Andrew Olson 565

Dafna teaches Fine Arts in a Vancouver Board of Education (VBE) alternative high school program. Students there have, for various reasons, struggled in mainstream high school programmes. At her “school” a flexible structure, condensed (4 hour) day, and interdisciplinary approach to curriculum all result in increased attendance and improved grade 12 completion rates. Using classroom-based, small group and self-directed pedagogical approaches, students work through materials at their own pace, following Individual Learning Plans developed collaboratively. Currently the learning group Dafna facilitates has eight students studying Music 10.

Previously Dafna has created music videos of herself for her Music 10 Guitar students, which have been very well received. This year she has an even more exciting idea: having students make their own music videos of themselves.

The school has five (5) acoustic guitars available, and 4 iMac computers (which are used for other program components in addition to Music). Dafna has her own video camera and tripod, which students can borrow. Her Director has agreed to purchase 10 mini-DV cassettes for the project.

Because of the flexible nature of the programme, Dafna need only develop an estimated time for the lesson to be completed. She also has the option to make this an iterative tasks: one that students revisit from time to time over the course of several months. The iterative approach is more easily adapted to the school, so Dafna expects the activity to go something like this:

Suggestions and Questions for Dafna

Based on the resources available, how might Dafna organize this activity?

I think that Dafna has misjudged a few of her time allotments for this activity. As there is only one camera in play the time she has allotted for teaching how to use this is too much. Most of her students will be able to figure out how to use the camera in a matter of minutes. However, as Rachel pointed out if they could get cheap digital alternatives they could do more filming and would not need to worry about the DV cassettes. As there is only 8 students and 5 acoustic guitars, this means that even when working in pairs, 3 more flip cams would allow for each pair to be filming and playing. However, I fear that her 2 hours of allotment for shooting is on the low side. I would expect that this is where the students will be most engaged and having fun and will want far more time to do filming. I would think that each student would want 2 hours themselves on their own video (which means if working in pairs they would need 4 hours to complete their filming). I think that an iterative approach would work well as it could be difficult to find 4 hours in a row to film. If students were given this as a term project, I think the film would be better planned out and more interesting.

Moreover, the editing will be tricky for Dafna with only 4 computers that are being used for other things. I am assuming that she has editing software on each computer. If not, this would mean she would need to find an online solution, which could limit the quality of the video. If she allows this to be a term project she will need to allocate time for students to do some editing and will also need to set timelines for minimum amounts of film to be edited by. If the end of the term is a deadline there will undoubtedly be a rush for the four computers toward the end. In terms of post production, I think that exporting to DVD might be one option, but that the students are more likely to want to upload the video to YouTube and embed it on their walls on Facebook. I am not sure that this process will take 5 hours. Once the hard work of the editing process is complete, it should be relatively easy to make the uploads and embeds.

This last point also takes care of the dissemination of the music videos, but Dafna will have to be very careful about issues in regard to copyright (especially if they use any external music in their videos) and privacy issues (especially if they film in public). Furthermore, she will need to be careful about using the students’ names in public forums like YouTube and Facebook.

Raj is a grade 5 elementary school teacher in Coquitlam. His undergraduate degree was in biochemistry, and he finds it at times challenging to balance his passion for science with his responsibility to teach other subjects—particularly English Language Arts. That the BC IRP for grade 5 English cites “making personal connection to texts” as a goal makes him feel even more pressure: he has never really enjoyed reading fiction for leisure very much himself. Raj fulfilled the history requirement for admission to his B.Ed. program by taking a course on the history of Aboriginal peoples of Canada. He found the course very challenging because of its reading load, but the topic fascinated him and he did reasonably well as a result.
In fact, when Raj can use history (rather than literature) texts for Language Arts, he’s much more comfortable. Raj grew up in Coquitlam and really noticed how little of his K-12 schooling addressed his own community; as a result, he tries to bring as much Coquitlam and BC material into the classroom as possible.
Raj has found one resource really helpful when developing lesson plans: the website The Far West: A History of BC (http://www.knowbc.com/learninglayer/farwestmain.html). There’s a lot of great content there, particularly on Aboriginal history. But it’s also very generic content, more often about the whole province rather than Coquitlam. It’s also told largely from the perspective of Europeans, rather than Aboriginal persons.

Kwikwetlem

Raj would like to create a self-directed, online learning module about the Kwikwetlem First Nation, delivered via a customized web site. The Kwikwetlem First Nation has its own website (http://www.kwikwetlem.com/home), but Raj thinks it’s a bit too sophisticated for grade 5 students. He’s also looked for something existing that might work, but nothing’s come up so far.

Last weekend Raj visited the Kwikwetlem’s Port Coquitlam reserve. Chief Percy Cunningham was very pleased Raj wanted to teach his students about Kwikwetlem history. He gave Raj a tour of the reserve and shared with him the story of the Kwikwetlem. He even agreed that Raj could videotape his storytelling and use the video for his lesson (Raj also took over 100 photos). The entire visit really inspired Raj—he’s even more motivated to get working on this module!
Raj has timetabled five hours of class time for this lesson (one hour per day for one week), beginning one month from now. However, his prep and marking obligations mean he will be working on this evenings and weekends. Raj estimates he could squeeze about 10 hours a week in total for the project.
Discussion questions (please answer them in the discussion forum topic Raj, under Module 5):

1. What might be three (3) important questions Raj could ask himself when deciding which multimedia to include?
2. Do you think Raj can deliver this in a month? Explain your answer and either:
   • Suggest how Raj approach developing his website?

   Offer an alternative to the website, one that will use some of Multimedia already collected

Questions Raj should ask

The three questions I think Raj needs to ask himself before beginning his site are:

1) How much experience does he have with HTML and web design? Then adjust his search for a tool accordingly.

2) As he is dealing with younger students – How will his images and video be displayed? Will they easily be embedded and easy to view?

3) Will he be able to replace this web site with another tool if things do not work out? Will his work be easily transferable?

Can he do this in a month?

I feel like he can. However, I liked Heather’s idea of having the students help him with the creation of certain parts. For instance if he created a shell for his websites and populated it with some images and video, he could then provide his students access to his site (I’m thinking of something like Weebly) to supplement and add to each of the modules. The tools on Weebly would allow for a lot of inter activities with his class.

If Raj found that a web site may not work the best for him, I would recommend DVD authoring or creating a series of digital stories using the images and video he already has.

Noelene teaches Grade 9 English at a private high school in the Sea-to-Sky corridor (along BC’s Sea-to-Sky Highway 99, between Squamish and Pemberton, including Whistler). Getting her students to inculcate the practice of writing is challenging: bringing blogs into her curriculum seems like a great way to integrate purposeful learning activities with those many students already enjoy.

After doing some research she decides to use LiveJournal as the delivery platform for an activity she calls No, really: something kewl I discovered online this week. Noelene has created a community on LiveJournal called Something Kewl. Students must post once a week to the community, describing something noteworthy found online. Students need to set up their own blog on LJ (as it’s called) in order to post to the community.

Students have the option of posting a draft version of their entry to their own blog, in order to receive formative feedback from Noelene. In each term a student earns up to 10 marks for their entries, so long as they are substantial and well-edited; anyone whose entire 10 entries are free of surface errors gets a bonus of 5 points. Each Friday the class reviews that week’s entries, which are posted no later than Wednesday night.

The students love doing the activity, and she can see their writing improving. However two parents expressed concern about the activity because: 1.) it’s public, and 2.) strangers have been commenting in their children’s personal LJs.

How might Noelene address the concerns raised by the parents in a way that does not negatively impact the activity for the students?  Are there justifications for having students work in public spaces on the web?

Post your thoughts on this to the Public or private discussion forum under Module 4.
Dealing with Noelene’s Worrisome Parents

This is an interesting case and one that I am sure will become more prominent as blogging becomes more mainstream in the classroom. Before providing some suggestions, I think it is important to note that the concerns the parents have in this case are precisely one of the reasons I have been trying to get my own class blogs into a public space – to provide opportunities for my students to interact with the world rather than our small group of peers. Unfortunately, either through portrayal in the media or misuse by students and staff the Internet has become a place that many view as being unsafe and full of predators. While I am not naive enough to think that there are not predators or inappropriate behaviour on the Internet, I fear that the only press the Internet gets these days is when something bad happens. (When was the last time we heard a story on the front page of the local newspaper about how students were able to interact with other students who actually lived in a place where a world event was occurring?) In my opinion, the positives far outweigh the negatives. Moreover, as parents and educators, when did we start turning our backs on an opportunity because their might be some negatives aspects that could happen? To use an analogy, not allowing students to use the Internet in a public forum would be like not allowing the same student to go out for recess as they might get kidnapped. Kidnappings do happen and they got a lot of press, but we don’t stop the kids from playing. We supervise them, we educate them on how not to put themselves in dangerous situations and we follow through when dangerous or suspicious situations occur. Why wouldn’t we take the same approach online? Anyway, there is my ramble. Therefore, my suggestions for Noelene would be:

1.) Educate the parents and students before the activity has begun. Have examples ready of this working in other settings. Discuss the benefits and have students weigh in on their feelings about it by providing hard examples. Allow other parents to show support. Use analogies to other real-world parenting situations. Have the person in charge of privacy at your school provide the legalities. Make dealing with these parents a group effort so it does not look you are a rogue (even if you might feel that way) in embarking on this educational opportunity!

2.) Although there are opportunities for settings changes to provide a certain level of protection, it is important not to get away from the opportunity of allowing students to interact with the world. Have students use handles or avatars that only the other peers in class know. Make sure the teacher is clearly monitoring the blog and confronts suspicious behaviour.

3.) Mix up the blog activities. Perhaps throw in the Fischbowl method using real-time blogging from the “outer circle” (Fisch, 2007). This method would be an opportunity to turn on the privacy settings to do internal activities. If the group of parents could still not be won over, at least Noelene would have some opportunities to still use her methods.

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 option in an online course, is it? Post your ideas in the what could Trinh do discussion forum.

Suggestions for Trinh

While Trinh appears to be trying to do many good things and provide a student-centred environment, with a class of 150 students she will always have difficulty in what Anderson refers to as facilitating discourse with her students. Others have already mentioned breaking the group into smaller cohorts and I agree that this will help, but only if Trinh has the help of TA’s or ex-students. Let’s assume that this is not possible for either a lack of experienced students or financial reasons. First, Trinh needs to make sure there is only one option for getting in touch with her via email to centralize this form of communication. While this makes it more efficient to check her email it does not cut down on the amount she is getting. This is where it will be crucial to to make sure she has chosen a very simple design with clear instructions. Furthermore, Steve mentioned earlier the idea of creating a question bank. I think this is critical or at least a FAQ section on Vista where students can look first for common questions. Along with an FAQ page, a page with visual diagrams about how to use the site might be helpful.

Moreover, as many instructors in the MET program already do, having regular updates or announcements can also cut down on the amount of questions that may be coming on the horizon for any given unit or module.

Finally, if Trinh really wants to create Anderson’s version of a community of inquiry there should be an online office hour that could take place in real time chat settings. However, rather than just setting out these times for everyone, have certain cohorts access these times and create a protocol for asking questions so it is not a free for all of 150 questions pouring it at once.

Case Study: diabetes education

Anju is a dietician in Port Alberni, BC. She works part-time at both a nearby senior’s home and a community centre. “Port” as it’s known locally, is an ethnically diverse community whose economy is largely resource-based.

One common community health issue she provides care for is late onset (or “Type 2”) diabetes. In fact, among South Asian and Chinese new Canadian women over age 45 in Port there is a diabetes epidemic. An integral part of self-care for adult diabetics is about diet: eating healthily and understanding the role different foods play in maintaining blood glucose levels.

All of Anju’s clients are fluent in spoken English, but struggle with materials written in English. Those who attend her one-hour workshops say they help a lot… but it’s difficult to remember all the information afterwards.

Anju thought she might videotape her next workshop and then create a DVD. That way clients could rewatch her talk whenever – and as often – as they wish. She’s bought a video camera and has a laptop.

Now what?!?

Suggestions for Anju

At the time being I think I can suggest that a DVD would be a good solution for Anju, but I have a feeling that within another year or two that this will no longer be a viable option. I say this, as the DVD as a component on most technology devices is becoming obsolete in favour of online solutions such as YouTube. Nonetheless, in a community such as Port Alberni and with a group of mainly middle-aged new Asian immigrants, I am willing to guess that the most common and easily accessed device is still going to be a TV and DVD player. With this in mind, I would suggest some of the following when going to make her video:

As it sounds like she has regularly given this presentation she should be ready with many resources, visuals, audio etc. and a well polished script. If this is not the case I highly recommend that she prepare this first. As others have suggested, I think it is important that chaptering takes place to break up the information into manageable chunks that can be viewed on their own.

The cost of producing such a DVD should be relatively low in comparison to hosting a website and the time committment to getting this up and running should also be relatively reasonable.

I would encourage Anju to try and make the DVD a collaborative effort and perhaps include interviews with people who have already taken her course. If she can get her group involved in asking common questions this might make others feel more comfortable as well.

Moreover, I would encourage Anju to try and create activities that keeps her members engaged and can provide some reflection and feedback on what they have learned.

Finally, I would recommend that she test the DVD out on all forms to make sure it a) runs properly and b) has an easy start up menu to with a clearly navigable home screen.

As for a timeline:

1 hr recording her presentation
2 hrs conducting interviews and generating questions
2 hrs editing and testing on other devices

Case Study: Pro-D

Lenora is a grade 4 teacher at the Eliza Archie Memorial School, located on the Tsq’escenemc Canim Lake Band reserve. Last year she attended an anti-bullying professional development (pro-d) workshop offered by SD 83 (North Okanagan). There was a lot of valuable information in the session, but Lenora felt it often wasn’t culturally relevant for her community.  When she discussed her experience with peers in the Cradleboard Teaching Project Teacher’s Circle (http://www.cradleboard.org/), others agreed. And many had stories to share about bullying in their band schools.

Indigenous online communities of practice like Cradleboard have really helped Lenora develop her own reflective practice. She’s decided to create an online anti-bullying resource for band teachers – a sort of online pro-d day – that offers support and suggestions from other Aboriginal educators and their allies.

But Lenora’s web access is dial-up only. It can take a really long time to upload and download files. Plus she’s never created a web site before and doesn’t know anything about where one puts a website.

Social Media is the Way to Go

Having spent a great deal of time on the issue of bullying and, in particular, cyber bullying at my school this year I strongly feel that Lenora needs to find a place where her students and colleagues are already going. Lately this has tended to be a social network site – at my school it is Facebook. Most of these social media sites will have the ability for Lenora to create a site or page with little knowledge of website creation or code. Whichever, social media site she chooses, she needs to make sure her students and colleagues are already going there. If she chooses a site that they are not familiar with they are far less likely to view the information she wants to get across. Furthermore, she will then need to address the usage of these sites as they are too often unmonitored and appalling – which scares people away. They need to be understood that they are public spaces. They also have the ability to communicate in real time, which might help alleviate some of the time issues that dial up will present.

While the dial-up issue will be a big one, so will equipment. While access to dial-up will hinder things, not having a computer to do the dial-up can be even worse! Budget dependent I would recommend a cheap alternative such as netbooks or something similar that could be put in the hands of key people trying to tackle this problem.

Benoît is a sessional instructor in the English department of a large, research-intensive university. Previously he has used WebCT to disseminate lecture notes and readings for his face-to-face Business Writing course.

His department head has approached him about offering an online version of Business Writing. However, WebCT is no longer available at his university and Benoît must choose either WebCT/Vista or Moodle. WebCT/Vista is the university’s “official” LMS and has university-wide IT support, but the Help Desk is difficult to get a hold of and can be very slow in responding to e-mail. Moodle is hosted within the Faculty of Arts, but operates as a stand-alone tool with no real technical support: instructors need to set up their own courses from scratch. More and more faculty and instructors in the English Department now use Moodle, since it isn’t administered by IT support: less paperwork, less red tape.

Benoît is very comfortable in the design mode of WebCT; he has also done some general web design, mostly for personal use. In terms of web design he’s developed content, uploaded it via FTP and then left it there. He’s heard from colleagues that WebCT/Vista is dreadful, that doesn’t have half the functionality of WebCT, though he has not yet had time to do any evaluation himself.

Because of his teaching load, Benoît estimates he could spend up to 5 hours a week developing the online version of Business Writing. The course would go live next semester.

Benoit’s Deal Breaker

While I agree with many of my peers in here that speed, flexibility and being able to deliver the content in an interesting way are all important meanwhile reducing cost I am going to take a different stance for Benoit here.

“Will Moodle provide the security and privacy that is seen as acceptable by his university that WebCT/VISTA currently provides?”

Panettieri states: “Roughly 24 percent of schools with LMS deployments wind up with buyers’ remorse”. I can’t help but think that some of these buyers were shot down by the privacy and security guidelines that may or may not have been created at their institutions. Benoit could tick off all of the boxes of a great online course, only to have his institution create/rewrite their privacy policies and deem his LMS to not meet the criteria. In this way this question needs to be asked as it can be a deal breaker.

Panettieri, J. (2007). Addition by subtraction. University Business, August, 58-62. Accessed online 11 March 2009 http://www.universitybusiness.com/viewarticle.aspx?articleid=845