Web.Edu Agenda 8 for November 8, 2003

Last Updated: 11/7/03
Link back to course Welcome...

Web.Edu Agenda 8
for class on November 8, 2003

Startup
1. New computers, new User Name, new Password. Logging in:
  1. Make sure that Logon To: says GUPLAB
  2. User Name is tomclass
  3. Password: environment with e changed to 3 (two places), i changed to 1 (one), o changed to 0 (zero), first and last letters capitalized, all other letters lower case
2. Reminder to sign in during the class, using the online signin form on the course web site
Announcements:
1. Reminder - if you want a reply on your weekly report, please include email and/or phone
2. Starting October 20, Pipeline requires a current-version or recent-version web browser. You can get free downloads of Netscape 7.1 and Internet Explorer 6 SP1 (Service Pack or Update 1) from support.wayne.edu/allwsu/software/support/index.php (live link on course web site). Also, if you are using Netscape, you must allow the site lumprod.wayne.edu to use pop-ups. Directions are on the Pipeline web site pipeline.wayne.edu
3. Online grade reports are working. In order to get your online grade reports, you must first use the class information form to change GradeReports from No to Yes. Notice the dates for the assignments - work completed after that date is not reflected yet.
4. Reminder about regular online work: conference postings, online weekly course reports.
5. After today we skip the week of November 1 and meet again November 8. - work online instead. I will be posting "lectures" on the course web site.
Technical problems in online courses - Review
1. Review on Internet connection problems
2. Email systems. Maximum storage allowances for student and faculty. Beware of graphics files.
3. File format compatibility. The person with the newest version must save as an older version. Not an Internet problem.
4. Managing files - this is and will be an issue in any online course. Can you find your files, in order to upload them, and can you find them once you have downloaded them?
5. Getting help. At the present time, many Instructors may not be aware of all problems.
6. Computer crash, computer virus, computer worm, network down
7. Very rarely these problems may threaten to affect your grade. (I have never seen them advance to the point of an actual effect.) For your own peace of mind, know about the University Ombudsman and Grade Appeals.
Review of non-technical issues we covered in the last class (October 25)
1. Overview: Non-technical issues are much more apt to affect online students than are technical issues. There are both positive and negative effects.
2. The overall way to benefit the most is to be an active learner, rather than a passive one. Basically, an active learner's approach is "help me learn", which the passive learner's approach is "teach me." Active - Passive is not black-and-white but more or less.
3. Positives
  1. Online discussion
    1. Can express your opinion fully, carefully
    2. Back and forth discussion to understand how other people think
    3. Helping other students
    4. Being informal and having fun, perhaps being part of a community.
    5. Shy people often appreciate the online discussion more
  2. Having more personal control over the class direction and content.
  3. Flexibility in your study schedule.
  4. You can get to know the instructor and other students better
Going on from last class
1. Positives for online classes
  1. Something different, something new and cool. Going to class in your jammies, for example. Doing something valuable with your modem, for another example.
  2. Some special cases where online is by far the best option
    1. Family expecting a new child or has young children, with good family support
    2. Injured
    3. Disabled - low vision, deaf, crippled
    4. Traveling but will always have good Internet access
2. Negatives
  1. But also responsibility...
    1. Easier to "drop out," can be less there to pull you back
      1. I have started sending weekly emails, but email addresses change, people can "blow off" email messages, and some do not read email regularly
      2. I also require brief weekly course progress reports from online students
    2. If the Instructor is confusing students, there may not be other students to ask the questions
    3. Large blocks of time are more efficient for course work, lead to more satisfaction and reward for the student, but we suspect that many people are initially attracted by a (false) impression that they can "fit it in" and point and click to get that knowledge into their minds
      1. I have thought of assigning people to make a schedule showing when they will work on the course. Up until this semester, I haven't done this because I thought it was to controlling, but many faculty have said that they think it is a good idea.
    4. Online courses are not easier that face-to-face - extra work is assigned to compensate for "seat time"
      1. When a crisis comes up at home or work that requires that the course be put aside for awhile, it can be harder to get back, and work piles up more quickly. Should not put course aside 100%
      2. When people used to say that they wanted to take my online classes because they "didn't have enough time for a regular class," I used to say "great, see you online." But I almost never did see them online. If you are too busy for a face-to-face class, you are too busy for an online class. (This is not the same as having a variable schedule but always contains time for studying. This type of variable schedule can make it harder for you to study, but not impossible.)
  2. (Alba's message) Instructor can also not do his/her part - one saying is that the Instructor is "not the 'sage on the stage' but the 'guide on the side'"
    1. Instructor can feel that the assignments are set, the discussion is primed, now I can sit back and let this little machine run by itself - grade assignments, participate in discussion
    2. Doesn't work - Instructor must take a hands-on role if students are to make it through the course
    3. Advice - don't hesitate to push the Instructor if you feel this is going on
    4. Student can feel - mistakenly - that they are "out there" all alone. When all else fails, call the Instructor, contact another student, do SOMETHING.
    5. Instructor may not understand or be sensitive to technical issues, or may not feel it is his/her responsibility to be at least a first point of contact
On balance
1. Make no mistake, I am an advocate - I love computers and the Internet, and also - how can I give learners more control over their learning?
2. Do not expect an online course to be the same as a face-to-face course, or an online discussion to be the same as a face-to-face course. Online and face-to-face will have different strengths and weaknesses. Online courses will be changing (hopefully improving) rapidly as technology improves and experience accumulates.
3. Works extremely well for many or even most students
  1. Can often preview a course in detail from an earlier semester, or from an advance syllabus for the upcoming semester (not all systems allow this), get textbooks, start reading
  2. Organized, active students love the control and responsibility, will often teach each other
  3. Many students remark that they like the discussion forum - they can always say their piece, and can say it the way they want to - edit, explain, use formatting - give and take is better - can follow up
    1. Easier for students to bring in their own expertise
    2. Usually the online discussion is not graded for content, but I have begun to feel that sometimes so much care is put in and the quality is so high that it deserves credit. I do encourage students to quote the online conference in their paper
  4. Many online courses are starting to involve student web pages - most popular assignment ever!
  5. People take Internet courses to brush up on their Internet skills - to have it become commonplace - even though the course content does not involve the Internet
  6. Many shy people who do not speak up in class find their voices online
  7. Many students who have taken a first online class keep coming back to take more - they take all we offer
  8. Student papers online as course materials
  9. Students come back to the discussion forum after the class is over (not all systems allow this)
4. Can have problems for some students
  1. Those who really didn't have time but thought they could manage anyway - would have
  2. Those who don't "get into" the online discussion
5. Can seem like self study, but is not
  1. Value of a college degree - in readings, but there is more. Higher level of satisfaction with your life, more stable marriage with higher levels of satisfaction, and on and on. Do not sell this short!
  2. What leads to satisfaction with your college career? - see http://www.cll.wayne.edu/web101 - get to know the faculty
  3. What it is - active learning. You must be active in an online course, cannot only show up for class.
    1. Log in to the online discussion on a regular basis
    2. Read the texts and have something to say
    However, you learn better if you are actively learning than if you are learning passively. Online teachers do commonly remark that the students who participate seem to understand the content better and be able to use it better
Coming up or emerging
1. Universities and faculty will learn how best to use this new medium.
  1. Making information about online courses more available, including what courses are online, what the course web site is, and how to get started
  2. Better way to identify online students and get information to them
  3. Technical support must be around the clock.
  4. More consistent use of email
  5. Better way to send email to a class, including updating email addresses
  6. Blended courses - this is one
2. Present technology will improve
  1. Faster and more reliable Internet access
  2. Easier and more uniform email attachments
  3. Where access is required, will become more transparent
3. New technologies
  1. Internet videophone, multimedia (experiment with sound on the ISP web site)
  2. Talk and data at the same time
  3. Video conferencing
  4. Will these satisfy students who say they want face-to-face contact?
4. Needs
  1. Returning assignments via email to a group instead of one-by-one
  2. (Gail's message) Better way to make sure that students are staying involved in the course - the Web Hub is a start.
  3. Almost all students that have trouble finishing an online class have trouble getting started quickly. On the other hand, there are also many students who have trouble getting started quickly but go on to finish in good shape. But the students who don't start quickly are a high-risk group. It would be good to have an automated way of identifying and counseling them.
  4. Better online discussion forum, more oriented to courses
    1. Count and score messages
    2. Better way of maintaining threads
  5. Conference is too slow in starting up - some way of involving all students in conferencing
  6. Blackboard is supposed to be self-explanatory, but it is not - Gail's and Karen's comments in the conference, that they were confused at first, are examples. (I think this is an example of trying to be cool instead of clear.)
  7. Better tools for online courses - my online grades can project students' work towards a course grade, which students love, but it takes a lot of time. Better ways to score online assignment - more automatic, faster.
Other advice
1. Communicating with the Instructor. You have several methods available - face-to-face, telephone, email, discussion forum. Choose the one that best meets your needs.
  1. You have a single question, but the topic is critical and you want to be able to follow the directions exactly. Which method?
  2. Your issue has many levels, and each level depends upon the responses at the other levels. Which method?
  3. You want to discuss an issue with the instructor, but you also want feedback from other students? Which method would you choose?
  4. You really want feedback about what the Instructor feels about your work, and you want all of the clues you can get. Which method would you choose?
  5. You want to impress the Instructor with how serious you are about succeeding in this class. Which method would you choose?
  6. You are very busy right now, you don't need a quick answer, and you have other things you can work on until you get an answer. Which method would you choose?
  7. You need a quick answer to your question. Which method would you choose?
  8. You need a quick answer, but the Instructor seems to be very busy right now. Which method would you choose?
  9. You don't really like the assignment and would like to suggest an alternative, but you don't want to seem to pushy about it. Which method would you choose?
2. Online classes will change. Keep thinking about them.
Comments on the reading
1. Chapter 6
  1. Pg 74 - Some of the factors listed at the top of the page are, to me, danger signals.
  2. Pg 75 - Checklist is mostly good. #1. I think we will be able to prod people in online courses. #4. This is good, some people do have trouble following written instructions. Solutions: writing clearer instructions, being able to speak instructions using audio.
  3. Pg 76 - Checklist, #5. I don't see why feedback in an online class is not as fast Checklist #7. I don't think most people have trouble with computers today, at a level that would make an online course technically difficult.
2. Chapter 9.
  1. Pg 116. I don't see a support structure at WSU for online classes. Also, the University introduces new systems with little planning for supporting students (there is some planning for supporting faculty).
  2. Pg 125. WSU does not have a policy on who owns online course content - the University or the Instructor. For examples, many Instructors are concerned that they might lose the rights to their course content if they go to another University, even if they are terminated by the University. On the other hand, in some case the University may have put a lot of resources into an online class - staff etc.
  3. Editorial remark: Online courses work better at many other Universities and Community Colleges. Policies and rights are clear. Students can find out about online courses, have training in methods, assess their readiness, and have support, personal as well as technical. These institutions, as far as I can tell, have all had a mandate from the top level of the University, with allocated resources and follow-up.
Assignments due next class (from the assignment schedule on the Syllabus - get used to reviewing that)
1. Draft of Essay was due November 1. Turn in as an email attachment. Needs to reflect class and readings.
2. Reading, Chapters 10, 11 and 12 for the next class on December 6.
3. Postings on Blackboard, weekly reports.
4. Finish the "email test" if you have not already done so. Three messages (others have been done in other ways).
  1. Send an email to at least two different people, with me being one of them.
  2. Send an email to someone else, with me as a cc
  3. Forward an email from someone else to me. Forwarding is like replying, except to a third person.

Watch for my adding you to the third discussion forum, an email ListServ. You should have gotten an email welcome to the List. If not, make sure that I have your current email address in the Class information form!
Preview: If you send an email to the email address WebEduF03@lists.wayne.edu, it will get distributed to the whole class. Here are the email addresses as I have them so far:
ai6326@WAYNE.EDU     Karen Brooks
ai7320@WAYNE.EDU     Chandra Clark-Young
an9893@WAYNE.EDU     Cameron Johnson
ae2971@WAYNE.EDU     Shalon Pettway
an8202@WAYNE.EDU     Toryo Rahaman
albasullaj@YAHOO.COM Alba Sullaj
ap5884@WAYNE.EDU     Sonia Turner
ak3992@WAYNE.EDU     Gail Withers

A ListServ is just sending and replying to emails. Send an ordinary email message "to the list" and it will be distributed to all members, and show up in their regular email. If you get a message from the list, you can reply to it, and that will also be distributed to the list.

WebEduF03@lists.wayne.edu
1. ListServ positives - usually students like this the best
  1. No special programs or web sites - just your regular email program, sending a regular email message - just that the "To" is this special address.
  2. No logging in, except whatever you have to do for your ISP and email program
  3. Many people check their email regularly, so this does not seem like having to do something extra
  4. There is a searchable archive of messages kept for reference.
  5. ListServ servers are very common, more common than conferencing servers.
2. ListServ negatives
  1. There are no "threads" or topics, but few people pay attention to these on discussion forums anyway.
  2. It may be hard to focus, since all the rest of your email is there also.

Getting to the archive:

Go to http://lists.wayne.edu/archives/webeduf03.html
The archive is arranged by months, or you can search all of the months. When you choose either, you will go to an archive login page. This first time, you will have to make up a password before proceeding.

Messages for Discussion Forums
Dates	Discussion forum	Weeks	Messages	Contact
9/20 through 10/18	WebBoard	4	8 min	Link from course web site
10/19 through 11/22	BlackBoard	4	8 min	blackboard.wayne.edu
11/23 through 12/13	ListServ	4	8 min	webeduf03@lists.wayne.edu
Semester	All three	12	26 min

Turning off the lab computers
1. Click the "Start" button (if you computer has a "Windows" key you can press that instead)
2. Point to or click on "Shut Down..."
3. Make sure that "Shut Down" is selected
4. Click the "OK" button or press the <Enter> key
5. Wait until your computer turns off or displays a message that it is now OK to shut down your computer
6. Turn off the computer but leave the monitor on - it will go into sleep mode.