Final Project

In the future I hope to be an instructor at a community college. I wanted to tie my final project in along with that goal so my final project is designed for community college students. I understand that many students are working full time and have busy lives. The purpose of this project would be to help students understand and know how to create a class on Google groups.

I have used Google groups in the past for a hybrid course and found it to be very effective and efficient. During the quarter my professor and the class discussed mostly online scholarly articles, readings and public relations strategies and ideas online in the Google groups, although we did meet four times during the quarter in the traditional face to face classroom setting.

For the purpose of this class I would require that students post at least three comments a day in order to receive a passing grade. This requirement would help ensure that students are active in participating in this class. The students would be required to write a 10-15 page final paper and as a class we would meet during the quarter face to face for students to discuss their concerns and address any issues with the class content. Students may access the written version of this tutorial here.

Explained how you produced the presentation

1.      First I created an account on YouTube.

2.      Then I wrote a script I would follow for my video presentation.

3.      Then I tried out the procedures in order to create a Google group online.

4.      After that I then recorded my presentation on an I Phone.

5.      In this presentation I had students log into their Gmail accounts and acted as if I was the webmaster to the Google group ETEC 674 and invited students from the class.

6.      I used another class on Google groups as an example of how students are able to comments on other students post and share ideas.

7.      Once I felt comfortable with my presentation I then upload that video to YouTube for my students to watch.

8.      Finally I posted the video to the blog in order for everyone to have access to the information I was address.

Explain why you chose the technology you used

After running into other problems with websites such as Jing and Prezi, I decided to use what technologies I felt comfortable enough to use. I wanted to do something that my students would be able to do on their own or future classes and coursework. I also wanted to use a technology that was not foreign to students and was a concept that they felt comfortable with. Since many students upload videos to YouTube, I thought that this presentation was something that students would be able to relate to and have an interest in.

Discuss the characteristic of the technology in terms of one vs. two-way communication, media richness/social presence etc.

The Google groups provide me and the students two-way communication where they can express ideas about readings and share comments with other students. By requiring students to post at least three comments a day it require much social presence in order for that student to receive a passing grade. The video that I uploaded is a one-way communication because does not allow for students to respond. It is used for informational purposes only.  This would rank higher on the media richness scale because it requires creating and upload a video onto YouTube for students to participate. The presentation on YouTube was one of the best ways to express information to many without them having to come to class and watch a presentation.

Explain what steps were taken to ensure ADA compliance

In order to ensure ADA compliance I attached a world document of the script for students to follow along who are special needs or who would like a written version of the video tutorial. The written documents can be accessed in the beginning of my blog post.

You may access my tutorial below.

Motivation and Engagement

In this TalkShoe session Dr. Newberry talked about how motivation is critical and very important to teaching online classes. Dr. Newberry explained how there are two different types of motivation. One of them being internal motivation and the other being external motivation.

With internal motivation there are three different facets that encompass all of internal motivation. One of these includes the intrinsic self-motivation and how self-motivated an individual is. This is different depending on whether the student has a high internal locus of if they are the type of student willing to take charge or make things happen. There is not a lot an instructor can do for students who are not internally motivated.

Another important facet to motivation includes interest in the subject matter being taught and the topic. There is little that the instructor can do to engage interest in the students. The instructor may try to connect with the students or bring different areas into the online class world. However, there is very little for an instructor to do in order to peak student’s interest.

The third factor that is included in increasing motivation and engagement in an online class would be based on preparation. It would also include how the instructor believes they can influence the motivational level of the students. However, this comes from the students and what motivates them to engage in the material of the class and what they want to achieve from the class. Dr. Newberry talked about his dissertation and how students who obtained their PhD online in pharmacy were highly motivated.  They knew that by achieving an advanced degree it would boast their financial and educational status. Those students also knew that there would be little social interaction involved with those online classes. However, those students were prepared to stay motivated and participate in the class because they all had similar goals.

Dr. Newberry also went onto discuss the other type of motivation as the external motivation. He stated that there were four different components of external motivation. The first one included how the structure of the class is paced.  He stated that the best way to keep students involved in an online class is to not just have a midterm and a final but have assignments due every week. In increasing assignments students are not tempted to wait till the day before a project is due to learn the material. They have progressed and worked alongside with the instructor in obtaining knowledge about the information. I would have to agree that this approach is best.

Other important components to external motivations would be the different types of activities and how they are created in order to provide motivation for the students. He also stated that reduction of ambiguity determines whether or not participation in the class will occur. Instructors can reduce ambiguity by providing samples and outlines for the students. This helps students understand what the instructors are expecting in terms of the final product. In the past I have found it difficult to understand what the instructor expects in terms of projects or papers. One aspect of this class that I have enjoyed was when Dr. Newberry posted a sample of the annotated bibliographies. This made it very clear of his requirements and what he was expecting form us. Posting examples can clear up a lot of potential frustration and dissatisfaction felt by both the student and the teacher. There is the possible drawback of students using these examples and not producing something more creative. However, I am really grateful for when instructors do provide samples of what they are expecting from us. The other aspect of external motivation is the technology used. Having many and multiple forms of technology may increase confusion and lack of learning the material because students are so focused on learning the new technologies. In keeping the technology simple and easy students can focus more on the material being taught instead on relying on too many different technologies.

The final component of external motivation includes communication. My favorite aspect of learning! Dr. Newberry stated that one of the frustrations felt in online learning is that instructors do not have the non verbal cues like we do in a traditional face to face class.

There are other ways to increase high levels of communication. This is one of the reasons why Dr. Newberry is great about sending out a weekly email with our grades included. By initiating communication with the student, students are then more likely to hit reply back instead of opening up a new message. Dr. Newberry also stated some other tips to help increase motivation is to use the students name, and attach personal messages. In an online class an instructor can have more communication with students than in a traditional face to face class.

Assignment and ADA

The URL that I was evaluating was the link:

http://studyonthebeach.com/csusb/classes/etec_674_spring_2011/media/eLearningADATestPage.html

Procedure:

1)      The first part of procedure was that I read the instructions posted on the link.

2)      I then tried to comprehend what the instructions were trying to address and the major components of the issues.

3)      After I read the instructions I then went page to page and read through the pages to find how students with special disabilities could not read or understand the text.

4)      I found that there were no various tools that could be set up specifically for special disabilities on the “Study on the Beach” site.

Problems found:

1)      No tools are available for those who have special disabilities such as different sight disabilities

2)      The information box contained type that was NOT user-friendly.

3)      There was not a recorded podcast for those students who possess hearing disability.

Corrections of these problems:

1)      Provide students the option to listen to the slides for those students who have sight disabilities.

2)      Make sure that the font is large and that the type style selected is easy to read and user-friendly.

3)      Contact information would be easily assessable for students who may need assistant that have learning disabilities.

4)      Tutors could be available for those who may need information read out loud for students with special needs.

Assignment 2: Planning for ADA compliance. Choose two ways of creating instructor created presentations that you might use and explain how you will ensure that they are ADA compliant. Create an ADA checklist that could use for the presentation types:

In order to make a presentation that would be ADA compliance an instructor would want to use simplistic tools. The power point presentation should try to keep with a basic layout in order to decrease confusion. I like how Dr. Newberry had two different types of presentations available for students. One of the presentations used more colorful graphics and the other one used a more basic layout. This gives all students the options to use what is best for them. For those who do not have special needs, the visually entertaining PowerPoint presentation maybe more appropriate and entertaining. However, those that do have special needs need the more basic layout which may be user-friendly. By providing both options for students it helps to ensure that all students will use what is best for their own individual learning ability.

In order to ensure that material is ADA appropriate I would take Dr. Newberry’s advice and made an ADA checklist that would include the following:

·       No animation

·       Simple and high contrast

·       Text version

·       Material available with audio option

·       Easy to read font

·       Videos must be captioned

·       Keyboard option instead of mouse

·       No color options available

Annotated Bibliography

Gunter, G. A. (2007). The Effects of the Impact of Instructional Immediacy on Cognition and Learning in Online Classes. International Journal of Social Sciences, 2(3).

Summary :

 The impact of instructional immediacy in online classes article talked about identifying specific instruction immediacy behaviors (Gunter, 2007). This study talked about the immediacy behaviors and how we are to build close relationships and immediacy among teachers-students, students, and student-content (Gunter, 2007). In this article immediacy can be correlated with the lack of physical interaction in online classes. The article also talked about the social cognitive theory and how it is used to examine the behaviors of the online classroom. The ideology of the social cognitive theory is based on the notion that we learn about behaviors from social groups. This however is different in the E-learning world because more value is placed on instructor’s communication with students. Immediacy is more important in the E-learning world because of the lack of physical and visual interaction.

The study that the article overviewed found that:

1)      Online classes have a higher level of drop out rate than traditional classrooms.

2)      Online classes and comments help increase undergrad student’s cognitive learning and help them stay encouraged.

3)      Posting comments also help create a feeling of connection among classmates in the online community world.

4)      Social online interaction must occur to help students not drop out of classes.

5)      Many participates in the study stated that they had gained a better understanding, confidence and knowledge of the E-learning world.

6)      Many students also felt that one of the important aspects of an online class was the incorporation of digital media and technology.

Future implications of this study might include the levels of resistance felt by students. The study would follow students who previously viewed technology just as a source for social networking and not for learning. The study would ask their opinions as they did the coursework for an online class.

Review:

Social Cognitive theory is a fascinating theory to me especially because we see it often in the communication world. Since E-learning and communication go hand and hand it is no surprise to see this theory in this article. It is no surprise because of the technology advancements of our society and how we are becoming a more E-learning culture. As the need for E-learning classes and degrees continue to grow the need for instructors to find ways to effectively communicate with the students increases as well. As stated earlier the drop out rate of an online class is more than that of a traditional classroom. This is partially due to students lack of connection with the teacher both physical and visually. By increasing effective immediacy, whether it be through comments or emails, the instructors hold the power to encourage students and course work.

Loveland, K. (2007). Students Evaluation of Teaching (SET) in Web-Based Classes: Preliminary Findings and a Call for Further Research. The Journal of Educators Online, 4(2).

Summary:

This article followed a study done on a group of 250 students at a Midwestern college. One of the purposes of this study was to tell the difference between Student Evaluation of Teaching (SET) online and the traditional face to face coursework evaluation. Much coursework set up for instructors to learn how to teach online course work is mostly set up based on technology. There is little information based on setting up classroom behavior and effective communication.

Overview of the article:

1)      The number of students taking an online course has increased to over 35% in the education field.

2)      The decision to take on an online class course is a daunting one for instructors because of the coursework and the lack of student interaction.

3)      Student Evaluations of teaching help instructors know the need of the students and help them to receive feedback.

4)      Since the high increase of online classes have been implemented in the last decade the (SET) has been neglected in the online world.

5)      This study followed the reactions of over 250 students in a mid-western college and their opinions based on the (SET).

6)      Results from online classes based on the (SET) were considerably lower compared to the traditional face to face classroom setting.

7)      One reason why scholars think that the (SET) rates lower compared to the traditional face to face classroom evaluation is because the (SET) is not set up for online classes and for online coursework.

Review:

I found this article to very insightful. One of my long term goals include the hope at being an instructor at the community college level. I found it interesting and true that often times we are so focused on the technology aspect of E-learning that we often fail to realize the importance of setting up good practice for classroom behaviors. I also think it would be helpful for me as an instructor to distribute evaluations before actually starting the online class. The evaluations would determine the student’s knowledge of technology as well as determine how often they function online. In the closing of the class I would also distribute an evaluation and would have them rate me on how well they thought I was an instructor. Sometime students my not relate to the teacher because they have never meet them or heard their voice. That is why I have enjoyed participating in the Talk Shoes sessions because it has given a voice with the photos.

Stover, M., & Kelly, K. (2005). The Effects of the Impact of Instructional Immediacy on Cognition and Learning in Online Classes. Distance Teaching and Learning. Retrieved May 15, 2011, from http://www.uwex.edu/disted/conference/Resource_library/proceedings/02_73.pdf

Summary:

Plagiarism and cheating can be hard to define because it includes so many different facets. Plagiarism may included another student writing another’s ones paper or maybe simply defined as not citing a source properly. However, cheating on exam with full intent is different. Culturally some believe that plagiarism is equal to breaking one of the commandments such as stealing or adultery. This study found a shockingly high number of undergraduate students reported cheating in the last four years of their college careers. These numbers are similar to those taken in the sixties where 60-80 of the students had polled reported cheating on a test. This article covers different ways to avoid plagiarism. These different tools include turnitin.com. This site informs the teacher of how much of the student’s paper is originally theirs and how much is from another sources. Other tools to help avoid plagiarism are online services that teach students how to sources properly. Also online learning centers are offered to students who are taking online classes. These centers also offer tutorials and real people to help in writing term papers.

The article overviewed that:

1)      40-60 percent of undergraduate students have reported that they have cheated or plagiarized at least one time in their 4 year education careers.

2)      Graduate students believe that they are more ethical than their undergraduate counterparts.

3)      According to the California Department of Education 75% percent of high school students admitted that they have cheated on a test.

4)      Sites such as turnitin.com have helped aid with the plagiarism crisis.

5)      Library information classes also help students learn how to avoid plagiarism.

Review:

I found this article to be interesting because I too have struggled with correct citation of scholarly sources. I came from an institution where emphasis was not placed heavily on the proper citation of sources. Different education institutions place value on different areas and it was a cold shock to see how much value was placed on proper citation in the graduate program. I have learned a lot from practice and other online resources such as the “The Owl” that Purdue puts out. Sites such as turnitin.com have helped instructors learn how much of a student content of a paper is originally theirs and also how much is from other sources. As we have learned from our Talk Shoes session it is also a good idea for students to turn in drafts of papers. This helps to ensure that they will not buy them online. Many sites that offer papers for sale do not supply multiple drafts just the final copy. Future studies may include a longitudinal study of those who had cheated in their undergraduate education. This study would also follow the success of their careers compared to those students who had not cheated as undergraduates.

Stanford-Bowers, D. (2008). Persistence in Online Classes: A study of Perceptions among Community College Stakeholders. MERLOT Journal of Online Learning and Teaching, 4(1).

Summary:

Students are drawn to online course because it allows them the flexibility to work at their own pace more so than a traditional face to face class would allow. Though other problematic factors are included in taking an online class that is not face to face. Because students do not meet consistently with the instructors students may feel the need to procrastinate on assignments. This may result in the high drop out levels of the online class community. Instructors also need to know how to gauge their online class and what work best for that particular classroom. In this study students were given an assessment before the online class so they would know what the online class entails them to do. Communication is also vital because of lack of physical contact with the instructor and with the students. In an online classroom setting instructors need to communicate with students because of the lack of visual contact.

Overview of the article:

1)      Online learning allows students more flexibility compared to the original tradition classroom setting.

2)      Problems in online learning included holding the retention of the students.

3)      Many students who register for online courses end up dropping the class because of lack of participation.

4)      As classmates are more involved with the online experiences the more likely they will stay enrolled in the course.

5)      E- Learning allows students to make connections that they might not have in a traditional face-to-face classroom.

6)      Every class is different and this does not excluded online classes. This is also hard for instructors to establish relationships with the students.

7)      To help keep students involved it is a good idea for them to be engaged with a group so that the student feels like they are apart of a community.

Review:

One thing that I liked about this article was that it suggested an assessment of student’s E-learning knowledge before and after the course. This information would help aid the instructor on what would work best for the class. I also like the suggestion of making a list of contacts in case the students had any questions about course work or material that they would have a list of numbers or emails from other classmates so they would be able to contact them and get help.

Steinweg, S., Trujillo, L., Jeffs, T., & Hopfengardner Warren, S. (2006). Maintaining the Personal Touch in a Growing Program: Strategies for Establishing Social Presence in Online Classes. Journal of the Research Center for Educational Technology, 2(2), 15-23.

Summary:

 This article covers the necessity for instructions to implement different strategies in online E-Learning. These different strategies are important because they help establish a social network that help the students stay motivated to learn the course material. Different strategies were implemented in this study. Emphasis was placed on the importance of encouraging students to participate in online class discussion to increase activity. Also by increasing activity it helped the students learn the course work and helped them learn how to communities well with others.

Overview of the article:

1)      Different strategies are important for established a community in the E-learning world.

2)      In using different strategies an instructor can help establish a social repertoire with the students online.

3)      Most courses that are considered to be distance are considered hybrid courses or totally online.

4)      The need for online courses is important to help assistance and educate those individuals that  live in rural areas.

5)      As the need for online classes grows so does the importance of the quality of instruction for future teachers.

6)      How students rate the class is important to help receive insight and to help improve online classes.

7)      One of the many reasons why the need for online class has grown was based on the need for students to have flexibility in their schedules and in their coursework.

8)      Some scholars have felt that online courses lack in impersonal connection between students and professors.

Review:

I particularly appreciated the aspect of this article that suggested it is a good idea to give students responsibility. By asking students to come up with new teaching material helps students learn the coursework. The most I have ever learned out of a chapter were chapters that I had presented in class. One must truly know the information before they can teach others. This article was interesting because it placed so much in the hands of the students including the idea to have students complete group assessments after group work. It is also important for professors to send personal emails to students to engage in personal conversation as well as to keep the student motivated in their studies during the semester.

References

Gunter, G. A. (2007). The Effects of the Impact of Instructional Immediacy on Cognition and Learning in Online Classes. International Journal of Social Sciences, 2(3).

Loveland, K. (2007). Students Evaluation of Teaching (SET) in Web-Based Classes: Preliminary Findings and a Call for Further Research. The Journal of Educators Online, 4(2).

Stanford-Bowers, D. (2008). Persistence in Online Classes: A study of Perceptions among Community College Stakeholders. MERLOT Journal of Online Learning and Teaching, 4(1).

Steinweg, S., Trujillo, L., Jeffs, T., & Hopfengardner Warren, S. (2006). Maintaining the Personal Touch in a Growing Program: Strategies for Establishing Social Presence in Online Classes. Journal of the Research Center for Educational Technology, 2(2), 15-23.

Stover, M., & Kelly, K. (2005). The Effects of the Impact of Instructional Immediacy on Cognition and Learning in Online Classes. Distance Teaching and Learning. Retrieved May 15, 2011, from http://www.uwex.edu/disted/conference/Resource_library/proceedings/02_73.pdf

Grading, Assessment and Evaluation

Summary of this week’s discussion:

This week for our discussion board we made log in names and posted comments on the study, on the beach website http://studyonthebeach.com. At first I had a hard time with the system (this was NOT user-error, but system-error). After I was granted access into the discussion board I did enjoy the set up much more than BB discussion board. The lay out is much easier to follow along with, and I find it to be more user- friendly.

The study on beach is a great forum for student to communicate with teachers and other students in the classroom.

I also have found myself on similar forums for my traveling experiences. In the past I have used:

http://www.couchsurfing.org/

This is a great website for those who love to travel, but do not want to spend the money on a hotel or a hostel. The website is set up for those to log in and crate a profile and volunteer their couch to other travelers or when traveling request a couch in a certain country. Though I have not actually participated in sleeping on random strangers couches, I have met up with people from couch surfer.org.

 This past summer I backpacked through Paris, and one of the individuals that showed us around the city had originally been from couchsurfer.org. It is a great site for those who are willing to expand themselves and make new friends. For those that are a little uncertain about meeting up with random strangers they also have organized group activities where individuals in a certain country can meet others in that area who  also share a love for traveling.

In one of my recent classes we have discussed online forms and how they are now playing a part with the social support theory. This theory is based upon the ideology that others gather strength and information through a group setting. Online forums have become a great place for those with terminal illnesses and addicts to share stories and gather information.

I would be interested to see what the future holds for online forum and social support.

Assignment:

For our testing and other forms of Evaluation week I chose to download the 30 day free trial and made a quiz on http://www.questionwriter.com/

I would advise you to place your thoughts on a word document first before opening the test, that way you can cut copy and paste without having to worry about being kicked off the exam.

 If you are kicked off the exam please email ASAP so I can allow you access back in.

This midterm covers the material that we discussed in class including Wiremen’s scholarly article concerning Intercultural Communication Competence as well as Gudykunst article about Anxiety Uncertainty Theory.

Bellow is the link where you find your quiz.  You have two hours to complete it. Good Luck!!

 C:\Users\Andrea Proctor\Desktop\GradSchool\ETEC 674\ICC midterm - HtmlExport\index.html

Research Report : Intercultural Communication Midterm
Teacher Name: A Proctor
Student Name:     ________________________________________
CATEGORY	Advanced	Well-Done	Average	Poor
Paragraph Construction	All paragraphs include introductory sentence, explanations or details, and concluding sentence.	Most paragraphs include introductory sentence, explanations or details, and concluding sentence.	Paragraphs included related information but were typically not constructed well.	Paragraphing structure was not clear and sentences were not typically related within the paragraphs.
Quality of Information	Information clearly relates to the main topic. It includes several supporting details and/or examples.	Information clearly relates to the main topic. It provides 1-2 supporting details and/or examples.	Information clearly relates to the main topic. No details and/or examples are given.	Information has little or nothing to do with the main topic.
Amount of Information	All topics are addressed and all questions answered with at least 2 sentences about each.	All topics are addressed and most questions answered with at least 2 sentences about each.	All topics are addressed, and most questions answered with 1 sentence about each.	One or more topics were not addressed.