Distance Learning Mentoring Group
Minutes for January 31 , 2008, 3:15 P.M.- 5 :00 P.M. CTL Workroom
In attendance at the DLMG meeting: Alex Cheroske, Misa Vening, Scott Gustafson, Linda Evans, Sharon McLaughlin, Laura Kobar, Shabana Kausar, Marianne Arini, Georgianna Anderson, and Peggy Johnson. Absent: Biray Alsac.
Peggy provided a schedule of the semester's DLMG activities at the next meeting.
LOOKING AT PEGGY'S WEBCT COURSE TO IDENTIFY OPTIONS Peggy discussed various options that WebCT provides for online classes by using her Bio 100 online course as an example. She provided the following tips"
Specific, detailed directions on WebCT / MCC online resources on CTL website at http://ctl.mc.maricopa.edu/_resources/webct/index.html
First Week - don't expect to cover your content; introduce students to the course and tools they will use; have them submit one of each type of activity they will be assigned in the course (send email, take quiz, submit assignment, discussion post).
Include the district's disclaimer on your course homepage (and on every other page of your course if desired). You can do this by including a link to http://www.maricopa.edu/disclaimer.php
Naming Files - Develop a consistent pattern of naming your files. This will save you a LOT of time! For example, if you have several files in a learning module for chapter one, you might use LM_Ch1_A, LM_Ch1_B for sequential files that are in the learning module on chapter one. Learning modules for Chapter 2 would be LM-Ch2_A, LM_Ch2-B, etc. For the discussion board for chapter 1, you might use D _Ch1, and D_Ch2 for discussion board for chapter 2. For assignments, you might use "A_Ch1" and "A_Ch2", etc.
Word Documents - Save As>Save as Web Page; file will end in htm or html; then any student can view it with a browser (doesn't require Word software loaded on computer); does leave a lot of unnecessary html code in document. Better solution - Use FrontPage, Dreamweaver, SoftChalk, NVu to create web page.
Note: Microsoft does provide a free Word reader for download, so student could read a 'doc' created in Word. Access this free reader at http://www.microsoft.com
PDF Files : If want document to show up in same exact format on all computers and viewer cannot edit the document, upload a pdf document. Cutepdfwriter is a free program to create a pdf file from any application. Download your copy from http://www.cutepdf.com
Conditional release = WebCT allows you to release documents/quizzes/discussions for specified times/date, only to certain individuals or groups, or only if a specific condition has been met (e.g. students earned a 70% or greater on quiz 3, or completed a quiz on the syllabus).
Sense of Community - One tool for fostering a sense of community is to have students introduce themselves the first week of class. You can do this in a discussion board. Students can post their photos there or in the Roster if you include that tool in your WebCT course.
Groups - WebCT allows you to put students into groups. You can assign them to groups or let them self-select. Each group can have a different discussion board, chat room, email, or assignment.
Grading Forms - rubrics can help your students know what objectives are important to their grade in an assignment/paper. If you choose the mc_gradebook as the template for creating a WebCT development course, there are several rubrics provided for you. You can edit them and/or delete any forms that are not useful to you. Peggy also passed out some sample rubrics as hard copies.
WebLinks - this tool keeps all your URL's in one convenient location; makes it easy to check for broken links
Assignments tool - less likely to get viruses from student submissions; student can see assignment was submitted (isn't lost in cyberspace); can see when it's graded, grade earned, and any feedback you provide; if desired, you can let students submit drafts and then edit based on your feedback
Breeze - Live is good for real time interactive audio sessions; Presentation is good for adding voiceover to your Powerpoint presentation and compressing the file size (Flash files) for quick downloading
WebCT Chat - also live interactive format; can use whiteboard for drawing/typing
Calendar - can use WebCT calendar or create a table; WebCT calendar takes awhile to create but can be linked to course resources on appropriate dates
Research Subjects (IRB Requirements): If you use surveys in your class from which you may use the data, your students need to give their informed consent . One approach is to have a document of implied consent that the student fills out before taking your survey. Brad Kincaid developed a form in WebCT as a quiz (assessment). You can make the survey visibility dependent on the student having completed the informed consent document.
Course Website : You will get inquiries from students regarding your online course. Set up a demo/course description on your webpage to which you can direct your students. Ideally this would be linked to your department webpage as well. Including a sample lesson and a description of a typical week/module is helpful. Consider including a calendar and/or syllabus. This site needs to be outside WebCT so that it is accessible to the general public.
Copyright : You must be in compliance with copyright law. There are innumerable resources to help you understand your responsibilities.
Investigate the links on copyright at http://www.mc.maricopa.edu/~johnson/DLMGRSRC.HTM
This site also has links to source of uncopyrighted material.
District legal counsel have a lot of resources to help you understand your professional responsibility in this regard. Check it out at http://www.maricopa.edu/legal/ip/index.htm
Some general guidelines: According to Ko and Rossen's book Teaching Online, A Practical Guide , copyright laws permit you to use
a. Motion Media (such as videos and animations): up to 10 percent of the original work or 3 minutes, whichever is less
b. Text: up to 10 percent of the original work or 1000 words, whichever is less
c. Poems: up to 250 words
d. Music: up to 10 percent of the original work or 30 seconds, whichever is less
e. Photos and images: up to five works from one artist or photographer; up to 10 percent or fiftenen works, whichever is less, from a collection
Recent court decisions make MCC liable for making sure this educational fair use content is password-protected and can't be accessed and saved by the general public. Streaming material within WebCT covers these two restrictions.
COMING ATTRACTIONS
Next week we will learn how to use SoftChalk to create interactive webpages. Think about a concept/lesson/webpage you would like to develop for your course. Bring in about a page of text that could be put on the web using SoftChalk. Ideally it will include some interactive activities, i.e. make a crossword puzzle from vocabulary words in the lesson, or insert a few multiple choice questions on the material.
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