Monthly Archives: June 2008

the cms is a dinosaur …and you know what happened to them…

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I am using moodle to teach ETAP687 because UAlbany was unable to provide instructor-level BLS course shells for the students in this course to create their own online courses, which is a main project for the course. I created the course in Moodle so that students could see from the student perspective what moodle can look like and how it functions. It didn’t make any sense to have students create courses in Moodle and have etap687 in BLS.

I also wanted students to be able to take what they create here in this course and be able to keep it and possibly teach it sometime in the future. With Moodle, an open source platform, it seemed like a better choice than locking things into one of the commercial course management systems…

That brings me to some of my other choices in the design of this course… as i have mentioned elsewhere in this blog i have incorporated various web2.0 tools into the course such as voicethread, diigo, edublogs, twitter, jing, meebome, audacity, youtube, breeze …. etc.

So….why did i “choose” to do that you may wonder?

Moodle provides a blog utility for students, it also has a news forum by default for each course and blocks that tie into the news forum to post announcements, etc. There is a calendar and ways to create links to shared resources or references within the course… last time i actually used the “glossary” feature to create a way to collect and present a list of categorized/sortable shared references for the course that the students used to build a shared annotated bibliography of resources – they had to provide a link, as description and an evaluation of the resource. I also used the “journal” feature for the “reflections” metacognitive activities of the course…

I chose to incorporate public freely available tools external to the CMS on purpose for several reasons.

  1. i am interested in exploring, testing, and evaluating the instructional potential and use of web2.0 cooltools to enhance online instruction, interaction, and engagement.
  2. I am looking for ways to enhance the fully online primarily text-based asynchronous teaching and learning environment with a little bling for the above stated reasons.
  3. Have i mentioned lately that i hate commercial CMSs? I naturally resist and feel uncomfortably confined by the locked down nature of the CMS… i mean really, is a “blog” that is locked into a CMS really a blog? No!!!!!!!! you can’t just call it a chicken when it is a duck!!!! Part of what makes it a blog is the fact that it is public – anyone can see it and interact with it. It also represents you publicly, belongs to you/you own it/it is yours to have and use, and to keep it beyond the end of the course and term – that is an authentic online learning activity! That is why i also thought it essential that the shared resources for the course be external to the CMS using diigo… i want my students to have access to the resources after the course ends!

There is something about the nature of interaction in a public forum. There is something about ownership….being able to for example, customize a blog visually to yourself by picking a theme and deciding what widgets to display and how you choose to present yourself to the world. There is also something about the responsibility you have regarding the public ownership of your thoughts and interactions, as well as the investment in time and energy to build or contribute to something that is yours and that reflects you. If you know it is just for a course, then you are doing it for me. If it is yours, then you can build it for you… a much more authentic exercise. I think that even the character of your “voice” is different, more authentically you, in a “real” blog, for example, than in one that is locked into a CMS. Plus – again you get to keep it or have access to it beyond the end of the course and term!

  1. i also enjoy playing with technology.
  2. i really like a challenge. : )

i personally love exploring the instructional potential of technology, but i do not advocate the use of technology for anything other than a compelling instructional reason. I would never advocate the use of any technology unless it assisted in meeting an instructional objective better, safer, easier, faster, or cheaper… You don’t need a backhoe to plant a tomato seed .

In my work at SUNY i never “train” the use of tools – even the almighty CMS. I discuss best practices in online pedagogy and plug the effective use of the tools in when and where it serves the pedagogical objective.

So, here is the question… is the cost of “stitching” all these tools together worth the hassle to the students (and to the instructor), the multiple authentications required to access resources housed at various external sites, the lack of technical support, the risks of johnny appleseeding course work and content around the web, the learning curve to be able to use them effectively/productively in an online teaching and learning environment?

For me, the answer is yes. Online social networking, social computing, folksonomy/social/collaborative tagging, data mashups, ubiquitous broadband, wireless, hand held and mobile computing, mobile broadband, and the cultural shift from passive consumers of content to engaged user-generators of content, has brought about a grassroots revolution resulting in a global democratization of access to tools, information, experts, content, professional development, and education as evinced by the open courseware and open source software initiatives that have changed how education is delivered, conducted… and defined. It is my obligation as a responsible netizen and educator in this moment to participate, to evaluate, to document, and to expose and engage my students to and in this process.

The commercial CMS is extinct… they just don’t know it yet.

when is a discussion not a “discussion”? When it is a written assignment…

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Its really funny now that students have experience with other course management systems that all use a common similar basic function-based taxonomy to label categories of types of online course activity – like “discussion” for example – that it has resulted in expectations and consequent confusion when you use the functionality for something other than what is commonly thought of as online “discussion.” And I don’t mean funny – ha ha.

It is yet another irritating example of the software tail wagging the pedagogy dog. I hate that. Or is this due to student experiences with untrained faculty use of CMS features and functionality in an web-enhanced environment? I don’t know. I am having a moment.

“Technically” I have “written assignments” in this course implemented using the discussion tool, because that is the only way i could have students be able to see each other’s work in Moodle easily. Also it was the easiest way I found to be able to attach the file that i used to model my expectations for some of the assignment. And that provides the students with the option to attach their written assignment, so they can share an comment on each other’s work. It is very interesting to me that because i used the “discussion” feature to implement a written assignment a student reported being thrown “off”… i think in terms of functionality. This is very interesting. One of the reasons i HATE course management systems is that they are designed by app developers (not educators) who want everything to fit into tidy little buckets… that they can code easily, discretely…things that can be labeled… like discussion, written assignment, quiz, etc. But in so doing the tech tail then wags the pedagogy/instruction/instructor dog… in the reality of a fully online teaching and learning environment interaction is integrated, NOT in these separate buckets. The almighty CMS imposes an interface and interaction logic that it has no business doing. I don’t walk out of my classroom to go to a discussion room, then to another place to write an essay, then to yet another place to submit an assignment, and then to yet another place to get my grades…etc. It all happens in the classroom… From the app developers perspective there is a lovely logic to a function-based app design. The problem is when that technical logic spills out of the code and into my ability to be effective in the online teaching environment resulting in a confusion that everything created with the “discussion” utility is a “discussion” when the reality it is a tool coded with certain functionality that can be used in a variety of ways that may or may not be considered “discussion.” I HATE that label too btw… better would be “interaction.”

It suppose it also could be that i just don’t know how to use moodle, or that i hate labels, or that i hate app developers, or that i hate CMSs. yes… I think it is the last one.

In my dreams i see a PLE that displays a coursemap, for example, as a moving wordcloud and that is dynamically affected by user (student /faculty ) interaction… still conceptualizing.

best intentions

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So i had every intention of blogging through the delivery of this course…but so far i have had no time. The course is in its third week and i am still trying to figure out how to use the grading features and trying to keep up with it all. I am trying to be a good example and to practice what i preach. There are somethings that i know already i would do differently next time and some things that i will change. i have been meaning to reflect on the experience a bit so far. 

From about 15 original registrants there are now 8 students in the course.

Wow! Building and teaching this course has been one of the hardest and most rewarding experiences i have had in my professional life. So far I have LOVED every minute of the exhausting experience.
  • I am using a manual that i wrote as the course textbook – a CMS neutral resource in which i have updated my thoughts and approaches to online course development.
  • I designed a course in Moodle.
  • I blogged.
  • I interviewed online faculty and posted the interviews with their online courses creating podcasts for faculty development purposes – an online course for observation with author /instructional designer commentary.
  • I created 3 Breeze presentations – audio annotated powerpoint presentations.
  • I designed and have implemented several course learning activities using web2.0 applications that are external to the CMS, including edublogs, voicethread, diigo, meebome, youtube, twitter…
This has been a very satisfying experience. I innovated, i stretched, i did new things, i have met and interacted with new people, i am listening/observing … it is a total blast.
I still trying to figure out how to use the gradebook. I am not crazy about how much work this is for me. Next time i will change the intro discussion in module 1 and the discussion design of module 2. With the voicethread some of the self intro in the first module discussion is redundant… i thought that would be ok, but i need to really reframe that discussion to be more than a casual into… interestingly enough that same discussion with new online SLN faculty is a completely different experience. There is a different character to the teacher/student relationship that i had not anticipated that is not there with faculty that i train. It is probably the fact that i am not grading faculty : )
The second discussion in module 2 may be too many questions… i need to evaluate that some. Look at which questions are generating engagement and which are not.
Also, i am concerned that the class community area is not getting as much traffic as i would like/as expected. Perhaps because it is visually/physically way down several scrolls on the screen. Students are contacting me with questions via email rather than in the ask a question area or in the talk with me area. I need to think about how to address that and manage it better next time. I am looking forward to feedback from the students on all of this.

my first weeks!

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I have been so consumed with facilitating the course that i have had little time to really blog… the first 2 weeks are almost over. It is going great. There are now 9 students or so signed up to the course. A few have dropped. I was sad to see them go. They were all adding wonderful dimension to the course. It is amazing. They are from all over the NY. It is such a cool feeling to be connecting with all these amazing people. I have not kept up my log, but i have been putting in huge amounts of time. I was up all night last night…
Some issues are frustrating… students haven’t been able to get their moodle course shells set up until late this week… and I am having trouble with course management in moodle… it is hard to keep the discussions straight. there is no way to sort the discussion , to mark items read or unread, to track where you are, to collapse /expand threads… to see which i have evaluated, to see which ones come in new…it is really easy to loose a post in there… also, i am just not comfortable with how the thing functions. there seem to be no course management tools… i just today looked to see what is going on in the gradebook and can’t figure it out … There was stuff posted in the BB and suggestions area that i didn’t know about, though i am “subscribed” to the forum. it is just not clear when new stuff is posted or where. and tracking is a probelm. Good things i have a high tolerance for this tech stuff going south : )

I will be opening up module 2 next week … very exciting…

i am loving this. it is soooooo much fun.

: )

Reflections Blog Post Grading Rubric

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Blog posts are graded on a 0 – 4 point scale according to the Reflections Blog Post Grading Rubric presented below. Note that both the Post Field and the Subject Line figure into the quality score the post receives.

  1. Student Self-Evaluations: Every post you submit to your blog (new posts and comments) should end with the quality score (0 – 4 points) you think your post deserves. Place your self-evaluation score in parentheses at the end – like this (4).
  2. Professor Evaluations: I will record the official 0 – 4 point value for each blog post (up to the maximum of 12 per student) as I read it. At the conclusion of each module, I will update your gradebook with your final grade on each blog activity, and provide you with a record of how many posts you submitted and your total quality score.

Points

Interpretation

Grading Criteria

4

Excellent (A)

The blog post is thoughtful, original, relevant, and provides insight to your learning and your engagement with your classmates, the activities, and course content. It also provides feedback and suggestions on how and what would improve the course and your own learning. Four point posts are reflections on your learning process in the course and that also reflect, apply, report, explain, defend, refute, question, self-assess, summarize, synthesize, and analyze your engagement with course content and as a member of our class community. Four point posts make your thinking and learning visible, are supported by specific references from course discussions, the course manual, the presentations, the courses for observation/interviews, course readings, diigo resources and/or external sources and also incorporate specific suggestions on how the course and your learning might be improved.

3

Above Average (B)

The blog post lacks at least one of the above qualities, but is above average in quality. A three point post makes a significant contribution to our understanding of you, your learning process, your feedback, and your thinking about the course content.

2

Average (C)

The blog post lacks two or three of the required qualities. Comments that are based upon personal opinion or personal experience often fall within this category.

1

Minimal (D)

The blog post presents little or no reflection or insight. However, one point comments may provide important social presence and contribute to a sense of class community. Supportive comments often fall within this category.

0

Unacceptable (F)

The blog post adds no value to our understanding of you, your learning process, your feedback, or  your thinking about the course content.

Subject Line

No penalty

The post title is a complete sentence and conveys the main point of the post. The reader clearly understands the main point of the post before reading it.

-1

Minor problem with subject line

The post title provides key word(s) only. The reader knows the general area that the post deals with.

-2

Major problem with subject line

The post title provides little or no information about the post.

The Reflections Blog Grading Scale

Blog Grade

Total Quality Points

Additional Requirement

A+

40+

At least eight 4-point ratings.

A

31-39

At least four 4-point ratings.

B

25-30

At least four 3 or 4-point ratings.

C

12-24

At least four 2, 3, or 4-point ratings.

D

6-11

None.

F

1-5

None.

0

0

None.
Adapted with permission from Bill Pelz’ discussion rating rubric.