Conference Presentation
The fifth time was a charm as Drexel hosted a very successful e-Learning 2.0 Conference on March 29th in Behrakis Grand Hall! This was the fifth annual conference of this type for Drexel and several regional institutions.
At the conference, over 180 individuals represented 50 institutions as IRT, Drexel eLearning, and Villanova co-hosted the event. For those in attendance, there were 26 presentations in tracks on best practices, support, and administration. The featured speaker at lunchtime was Susan Patrick, President and CEO of North American council for Online Learning (NACOL).
Listed below is the conference schedule with links to the presentations. Additional presentation links will become available as more presenters forward their materials.
** Denotes an available presentation.
Schedule
Abstracts
Track 1: Best Practices
Drs. Rebecca Clothey and Ellen Scales will present an overview of undergraduate students’ perceptions of DB postings. Using an online survey, students responded to open-ended questions that elicited feedback from their personal experiences. The survey generated data from students in their first and second quarters of the Drexel B.S. Online Degree Completion Program; many students are transfers from other online universities and colleges.
Students assess:
• The importance of the DB to their college experience.
• Their tone of voice and audience when posting on the DB.
• The types of postings to which they most often respond.
• A rubric for DB postings that provided students with an unambiguous guideline for the various levels of expected discourse in an undergraduate college course. Their responses allow instructors to evaluate the impact of the rubric.
• DB in comparison to discussions in campus courses.
• The role of the instructor in DB discussions.
In addition to providing an overview of students’ perceptions, Drs. Clothey and Scales will also offer ideas for further research on DB application.
Learning through discussion (LTD) is a time-honored method for facilitating student leadership of discussion topics (Rabow, Charnesse, Kipperman, & Radcliffe-Vasile, 2000). However, currently available learning environments provide new opportunities to use and further capitalize on the benefits of LTD. This paper will describe the specific procedures, outcomes, and tips for successful use in a synchronized distance learning format using Elluminate Live! for a graduate course.
The Department of Occupational Therapy in the School of Health Professions, Thomas Jefferson University offers a specialty graduate-level course entitled Older Adults and their Living Environments. The course provides an in-depth and advanced understanding of older adults and the environments in which they live across the continuum of care. Through blended learning (onsite clinical visits, in class activities, and synchronous learning via Elluminate Live!), students examine the impact of age-related changes and environmental factors on occupational performance and functional capacity. This combination of learning activities enables students to share their new knowledge and insights about older adults.
Because students live in different geographic areas and many are working full-time, we decided to make the traditional discussion format more flexible than having all classes on campus. This presentation will demonstrate how an accessible and functional e-learning tool was used to enhance blended learning and dynamic online interaction, enabling students and faculty to communicate, educate, and collaborate effectively regardless of where participants are located.
The synchronous learning platform was highly successful for students to present course articles and facilitate discussion using the LTD method. This paper will describe how students incorporate Powerpoint, video, whiteboards, and external files/websites, throughout their presentation to promote thought-provoking, engaging dialogue within a collaborative, controlled, low stress virtual environment. Tips for successful use and pitfalls to avoid are included, in a discussion format so that participants can share their experiences and ask questions.
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This session will demonstrate how Second Life (3-D Virtual Classroom) is being used by educators, and discuss the implications and opportunities (i.e., pedagogic value) for eLearning.
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In 2004, Lehigh University decided it needed an application that could easily store student artifacts as well as showcase and assess student work. Lehigh discovered The Denver University Portfolio Community which met the identified needs of the university for an easy to use, web-based repository for academic content and assessment. This presentation will focus on the journey Lehigh University embarked on from idea to implementing the Eportfolio application, as well as pitfalls to avoid, and how it intends on using the Eportfolio to enhance assessment.
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Secure testing is a topic in online education that generates a lot of interest. There is a range of possible approaches for secure testing online that ranges from minimal to maximum, each with corresponding pluses and minuses. Aligning the degree of testing security with the requirements of the course or program is suggested as a means of keeping both faculty confidence and student acceptance high. This session is proposed as a "roundtable" discussion. In the 50-minute period, the session leader will make a short presentation briefly outlining the various minimalist to maximum security methodologies of secure testing for online courses. FOllowing the presentation, all attendees will participate in a discussion of their own secure testing experience and how well this method satisfies the requirements of the courses for which it is used. The goal of the session is shared learning, enabling the participants to take back to their programs some ideas that may leverage their own secure testing programs for greater effectiveness and satisfaction.
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Google Docs is an online word processor that requires only a browser to be able to create reports and documents. Students can store their report online or save/export it locally in familiar formats such as Word's doc and Adobe's pdf. But the real power of Google Docs is that students can share their work at any stage of its writing, and allow fellow students and/or instructors to easily collaborate and provide feedback online.
For the past two terms, all students in my undergraduate and MBA courses have been required to use Google Docs for editing and submitting their written assignments and exams. The following presentation will outline my experience in using this (and other similar web 2.0 services).
This presentation will accomplish three goals: (i) provide a summary of lessons-learned (from the administration of online documents to feedback from students); (ii) a general comparison with other research on online collaboration, and specific look at the use of these tools within models of social learning (e.g., cognitive apprenticeship); and (iii) recommendations for how these tools could be used in your classes.
This presentation will describe an approach to teaching composition that was piloted for 700 students in 2006-7 at Drexel. This model uses technological innovation to address the multiliteracies of the 21st century. Classes meet face-to-face once a week, and the other half of the work for the week takes place on Bb Vista or through cultural explorations of the local environment. Assignments draw on these experiences; for instance, students attend a local theater production and write about it.
The hybrid helps free students of the time and place constraints of a classroom, allowing them to refine concepts of research and writing to better fit with their roles as citizens of the 21st century. It also allows students to develop a learning community based around their writing and creates the necessary course delivery system—for students and instructors—to create an “alive” course. The presenters will describe the basic technology structure: one centralized Bb Vista content site for all sections and individual sites for specific work, especially Discussion conversations, for each section. We will demonstrate learning modules developed in this environment and discuss how this centralized structure allows instructors to share course “texts”—which here include local resources and cultural attractions—while still teaching their courses in individualized ways. This structure creates a shared learning community that still allows instructors to provide individual ways of achieving course goals.
We will close with a description of the course “projects” (a shift in nomenclature from “papers,” “essays,” and even “assignments”), and describe how they are designed to capitalize on students’ authentic experiences. We will describe specific projects, why they were created, how they build on the multiliteracies aspect of the course, and how they are used for a large cohort.
Women's Studies developed an interactive on-line quiz using Flash to supplement classroom presentations to freshmen Univ 101 students in Drexel's College of Arts and Sciences about sexual violence and campus resources for prevention and treatment. We chose an ungraded quiz format with immediate correction feedback. We included some icebreaker answer choices to help broach the heavy topic of sexual violence. Students were able to link to the quiz through Webct Univ 101 sites and/or through the specially designed consortium toolkit website. In the toolkit we house additional electronic resources like a web-streamed video regarding stalking and a guide for staff and RA's to effectively respond to the needs of sexual assault survivors. I would like to bring the graduate student who assisted with the programming in case there are technical questions about the flash format.
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Track 2: Support
Students and Faculty face many challenges as the use of technology expands and changes. Using a variety of software tools, the Computer Center HelpDesk and Teaching Resource Center at Broome Community College have found creative ways to assist students and faculty in overcoming these challenges. These tools have proven to be especially useful during off-hours when face-to-face HelpDesk support is unavailable.
These challenges stem from a wide range of causes including problems with home PC’s, learning curves with new software, and simple password/logon issues. Solutions have been designed which require a limited amount of interaction with support personnel. Examples of tools which will be highlighted in this presentation are:
• The “HelpDesk HelpDisk”, a CD Rom containing information, tools, and software to assist students and faculty with issues on their home computers. The disk also contains the “HelpDisk Troubleshooter”, an interactive diagnostic tool where users find answers to commonly asked questions and solutions to common problems.
• Online tutorials for common tasks such as logging into campus computers, obtaining grades from the student portal, and accessing network software and files from home.
• Online versions of faculty and student guides to campus computing.
• The “Wall of Answers” which contains one page quick guides covering a number of software titles.
We will discuss the evolution of these materials, demonstrate the tools and methods used to create and maintain them, as well as outline our plans for future expansion and development.
The national attrition rate for online courses is 33%-50%. The Master of Science in Higher Education (MSHE) Program’s attrition rate is 12%. This presentation will focus on how the MSHE Program’s, and, specifically, the Technical Coordinator’s, concerted efforts in technical support before and during each class is a critical contributing factor to the program’s high student retention rate.
The MSHE Program is an online course that prepares students to become professionals and leaders in higher education institutions, national/international associations and organizations, government agencies, and corporations. The student population is diverse, running the gamut from young students with entry-level jobs to older students in powerful positions in higher education. The students’ technical aptitudes range from inexperienced/tentative to advanced/highly adaptable.
Throughout the course of the program, the students have to gain a working knowledge of many applications, including, but not limited to: WebCT (Bb Vista), Blackboard, iTunes, podcasting, Access and SPSS. Optional applications students are encouraged to use are Impatica and Camtasia.
The MSHE Program administrators have created procedures and practices that facilitate the success and technical comfort level of all persons involved in the program. The Technical Coordinator is an integral part of the development/delivery cycle of the courses and ensures the proper implementation of said procedures and practices. In doing so, the Technical Coordinator serves as a primary point of contact for technical questions/problems for both students and faculty. In addition, the Technical Coordinator is the liaison between or vector for the students/faculty and other technical support operations (e.g., IRT, Blackboard Technical Support, Wimba Technical Support). Application expert and soother of frayed nerves, the Technical Coordinator’s mission is to smooth the way for students and faculty and deliver a positive attitude and timely solutions to issues brought to her attention.
Philadelphia University has implemented a new hosting solution for its educational audio and video content. Learn how we implemented the iTunes University Podcasting solution to create a collaborative learning and information space for the administration, faculty, students and learning community. You will also learn the pedagogical implications of using Podcasting in the classroom and for online learning opportunities.
The university faculty and information technology department needed streaming audio and video content available for their course lectures and presentations. The initial thought was to set up a streaming media server to handle university audio and video content. However, the faculty and instructional technology specialist envisioned an alternate and more revolutionary solution. Besides lectures, class videos, guest presentations, we wanted our students to participate actively in creating audio and video content that will add to their comprehension and understanding of the course material.
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This presentation will explore four case studies that provide examples of different ways podcasts are being used to support teaching and learning at Lehigh University. After exploring options for creating and distributing podcasts, Lehigh has developed an initiative that helps professors creatively integrate podcasting into their disciplines.
Podcasting is the fastest growing consumer electronic technology since the DVD. Podcasting involves the recording of audio programs that are then made available for listening from a website or downloading via a "pod catcher" for playback while walking, exercising, or commuting. Like many other consumer entertainment technologies, podcasting is fast becoming a hot topic in educational technology. Learn how podcasting is already being used to educate learners of all stripes and how to find relevant podcasts and become a podcaster with only a small investment.
Learning Objectives: Upon completion of the workshop, the attendee will learn...
1) what Web 2.0 technology is all about
2) what a podcast is and how it is created and used
3) how podcasting can enhance learning for students
4) the basic tools to get started on creating their own podcast
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Blogs, VLogs, Wikis, Websites; how can one practically integrate all this information in to an e-learning environment? Web 2.0 has many definitions but the underlying meaning is that the Network is the computer and users have control over all of the data. With a little understanding you can easily leverage technologies like RSS, Blogs, Del.ici.ous and Google Reader to organize and automatically provide relevant content to your students in your learning management system. This presentation will outline a strategy for making the addition of web based course content as simple as typing a word or clicking a button.
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Faculty development is a misnomer; no upstanding faculty members believe they need to be "developed." When it comes to LMSs and emerging technologies, what they do need is information on options and then support. This session will demonstrate the approach to "cast a wide net" towards those faculty members.
Problem or issue: Support for faculty in the LMS and emerging technologies areas needs to be multi-dimensional. Much of it must be found, designed, and delivered by individuals charged with providing faculty support. Selecting, developing, delivering, and tracking these offerings is challenging but necessary. Support personnel need to develop and share faculty support models that work, or, at least, offer their faculty support colleagues at other institutions insights into methodologies they might consider incorporating. This multi-dimensional approach is challenging - but - it might be the only way to entice faculty to learn about emerging technologies, begin using some of them, and seek assistance when they really need it. Leaving no faculty member behind should be a goal of every higher education institution.
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Fostering faculty adoption of distance learning technologies is a critical success factor in the roll-out of e-learning courses. This presentation will apply Everett Rogers’ Diffusion of Innovation theories as a tool for enhancing faculty adoption of online learning technologies.
Rogers and others have identified key motivators in the adoption of an innovation:
• Comparative advantage to the adopter
• Compatibility with existing systems
• Simplicity and ease of use
• The ability to try or observe the innovation
• The effective communication of the comparative advantages, compatibility and simplicity of the innovation
This presentation will serve as a springboard for identifying ways to apply these motivators to key faculty audiences:
• Full time tenured faculty
• Full time non-tenured faculty (both tenure-track and non tenure-track)
• Part time faculty
Innovations such as dynamic HTML and AJAX are beginning to dominate the internet development environment. Web applications that have traditionally been static and linear are now being replaced by dynamic, full featured web applications that often are not accessible.
This new paradigm in web application development has interface implications for the use of the internet in education, particularly for those who use assistive technologies to interface with the computer. The "learning anytime, anywhere" mindset, with content development that dynamically addresses the needs of sophisticated learners may be challenging for assistive technologies that function in a linear way. We will discuss the problems and possible solutions with respect to dynamic web environments and accessibility.
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Johns Hopkins University, Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, Advanced Academic Programs (AAP) developed and implemented a concept of online marketing. AAP used WebCT to host Online Open Houses to market a fast growing Environmental Science and Policy degree. The program requires 2 courses taken at an AAP campus. The other courses can all be taken fully online. In 2006 AAP offered a new fully online degree in Bioinformatics. The Online Open House concept was adopted by the Biotechnology program to market the new online degree. The presentation will discuss the logistics, and roles to create the concept and implement an Online Open House.
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Faculty at the School of Education, Drexel University are using Waypoint software within the Blackboard E-Learning system for three major purposes: (1) to provide formative feedback to students on an assignment, (2) to adjust instruction based on student use of performance criteria, and (3) to evaluate course learning outcomes often used in accreditation reviews. Several faculty will demonstrate their uses of the Waypoint tool, provide information on how students view the performance rubrics, and explain how the long-term use of Waypoint can give evidence of student learning over time on specific criteria. Two instructors use the Waypoint software for the critical development of “reflecting on practice to new leadership action” in the Principal Certification program.
With a Performance Rubric of six criteria called (DIRECT), principal interns develop their ability to reflect on daily internship activities in schools to reframe their events into a national leadership standards framework, analyze the event for effectiveness and move toward new leadership action. This process is critical for new school leaders in transforming schools. One instructor uses the data analysis of student learning on performance criteria over time, to evaluate the program’s goals in development of leadership. Such evidence is used for yearly program evaluation and for accreditation reviews. Finally, another faculty member uses the Waypoint software as a performance rubric for two design assignments. The first is to develop a web quest that meets seven criteria for engaged learning. The second is to design an online module for staff development that addresses professional learning needs. Waypoint’s flexibility in customizing the criteria and rubrics makes the design process more visible and identifies problem areas that need to be addressed.
Track 3: Administration
This presentation will focus on practical applications for integrating Horizon Wimba features into an online course. Attendees will see a demonstration of a course that uses WIMBA conferencing, voice authoring, voice email, voice presentation, podcasting and voice discussion boards to create collaborative learning environments which can enhance course content and engage students. The presentation will include a discussion of tips and strategies for using these tools effectively, methods to integrate WIMBA with other media applications as well as faculty and student perspectives.
Are “clickers” (student response keypads) really worth all the hype they have been receiving lately? The answer is YES. When used with software such as Turning Point (PowerPoint plug-in), they provide a window on the mind of each student individually and the group as a whole. Whether they are used for discussions, surveys, quizzes, or demographic breakdowns, they help create an environment that incubates active learning, student engagement, and full class participation. At the same time, they provide an easy method for ongoing outcomes assessment, and immediate adjustment based on those outcomes. Integration with WebCT and Blackboard make record-keeping a snap.
This session will describe a variety of possible uses and review the benefits, lessons learned, and student reactions.
There is a growing body of evidence demonstrating the use of technology to enhance clinical simulations. Clinical simulations allow students to practice, to take chances and to make mistakes in a safe learning environment. One of the main barriers to integrating simulation technology into current nursing school programs can be the cost.
Smaller nursing programs do not always have financial resources available to implement new technology. E-learning is an excellent method to enrich the student learning experience. Companion web sites that are offered in conjunction with selected textbooks are an effective way for programs with limited technology budgets to integrate E-learning into the curriculum.
Companion web sites are easy to use, guide students to find their own level of potential accomplishments and many times will allow selected course content to be added. Many companion web sites offer features such as: Faculty Development, Technical support, Online Grade books, Discussion Boards, Virtual Classroom and Online Research search engines.
Utilizing companion web sites allow for an economical, efficient and a flexible way to enrich the learning experience and capture the essence of today’s E-learning environment
In the spring of 2006 I modified the Architectural Engineering program's Senior/Graduate course "Intelligent Building" (AE790-501) that had been offered twice previously in a lecture format. This time the course was built around the use of CMap concept mapping software. Students were required to learn and then use the software throughout the course to build a shared model of the ill-defined concept of "Intelligent Building". Using CMap's public server we were able to integrate the understandings and problem approaches that came from the varied engineering and architecture disciplines of the 13 class members. The software is opensource and cross-platorm and quite mature. The strengths of this approach were that it permitted class interaction and exploration of complex interrelationships. The weaknesses were that it is difficult to take the concept maps that are produced to a next stage in which specific issues may be resolved. The public sharing of work also produced at least one instance of intra-class plagiarism. The overall student evaluation of the course was good (4.5/5.0 n=6/13) but there are certainly future improvements possible.
In the session I will demonstrate the CMap software and the work that arose from it in the Intelligent Building Class as well as some of the issues specific to using CMap software.
There is clearly a huge amount of disagreement regarding just what Web 2.0 means but there does seem to be a few significant characteristics that just might change the way we do e-learning. In the same manner as our rapidly changing communication technology has empowered a new generation of learners (Gen "Y"ers), and left in its dust the "baby boomer" faculty, Web 2.0 could herald in the next big paradigm shift in student - faculty engagement and collaboration opportunities. This presentation takes a fresh look at defining Web 2.0 in the context of e-learning and explores its impact on instructor, student, and IT (systems, software development, infrastructure and support). How Learning Management system design and development is responding will also be addressed.
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LMS installations, licenses, training, support, etc. generate tremendous institutional expense. It is time to leverage that expense and our acquired knowledge. What LMSs bring to our students and faculty can work equally effectively for extra-institutional communities of practice, as well as for employees and managers in training environments.
This session will showcase myriad examples where leaders from across the university community utilize the LMS – where "courses" are not even involved. They build community, encourage and enable engagement, unite disparate institutional populations, increase the effectiveness of employee communication and training, and provide rich interaction opportunities for colleagues around the globe, to name but a few.
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Today's busy physician is hard pressed to dedicate the time necessary to meet increasingly demanding continuing medical education (CME) requirements for credentialing and relicensure. This web-based podcast option incorporates short "bursts" of material for fractional CME that can be used where breaks occur, on the train and in a relaxing manner.
This presentation will focus on the positives and the negatives when supporting users of distance learning. We would like to present 2 different cases on how supporting users meaning faculty/staff and students can be challenging and rewarding at the same time. The College of Nursing and Health Professions though not a college based in technology, however tries to be in the forefront of offering new technology and experiences to faculty and students. Distance Learning has helped our college reach more students, help faculty interact with students more effectively, and has given flexibility for both faculty and students to teach and learn without the facilities issues that some time impacts in classroom learning.
Supporting faculty and students with Distance Learning classes however has positives and negatives. Some of the areas that can give negative or positive feedback in our experience are as follows:
1) The differences in Vendor Hosted Systems and In-House Supported Systems
2) Remote support of end users (faculty, staff, and students)
3) TRAINING (for Distance Learning Applications and basic computer knowledge)
4) Hardware and Software Compatibility Issues
Our presentation will focus on the areas above. The presentation will have a simulated class setup and show how settings need to be configured corrected before sessions start and applications are opened that need to access various audio and video components. The presentation will also show the results from trials and troubleshooting of hardware used to resolve issues by faculty/presenters and students using distance learning.
Our presentation will end with a question and answer period to field questions from the attendees. We also hope to exchange information with the audience via a mini cd or website that attendees can access after the conference which will include information provided during the presentation.
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