Minutes for April 26 , 2007, 4 P.M - 6:00 P.M. AS 192
In attendance at the DLMG meeting: Allie Marino, Erica Morley, Gretchen Berning, Janell Pierce, Ray Gless, Keith Anderson, Thom Schuett, Greg Hocutt, Kim Hohol, Elizabeth Atencia-Oliden, Karen Blevins, and Peggy Johnson.
Thom, Ray, Elizabeth and Janell showed the online courses they have developed.
Thom's Introduction to Entrepreneurship course was created in SoftChalk, which makes it very attractive and professional in appearance. The homepage for his 2-credit course has a "Read Me First" folder that provides an overview of the course. Thom's syllabus is very specific so students know what to expect in the course.
Thom's 10-week course is organized into 13 learning modules. He has named them in alphabetical order (Module a. introduction, b. chapter one, c. chapter two, etc.) so that WebCT lists the learning modules in the desired sequence. His due dates are on Mondays and Thursdays each week.
Most learning modules contain an introduction, a discussion board centered around assigned readings, a quiz, and perhaps some additional resources such as eBrary readings.
Students take the SBA Readiness Assessment quiz the first week of class, to help them determine if this is the appropriate class for them. It was suggested that Thom also make this instrument available from a webpage that is accessible to the general public so students can access the information before they enroll in the class (they can't see materials in WebCT until they are enrolled in the course).
Thom is utilizing eBrary from the MCC library. Instead of purchasing multiple textbooks, students can access the five books they need for the course online at no cost to them.
Students in Thom's course will take quizzes delivered by WebCT. Quizzes are true-false and/or multiple choice in nature. Thus they can be automatically graded by WebCT and the grades posted into the gradebook for student viewing.
Ray 's Agribusiness Accounting/Analysis course contains a very humorous photo on the course homepage and an eye-catching graphic for "Grades". Ray recommends the images that Microsoft has available (e.g. in Word and in Powerpoint) for a copyright free graphic source. There are other copyright-free sites listed on Peggy's DLMG Resource Page at http://www.mc.maricopa.edu/~johnson/DLMGRSRC.HTM
The course is divided into 24 sessions. Students are expected to complete at least 2 sessions per week, but may work ahead. However, they have to take the midterm and final exams (which are online) at the scheduled time. Ray has structured the course so each week begins on Monday and concludes on Sunday at midnight.
Sessions may contain an overview, a checklist of tasks to complete, a list of terminology to be mastered, questions to address through the assigned readings, a Powerpoint presentation, an accounting problem to solve, a project assignment, and an evaluation. However, most sessions don't have all of these components.
Students know what to complete each week by viewing the color-coded course calendar.
Ray also used SoftChalk to create his course pages. They are very attractive and have the handy navigational tools that SoftChalk inserts automatically. Ray recommends the free online tutorial for SoftChalk at http://www.softchalk.com/ You can complete it at your computer and there is a live trainer on the other end to answer your questions. By the time you work through it, you will feel very comfortable using SoftChalk software.
Ray is providing a discussion board the first week of class on which students can post questions.
Ray is linking students to the MCC distance learning questionnaire so they can get advice on whether or not they are suited to taking an online class. This questionnaire is available at http://www.mc.maricopa.edu/distance/dlsurvey.html
Ray plans to use the Announcements tool in WebCT to communicate up-to-date information with his students.
Elizabeth's Advanced Spanish course has both language and literature components, so her students will use two textbooks as resources .
The course homepage has an attractive photo of Elizabeth and a recorded welcome message. Elizabeth used Breeze (and Powerpoint) to record the message. She plans to include the written text of the message on the homepage as well as the audio version of it.
There is a detailed syllabus describing course structure and tasks week by week. Guiding questions help students ascertain what they should glean from assigned readings.
Students read short stories in Spanish. They are expected to learn relevant grammar structure also. There are practica lessons from the publisher that are similar to workbook pages (online).
Each learning module contains a Powerpoint presentation by Elizabeth that shows her photograph and has audio for the student to listen to.
Elizabeth also plans to have a live chat room for her class in the evening.
Students will also post to a discussion board, take online quizzes, complete assignments, and take a final exam.
Janell's Information Skills in the Digital Age course contains activities she has created using StudyMate software (crossword puzzles, hangman, etc.).
Janell's students will take advantage of lots of internet links that Janell has provided. They will read articles online and answer questions about them.
They will post their answers to discussion questions using WebCT's Discussions tool. They will also take online quizzes about the material encountered in the course.
Janell liked the look of the courses she saw created in SoftChalk and plans to redo her lessons using that software.
No More WebCT
Peggy suggested faculty remove any references to "WebCT" in their courses. Because Blackboard purchased WebCT, the two companies have merged. Beginning in the fall, 2007, semester, we will no longer see "WebCT" on our pages. The Distance Ed committee is voting on what generic name to use. Suggestions have been Course Management System, Online Learning System, Course Learning System, etc. Pick something generic enough you won't have to change your references in the fall.
COMING ATTRACTIONS
Next week Karen, Gretchen, Erica, and Kim will show the online course they have developed to the group. This will be our last DLMG meeting. Give some thought to features of DLMG that worked for you and suggestions as to what you would change for future DLMG participants.