Podcasts and Flipping Classrooms

I’ve been hearing about the “flipped classroom” for at least 5 years now, but never really thought about trying it with my classes. I’ve used videos to help illustrate concepts and demonstrate technologies, but I haven’t tried recording any of my own lectures for students to use. Students liked the videos and seemed to catch the information well. As an effort to accommodate auditory learners, I did take my written chapters and used text-to-speech technologies to generate audio recordings of the materials for students to listen to instead of depending only on printed materials. Some students liked this approach and some used a combination of listening to the chapters and reading along with the audio. However, most students used the traditional print. After reading chapters 3, 4, 5, and 7 of the text book, I have started seriously thinking about flipping certain sections of my class (King and Cox, 2011, pp33-88, 105-120). The first section is lecture and usually doesn’t go well. I’ve found myself thinking of it as the rough part to get through. I’m now thinking some videos of me explaining the primary concepts will go a long way with the reading to make this part easier. Then we can spend the time in class only covering the parts that are difficult for the students and move on to the hands-on section of the course. Principal Gregg Green (PBS, 2013) flipped the entire Clintondale High School in an effort to improve learning for the students. The process has shown benefits as the numbers of the measurements of success have increased. The GPA for one student, Daryl Wallace Jr., went from a 2.5 as a freshman to a 3.5 as a senior. Watch the video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_p63W_2F_4 One caution given by Harvard’s Justin Wrike (PBS, 2013) is that simply flipping may not be enough. Taking a bad lecture and uninteresting worksheets and switching them around will probably not produce great results. I was glad to see King and Cox (2011, p59) remind us to make sure the technologies we use are accessible to everybody, including students with disabilities. References King, K. & Cox, T. (2011). The professor’s guide to taming technology. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing. PBS News Hour, (2013). What a Flipped Classroom Looks Like. December 11, 2013, retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_p63W_2F_4

Podcast Interview

The following podcast is an interview with Susan Stuart, Director of Online Education Services at KCKCC. We discuss integrating technology into curriculum. I hope you enjoy the podcast. https://youtu.be/uEnGNw7ER_o

Sample Lesson Plan

Computer Technology Class Encyclopedia This project is for an intermediate computer networking class Learning objectives: 1. Demonstrate an understanding of basic computer terminology 2. Present historical facts related to computer technologies 3. Work collaboratively to develop a class encyclopedia of computer technologies 4. Develop research and writing skills to support facts and opinions of computer technologies Rationale for the use of wiki: Collaboration is important to the development of technologies. This project will serve to create an encyclopedia of computer technologies that can be referenced by other students as well as develop the skill of sharing information and ideas among fellow technologists. A wiki is a logical tool to use for this project as it has the ability to be used by a group and does not have to be accessed from a single location. It can be secured with passwords in order to restrict access to the appropriate students. Wiki Component: The wiki will be the collection space for all entries of the encyclopedia. Students will add their entries to the wiki and allow other students to contribute to the entry. Students will also contribute to other students’ entries to construct accurate and complete data for each entry. Schedule: WEEK ACTIVITY PURPOSE 1 • Setup wiki user names and passwords. • Demonstrate the use of wikis. • Explore the layout of the class wiki to be used for this project. • Have each student contribute their personal profile to the Contributors’ Page of the wiki. • Provide secure access to the wiki. • Show students where they will post items. • Give students a chance to post an entry to the wiki. • Add each student’s information to the contributors’ page to give a feeling of ownership. 2 • Individuals select three technologies and create a basic definition for each. • Have students create small groups of 5 and pull together their technology selections. • Each group should select 5 of the technologies as their entries for the encyclopedia. • Giving each student a chance to come up with three options promotes the independent thinking skills needed for idea generation. • Pulling the students together into groups begins the collaborative skill building process and moves them from the individual worker to the small team worker. • By letting students select their own groups, they have a stronger sense of ownership for the project. • Selecting only 5 items to use for their entries out of the larger number creates the beginning of the collaboration portion of the project. 3 • Research the 5 items to be included in the encyclopedia. • Develops research skills as well as collaboration skills. 4 • Continue researching the technologies. • Begin building the entries for the encyclopedia. • Develops writing skills. 5 • Put final touches on the wiki entries. • Develops design and other authoring skills. 6 • Add group entries to the entire class encyclopedia. • Begin reviewing other groups' entries to see if there are matching entries. • Begin combining the entries from multiple groups and making them one united entry. • Continue working on collaboration skills. • Move from working as a small group to working as a larger team. 7 • Begin merging the class encyclopedia into the larger encyclopedia created by prior classes. • Moves students from larger team mentality to a large community mindset. • Gives students a chance to take ownership in a much larger project. • Develop skills in blending work with that of others for a unified voice. 8 • Write reflections of the process of creating an encyclopedia using a wiki. • Develops reflective and evaluative skills. Encyclopedia Grading Rubric: • Each entry must state the technology being defined • Each entry must give a definition of the technology • Each entry must have a summary history of the technology (development and evolution of the technology) • Each entry must give examples of how the technology is used • Each entry must give specifications of the technology • If possible, give future expectations of the technology • Each entry must have a minimum of 5 supporting citations Student Grading Rubric: • Each student must contribute three original ideas with definitions to be considered for encyclopedia entries • Each student must contribute a minimum of 2 supporting citations for each of the group’s encyclopedia entries • Each student must contribute to the creation of the entry via editing and commenting • Each student must contribute to the merging of the group’s entries into the larger class encyclopedia with constructive comments and editing • Each student must contribute to the merger of the class encyclopedia into the overall encyclopedia with constructive feedback and editing skills References: Hazari, S., North, A., & Moreland, D. (2009). Investigating pedagogical value of Wiki technology. Journal of information systems education. 20(2). 187-198. King, K. & Cox, T. (2011). The professor’s guide to taming technology. Charlotte. Information Age Publishing. West, J. and West, M. (2009). Using Wikis for online collaboration: The power of the read-write Web. San Francisco, Jossey-Bass.

Wikis: Pros and Cons for Adult Learners

Wikis have potential benefits for adult education (King and Cox, 2011) (Hazari, North and Moreland, 2009) (West and West, 2009). As with any technology, there are pros and cons to using wikis in education. Fortunately, there are more pros than cons and most of the cons have solutions or alternatives. Wikis provide groups with a means to collaborate on a project asynchronously. This is an obvious pro to a wiki especially for online courses when students are not always able to have face-to-face meetings to work and write together. Even in face-to-face classes, a wiki can still offer an effective tool for collaborating on group projects. All students can add information to the wiki at any time so that all members of the group can edit, comment, add to, modify, etc. While the logistical benefit is obvious, researchers have also identified other benefits to using wikis for class projects. Hazari, North and Moreland conclude that using tools such as wikis empower students by providing a place to express their views (2009, p2). Such tools can also help students with reading, writing, reflective, and collaborative learning skills (Leight, 2008) (as sited by Hazari, North and Moreland 2009, p2). Hazari, North and Moreland believe using wikis will help students develop work that they can use later in interviews, portfolios, and work situations (2009, p3). They also state, “Since most businesses use groupware software that allows collaboration similar to Wikis, …” (p3). In surveying colleagues and associates from other work fields, I did not find anybody who has every used a wiki for any work other than a class project. The individuals I asked were from higher education staff, an Assistant Plant Manager from a manufacturing company, an accountant from a different manufacturing company, and a programmer from a software company. Jonassen, Howland, Marra and Crismond (2008) (as sited by Hazari, North and Moreland 2009, p4) state that, “technology can be only effective in the learning process when it meets a learning requirement.” They propose that for an activity to be a learning requirement it must be: active, constructive, intentional, authentic, and cooperative. A disadvantage to wiki projects can be the grading process (Hazari, North and Moreland 2009, p3). While having students work in groups rather than individually can reduce the number of projects to grade, more planning and preparation has to go into the assignment on the front side. The project goals and grading criteria must be clearly defined. While this is true for any assignment, it is even more vital for group assignments. King and Cox acknowledge the possible disadvantage of multiple people being able to edit a wiki and therefore potentially posting content that is not appropriate and takes away from the wiki’s purpose (2011, p123). One way to avoid this potential con is to password protect the wiki so that it is limited for editing to only the individuals who need to add content. A balance between security and open collaboration has to be considered. Another possible con is the bias of the collaborating group (King and Cox 2011, p123). Since the group creating the wiki will most likely be working from a shared point of view, the bias will most likely be obvious as it would be with any article written by a single author. When used appropriately, wikis can provide advantages. When not planned carefully, wikis can pose problems and detract from the subject of the course. References Hazari, S., North, A., & Moreland, D. (2009). Investigating pedagogical value of Wiki technology. Journal of information systems education. 20(2). 187-198. King, K. & Cox, T. (2011). The professor’s guide to taming technology. Charlotte. Information Age Publishing. West, J. and West, M. (2009). Using Wikis for online collaboration: The power of the read-write Web. San Francisco, Jossey-Bass.

Are Blogs the same as Discussion Boards?

Blogging Pros and Cons: Are Blogs the same as Discussion Boards? Discussion boards have been popular in online learning management systems (LMS), sometimes called course management systems (CMS) . Discussion boards are still popular, but blogs are growing in use as well (Oravec, 2002, p616). Many LMS now have blogging tools incorporated along with the discussion board tools (King and Cox, 2011, p93). While blogs have some similarities with discussion boards, there are differences as well, in both methodology and purpose. Discussion boards are typically used similar to a classroom discussion time. A person can create a new topic by posting a question or making a statement. The rest of the class then has the chance to reply with comments, answers or more questions to expand the topic. Many times, just as in class, the instructor initiates the discussion with a question or statement, but the students also have the chance to start a discussion as well. Blogs are more like a class presentation. A student can post a blog entry sharing their research, review, idea, or opinion. Once the initial post is made, the rest of the class can add questions, comments, or responses to the initial post. This is similar to a student giving a presentation in class then giving the other students opportunities to react. The two tools are similar in a few ways. Both tools allow for asynchronous communication. With both, the initial post is generated by an individual, either the instructor or a student. Also, all participants can respond or react to the post. One difference is that with a discussion board, the responses to the initial post and subsequent posts are threaded. This makes it easy to follow who is responding to what statement. With a blog, the posts are simply in reverse chronological order. This is less conducive to a discussion, but is excellent for keeping the topic on focus. The two tools can provide benefits to education if used correctly. If not used correctly, they are simply time wasters much like busy work in a face-to-face class. References King, K. & Cox, T. (2011). The professor’s guide to taming technology. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing. Oravec, J. (2002). Bookmarking the world: Weblog applications in education, Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 45, 7

Introductory Post

Hello dear reader: This is my first attempt at blogging. I am doing this as a requirement for a class therefore the posts will be focused on the topics of the class. I hope you find the reading interesting. Feel free to post comments. I look forward to reading your thoughts.