Happily Back At It Again!

We're entering the Third Week of the Semester, and I couldn't be happier with how well ENG 112 Online is going!

One of the BEST revisions I made to my online teaching environment is I used Camtasia to create an audio and visual screen recording to help my students better understand my expectations, how the course is set up, how to create a blog, how to edit a wiki, and how to succeed in ENG 112.

I strongly recommend using a technological tool like Camtasia to solidify your course expectations with distance learners. Plus, they get a feel for who you are, which I think personalizes the whole online learning experience.

I'm really looking forward to this semester! My online students seem very ambitious and contribute fantastically to the Discussion Board and Wiki.

What a blessing!

When It's All Said and Done...

The Fall 2007 semester has come to an end, and with it my section of ENG 111 Online.

I'm happy to report that all the online students' portfolios I submitted passed!

(For more information on my department's portfolio process, check out this link. Keep in mind that the portfolio process for online classes is a little different.)

Looking back, there are only a few changes I would make to the online class:

1.) Use a screen capture lecture with audio to better help students understand the layout of the course and my expectations, which I AM doing right now as I'm developing my section of ENG 112 Online.

2.) Post more on the Discussion Board during the week. Every day I checked the Discussion Board, but I didn't post but maybe once or twice on each thread b/c I really wanted students to rely on each other for the discussion, not me. However, I noticed that when I did post students did seem more engaged and the discussion really went to the next level.

3.) Create a screen capture of how to use a wiki so students better understand what the is purpose of the wiki and to teach them how to use a wiki. I DID add this to my screen capture on the course expectations for ENG 112, so I'm excited to see how students respond to wikis this semester.

4.) Figure out how peer review online could be more meaningful. The majority of the students didn't like peer review if it meant posting a paragraph to the Discussion Board or using Word's Comment feature. I'm very open to ideas on how to get students (online and f2f!) engaged in peer review.

Besides those 4 things, I'm really happy with how the class went. Once I got a feel for online teaching, I really enjoyed it and got a lot out of the experience. I plan to teach more online courses in the future.

The one piece of advice that I can give future online teachers is: DON'T do it because you think it's going to be easy. Grading essays online takes a lot more time than grading them in person. I had to keep reminding myself that I couldn't really use the codes I do on f2f students' essays and I had to better explain what I meant in each comment b/c I couldn't "talk through my ideas" in a classroom setting, like I do when I give my f2f students back their rough drafts and final drafts. So, be ready for longer grading sessions. It's important to take the time and provide very specific, detailed comments, so online students can understand exactly what you mean and learn from the comments without any verbal explanation. It's strange, but once I got used to it, I liked it. It taught me a lot about my teaching style and helped me articulate more clearly what I feel is essential to academic writing.

I'm excited to teach ENG 112 online. 112 is the research writing part of the composition program here at BGSU. We spend a lot of time teaching what are credible academic sources, how to find those sources, and how to synthesize sources in order to create intelligent academic writing. As I've been creating the Blackboard shell for 112 Online, I've been realizing that 112 is perfect for online courses! I've been creating assignments that allow students to make more use of online medias. I feel confident doing this b/c by now students have a grasp on argumentative writing, so now I can focus more on finding sources online and doing activities that encourage students to think about those sources and how technology influences/contributes to those sources.

I promise share some of my ideas once I iron the out after the semester begins.

During the interim, have a great holiday season!

I've Hit My Stride

Here we are in the beginning of Week 12, and classes are going great, especially my ENG 111 Online Class.

The Online students and I are working well in our class weekly routine, and I'm excited to report that they have figured out the wiki and are posting to it.

Also, I've noticed lately that the Online students have been having stronger and stronger online discussion via the Discussion Board. I'm really proud of the way articulate their own thoughts and respond to one another by addressing specific ideas in a response or raising thoughtful questions to the post.

Two weeks ago, my f2f classes had an online discussion regarding a sample essay, and I found that their responses were more thoughtful and articulate (probably because they had more time to think about the essay and respond to it when they were ready--right after or a few hours after reading, not when I beckoned them in class...), and they responded to each other in more detail than they do during our in-class discussions, which I assume is because students feel less shy with a computer screen facing them rather than 22 students and their instructor.

Based on this info, I'm leaning towards using the Discussion Board for reading discussions in my f2f classes. I would assign them for homework and use the free time in class for working more with audience and counterargument or in-class writing. I've heard that quite a few teachers use the DB for reading discussions, so I feel kind of behind the times. I guess I just had to come to that realization on my own.

As for planning for ENG 112 Online, I say, "Bring it on!" My ups and downs with ENG 111 Online have really helped me see what is feasible for future online classes and what I can expect from online students. I really want to take 112 to the next level, though.

On top of doing screen capture lectures of my course expectations, wiki directions, and blog directions, I really want to create assignments that take advantage of our online medium. For Essay 4, the big 8-10 page researched essay, I'd like students to do some kind of online presentation at the end of it. I'm thinking something along the lines of a blog post, wiki presentation, or, if students have the devices, a YouTube video or a You3B compilation.

Check out this great video on YouTube:


(Thanks to Terence for showing it to me!)

Of course, whatever medium a student chooses to use, I'd like to see a written text accompany the visual text. I don't want the paper word-for-word, but rather a summary of the paper and a reflection on the writing process and how the essay has affected the student or what more work the student sees ahead of him/her in regards to this topic--some kind of extension of the topic or connection of the topic to the student's life.

I'm still working through the details of this ENG 112 presentation assignment. I'll be excited to see the end result.

Going Into Week 8--A Midterm Reflection

I was having my doubts that students in my online class were really excited about our class and its layout.

I've been proven wrong again. (I'm enjoying learning to accept being wrong.)

For Week 7's Blog Prompt, I asked students, "What is your response to our online class thus far? What aspects are beneficial to you? What suggestions do have?" Their feedback overwhelmed me with happiness.

According to their responses, they really enjoy the class and feel it is well-organized. Additionally, they like participating on the Discussion Board and find the lecture/reading quizzes "helpful." YES!!!

The two suggestions I got were regarding peer review and wikis. Students, in general, seem resistant to peer review. But I always try to communicate that it's about learning how to apply what you've learned about writing when you read someone else's essay and that peer review teaches us to reflect on our own writing, even more so than feedback from a professor. I do agree that I could add a podcast lecture explaining the importance of peer review and how to get the most out of it, which I plan to do in all future online classes.

As for Wikis, I think students will become more responsive to them as they find Wikis more and more creeping their ways into classrooms. Out of all of the "new" technologies, I think that is the one that is the most foreign to students, and that is the reason why they resist it. I've revised my wiki Front Page by adding more explanation about wikis and a video to help students learn how to use it. Beyond that, I'm not sure what else to do to promote the effectiveness and coolness of wikis. Any ideas?

All in all, I'm quite pleased with how the ENG 111 Online class is proceeding. I have been a little anxious lately because I felt like my students were confused and frustrated with the layout and "new" technologies, but hearing that they really enjoy the class and enjoy learning about "new" technologies has really eased my worries.

I think, too, a lot of my anxiety came from this being the first time I have taught online. It's so different from face-to-face because the interaction is so limited. Adjusting to limited interaction has been a challenge for me, especially because I am a physically expressive person, but my effort to develop a personal professional relationship with each student has made a difference. I think consistent personal emails with prompt responses to questions and progress reports in addition to showing my availability through Meebo has made a big difference. Most important, though, is more clearly stating my expectations for the course. I have no doubts that is the key to a strong online course, which is why I am so excited to do screen capture lectures to explain the "new" technologies and show exactly what I expect students in the course to do each week.

The whole teaching online process feels much like when I first started teaching composition: I was excited and nervous then frustrated then reflective then revisionary then starting-to-get-the-hang-of-it then revisionary then pretty good. Online teaching is a different kind of teaching one must prepare herself/himself for. I felt prepared in terms of my syllabus, course work, and technology knowledge, but I wish I would have had more training regarding how to interact with students and help them feel part of a community like a face-to-face classroom. Don't get me wrong, IDEAL did cover student issues during training, but I suggest there be more ways of showing how to establish personal connections with students besides the Virtual Cafe on the Discussion Board. Though, this does seem like something that develops naturally over time...

I've been thinking about how Facebook creates a tight-knit community, but it seems that students already know people on Facebook--they don't go there to meet new peers. I just can't stop thinking about the possible ways online teachers could learn how to create a more personable online classroom using Facebook as an example. I'm still working through these thoughts, but I wonder what others have to say about the topic...

Overall, I'm excited that my students are excited about the online class, and I'm learning a lot from our class, which is helping me develop ENG 112 Online.

Week 6 Reflection

By Week 6 I was hoping that my online students would be adjusted to our class' module and schedule of work. Unfortunately, only a few have seemed to grasp the open-ended-ness our our module--that all work must be completed by Friday at 11:59 p.m.

In the Achievement Requirements (AR), which students read Week 1, I explicitly explained how I expected students to approach each week's work and how to appropriately divide up that work. Unlike other online classes that give each task a due date, I explained in the AR that students should do the work according to their schedules and to approach a schedule like so: Monday for Lectures, Reading, and Quizzes, Wednesday for Discussion Boards and Wikis, and Friday for Blogs. But still the majority of students seem to have a hard time understanding each week's work (even though the organization of tasks are the exact same EVERY week and they perform these tasks EVERY week) and completing assignments by Friday at 11:59 p.m. It seems like students are picking and choosing what work they "feel" like doing. This is problem I have been addressing since Week 1, but to no avail.

To address this issue, I have sent individualized emails further explaining (strictly but kindly) my expectations to students who are having a hard time completing the work. When that didn't seem to work, I sent group emails (again in an authoritative tone that was stern AND encouraging), not naming students who weren't doing work but calling attention again to my expectations, hoping to get everyone on the same page. And when that hasn't seemed to work, I wrote an authoritatively detached email (that I also posted as an announcement) that students who fail to complete ALL of the week's work will be considered absent, and three absences will result in a portfolio not being submitted and an NR grade in the class.

I'm frustrated I had to resort to a "threat," but I can't figure out how else to motivate certain students in an online class setting. I can't understand why some of these students are in an online class, but they don't want to do the work of an online class.

For the ENG 112 course I am creating, I'm going to more strongly and clearly state my course expectations. Not only in the AR but also I plan to create a screen capture of a week's module, explain how to manage the module and break it down into times, and demonstrate how to use all of the Web 2.0 technologies like creating a blog and using a blog as well as how to use a wiki.

Some of my students are still resisting the wiki. I've revised the wiki assignments twice and even included a how-to video on wikis, and still there is resistance.

Am I using "too new" of Web 2.0 apps? I don't think so. I always thought my students were way more techie than me. But I may be very wrong.

Or I may be seeing that the resistance to these new technologies is a resistance to change in distance education and/or a resistance to students comprehending that online classes aren't "easy" or "no- brain-ers."

When I do become frustrated, I think about what I would change and how I would change and jot down the ideas so I can carry them through in my 112 class.

And I say to myself, "Thank God ENG 111 Online is a pilot course..."

More on 112 Development

I spent the majority of the day working on my course shell for ENG 112.

I'm excited because I got pretty far--up to Week 8 (three paper cycles).

The biggest challenge I experienced was working with the new text From Inquiry to Academic Writing. If I could have relied on my syllabi from past semesters, I would be done developing the 112 course. However, because I chose to use a new text, I've been spending a lot of time reading the text and then creating coursework that works with the text and reinforces its lessons.

A Smart Move: I've been keeping a cheat sheet of what I want to do a couple of weeks before the class goes live. It's really helped me see what I have left to do and keep track of ideas for what I should do.

Reflection on Week 2

The ENG 111 Online Class is going really well!

This week's Discussion Question regarding possible topics for Essay 1 was outstanding! My students not only thought of really interesting topics, such as the kindergarten birthday cut-off dates and how it affects children with disabilities in addition to policies regarding sexual predators, but also they responded quite intelligently to one another's ideas. It was fabulous!

Despite the progress reports I sent last week, still I have two students who are not pulling their weight and doing the coursework. I'm not sure if this is because they are first-year students and haven't taken an online class before or if it is because they don't understand the tasks I have asked them to complete.

I've been sending personal emails to both of these students to "check up" on them, but haven't heard a response from either. I'm concerned for them because I don't want to see them fail just because they didn't do the coursework but they did do the essays. As a last resort I have "First Alerted" them--a program we have a BGSU to inform advisors of students' behaviors during the first few weeks, so they can help the students.

Rough drafts are due next week, so I shall see...

The two most interesting facts about this week is that almost all of my students did NOT do the Wiki assignment I included in the coursework. I'm thinking my directions weren't clear enough or they could not access Writeboard. (I tried from many other computers and it was hard to access...As of now, I much prefer PBWiki!) I emailed my class to figure out the problem so I could right it and we could continue to use Wikis in our class. Also, 2/3 of the students did not post to their blogs this week.

Full moon or laziness?