to select. The selection of material to read is done collaboratively by each group. Members are encouraged to discuss and reflect with each other the rationale for their choice of reading material. Literature circle groups must come to a mutual decision on the text that they will all read. Once this is done, students begin to read the material together in their small groups. These literature circle groups will extensively discuss the literature throughout the reading of the text. The asynchronous discussion forum tool will be utilized so members can begin to post their thoughts and reflections of the day’s reading session. Each group will have a forum attached to their specific title that they are reading. Each member will be able to create and reply to messages, and the entries will be threaded for ease of use. Each member will be required to post one open ended question to the group, and will be required to reply to one message as well. This will occur after each reading session (there are 3 reading sessions per week).
As students move through the material, I’ll assign a series of online activities and reflective entries designed to help students comprehend the reading material. Each reading group decides collectively which activities they will complete. Students move through this package of activities designed to enhance their understanding of several literary elements as they pertain to specific sections within the text. The online activities will be presented through WebCT/Vista’s module like format. Members of each group will select which activity they will complete, and then each group will use the synchronous tool-Wimba classroom to present the details of their activity to the group. The video (for presenter only) and chat feature of this tool will be available to students, but the audio portion will be unavailable. Group members will be instructed to begin posting chat messages/questions to the presenter after he/she has completed the presentation. This will enable the presenter to explain the material uninterrupted. After the presentation is complete, students can begin discussing the activity through the chat feature of Wimba. Each group member will present his/her activity using the Wimba classroom tool.
In the past my reading groups have shown an aptitude with carrying on very interesting and informative discussion sessions as they read through a text. My students are very technologically savvy and most have several communication devices at their disposal. As we have already immersed ourselves with several forms of information technology activities this year, I find this activity to be a natural extension of their technology skills. In fact, students have participated in a similar activity where they were required to post their thoughts in a blog-like format to a question that I would pose on a weekly basis in science class. I found their excitement when adding their thoughts to the series of questions that I posed to be quite refreshing. I noticed increased motivation from certain students who typically would not volunteer this type of information during class time. I think that each reading group will enjoy posting their thoughts and reflections daily to the discussion forums. Normally, there is always a range with respect to the volume and quality of messages that each group puts forward on the forum. Typically, the reading groups that require active management from me to help them stay focused and on task will not volunteer as much information when discussing a novel as the more proficient groups would. However, I have noticed that my struggling readers seem to add/list more information within an online format than they do in the classroom. Therefore, it is my hope that these online activities will increase the participation of several of my reluctant readers. I have two groups that always have rich and in-depth conversations as they move through a text. I anticipate that these groups will enjoy using the discussion forum, and will post quite a lot of information to their threaded areas.
Each Wimba classroom session will be archived, so students can revisit the transcript if they need to read a portion of the presentation for further discovery and conversation. This transcript will provide me with detailed information on member participation. It will also allow me to observe the quality of student interactions as they posed and replied to each other’s questions. I would continue to closely monitor student interactions on all the discussion forums throughout the duration of each activity. It is even more imperative to do this as opposed to the managing of daily classroom dialogue. There may be a sense that some students feel that they can say almost anything online because I am physically not in the same room with them, challenging them to keep their words respectful. This strategy is of the utmost importance to me considering my grade 7 student population.
Reflection:
Post a message to the Module 3 Discussion: Synchronous and asynchronous communications that Describes your own strategies in determining the communication process you have created and why synchronous or asynchronous approaches seemed appropriate to the learning context.
I used the WebCT/Vista LMS to develop my student activity and was very pleased at the relative ease while working within the ‘build’ mode of the platform. I developed my plan by populating my site with the asynchronous tool-Wimba classroom, and the synchronous tool-discussion forums. The entire Vista platform is very intuitive and I was able to easily navigate the ‘build’ functions adding and removing resources quickly and easily. I liked how quickly I could add a feature within the ‘build’mode, and then easily view how my changes would appear to students by selecting the ‘student view’ section of the Vista page. I especially liked how I was able to effortlessly add different ‘content links’ within the ‘Module’ section of my LMS. Thee are enough tools from voice presentation, discussion forums, assessments and assignments to create a very balanced and rich learning experience for students.
My students are very tech savvy and are all always very motivated and excited when I incorporate various technologies within their learning program. It is really amazing to witness how much more engaged they become when I blend traditional content delivery with various digital tools. I therefore felt very comfortable in selecting Wimba classroom and discussion forums as my communication tools that would support student learning as they progressed through various texts/novels/literature. My students are very ‘chatty’ and have often said to me that they enjoy learning as a group, and from one another. In addition to their desire to learn from each other, their expertise with information technology made my selection of synchronous and asynchronous tools an easy one.
Module #3–Unit #1
Keeping in mind your own experiences as a teacher and as a student, consider what Anderson means when he describes the attributes of learning in terms of being learner-, knowledge-, assessment- and community-centred. To what extent have you experienced on-line or mixed-mode courses that achieved this kind of learning environment? How might you use the learning technologies tools you have at your disposal to help you to create meaningful interactions?
Learner-Centred
As this is my fifth MET course through UBC I have had some experience as a learner participating within an online environment. With respect to the environment being learner-centred, I have always enjoyed the beginning of each MET course where students discuss themselves with respect to their educational background and relevant experience. This activity seems so trivial, yet I find it very interesting how much I enjoy responding to it. Equally enjoyable is reading the entries of other students. This welcome page I believe has the ability to set the tone for the course if it’s completed with some diligence. Each MET course that I have taken has been structured with synchronous and asynchronous modes of communication that have given me the ability to explore my own learning within an environment that has been collegial and informative.
Knowledge-Centred
Each course that I have taken including ETEC 565 has been extremely helpful in getting me to think about what I am doing, and why I am doing it. The provisions for reflective thinking have been quite extensive within the MET environment. As someone who has used technology for many years I find my MET experience to be fruitful in that I am able to apply some of my knowledge creation to my professional practice as a classroom teacher. An interesting side effect that I’ve experienced while engaged with the MET program is that I keep coming back to previous assignments/projects from other courses and revisit my work. It almost appears that I am trying to link my previous experiences with the ones that I am presently building. Some days I have more success than others mind you.
Assessment-Centred
I remember an activity in a MET course that I took last year where I was asked to peer evaluate all my group members (4 of them) on their achievement as it related to a specific activity. I have to admit that I felt a little uncomfortable at first glance. It wasn’t until I began to think about my task that I discovered that my reflections on their progress, actually helped me understand more about what I had learned in that activity. In my estimation it is the extensive amount of formative evaluation inherent within MET courses that guide students to optimally develop, and transform their knowledge.
Community-Centred
As Wilson (1997) stated, learners within online communities have a sense of expectation of learning. I have always come to each MET course with an excitement and expectation that my efforts will mutually blend with the input of my colleagues to further illuminate my understanding of each topic at hand. This may sound a little ‘corny’, but my expectation that I will learn from others, propels my own thoughts and actions to contribute to the learning environment in the hope that I will be able to construct new knowledge.
How might you use the learning technologies tools you have at your disposal to help you to create meaningful interactions?
Within my classroom I have always carried out personal online inventories and given students activities that informed me of their prior learning and knowledge. I have utilized web sites that analyzed a student’s response to questions that determined which multiple intelligence(s) they aligned closer to. My students have been engaged with using web-based applications that helped them understand the composition and structure of an electrical circuit. The web afforded students with the opportunity to further develop their understanding by having them use a collaborative draw program asynchronously to share in the sketching of an accurate diagram of a circuit. Students utilized the districts communication tool to collaborate and communicate both synchronously and asynchronously, to further enhance their understanding of electrical circuits. Students also used the communication package to upload their assessment of their performance based on district performance standards. Students receive a more complete educational experience when they have an activity that is Learner-, Knowledge-, Assessment-, and Community-Centred in its composition.
References
Wilson, B. (1997). Thoughts on theory in educational technology. Educational Technology, 37(1), 22-26.
Module #3—Unit #2
Trinh is an associate professor in museum studies at a comprehensive university. She has delivered an innovative introductory online course on museumology; in fact, students enrolled at universities in New Zealand, South Africa, and Finland all take her course. The course is delivered via Vista, features a range of multimedia educational artifacts, and guest lectures delivered via live streaming. Although participating in some of these activities is challenging for students in other time zones, they understand these are required activities and full participation is a condition of enrollment.
Trinh’s committed to delivering learner-centred courses, whether taught F2F, online or blended. But this course – and its over 150 student enrollments – is challenging for her to manage. Email in particular can be onerous: on some mornings she finds dozens of messages. Some of these come to her university email address; others to her Vista email. She even gets student questions as comments to her blog!
Were this a F2F course, she would set up office hours – but that’s not an office in an online course, is it? What could Trinh do?
Trinh presents her course using Vista, so she has available the tools to create a comprehensive site that students will be able to use across several time zones. I wonder if Trinh has set up an area on her Vista course site where students can observe all relevant course information. For starters, her students would benefit from knowing on weekly basis what the required readings were, the activities, and the due dates for these assignments. Providing students with a course map may prevent some of these emails that she gets quite frequently. Anderson (2003) states that it’s extremely important that online teachers foster trust and safety within the learning community. I may be off on this, however, if students feel that Trinh is having difficulty managing the course (students appear confused, ie: posting messages in several areas for her) then they may not be as motivated to fully participate in all the activities that she has scheduled for them.
With respect to Trinh’s lessons being synchronously delivered through live streaming, having them archived would support students who are unable to view them live due to differing time zones. Trinh could attach discussion forums like in 565a to different modules, and to her live lectures so students could asynchronously discuss and reflect on the content presented. Trinh could also develop her lectures using audio/video, archive them, and then have them time released in different modules for students. This would allow all students to view the content at their own time and pace. Trinh could also synchronously use Wimba to demonstrate/teach students, then archive the presentation for asynchronous viewing. Students living in different time zones would benefit by having wiki’s in place for collaborative learning sessions. Students could build their knowledge by accessing the work at their own pace, and a time of their choosing.
It may be wise for Trinh to utilize her teaching assistants (if she has them) to support her and the students enrolled in the course. She could divide her students equally among the different assistants and they could communicate with the T.A.’s on a wide array of topics. To help support student communication within the course, Trinh could specify in the course map what a teaching assistant should be contacted for, and what she should be contacted for. Perhaps with this distinction, students would be able to navigate the course more efficiently.
To further streamline the communication between Trinh and her students, she could post her virtual office hours on the course outline. She could utilize the ‘popup’ announcement feature through Vista to alert her students when there is a change to these hours. This feature could also be used for any emergent information that she wants students to know when they next login.
Having student moderators lead discussion groups can help increase student participation and motivation throughout the course (Rourke & Anderson, 2002). The side effect is that students receive a richer experience with respect to their learning. Also, students helping students would be advantageous to Trinh in that she may receive fewer inquiries for information due to increased student involvement. This in no way diminishes Trinh’s role within her course, it just adds another support and resource for her students.
Anderson, T. (2008). Teaching in an Online Learning Context. In: Anderson, T. & Elloumi, F. Theory and Practice of Online Learning. Athabasca University. Accessed online 3 March 2009 http://www.aupress.ca/books/120146/ebook/14_Anderson_2008_Anderson-DeliveryQualitySupport.pdf
Rourke, L., & Anderson, T. (2002). Using peer teams to lead online discussions. Journal of Interactive Media in Education, Retrieved August 27, 2007, from http://www-jime.open.ac.uk/2002/1/