Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Welcome to the EDUC 236 Summer Blog
If you are a student in the EDUC 236 Summer 2010 class, then you have found the right place in cyberspace. This is our class blog. Your assignment for week 2 is to read the articles found in this week’s lecture. Write a short summary of one article (no more than 3 paragraphs long) and how the issue might impact distance education. Then post it to the class Blog. Then comment on the blog postings of other classmates. I look forward to reading your blog entries.
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A review of “The impact of web-logs (blogs) on student perceptions of isolation and
ReplyDeletealienation in a web-based distance-learning environment”
This article was based upon qualitative research about student experiences with distance education and the use of blogging to create an online community. The authors shared examples of the participant’s exact responses to questions about their experiences in the class. Responses were included that discussed how the students interacted among themselves in terms of both a course specific context and also a personal context.
I found it very interesting that some of the students started blogs that were very similar to conversations that one would have in person with a friend. One example mentioned was a discussion about a student with an illness and others responding with positive support. This was very thought provoking. In face to face education, an instructor can view the faces of their students and realize if someone is not feeling well or extremely tired from working all day and knows when to offer additional assistance or possibly extend an assignment. In distance education the visual is not included unless students communicate these issues through writing or other media and blogging is a perfect place for this.
There appeared to be many friendships developed through the usage of blogging. The article cites many examples students replied to postings and using the first name as the addressee. This was strengthened by one respondent replying that she felt ignored by a group who had formed a friendship and did not include her. I see this as human nature and not necessarily the use of blogging. Even small children form bonds and tend to exclude some others. I believe that blogging might actually limit this and promote inclusion without the bias of sex, race, appearance, etc.
-James Blalock
Summary of "Making Connections with Blogs and Wikis" by Doug Achterman
ReplyDeleteThis article was pretty straight-forward in laying out the differences between blogs and wikis as well as some real-life examples of how each tool was used by a library media teacher. Blogs were used to post summaries or write-ups, and other students would then use the comment section to share their own thoughts on what had been in the post. This allows for a stream of conversation.
Wikis, on the other hand, are more of a collaboration tool that allows multiple users to edit one page. While the author described it as a "collaborative workspace where information can be gathered, etc.", a better visual image of Wikis would be a whiteboard that everyone could write on to share ideas, edit stuff, etc. The article ended with some great resources to start using blogs and wikis.
Both are great tools for distance education because they can foster discussion and collaboration. It was interesting to see their projected uses in 2006 (when the article was written) as a lot of students have moved from blogging to micro-blogging through Facebook and Twitter (the article mentions Xanga - I used Xanga in high school! MySpace is still relatively popular, but musicians have really taken over there.) Educators have also used blogs to share ideas and connect classrooms. Really, sky is the limit - it all depends on how one wants to use either tool.
@James B- "In distance education the visual is not included unless students communicate these issues through writing or other media and blogging is a perfect place for this."
ReplyDeleteSo true. Educators in DE really need to keep this in mind as they set up discussion boards or other activities (GWU faculty have done this pretty well). In f2f classrooms, discussions may be cut short because of time constraints, and a teacher can see if a student really needs to talk, or if they're just wasting class time. In an online environment, you can't really see how a student is doing, get to know their personality, etc. unless that student writes and communicates well. Not that they should encourage ranting, but learning to communicate well in a conversational manner (even in writing) allows relationships to be fostered.
Review of "WHY NOT BLOG" By Chris Harris
ReplyDeleteI was drawn to the title of this article, because I sometimes feel that the blogsphere is so completely saturated with snapshots of trips to the park and anecdotes about being in line at ShopKo that my cynical mind can think of two to three dozen reasons not to blog within seconds.
But the article was actually a lot more logical and careful than my presumptuous, pompous reactions to the title, and the author came up with some bad reasons for educators specifically to blog.
Most of Harris's cautions had to do with issues of privacy and being loyal to your position as an educator. He was also quick to point out that there is little room for anonymity online, so posting disparaging things about students, colleagues, or yourself can easily come back to haunt you. The moral is to be cautious and use common sense.
J.Clark
Blogs, Threaded Discussions Accentuate Constructivist Teaching
ReplyDeleteBy Pedro Hernández-Ramos
Overview: This very interesting article revealed how an instructor experimented with and exposed students in a “traditional F2F” teacher preparation program to the teaching strategies that promote more social, constructivist learning. Such methods take advantage of those Web 2.0 technologies known as Blogging, our topic for the week and threaded discussions. Teachers in the program were asked to contribute to structured exercises using threaded discussions as well as participate in the Blog developed by the instructor. Blogs and threaded discussions are similar however threaded discussions require that participants have access to a specific course while Blogs are open for public view to be accessed by anyone on the Web.
Outcome: Some students in course were a little more uncomfortable with Blogging and wanted feedback of their writing before it was published. Where the threaded discussions were confined to those in the course, the Blog would indeed reach a wider, unfamiliar audience. On the other hand some students found the Blogging experience to be very liberating.
Connection to DE: Most online courses take advantage of course management systems (CMS). The interface of Blackboard for example allows instructors to load content for students to access. Whether instructors use drill and practice methods or constructivist strategies, it is essential that instructors be knowledgeable on teaching strategies that will foster richer, more collaborative environments. Blogs and threaded discussions are features that can used in Blackboard and if instructors take advantage of such features, they will create more engaging learning environments, which will promote communication and collaboration amongst learners in their online courses.
This topic is very timely for me. I have just been working on setting up a blog that I am going to imp implement next year in one of my classes that works with students with emotional and behavior disorders. I want to create conversations with my students that deal with social issues that they can relate to.
ReplyDeleteMy rationale for using a blog is that it is a way to bring their outside life into the classroom. Ideally this is a way for students to go home and participate in school in a way that they are familiar with. My hope is that by doing this from home, they will feel more comfortable, and give more thought to their responses.
However, right now I still trying to figure out how I will implement this blog. I want to teach etiquette and sensitivity first. Any suggestions on how I should go about this whole project?
Summary of "New Technologies Help Build Learning Communities" from Distance Education Report
ReplyDeleteThis article interviewed Dr. Norman Garrett, Professor in the School of Business at Eastern Illinois University. Dr. Garrett discussed the use of three specific technologies - RSS feeds, Blogs, and Wikis - and how he has integrated each of them into his classes to build a community of learning. He first addressed the use of RSS feeds as a way for students to share found resources with others in the class. He explained that by submitting a useful website to his RSS feed, to which all students have subscribed, it allows each member of the class to keep up with found resources without having to check numerous student-created websites individually. This empowers the students to be the experts of a topic rather than depending on the teacher to dispense all knowledge.
Dr. Garrett also discussed the use of blogs and wikis. He establishes a class blog for students to share information regarding issue-related topics. He considers blogs to be more "free-form" and open for students to share opinions in addition to found resources. He also establishes a class wiki for students to take an active roll in constructing knowledge, contributing to the subjects addressed within the course. He noted that as an instructor the most difficult part of using a wiki is staying out of it. Ideally, the instructor only provides support in keeping the wiki organized, not critiquing the material so as to ensure that students remain in control. He also noted how quickly students correct each other to maintain the integrity of the wiki when it functions as true peer-to-peer collaboration.
Dr. Garrett discussed how students typically adjust to peer-directed learning within the community, as opposed to expecting to receive all information from the teacher. He also touched on how he integrated these tools, starting with only one and adding more once he became more comfortable. He recognized that these tools may not be right for all teachers or all courses, but worth considering when students need to collaborate and learn from each other.
@ Corinne - "Wikis, on the other hand, are more of a collaboration tool that allows multiple users to edit one page. While the author described it as a "collaborative workspace where information can be gathered"
ReplyDeleteI haven't experimented with Blogs in the classes I teach but we did spend the better part of the year developing wikis which was quite interesting. The key to taking advantage of these technologies is to think outside the box to develop creative ways to use these. I find that you can teach someone how to blog or set up a wiki but then blending these into ones content for student learning is usually the tricky part.
“The impact of web-logs (blogs) on student perceptions of isolation and alienation in a web-based distance learning environment.”
ReplyDeleteMichele D. Dickey’s article struck a chord with me as I can relate to periods of ennui regarding my participation in the ETL program. The basis of the article is research grounded in student satisfaction surveys with data collection supplemented by observations of blog postings, interviews and email interactions.
While the student context (advanced university students in teacher education programs) likely makes generalizing the findings to other levels and age groups questionable, the conclusion is that blogging, in fact, lessens feelings of alienation and therefore increases student satisfaction with web-based learning.
In the discussion that concludes the article, the author states “In actuality, the use of blogs in this case study was not much different than the previous use of discussion groups.” I was most intrigued by that paragraph’s final statement: “Perhaps the informal nature of blogging appealed to students and they interacted with the tool in ways they knew to be acceptable.”
My summary missed the mention of how this issue might impact distance education. In some of the ETL courses, the threaded discussions have been very formal and it seems to me distance education courses such as those would benefit from an alternative forum with less jeopardy attached to each posting.
ReplyDeleteNew Technologies in the Classroom contains an interview with Norman Garrett discussing the use of RSS feeds. Blogs, and wikis in the classroom. He discussed how he used each in the classroom. The distinction for when to use feeds (short one-to-two liners), blogs (paragraph or discussion) and wikis (classroom collaboration) was particularly helpful for me.
ReplyDeleteThough this article was written in 2006, I found the information very timely for my circumstance. We have been testing Google Apps for the past year at my school and next year are going to take the plunge into this world using the full suite. Google Apps just announced that it is adding Reader, Blogger, and Picasa functionality to Google Apps this summer (http://googleenterprise.blogspot.com/2010/05/more-google-applications-coming-for.html). This learning curve for implementing the suggestions provided will be much easier in this all in one environment. I plan to try this article’s thoughts in my Technology, Ethics, and Society course to give my face to face class a bit of preparation and skill base for their future need to consider distance education.
In the article, Your co-worker, your teacher: Collaborative technology speeds peer-peer learning, Ed Frauenheim asserts that the correct mix of formal and informal e-learning learning can lead to a more productive workplace. Because of increasing regulation and policy compliance issues, formal online classes continue to grow in importance. However, much of the “just in time” learning that is required consists of specific answers or advice on specific issues. This need can best be handled, according to Frauenheim, through Water Cooler, 2.0.
ReplyDeleteClaire Schooley, with Forrester Research, is cited by Frauenheim as stating that only 20 percent of educational learning comes in a formal way, and the rest is delivered through peer-to-peer interaction with colleagues engaged in similar work. However, most corporate resources are expended on that 20 per cent, and the informal learning is left to chance. Some software companies are addressing this imbalance. Proton-Media offers a virtual world, similar to Second Life for business clients, where employees interact. An employee logged on to the system is matched with others with similar interests and skills, and also is pointed toward relevant blogs and wikis.
Although this article focuses on the business world, there is clear application to education. The 80%/20% split between informal and formal learning in teaching sounds about right. Similar to business, the education world devotes almost all of the professional development effort to the 20% of learning that is workshops and classes. Within the decade, I hope we can expect to see virtual worlds of elementary reading teachers and physics lab instructors, where they can interact, watch each other in action, and get advice from a world of peers.
Summary of: Protecting Your Kids From Cyber-Predators., By: Hempel, Jessi, Business Week Online, 12/2/2005
ReplyDeleteThis was a relatively brief article that discussed some of the dangers to children presented by social networking. It spoke to some of the protection tactics being used by common social networking sites Facebook and MySpace (everything from algorithms and staff reviews to locate problematic issues), and also briefly addressed the role of parents and schools in keeping children safe online.
I chose to speak about this article not because of the depth of information presented (it was extremely basic, actually), but because I think that this is one of the most difficult aspects to manage related to distance education--keeping children safe when they're online. A 2002 report from the U.S. Department of Justice noted that "797,500 children (younger than 18) were reported missing in a one-year period of time studied resulting in an average of 2,185 children being reported missing each day." (Sedlak, Finkelhor, Hammer, and Schultz, 2002) Imagine how much that has risen since the rise in popularity of social networking where children are often presenting information about their personal whereabouts and contact information.
The article ends with a blunt statement that, "parents need to study up on what their kids are doing on the Web," but do parents know how to do this and what to look for? Are parents talking to their children about what is reasonable to post online? I think that the more children are involved with technology for personal and educational use, the more both children and parents need to be alerted to the need for protecting privacy.
"Another World" from Teacher Magazine
ReplyDeleteI was really touched after reading this article about a 23-year old Asian American who is teaching special education with the Teach for America program. She is out of her comfort zone and teaching in a Navajo community in New Mexico. While the article is short, it touches on exactly what it means to be a teacher.
"Another World" discusses the blog that Jessica Shyu has set up to journal the events, both good and bad, that occur in her classroom. The article includes a part of one of her recent blog posts, which explains the struggles she has had with a 13-year-old student with mental retardation learning to count by 5's. In the end, Shyu recounts how this student continued to practice until he learned how to count by 5's up to 45, an accomplishment that was amazing for him (and her).
The first thing that I thought about as far as the impact this has on distance education is that her blog is a way for other teachers, both young and old, to learn from the struggles and successes of each other. While this isn't a form of formal distance education, I feel that the opportunities that blogging provides for educators to connect and share experiences is a learning experience that isn't possible without some type of distance education.
@Alnisha - I find that you can teach someone how to blog or set up a wiki but then blending these into ones content for student learning is usually the tricky part.
ReplyDeleteSo true! Just having a wiki or a blog isn't effective enough. Finding ways to incorporate them into teaching that don't seem forced are a challenge sometimes.
@Danielle - I feel that the opportunities that blogging provides for educators to connect and share experiences is a learning experience that isn't possible without some type of distance education.
ReplyDeleteI have connected with more educators through blogs and Twitter than I have in real life. Having these tools at our disposal is so encouraging. The different communities that have sprung up online have really given me a vast resource and network of support, accessible anytime, that just doesn't exist IRL. :)
@Corrine - I have connected with more educators through blogs and Twitter than I have in real life.
ReplyDeleteI'm not much of a blogger, Corrine. Do you have a series of blogs that you follow regularly? How did you locate ones that are of particular interest to you (I mean, other than googling a particular topic)?
@James Blalock - I believe that blogging might actually limit this and promote inclusion without the bias of sex, race, appearance, etc.
ReplyDeleteI agree. I went looking for information on dropout rates and found that they are highly variable. One mention said 50-80%. Another argued for disaggregation of the statistics to individual courses. Bottom line has to be that inclusion is good and that in addition to greater satisfaction mentioned by the article, the resultant impact on "dropout" rates has to be a good thing.
The article Thou Shalt Blog brought up some nteresting points about ground up communication. In the changing landscape of how we interact with each other, especialy with younger generations, it is important to reach out to them and communicate in that way. This will allow us to build a better relationship with them, and to understand how they, the students, think.
ReplyDeleteThis, in turn, allows us to better understand how to educate them.
@ Mr. Smith - So true! The effort to "talk with them in their language" is old, but the language has now moved to new forms.
ReplyDelete@Tom - However, much of the “just in time” learning that is required consists of specific answers or advice on specific issues... Within the decade, I hope we can expect to see virtual worlds of elementary reading teachers and physics lab instructors, where they can interact, watch each other in action, and get advice from a world of peers.
ReplyDeleteI hope so, too! I was often the one who was asked to run across the hall to provide some of that "just in time" assistance. My school had not yet caught on to using web tools like Skype to connect classrooms, but it sure would have been easier! (and less disruptive to my own students) I really think that helping teachers to help each other makes technology integration so much less intimidating, especially at the elementary level.
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ReplyDelete@ Tom
ReplyDeleteWithin the decade, I hope we can expect to see virtual worlds of elementary reading teachers and physics lab instructors, where they can interact, watch each other in action, and get advice from a world of peers.
Tom yes to usually expand upon such peer to peer learning, faculty typically visit educational conferences where instructors share innovative teaching strategies with each other. For example at the NABT (National Association of Biology teachers), Higher Ed faculty who are SME take full advantage of these learning opportunities as most are not trained in pedagogy. But rather than travel for F2F interaction, the virtual interactions you speak seem more convenient. Faculty like the business sector can perform in second life applications, blog, or collaborate on wikis and share experiences with each other making such "informal" training more reliable and ongoing. In an attempt to increase technology usage on my campus, there has been a rise in peer to peer training efforts which is fantastic! Faculty make great change advocates and in fact learn well from each other during such informal learning initiatives.
Review of "Thou Shalt Blog, :Bushweller, Kevin, Teacher Magazine" by Chris Collins
ReplyDeleteThis is a short article which details the story of one community in Virginia in which the school district mandated that all the teachers maintain a blog for their classroom. The school district justified the mandate saying that by making the blogs mandatory, they were helping bring all educators up to a
baseline of technological proficiency. "There will always be folks who don't see [a certain type of technology] as an integral part of their job. But if left unaddressed, the divide between the ones who see it as integral and the others grows wider."
The author notes that being essentially forced to use a particular form of distance education "seems antithetical to the Web's free spirit." Being mandated to adopt a certain technology can result in some resentment and overall lack of enthusiam which can dampen the effectiveness of that particular educator. He states that "If you want classroom technology to be used in imaginative and effective ways, you have to let teachers discover those methods on their own. You cannot force innovation."
I chose to review this article because the concept of being mandated to adopt a form of technology has a lot of potential ramifications. The main one which comes to mind is that with the ever-changing landscape of technology in distance education, there are constantly newer and "improved" technologies such as web 2.0 products (Moodle, etc). Forcing a mandate, while bringing some educators into a new and innovative world of DE, can actually hamper other educators who wish to explore alternative teaching modalities due to time restrictions.
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ReplyDelete@ J.Clark - "Most of Harris's cautions had to do with issues of privacy and being loyal to your position as an educator. He was also quick to point out that there is little room for anonymity online, so posting disparaging things about students, colleagues, or yourself can easily come back to haunt you. The moral is to be cautious and use common sense."
ReplyDeleteIt is really amazing to me the number of teachers (and people in general) that don't think about something before posting it online. I have heard countless stories about educators who have posted inappropriate things on Facebook and been reprimanded and even fired because of it. In my opinion, teachers should be held to a more professional standard because of the role they play in students lives...that includes outside of the classroom! In my area, we have also had workers at a health care company lose their job because of comments they posted indirectly about some of the patients they were working with. I think people need to be more and more cautious about what they are posting because once it is posted, it's there forever for anyone to see.
@james,
ReplyDelete"Even small children form bonds and tend to exclude some others. I believe that blogging might actually limit this and promote inclusion without the bias of sex, race, appearance, etc."
James, I saw a study last year that I can not locate again. The authors surveyed the members of a large online course. They were asked to rate participants on quality of contribution, and then asked to match participants with photos. There was a strong correlation between perception of contribution and perceived "attractiveness".
In other words, participants in the class thought those whose contributions they valued were probably the most physically attractive as well.
When we don't have any information, we fill in with data that meets our own structures, so we form a mental image of classmates. Interesting!
@ Danielle
ReplyDeleteI totally agree that blogs can provide a network to share stories that share the wealth and inspire in a collaborative community. Thanks for using the article to point this out.
Review of "Blogs, Threaded Discussions Accentuate Constructivist Teaching", found in the December 15, 2004 edition of the Distance Education Report
ReplyDeleteThis short article describes how a professor named Pedro Hernández-Ramos introduced the use of blogs and threaded discussions in his classes to encourage his students to engage in reflection and to learn from each other. His strategy was based on the constructivist idea that learning is largely social and that people learn better when they learn from each other.
For the blog part of his strategy, Hernández-Ramos told his students to create a simple blog and post at least one reflection a week on teaching, learning, and technology. For the threaded discussion, students were required to post responses to three discussion questions during the semester, nuch like we have had to do in most of the ETL classes.
The results of Hernández-Ramos' strategy were interesting. Many students expressed discomfort about writing the blog and posting responses to the threaded discussions, mostly because they felt the assignments were ambiguous and they were unsure about how they would be judged on the quality of their writing. They were also uneasy that they were not interacting with an authority figure to learn. Some students felt liberated by the lack of writing standards and the fact that they were writing for their peers and learning from their peers.
I forgot to say in my review that I enjoyed the article because it touched on an important principal of informal learning, which is that learning from one's peers can be as effective and valid as learning in the traditional way, e.g., from a professor in a structured environment.
ReplyDelete@ Tom, the findings you mentioned reminded me of something I negelected to mention about the article I reviewed. It's that Hernández-Ramos mentioned how every class has people in it who he can't get a read on because they rarely particiate in class discussions and rarely, if ever, ask or respond to questions. He reported that blogging and threaded discussions are a good way to get to get insights into these students because he sees a side of them that he doesn't see in class.
ReplyDelete