University of Maryland University College: UMUC Digital Repository
Not a member yet
6660 research outputs found
Sort by
Audio Comments in the Online Classroom Pedagogically Sound, Ergonomically Necessary - DE Oracle
No full textDE Oracle @ UMUC
An Online Learning Magazine for UMUC Faculty
Center for Support of Instruction
Audio Comments in the Online Classroom Pedagogically Sound,
Ergonomically Necessary
Andrew Cavanaugh
Director of Writing
School of Undergraduate Studies
Published: May-June 2006
Category: » Online-pedagogy » Assessment-feedback-rubrics
When teaching a class online that involves significant writing, instructors face challenges in giving
feedback to students. Many instructors use various editing features, such as Microsoft's TrackChanges,
Comment, or other such tools to comment on papers. However, these tools present obstacles to both
the instructor and the student. Pedagogical as well as ergonomic problems arise when purely
text-based comments are given to students.
Having faced this challenge as an adjunct many years ago, I began to experiment with audio comments
on student papers. Since then, I have tried various forms of audio and video files to interact with
students, both in responding to papers as well as in responding to conference topics. I have found that
audio comments save time, provide more extensive feedback, and offer a more personal classroom
than text-based comments do. In addition, giving feedback through an audio method helps prevent
physical injury to instructors, a concern that will only increase as online teaching becomes more
popular.
First, audio comments are pedagogically sound, while text-based comments are pedagogically
questionable for many students. If a student struggles with writing, often he/she will struggle with
reading. This challenge renders the text-based comments problematic. In addition, for all students,
text-based comments are more difficult to penetrate and comprehend than audio. Consider the
following possible text from a student's paper:
Computer networking presence many problems, including determining what type of
network to set up, the cost of it, and you don't know how to service it.
The instructor, through TrackChanges in MSWord, could write the following:
The comments above are confusing, visually unappealing, and probably incomprehensible for the
student. This impenetrable process of correction has the potential of stifling, rather than nurturing, the
student's desire to write.
Audio Comments in the Online Classroom Pedagogically Sound, Ergonomically Necessary - DE Oracle
Imagine the student's receiving a file with audio comments.
If you can't hear the audio you can right-click on this
link to save the clip to your computer. You can the use
any mp3 player to listen to file.
This method allows the student to hear the awkward rhythm of the sentence and helps the instructor
give more thorough feedback. The thorough narrative that the instructor is allowed to provide affords
the student a rich learning experience as he/she revises and edits his/her papers throughout the
semester.
Second, audio comments are ergonomically healthier than text-based comments. In the above
example, selecting TrackChanges, positioning the cursor, and typing in the comments involved many
strokes and much frustration on the part of the instructor. If this had been a three-page paper, the
amount of typing would have been daunting. If this were in a class with twenty students all handing in
papers of this length, the amount of typing required by the professor would possibly be a health
hazard.
My experience reflects this phenomenon. In 1998, in the midst of teaching an online course as an
adjunct instructor, I was diagnosed with tendonitis. The problem was a result of typing numerous
comments to student papers. I purchased ergonomic equipment, including a unique keyboard and ball
mouse. These adjustments helped. However, the process of typing comments still wore on me, both
physically and emotionally.
I started using audio comments around 2000. I have not looked back since. I found that I was able to
comment on student papers with greater detail, more complete instruction, and superior examples and
illustrations. Moreover, not only did I find the process more enjoyable, but my students found the
change rewarding as well. Observe several of the many favorable comments I have received from
them:
I really like the method you use to respond to the student's essays. I find it very helpful. Even when I
had to write essays in high school, I didn't get that much feedback. Usually my teacher would just write
a sentence, maybe two under my essay. So I appreciate this!
Thanks for the comments. That was pretty neat - I've taken so many DE classes, but this was the first
time I ever heard someone's voice
Thanks for the comments on the essays. It is a neat way to communicate. I'm glad you are able to step
out of the box. I felt it helpful if I read the paper as you commented, then made corrections in a
different color ink and then went back over again a couple of times. Mp3 allowed me to hear
comments. I like it.
I have just listened to your comments about my essay. I want to thank you for your audio file. Online
education is a very impersonal way of studying, and I have often found myself frustrated by the
cut-and-dried typed comments I have received from teachers over the last two years. Putting them in
an audio file made all the difference.
Another point to consider is that instructors may well reduce the amount of commenting they make
when teaching an online class as compared to the amount they make in a face-to-face class. Because
of the limitation that typing imposes, I suspect that many instructors tire of typing extensive comments
and, as a result, simply give fewer comments. This dynamic cannot help the online classroom
experience for the student. Audio comments overcome this obstacle and allow the student to hear the
rich feedback he/she would have gotten in a face-to-face classroom.
Audio Comments in the Online Classroom Pedagogically Sound, Ergonomically Necessary - DE Oracle
Contact Site Manager
Created and Maintained by the Center for Support of Instruction
© University of Maryland University College
Powered by ArticleMS from ArticleTrader.com
Third, as is apparent from the comments above, audio comments enrich an online classroom in a way
that text-based comments cannot. Hearing the instructor's voice makes the online classroom much
more personal. Even the tone of voice one can use affects students’ perceptions of possibly critical
comments. Text-based comments often "sound" terse when read by students; with audio comments,
the instructor can qualify his/her language, adjust volume, use pregnant pauses, etc. in offering the
student feedback on concerns in a paper. These dynamics help to communicate the problems in a
student's writing with care and empathy.
In fact, I have come full circle. I now give audio comments to my face-to-face students as well as my
online students. Again, I find them much more effective than chicken scratch in the margin of a paper,
a process I used to employ in a face-to-face class.
Therefore, in the evolving world of online education, I encourage you to experiment with audio
comments. Teachers of the world, unite. You have nothing to lose but your pains. I now do not struggle
so much with the limitations of typing. I now do not wince at the prospect of ten student papers on
which to provide feedback. I can take a pile of papers, get out my hand-held audio recorder, and speak
away.
I should add, though, that I face another challenge when commenting on a few student papers: I get
thirsty. I drink more fluids now. But at least my comments are no longer watered down.
How-To
If you are interested in exploring ways to add audio comments to your students' papers, one method is
to use Audacity; directions are available at the DE Oracle. The resulting files can be attached to
assignment entries in the Gradebook or to conferences. Also refer to the article on CTL's Summer
Faculty Leadership Institute multimedia projects.
Rating: Not yet rated
Comments
No comments posted.
You must be logged in and be a member of the UMUC community in order to comment.
If you are a member of the UMUC community and do not have an account, please register for a FREE
one.
If you have a guest account but are Faculty/Staff of UMUC please send an email to the DE Oracle Site
Manager (mailto:[email protected]?subject=Please Update my DE Oracle Guest Account) so that your guest account can be
updated.
Audio Comments in the Online Classroom Pedagogically Sound, Ergonomically Necessary - DE Oracl
Constructing and Managing Courses that Incorporate the _Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education_ - DE Oracle
No full textDE Oracle @ UMUC
An Online Learning Magazine for UMUC Faculty
Center for Support of Instruction
Constructing and Managing Courses that Incorporate the "Seven
Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education"
Phyllis Medina
Faculty - Okinawa Area
UMUC Asian Division
Published: July-August 2005
Category: » Online-pedagogy » Classroom-management
Working within the online classroom requires students to feel confident about their learning
environment. I continually strive to instill confidence in my students by constructing and managing
courses that incorporate Chickering and Gamson (1991)"Seven Principles for Good Practice in
Undergraduate Education (http://www.tltgroup.org/programs/seven.html) ."
Encourage student-faculty contact,
Encourage reciprocity and cooperation among students,
Communicate high expectations,
Emphasize time on task,
Provide prompt feedback,
Encourage active learning, and
Respect diverse talents and ways of learning.
The following outline shares the "building standards" I utilize when constructing my online classrooms.
Breaking Ground
Encouraging Student-Faculty Contact
Success begins early: Contact students via e-mail, one week prior to enrollment closing. At this time
welcome students,
provide textbook and technical support information,
remind students to complete the enrollment process, and
encourage students to e-mail if they have concerns or questions.
This initial contact opens a dialog between students and yourself. Maintain the connectivity by
e-mailing students one week before class begins. At this time
remind students when class begins, and
express you're availability to field questions
Continued vigilance: Students succeed when you make your presence known.
Motivate students by participating in online discussions. I participate in two ways:
as instructor— facilitating discussion, 1. clarifying misunderstood concepts, and fielding questions
2. as a co-learner—students thrive when I collaborate
Monitor class participation. I periodically view student portfolios. During Weeks 8 and 15 I post
participation grades. Posting mid-term grades makes students conscientious of their participation.
Encouraging Reciprocity and Cooperation Among Students
An online learning community is a living, dynamic force in which students come together to exchange
Constructing and Managing Courses that Incorporate the "Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education" - DE Oracle
thoughts, ideas, resources, and social support. When establishing a sense of community online,
encouraging student-to-student feedback is a must!
Establishing Community:
Icebreakers
Conferences (addressed under Laying the Foundation).
During Week 1, students and I participate in a Read/Write style conference entitled: "Getting to Know
Each Other: Building a Sense of Community." The conference demonstrates to students what they
have in common, where they are different, and eases initial apprehensions about communicating
online. Within the conference, students and I introduce ourselves. The one requirement is that we
each share about four topics self-selected from a list of 13. Topics range from "Favorite movie" to
"What is your greatest concern about online classes?"
Why do I use a topic list? The list serves two purposes. First, it creates focus. Second, students may
not wish to divulge personal information regarding place of birth, employment history, etc. The topics
offered protect students' rights to privacy while establishing a common playing ground.
Laying the Foundation
Communicate High Expectations
Emphasize Time on Task
Provide Prompt Feedback
The Syllabus: Clearly communicate your expectations of students including: learning outcomes,
assignments, activities, due dates, grading scales, class policies, and UMUC policies.
Assignments: Provide structure and clearly communicate your expectations. I set due dates, but not
lockout dates for assignments. I accept late assignments, but do not advertise this fact. I make
available all homework and paper assignments, but I do not post exams or conferences until the
assigned week. I apply these policies because the population I serve requires flexibility (many deployed
military personnel).
Access:Offer alternatives, allowing students to successfully meet course requirements. Students with
connectivity issues tend to withdraw or request extensions. I offset this by a) basing homework and
exams on course assigned textbooks, and b) allowing students—when course appropriate—to present a
5-page psychological analysis of a movie in substitution for the traditional research paper.
Feedback: Timely feedback reinforces good study habits.
Assignments—be consistent.
Conferences and E-mail—Answer questions within 48-hours.
Structuring the Course
Encouraging Active Learning
Respecting Diverse Talents and Ways of Learning
Announcements: Submit weekly announcements. Students are looking for guidance. Each week I
introduce the week's topic and post class progress reports.
Course Content: Post important materials for easy access. I post class rules, quizzes, and project
instructions.
Conferences: My courses are based on a weekly schedule. You may prefer a modularized schedule.
Main Topics: Each week I post 4-5 Main Topics and use the same prefixes each week. This practice
creates continuity.
Constructing and Managing Courses that Incorporate the "Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education" - DE Oracle
"Summary of Activities for Week …"
Students like checklists outlining weekly outcomes.
"Supplemental Materials"
Chapter outlines, internet links, etc
"Discussion Topic: …"
A well-guided, open-ended topic works well. (For example, my Introductory Psychology students enjoy
debating the virtues of Freud's work.) Such topics feed enthusiasm and allow for an ongoing dialog.
Set response minimums. Within my classes, students respond to discussion topics in 5+ sentences.
They are also required to respond (in 3+ sentences) to one classmate's entry. These requirements
alleviate the classic "I agree with everyone else" entry.
"Activity to Post:…"
It's not all about dialog. Offer opportunities for sharing research experiences. My students enjoy "Class
Contributions to Learning" activities. Here students research an assigned, or self-selected, topic
(depending on my whims) and post their findings in the classroom. This activity takes students beyond
the textbook, highlighting current issues.
"Class Café"
Offer students a space to chat and field each other's questions—reinforcing a sense of community.
Design considerations: Students are diverse. Therefore, seek out technology and pedagogical
techniques that improve your students' online experiences and learning outcomes.
Audio: Offer sound bites from newscasts, historical speeches, etc.
Visual: Provide links to relevant images or video.
Hands-on: Incorporate activities requiring practical experience with course materials.
Interactive web sites offer fun ways to explore topics otherwise considered a bit dry.
Fieldwork requires students to step away from the computer and encourages critical thinking. For
example, my students enjoy discovering where on their tongues they are sensitive to various tastes
(salty, sweet, etc.).
Closing Thoughts
The above suggestions reflect the building standards I use. Over time, I have also developed several
tricks that make life easier when classes are running full-throttle (e.g., using AutoCorrect to insert
frequently used phrases when I am grading papers). I do not exhaust myself responding to every
conference entry. Simply being consistent in how often I participate motivates students. Therefore,
keep in mind as you develop a new course—it's work, but it is fun work. Your student's success and
enthusiasm will keep you coming back for more.
References
Chickering, A. W., and Gamson, Z. F. (1991), Applying the Seven Principles for Good Practice in
Undergraduate Education. New Directions for Teaching and Learning, 47. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco.
About the Author(s)
Phyllis L. Medina, Ph.D. (Experimental Psychology, Oklahoma State University, 1999) As an Adjunct Associate Professor, She
has enjoyed teaching both undergraduate and graduate psychology courses for UMUC-Asia since October 2000. Having
returned to the States, she now teach DE exclusively and enjoys it immensely. For her teaching online is not about
"lecturing." It is about guiding, supporting, and inspiring students to seek a deeper understanding of assigned course
materials. It is about providing knowledge.
Constructing and Managing Courses that Incorporate the "Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education" - DE Oracle
Contact Site Manager
Created and Maintained by the Center for Support of Instruction
© University of Maryland University College
Powered by ArticleMS from ArticleTrader.com
Rating: Not yet rated
Comments
No comments posted.
You must be logged in and be a member of the UMUC community in order to comment.
If you are a member of the UMUC community and do not have an account, please register for a FREE
one.
If you have a guest account but are Faculty/Staff of UMUC please send an email to the DE Oracle Site
Manager (mailto:[email protected]?subject=Please Update my DE Oracle Guest Account) so that your guest account can be
updated.
Constructing and Managing Courses that Incorporate the "Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education" - DE Oracl
Fulbright experience: Polytechnic of Namibia
No full text- Polytechnic of Namibia: Schools and Departments
- Issues and condition of the schoolTHE FULBRIGHT EXPERIENCE
Polytechnic of Namibia
September 12 –30, 2005
http:www.polytechnic.edu.na
Presented by:
Claudine SchWeber, Ph.D.
University of Maryland University CollegeNamibiaTHE POLYTECHNIC OF NAMIBIAPOLYTECHNIC OF NAMIBIA
Established 1995; Opened 1996
Formerly Tecknion, Academy for Tertiary Education
Prior to 1980 no higher education in Namibia
Focuses on applied science and technology; meeting some needs of Namibia’s economy
Data: 4,066 students: 1,710 full-time
1,454 part-time
902 distance
On campus residents:335 (180 male, 153 female)Polytechnic Schools and Departments
School of Business and Management (67% of students)
School of Engineering & IT (16%)
Natural Resources and Tourism (11%)
Communication, Legal and Secretarial (6%)
Polytechnic Faculty and Staff
173 Academic
201 Administration and Support Staff
Presentations about e-learning, organizational change
Develop a pilot training program for blended e-learning
Train faculty, using Moodle (twice a day, two weeks)
Work closely with School of Engineering and Center for Teaching and Learning
Consult with faculty
Discuss e-learning with U.S. Cultural Center attache’, staff and U.S. Embassy officials
Consult with USAID re: teacher training technology proposal
Remain in continual communication with DM program and online class at UMUC
My ResponsibilitiesPolyheights ApartmentChallenges
Infrastructure Development
Bandwidth: to Internet (external 400 kbps–560 kbps) allocated for entire campus
2/3 lecturers and staff; 1/3 student labs
Internal bandwidth (Poly only) about 100 mbps
Restrict large student downloads and access to some sites
Off-campus dial-up access only; charge by the minuteChallenges, con’t.
Lab Access
19 Labs assigned to departments: IT -11; Accounting -1; Engineering -4; Conservation & Agriculture -3
When labs are not in use for classes → locked (i.e. no student lab assistants)
New library has 6 labs with 55 computers connected;
hope to get 25 more computers
http://elearning.polytechnic.edu.na/My Challenges and Opportunities
Security →Engineering Office +late lab access
No internet connection in apartment
Bandwidth and slow speed → external web, 15-20 minutes to download
Substantial faculty interest and involvement
Student demand for technology integration and lab access is rising
Rector recognizes needAdditional Issues
AIDS
Insufficient public funding for tertiary education, non-scientific oriented funding formula
Need qualified faculty with doctorates, master’s degrees
Permanent appointment only for Namibian citizens
Faculty on 1-5 year resident work permits
Local faculty market still newAdditional Issues con’t.
Student qualifications in reading, writing, etc., needs substantial improvement
Secondary school graduates not adequately prepared for higher education
English often 2ndor 3rdlanguage; Afrikaans or tribal language firstEducational Costs
Tuition –look for “bursaries”
Travel to and from campus, taxi N12
Other: housing, materials, etc.TravelThank You
Accessibility and Efficiency in Document Preparation - DE Oracle
No full textDE Oracle @ UMUC
An Online Learning Magazine for UMUC Faculty
Center for Support of Instruction
Accessibility and Efficiency in Document Preparation
CSI Staff
Staff Writer
Center for Support of Instruction
Published: May-June 2005
Category: » Online-pedagogy » Accessibility
In preparing documents for online classes, accessibility (see also the March-April 2005 Accessibility
article) is
part legal issue: do the documents easily offer the same information to a person with a sight
impairment as to a normally sighted person, in compliance with applicable laws?
part " usability" issue: are the documents well designed and do they offer flexible access and use by a
variety of users with a variety of computer setups?
part efficiency issue: can the documents be reused as-is without "retrofitting" for compliance when the
need arises?
In short, Accessibility = Compliance + (Re)Usability
The legal aspects of whether documents are "accessible" to students with sight impairments don't
necessarily apply to every instance the documents are used. However, a major consideration when
instructors take the time to carefully prepare complex content documents such as lecturettes for
WebTycho classes is the ability to reuse the documents from semester to semester. Do instructors
want to have to recreate the documents in accessible format when a sight-impaired student registers
for a class? It's best to consider and provide accessibility up front. Besides, there are many
examples of how designing for compliance benefits other users than just those covered by the law.
Benefits of PDF Documents Compared to Other Document Types
A second consideration when creating content for WebTycho is how best to prepare and present those
documents in the online classroom. There are a variety of document creation types and procedures,
each with its own benefits and drawbacks, e.g., attached word-processed document; linked webpage;
pasted plain text; pasted HTML text; attached PDF file, etc.
Creating and attaching PDF files in the WebTycho classroom combines many of the benefits
and few of the drawbacks of other methods of providing content in WebTycho.
PDF files
Cannot carry viruses to students
Quickly (especially in Acrobat 7) open in browsers without requiring a download or opening a virus
scanner
Can include images, formatted text
Are attractive and professional looking when printed (in fact, aside from accessibility concerns, PDF files
are well suited to documents that are likely to be printed)
Are relatively easy to create: they can be composed in MS Word, then converted in a single step using
Acrobat software via a button added into MS Word
Are easy to provide in WebTycho via normal attachment functions (no need for auxiliary accounts,
software, or extra steps such as are needed for creating, uploading, and linking to webpages)
Accessibility and Efficiency in Document Preparation - DE Oracle
Are secure within the password-protected WebTycho environment (unlike webpages hosted on outside
servers such as Polaris)
In addition,
With planning and some adjustment of the method of creating the precursor word-processed document
(e.g., MS Word), PDF documents can be created to be compliant with legal requirements for
accessibility for sight-impaired users, as well as for all-around "usability."
As an added benefit, PDF files increasingly can be set up to restrict a reader's ability to reuse the
material.
Accessibility in PDF Files
Simply converting a Word document to PDF does not inherently make it compliant or accessible to
those students who need to enlarge documents or who need to use an audible, mechanical
character/screen reader program. Several basic adjustments are needed to provide
accessibility in MS Word documents that are converted to PDF documents for use in
WebTycho. The methods listed below are designed not only make audible readings of the text more
simple and complete for compliance reasons but also help the documents to be displayed and read
properly in a variety of computer settings. These methods are based on using MS Word because
WordPerfect documents do not convert as well to PDF.
When composing a PDF precursor document in MS Word,
Provide helpful interpretive text ("alt text") for ALL illustrations, charts, photos, etc. to provide a text
method for understanding the purpose and value of the images to those who cannot clearly see the
images.
Right-click on image, select Format Picture, select Web tab, type alt text, OK
Properly configure links (URLs, email) so they work properly after conversion to PDF.
Use Word's Insert Hyperlink tool
Accessibility and Efficiency in Document Preparation - DE Oracle
Use MS Word's Styles features to reduce the mechanical reading of unnecessary paragraph and other
formatting tags.
This means that an audible screen reader won't have to describe complex formatting commands
embedded in the document (e.g., "font style Arial, font size 28, centered, bold, spacing before 5 points,
spacing after 10 points") but rather provide simpler, functional descriptions of the formatting (e.g.,
"Heading level 1").
For an introduction to using MS Word's Styles, see, for example, a MS Word Styles Introduction
(http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/assistance/HP051895631033.aspx?mode=print) at the Microsoft website, or use MS
Word's HELP files, "About Formatting Text by Using Styles."
Accessibility and Efficiency in Document Preparation - DE Oracle
Limit use of column and table formats, if possible, since different mechanical screen reader programs
follow different conventions for order of reading (down-across vs. across-down).
Avoid using forms since they don't convert well and aren't assessed by Adobe Acrobat's accessibility
checker.
Avoid using footnotes and non-Unicode (non-Ascii) characters, since they aren't easy for mechanical
screen readers to interpret. MS Word's curly or "smart" quotes (http://tychousa.umuc.edu/wtdocs/wthelp
/html/smart_quotes.html) and em-dashes should not be used for this reason.
DO retain the original MS Word .doc file to edit and reconvert later as needed, rather than edit the PDF
file; otherwise, the descriptive tagging will have to be reinserted manually.
While all of the above accommodations CAN be retrofitted into an existing PDF document, the process
is time-consuming, highly technical, and cumbersome. Basically, the idea here is to use the efficient
document handling features already built into MS Word to enhance the accessibility and flexible use of
the documents when converted to PDF. That is, the key to efficient, successful creation of
accessible PDFs is to build accessibility in the source MS Word file and then convert it to
PDF.
Rating: Not yet rated
Comments
No comments posted.
You must be logged in and be a member of the UMUC community in order to comment.
If you are a member of the UMUC community and do not have an account, please register for a FREE
one.
If you have a guest account but are Faculty/Staff of UMUC please send an email to the DE Oracle Site
Accessibility and Efficiency in Document Preparation - DE Oracle
Contact Site Manager
Created and Maintained by the Center for Support of Instruction
© University of Maryland University College
Powered by ArticleMS from ArticleTrader.com
Manager (mailto:[email protected]?subject=Please Update my DE Oracle Guest Account) so that your guest account can be
updated.
Accessibility and Efficiency in Document Preparation - DE Oracl
Providing Student Feedback in Distance Education Courses - DE Oracle
No full textDE Oracle @ UMUC
An Online Learning Magazine for UMUC Faculty
Center for Support of Instruction
Providing Student Feedback in Distance Education Courses
James Kasprzak
Adjunct Faculty
Graduate School of Management and Technology
Published: November-December 2005
Category: » Online-pedagogy » Assessment-feedback-rubrics
Feedback is an essential part of the process of learning, but nowhere is it more anxiously sought by
students than in their distance education courses. Many students find the DE environment to be cold
and impersonal. These students may also be new to distance education, and unfamiliar with the
particular software and organization of a virtual classroom. A personal comment from the instructor
does much to give such students reassurance and confidence.
With all of our teaching faults (and we know there are many), the authors have particular strengths in
providing feedback to students. We know this from course evaluations and student feedback. This
particular skill is not an accident. We have individually and jointly worked to develop feedback
techniques which provide the most useful learning guidance to our students with a minimum amount of
pain for the faculty member.
All "feedback" to students is not useful, and even if it is useful, it may not be perceived as useful by the
student. In our experience, students most appreciate feedback when it is timely, precise and personal.
To benefit a student, feedback must be timely. Feedback given at the end of the course may be
valuable in providing long term guidance, but doesn't help the student's grade or the quality of the
work in the present course. It is especially difficult to provide timely feedback to students on their final
exams. At UMUC a faculty member has only 72 hours to grade the final exam, evaluate the overall
performance of the students, and post final grades with the Registrar. This leaves little time for
appropriate feedback. To fill this gap, the authors always offer students the option of sending in
self-addressed envelopes in order to receive highly detailed notations on their research papers and final
exams. Typically, only a very few students choose this option. This allows the professor to target the
individuals concerned with feedback, without the work of providing such detail to students who have no
interest in it.
It would be best to provide good feedback early in the course, but that activity also has limitations.
Early in the course, the instructor knows relatively little about the student and his/her work. Often
feedback given here is relatively mechanical and simple, and has to do with instructor expectations, the
rituals of class activities, and the peculiarities of the DE platform. One form of feedback suitable here is
to provide a general feedback in context. The instructor should provide a friendly atmosphere, and
control the risks in experimentation with unfamiliar tools. For example, the instructor should remove all
icons and hyperlinks in the classroom setup that won't be needed in this class. (No chance to go
wrong!)
The ideal time, in our opinion, for providing timely feedback lies in the middle of the course, when the
student has produced enough material to support a good evaluation, the faculty member has (relative)
leisure to assess student efforts, and the feedback will help the student in the current class. For these
reasons we provide extremely detailed, elaborate feedback on the mid-term exam. Before the exam is
even in the hands of the students, very detailed model answers are composed for each question: "A
correct response will contain the following points…." These schoolhouse solutions are included in a
Providing Student Feedback in Distance Education Courses - DE Oracle
Contact Site Manager
Created and Maintained by the Center for Support of Instruction
© University of Maryland University College
Powered by ArticleMS from ArticleTrader.com
personalized email to each student.
Since many students make similar errors, some previously prepared paragraphs (rubrics) can also be
prepared to address these anticipated errors. Standard paragraphs may include statements like, "Your
knowledge of the technical material is certainly quite good, but your grammar and spelling are so poor
the material can't be understood. I suggest you take the online UMUC course in graduate writing." A
minimum of one or two such paragraphs specific to each student should be inserted at the end of the
general midterm assessments.
Mid term evaluations prepared in this way are often lengthy --10 to 15 paragraphs long --but once
prepared, do not require a great deal of the instructor's time. Not only does this type of feedback
provide valuable information to the students, it is perceived by the studentas being timely, precise, and
personal.
When you use this technique, students in your course are much less likely to contest grades, and are
more likely to feel and appreciate the personal attention. In fact, after a little practice, you may get
comments like these (real responses from students):
"WOW! I've never had feedback like this from any other teacher."
"I liked the way the detailed evaluation for the paper was done, and the proper feedback really helped
me."
About the Author(s)
Dr. James Kasprzak is a Professor at The National Defense University, and has been teaching as an adjunct faculty member
for the University of Maryland, University College Graduate School for eleven years. For UMUC he teaches distance education
courses in telecommunications and systems management. He served as a military officer and civilian in automation positions
in the fields of computers and communications for twenty-five years.
Dr. Mary Anne Nixon is a Professor at Western Carolina University in the University of North Carolina System. She has taught
graduate courses in project management by distance education since 1998. She is the former director of the online Master of
Project Management Degree Program at WCU and is an active consultant in project management throughout the United
States.
Rating: Not yet rated
Comments
No comments posted.
You must be logged in and be a member of the UMUC community in order to comment.
If you are a member of the UMUC community and do not have an account, please register for a FREE
one.
If you have a guest account but are Faculty/Staff of UMUC please send an email to the DE Oracle Site
Manager (mailto:[email protected]?subject=Please Update my DE Oracle Guest Account) so that your guest account can be
updated.
Providing Student Feedback in Distance Education Courses - DE Oracl
Alternative Communication Modes for Real Time Student and Faculty Interaction - DE Oracle
No full textDE Oracle @ UMUC
An Online Learning Magazine for UMUC Faculty
Center for Support of Instruction
Alternative Communication Modes for Real Time Student and Faculty
Interaction
Monica Bolesta
Collegiate Faculty
Graduate School of Management and Technology
Published: March-April 2005
Category: » Online-pedagogy » Classroom-communication
"Can you explain the real meaning of multicollinearity or heteroscedasticity?"
This is the type of question I received recently from one of my students during an online chat. When
you think about trying to answer a question like that in real time text chat without a spell checker and
graphical tools, the power of using your voice quickly becomes apparent. After using the voice
capabilities of Yahoo Messenger, I am unwilling to go back to using just text.
Although the anytime-anyplace convenience of asynchronous online learning holds great appeal for
busy working adults, there is no shortage of demand for real-time interaction among the students in
my courses – particularly those that include a substantial dose of quantitative methods. When you are
a full-time faculty member operating out of your home in Connecticut, phone calls to and from your
geographically dispersed students can become rather expensive.
While text chat provides a less expensive alternative for "speaking" with your students in real-time, the
features of Yahoo Messenger give the faculty member even more flexibility to chat with other faculty,
staff, or students. These features provide more ways to communicate than our current WebTycho chat
function in WebTycho. I personally use the voice chat option during almost every chat session now
because it provides live audio capabilities. You can also use a web cam to make a live picture of
yourself available during your chat. This feature provides a live video stream and allows you to size and
place the incoming video streams in different areas of the chat room. Although the video can be
delayed and fuzzy at times, possibly distracting from an ongoing chat, it provides a fun and human
element to synchronous communications online. I find it advantageous to use it initially with new
students. It allows the students to see the actual person on the other end of the communication mode.
After an initial video-enhanced chat I move directly into voice chat. The voice chat provides a very
powerful means of communication when you wish to communicate with more than one student at a
time. The phone conference is still superior but when you have cost constraints due to location or you
wish to communicate with multiple students at the same time, the voice chat mode in Yahoo Messenger
is a great option. The students or faculty members with whom you are communicating do not require
microphones on their end unless they actually want to speak to you live. Those who do not have
microphones can still hear you through their speakers and use text to communicate their questions.
The voice option in Yahoo Messenger is particularly helpful when you are trying to convey complicated
concepts and ideas that are difficult to place in text. With text chat, you are limited to your own typing
speed along with your own typing skill. Remember that text chat in WebTycho does not provide a spell
checker. Keeping pace with a rapidly scrolling text conversation involving several students can
sometimes be challenging, particularly if you tend to make a lot of typos when you are typing fast. Last
semester, I received an email from a student who had participated in a group WebTycho text chat with
me. He wanted to know how if I could provide additional information about running the turkey test. I
meant to type tukey. Another student wanted to know more about the role of "elfs" in the assessment.
Alternative Communication Modes for Real Time Student and Faculty Interaction - DE Oracle
Contact Site Manager
Created and Maintained by the Center for Support of Instruction
© University of Maryland University College
Powered by ArticleMS from ArticleTrader.com
This was in response to the information I typed about elf-assessments (translation: self-assessments).
After using the voice chat option in Yahoo Messenger, I am unwilling to go back to using just text.
There are also other fun tools in Yahoo Messenger one can use, such as creating avatars or cartoon
pictures to represent yourself, funny audibles, emoticons, IMVironments, and a BUZZ! feature that
allow you to be more creative with your responses. These features add an element of "play" to the
program, which in turn makes it more inviting and appealing to new users who may be hesitant about
trying this type of communications medium. Now that I've used Yahoo Messenger with my students, I
also find it useful for communicating online with friends and family at a distance. It even allows you to
play games and send photo albums. Overall, the latest version of Yahoo Messenger provides a powerful
and creative way to communicate over the internet.
Detailed instructions on using Yahoo Messenger, are available from the page entitled "Use Yahoo
Messenger for a Video or Audio Conference".
About the Author(s)
Monica Bolesta is a Program Director for UMUC's MBA program and the 2003 Graduate School recipient of UMUC's Stanley J.
Drazek Teaching Excellence Award.
Rating: Not yet rated
Comments
No comments posted.
You must be logged in and be a member of the UMUC community in order to comment.
If you are a member of the UMUC community and do not have an account, please register for a FREE
one.
If you have a guest account but are Faculty/Staff of UMUC please send an email to the DE Oracle Site
Manager (mailto:[email protected]?subject=Please Update my DE Oracle Guest Account) so that your guest account can be
updated.
Alternative Communication Modes for Real Time Student and Faculty Interaction - DE Oracl
Effective Practices in Online Teaching_ Online Classroom Management - DE Oracle
No full textDE Oracle @ UMUC
An Online Learning Magazine for UMUC Faculty
Center for Support of Instruction
Effective Practices in Online Teaching: Online Classroom Management
CSI Staff
Staff Writer
Center for Support of Instruction
Published: January-February 2005
Category: » Online-pedagogy » Classroom-management
How the Classroom Looks || Online Classroom Management || Accessibility
In this second in a series, we look at some of the techniques that faculty member have reported as
effective techniques in online classroom management over the years.
Repeating it over again: Saying it everywhere might be more confusing
In an attempt to help students find material such as due dates, project descriptions, or reading
assignments, some faculty start by trying to place the material in several locations. While this might
seem like a good way to avoid having something important overlooked, it can lead to confusion,
making it harder to find information rather than easier. Jakob Nielsen has written on the concept of
"information pollution (http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20030811.html) " -- how more information may
actually mean less is being understood. The problem is not just for students. If class material is reused
in future semesters, the faculty member will also have to track down each piece of information and
update it (for instance new due dates for a new semester), or risk the embarrassing situation of having
inconsistent information appearing in different places. It is advisable to post information in only one
logical and intuitive location.
That's Monday afternoon in Japan: Keeping time zones in mind
Deadlines are an important reality of higher education. UMUC has long served a student body that
spans the globe and with the advent of online education, it has become much easier to have
participants in one class from many different time zones. Some instructors tell students they can
submit assignments by a certain hour in the student's own local time. For most times of the year, then,
the due date would effectively be six hours earlier for students in Germany than those in Florida. Some
faculty members find setting deadlines to one certain time zone a more practical approach. So, a
deadline for 11:00 pm US Eastern Standard Time on Sunday December 12, 2004 would mean a
deadline of Sunday 8:00 pm for students in California, Monday 7:00 am for students in Kuwait, and
Monday 1:00 pm for students in Japan. Needless to say, it's important to be clear about time zones and
dates when it comes to using this system of deadlines. For the convenience of students and faculty
alike, WebTycho includes a link to a world clock (http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/) under Options,
which will lets users calculate the time in different locations around the world.
But I can't read WordPerfect files: Letting them know what you want
Students should know in which formats they can submit their work. While most modern word
processing programs do an acceptable job of converting documents to and from a wide array of file
formats, there can be problems, and there are those cases where formats just seem irreconcilable.
Some faculty members say they accept work in either MS-Word or RTF format (http://www.webopedia.com
Effective Practices in Online Teaching: Online Classroom Management - DE Oracle
Contact Site Manager
Created and Maintained by the Center for Support of Instruction
© University of Maryland University College
Powered by ArticleMS from ArticleTrader.com
/TERM/r/rich_text_format_RTF.html) ("rich text format", an open standard developed by Microsoft some time
ago). Others have students submit work as Adobe PDF (http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/P/PDF.html)
documents. Whatever format is chosen, it is important that this be communicated to students and that
it not be too onerous for them to comply.
Best before...: Keeping announcements organized
Classroom announcements are an excellent way to communicate important and time-sensitive
information to students. Everyone sees it -- no digging around in Syllabus, Course Content, or
Conferences -- and it's the first thing students see when they enter a class. Experienced faculty
members say three elements are key to effective online classroom announcements:
Date announcements: Students should know how recent an assignment is, when it "came into
effect", and whether it has been superceded by some other announcement. This is especially true for
announcements like "Reminder: the first paper is due on midnight on Sunday".
1.
Sort in reverse chronological order: Faculty members often take advantage of the fact that
students see the announcement first thing when they enter the classroom. If students have to scroll
down to see the most recent piece of information, it is much more likely to be overlooked.
2.
Keep an archive: There is a limit to how much text can be kept in the announcements section, and
this becomes a particular problem if the announcement is marked up in HTML. If students are able to
refer back to previous announcements for clarification, reminders, or even as a resource, it means
fewer repetitive questions to the faculty member. A simple technique is to copy-paste older
announcements into a separate topic in a new Course Content item entitled "Archived Announcements".
3.
More ways to maximize the effectiveness of online classroom management can be found in GSMT and
SUS's Expectations Documents.
Rating: Not yet rated
Comments
No comments posted.
You must be logged in and be a member of the UMUC community in order to comment.
If you are a member of the UMUC community and do not have an account, please register for a FREE
one.
If you have a guest account but are Faculty/Staff of UMUC please send an email to the DE Oracle Site
Manager (mailto:[email protected]?subject=Please Update my DE Oracle Guest Account) so that your guest account can be
updated.
Effective Practices in Online Teaching: Online Classroom Management - DE Oracl
Promoting Participation while Managing Your Workload_ The Importance of Conference Design in WebTycho - DE Oracle
No full textDE Oracle @ UMUC
An Online Learning Magazine for UMUC Faculty
Center for Support of Instruction
Promoting Participation while Managing Your Workload: The Importance
of Conference Design in WebTycho
Susan Ko
Director
Center for Teaching and Learning
Published: March-April 2005
Category: » Online-pedagogy » Classroom-management
Interaction has been identified by many research studies, including UMUC's Best Online Instructional
Strategies Study, as one of the major determinants of student satisfaction. Many faculty would
sincerely like to increase their interaction with students and encourage student participation, but at the
same time, they feel overwhelmed by the prospect of investing additional time in reading and
responding to student postings.
In this topic we suggest some ways in which you can foster a dynamic online learning environment for
your students while keeping your workload manageable.
Define Participation So Students Know What is Expected of Them
A good method of defining participation is to consider both the frequency and quality of participation
when evaluating student contributions to your class.
Use your syllabus to make policy statements about student participation so that students know they
are rewarded for quality as well as the minimum number of postings, and as much for their responses
to classmates as to you. Use rubrics to support your policy statements with clearly defined criteria for
participation.
Finally, you can encourage students to be "good listeners" by asking students to incorporate
information from discussion into certain assignments. An assignment that asks students to analyze a
particular topic might require that students provide at least one example or point of view as expressed
by classmates in the discussion.
Assign Student Presentations and Group Work
Student presentations, whether done individually or in groups, can help promote participation and
interaction. Conferences can be earmarked for student presentations, and in WebTycho you have a
ready-made structure, the Study Groups area, for students to work on preparing small group projects.
If appropriate for the course objectives, make sure that at least one or two of your assignments are
group-oriented. These can take the form of a small-group weekly summary of materials, group reports
based on web research or other work, peer review using an instructor devised rubric, etc.
By having groups present their work to the entire class, you will be able to respond to the group as a
whole rather than only to individual contributions
Promote Student-to-Student Interaction
Even if required discussion assignments and expectations for participation are listed in your syllabus
and you provide a discussion evaluation rubric, student-to-student interactions will not necessarily
happen without your deliberate facilitation. The trick is knowing when to spark a conversation with your
Promoting Participation while Managing Your Workload: The Importance of Conference Design in WebTycho - DE Oracle
comments and questions, and when to hold back and let the students talk with one another. If too
much time elapses between a student posting and another responding it does tend to discourage
students. So at such junctures you might want to jump in with an encouraging remark. You can help
stimulate discussion and provide follow-up and encouragement for students to continue a
conversational thread. Cooperative group exercises and asking students to post some of their work for
others to critique are all ways to structure opportunities for student/student interactions.
How to deter a student from only addressing you? Address a question to all students, or include
another student's remarks within your own response.
Make sure a portion of the participation grade for students is based on their responsiveness to the
postings of classmates. This ensures that the weight of interaction does not fall solely upon the
instructor.
Establish Patterns of Response
Sometimes it's best to wait a day or two before jumping into the discussions in order to allow time for
students to respond to each other. You can communicate to the students that this is your approach by
saying something like, "Interesting point, Linda. I'm going to wait a day or two before responding to
see if others in the class have ideas in regard to this that they want to contribute." This lets students
know that you are acknowledging their contribution, but are allowing time and space for all students to
participate.
Do try to respond to a diverse group of students each week--not only to the same one or two. It's
natural for instructors to gravitate to a handful of actively participating students in any classroom, but
online, it's easier to overlook the fact that you are responding to only a selected few since you are not
necessarily keeping track of your patterns of response.
Some other tips:
Engage as many students as possible in discussion, but don't feel that you must respond to each and
every posting in the classroom conferences
Poke your head in the classroom on a frequent basis, even for short periods of time. This will allow you
to keep up with student discussions and make students feel that you are more responsive and alert to
their needs.
Do your best to read all postings, even though you may not be able to respond to all.
Make sure that you immediately refer all technical questions to WebTycho tech support helpdesk.
Email students who are "absent" from the classroom conferences. Show concern by writing, "Hi, John,
haven't seen you in the classroom lately. Wonder if I can be of help to you. Hope there aren't any
technical problems keeping you from participating." Or, if the student previously contributed to the
discussions, write to encourage more of the same, "Hi, Linda, haven't seen you in the classroom lately.
Really miss your comments. With your experience working for aerospace, I think you have a great deal
to add to our current conversation concerning fluctuations in the economy based on government policy.
Hope you will rejoin us this week!"
Give Feedback in Conferences that Encourages Participation
Some faculty think it is enough to merely post the initial questions and then disappear for the rest of
the week. But in fact, the instructor's continued involvement is a critical factor in ensuring that the
conference activity is purposeful, effective, engaging, and hits the learning objectives. When the
instructor actively participates in the discussion, providing critique, encouragement, and feedback,
students tend to become more involved.
As students respond to you and each other, you will be able to respond to the conversation at critical
junctures, and help drive it forward. Here are some tips:
Promoting Participation while Managing Your Workload: The Importance of Conference Design in WebTycho - DE Oracle
Contact Site Manager
Created and Maintained by the Center for Support of Instruction
© University of Maryland University College
Powered by ArticleMS from ArticleTrader.com
Encourage participants who give superficial responses to provide more in-depth details by asking a
specific question or requesting an example from them for clarification.
Inject follow-up questions or summative responses that address a whole portion of a discussion thread
rather than only individual postings within the thread.
"Call upon" students by name in your posting when you feel that a student has touched on an
important point that bears further comment
Follow up your own comments by inviting students to respond to their classmates' observations. For
example, you might ask, "Anyone else want to comment on Ned's observation?" Or you might inquire,
"Has anyone else experienced this situation in the workplace?"
For more information about conference design, see Richard Schumaker's article The Importance of
Conference Design in WebTycho.
Channel Communication into the Classroom
While email is a necessary component of individualized teaching interaction, it is necessary to establish
protocols, i.e. rules for use of email. Otherwise one risks being inundated with email. It is
recommended that you sort through email on a daily basis and answer most questions within 48 hours
even if it is only to say that you will think about the question and get back to the student.
You may divert email traffic into the shared classroom space by
creating FAQs or ongoing question and answer forums so that all students can read the answers to
recurrent questions.
complimenting the emailing students on their observations and suggesting or requesting permission to
share their observations with the others in the class.
posting, whenever appropriate, a weekly update of the activities, corrections, issues of the week ahead.
You may use the Class Announcements area to do this or send a group email. This eliminates many
individual inquiries, gives students a feeling that you are guiding their progress, and keeps them on
track as a group.
Finally, observe your own patterns of facilitation and interaction in the online classroom. Create a
schedule for your classroom interaction in order to allow for effective management of your time. By
developing a methodical approach to tending the classroom, you may find that you have more time to
devote to higher quality interaction with your students.
Rating: Not yet rated
Comments
No comments posted.
You must be logged in and be a member of the UMUC community in order to comment.
If you are a member of the UMUC community and do not have an account, please register for a FREE
one.
If you have a guest account but are Faculty/Staff of UMUC please send an email to the DE Oracle Site
Manager (mailto:[email protected]?subject=Please Update my DE Oracle Guest Account) so that your guest account can be
updated.
Promoting Participation while Managing Your Workload: The Importance of Conference Design in WebTycho - DE Oracl