The North Carolina Distance Learning Association

      2011 Virtual Conference: Engaging Online Learners 

       February 15-17, 2011

 

      

 

 

Want to know more about our presenters? Click their names to view their bio, or
to see all speaker bios visit the Presenter Directory

 

Click on the links for each day to see full descriptions for that day.

 

 

Day 1: Tuesday, February 15, 2011

   

9:30-10:30	Welcome and Announcements - Maggie O'Hara; Keynote Address by Marci Powell
11:30-12:30 Round 2	Learners as online community leaders	Integrating principles of Universal Design for learning in online courses	Layering communication to bring the world to class
1:30-2:30 Round 3	Beyond YouTube: Using video in an online course		Fostering student engagement in a sychronous web conferencing environment
3:30-4:30 Round 4	Graduate certificate in E-Learning - Vendor session

 

 

Day 2: Wednesday, February 16, 2011

 

9:30-10:30 Round 5	Retribalizing, literary style: Virtual bookclubs and bookcasts	Taking your talents online: Are you ready to teach online?
11:30-12:30 Round 6	Innovative technology can transform student writing	Increasing student interaction in your online course	Extreme makeover: Centra to Wimba + Blackboard Vista to Moodle
1:30-2:30 Round 7	Teaching mathematics online: A hybrid model	Beyond the Bricks: Grade or Credit Recovery in or out of School	Blended classes as a tool for increasing cohort graduation
3:30-4:30 Round 8	Collaborating across sections and large groups with Sakai	Click to select STEM: Today’s Students to be Tomorrow’s Global Leaders	Bb Learn and Bb Collaborate: "A Day in the Life"

 

  

Day 3: Thursday, February 17, 2011

 

9:30-10:30 Round 9	Expertiza: Promoting richer interactions among students in online courses	ePortfolios for Learning
11:30-12:30 Round 10	The development and evolution of a program for the remote observation of graduate interns	An instrument for evaluating online courses and programs
1:30-2:30 Round 11	Learning and creating with 21st Century online tools	Integrating 3-Dimensional Learning Activities (3D-ILAs) into courses	"Research" meets "Real world:" Understanding-and implementing-Transactional Distance 40 years later
3:30-4:30 Round 12	Digital native reality

 

 

 

 

 

Tuesday - February 15

 

 

9:30-10:30    Round 1

 

Session 1.11
Global Trends and Best Practices for Engaging Online Learners

 

Marci Powell - Global Director for Higher Education and Training for Polycom and President Emerita of USDLA

 

Education today is at a tipping point. Enabled by virtual technologies, nearly ubiquitous Internet access and the proliferating tools of Web 2.0, educators are more empowered than ever to meet the demands of learners. Educational institutions must change to address the needs of a knowledge economy and sustain global competitiveness. How are educators adapting their pedagogical approach and using technologies to engage students? Join Marci as we examine some of the best practices from around the globe and learn of trends that will impact the way we teach.

 

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11:30-12:30   Round 2
 

Session 1.21
Learners as Online Learning Community Leaders

 

Dr. Rita-Marie Conrad - Online educator, Author, and Consultant

RMC eDesign

 

 

Conference strands:  Best practices and 21st Century learning

 

Providing opportunities during a course for learners to take the lead in preparing and delivering an instructional activity is the pinnacle of learner engagement.  This type of activity provides the sense of empowerment that shifts the learner’s mindset from viewing the instructor as the ultimate authority in the course to one of seeing him or herself as a valued contributor in the learning environment.  It is at this point that learners recognize they are knowledge generators, not only for themselves, but for the community as a whole.  This session will discuss how to prepare learners to lead instructional activities.

 

The goal of this presentation is to provide educational practitioners with specific methods to develop activities that not only engage learners in an online learning environment but empower them to lead knowledge-generating activities.  The session will be based on the Phases of Engagement model by Conrad and Donaldson (2004) through which activities are planned with increasing levels of interaction and collaboration in order to encourage learners to lead in developing knowledge in an online learning environment. 

 

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Session 1.22
Integrating Principles of Universal Design for Learning in Online Courses
Session Handout:  UDLpresentation.ppt

 

Ms. Jennifer Jones - Instructional Designer

 Wake Technical Community College

 

Conference Strands: Best practices and Assessment, evaluation, and quality improvement

 

This session will focus on integrating Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles in online courses. Participants will receive tips and resources on how to present course content in a variety of formats to meet the needs of all students.  In addition, participants will explore using digital tools to create activities to meet varying learning styles that keep students motivated and engaged in an online course. This session will focus on integrating principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL)  in online courses.  Topics included are the three principles of UDL – representation, expression, and engagement.  Upon completion of this session, participants will be able to identify the three principles of UDL, evaluate their individual course content for inclusion of UDL, and apply UDL principles to their individual online courses. This session could be offered in Second Life to demonstrate multiple formats of content, student expression and engagement.

 

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Session 1.23
Layering Communication to Bring the World to Class

 

Mr. Mike Shumake - Online Educator

North Carolina Virtual Public School 

 

Conference Strands: Best practices and 21st Century learning

 

This brief presentation (from iNACOL 2010) will show online educators how to utilize embeds, twitter, www.cinchcast.com, and google docs together to bring any file type from the instructor's phone directly to students' mobile devices, while also keeping a record of these resources in the LMS.  This is a powerful best practice, because it blends the concepts of synchronous and a-synchronous, and it makes any file type available easily via mobile technology!  Presentation begins with showing resource videos to getting a twitter account and a google account.  It then shows people how to embed a twitter widget into moodle and blackboard.  It then shows folks how to create a free cinchcast account and tie the account to a twitter account.  Last, the presentation ends with the presenter sharing a recorded voice message and 3 different file types that go directly to participants' cell phones.  At the end of the presentation, participants will be able to train their students how to follow a twitter account via sms, embed a twitter widget for layered projection of recordings and documents, and push out documents and recordings to the embed or to student phones.   

 

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1:30-2:30   Round 3

 

Session 1.31 
Beyond YouTube: Using Video in an Online Course

 

Mr. Sam Eneman - Instructional Technology Consultant
University of North Carolina at Charlotte

 

Joe Coyle
University of North Carolina at Charlotte

 

Conference Strands:  Best practices and Case studies and implementation examples

 

With the explosion of video on the Web, more and more faculty want to use videos in their courses. And by now, most of us know how to link to or embed existing videos from external Web sites. But how do you display videos that you’ve created in an online course? In this session, you’ll learn how UNC Charlotte addressed this growing need and implemented a streaming solution that integrates very easily in our LMS, Moodle. You’ll also see how one faculty member uses this tool in his courses.   This presentation will address a common dilemma faced by many campuses: how do you implement a low-cost and easy-to-use streaming solution to meet the increasing demand for video in online courses?

 

I will show how the Center for Teaching and Learning at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte met this campus-wide need. We:

 

• Investigated economically-possible solutions
• Identified a plug-in for Moodle
• Tested it in our Moodle implementation
• Created online resources: a how-to guide and a video tutorial
• Deployed the tool in Fall 2010

 

In addition to showing how one distance education faculty member uses the tool in his courses, I’ll also talk about some effective practices we’ve developed and share some lessons learned in our first semester of implementation.  

 

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Session 1.32

Fostering Student Engagement in a Synchronous Web Conferencing Environment
Session Handout: NCDLA_Fostering_Engagement.doc

 

Mrs. Elizabeth Shepherd - Instructional Technologist

DELTA - North Carolina State University

 

Stacy Gant
North Carolina State University

 

Conference Strands:  Best practices and 21st Century learning

 

The purpose of this session is to discuss effective ways to foster engagement in a synchronous web conferencing environment. We will outline specific engagement strategies, including: behaviors that are engaging or disengaging for online learners, techniques that instructors can use to foster engagement, activities for online teaching, and classroom management strategies for online instructors. We will demonstrate engaging techniques and encourage audience participation and feedback. Although this session is aimed towards online teaching, it is also useful to anyone who leads meetings or presentations in a web conferencing system.           

 

We will start with a brief overview of the features available in Elluminate Live!, the online conferencing system used by NC State. Once participants understand the functionality available, we will discuss specific techniques for engagement, demonstrating tools they can use for engagement such as polls, chat, and the whiteboard. We will also discuss techniques that facilitators or instructors can use, such as storytelling, varying voices, planning for technology gaps, and expressing enthusiasm. Throughout the session, we will demonstrate the discussed techniques through activities with the participants.

 

We will then discuss methods for making online teaching easier. The first method is to use a producer, who can run behind-the-scenes setup, monitor the chat, and assist the lead instructor in other aspects of the session. We will discuss how to use classroom participants as assistants if the instructor does not have access to a TA or other helper. We will also discuss the benefits of holding a pre-class orientation session. We will outline the necessary components of a pre-class orientation, and distribute sample orientation slides. The last method is to establish a disaster recovery plan. We will present an overview disaster recovery plan, and if time allows, discuss how to recover from various technical and non-technical “disasters.”

 

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3:30-4:30  Round 4

 

Session 1.41 - Vendor Session
Graduate Certificate in E-Learning

 

Dr. Sophia Stone - Coordinator, Graduate Certificate in E-Learning
The Friday Institute: North Carolina State University

 

Dr. Kevin Oliver
North Carolina State University

 

Shaun Kellogg
North Carolina State University

 

Conference Strands:  Demonstration and Case studies and implementation examples

 

 

This vendor presentation will showcase the Graduate Certificate in e-Learning program, a distinctive online program offered jointly with the Departments of Curriculum, Instruction, and Counselor Education and Leadership, Policy and Adult and Higher Education at NC State University. The Graduate Certificate in e-Learning offers a robust state-of-the-art curriculum preparing students to design, develop, and implement innovative e-learning initiatives in the K-12 or adult education practice area. The program offers two tracks: e-learning for K-12 education, or e-learning for adult education, and students select a track depending on their area of interest. All courses are taught entirely online by faculty who are leaders in their field. Certificate students are assigned an advisor in their chosen track (K-12 or adult education) who is committed to guiding each student through their program of study.           

 

The goal of this 30 minute presentation is to showcase the Graduate Certificate in e-Learning program, to include a program overview, curriculum overview, and a demo of the online learning environment students can expect once enrolled. This session will also include a Q&A and questions will be encouraged throughout this presentation. The goal is to showcase our program and to generate increased awareness and interest in the program.

 

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Wednesday – February 16

 

 

9:30-10:30  Round 5
 

Session 2.51
Retribalizing, literary style: Virtual Bookclubs and bookcasts
Session Handout:  crissmanhandout.pdf

 

Dr. Cris Crissman - Educational Consultant

Catalyst Consulting

 

Mr. Bill Lovin
Marine Grafics 

 

Conference Strands:  Best practices and 21st Century learning

 

McLuhan predicted we’d have to leave the bookworld behind to be “with it” in the electronic world but with social media we can do it all.  Learn about an evolving virtual book club model, online or inworld, that culminates with the screening of collaboratively produced bookcasts -- multimedia aesthetic responses to books. To preview bookcasting, check out the North Carolina Bookcast Festival -- http://ncbookcastfestival.wikispaces.com/ You can post questions and comments to the wiki discussion to begin the conversation. 

 

Social media makes virtual book clubs engaging and enriching additions to the literary experience.  There’s no better way to encourage teens to find pleasure and value in literature than to create the conditions for them to use technology to respond to books in their own way while sharing their connections with others.  Digital storytelling tools make responding to books through multimedia creations another powerful way to connect teens with books.

 

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Session 2.52
Taking Your Talents Online: Are you ready to Teach Online?

 

Mr. Rob Moore - Instructional Technology Developer

School of Government - The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

 

Conference Strands:  Case studies and implementation examples

 

Deciding to start developing or begin teaching an online course is not a decision to be taken lightly and requires careful planning and organization. I will share my perspective on what is needed for a successful online course based on experience with both hybrid and fully online undergraduate courses.  This presentation will discuss what is needed for a successful online course development project and give some tips, suggestions, and questions to ask before to determine if a course is a good fit for an online format.

 

Due to the increasing demand and the changing economic climate, higher education has turned to online courses as a solution.  Some motivations are financial – they hope to be able to teach more students with fewer instructors – while others are motivated by a lack of resources and are struggling to meet the demands of the student population.  This presentation will be for anyone interested in developing an online course. I will share my professional experiences redesigning three different four-credit hour courses using three redesign models – blended, hybrid, and online.  In the discussion of the redesign, I will explain why these models were chosen for these courses and what is needed for an online course project.  While managing these projects, I was able to evaluate the redesign from multiple vantage points – instructional support, instructor, and student – and will share these perspectives.   I will discuss the process from start to finish and include resources and ideas for things to consider.  In addition, I will discuss what things instructors and administration need to consider before starting working on any online course project.

 

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11:30-12:30  Round 6

 

Session 2.61
Innovative Technology Can Transform Student Writing

 

Mrs. Deborah Gray - Professional Development Coordinator

 SAS Curriculum Pathways

 

Conference Strands: Demonstration and 21st Century learning

Session Handout:  toolboxContents.pdf

 

SAS® Curriculum Pathways® tools and resources help students revise their writing in ways that traditional products cannot. This session will provide a guided demonstration of SAS resources and tools in the Writing Reviser toolbox. Participants will work through the revision process and see firsthand the impact of the program on essay structure and on sentence economy, variety, and clarity. Participants will also use resources that reinforce key concepts, such as selecting forceful verbs, eliminating needless phrases, and so on.

 

Attend this session to see how these resources—offered at no cost—can enhance online and blended learning.  The resources in the Writing Reviser toolbox are individualized online solutions to real student needs. Recognized for its instructional and technological innovation, SAS Curriculum Pathways offers traditional and online students better ways to learn.  Our Writing Reviser toolbox enables students to ask questions experienced writers ask automatically—from big picture issues such as purpose, thesis, and development to smaller details involving words, phrases, clauses, and sentence structure. Students can exert greater control over their work and say what they mean in the most compelling language possible. The product seeks less to identify mistakes than to point out opportunities for invigorating the student's work. 

 

Through this session, participants will learn how technology can enhance the writing skills of 21st century learners. As the responsibility for writing instruction spreads beyond the English classroom, the Writing Reviser toolbox equips any teacher in any subject for a content-writing program. These resources support teachers in all disciplines by providing a common vocabulary and approach to writing.  In the past, writing tools espoused abstract ideals of perfection that students were then asked to transfer to their own work. Not surprisingly, that transfer often failed to occur. This product shifts the paradigm by focusing on whatever the student writes. The impact of that shift is difficult to overstate. In 2009, the product earned the CODiE award for Best Reading/English Instructional Solution.

 

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Session 2.62
Increasing Student Interaction in Your Online Course

 

Dr. Kevin Oliver - Assistant Professor

N.C. State University

 

Shaun Kellog
N.C. State University 

 

 

Conference Strands: Best practices and 21st Century learning

 

I n this presentation, activities to increase student interaction in online courses will be demonstrated in five categories--course openers (e.g., synectics, two truths and a lie, top ten list), group research (e.g., social bookmarks, twitter, wiki trails), structured collaborations (e.g., round-robin response, buddy system, six thinking hats), content review and practice (e.g., link in the blanks, peer workshop), and course closers (e.g., time capsule, select-a-quote). Free Web 2.0 tools or collaborative tools in common online course management systems may be used to carry out all activities. While online courses are emphasized, activities are also applicable in face-to-face settings.           

 

This presentation is designed to introduce instructors and course developers to recommended strategies for increasing interaction in online courses.We will share strategies that can support five general categories of student interaction. First, course opener strategies will be shared, as the beginning of a course is a critical period when it is important to begin developing student relationships, let learners know interaction is valued, and introduce students to key tools they will use during semester. Second, group research strategies will be shared such as social bookmarking, wiki trails, and podcast tours to help students identify and cull resources that can be used by their peers. Third, structured collaborations will be shared such as six thinking hats, Dear Abby, and wikibook projects to get students building knowledge together. Fourth, content review and practice activities will be shared such as link in the blanks, Google Maps, and peer workshops to help students review and elaborate on course material. Finally, course closure activities will be shared such as time capsule to prompt students to reflect on lessons learned in a course and help teachers improve the same. The primary presenter for this session has been involved in teaching online courses for six years, and the secondary presenter for approximately two years in a teaching assistant role. The presenters have tested many of these strategies in their own online courses and will comment on implementation issues and efficacy.

 

Recommended strategies are drawn primarily from three sources:

 

Bonk, C. J., & Zhang, K. (2008). Empowering online learning: 100+ activities for reading, reflecting, displaying, and doing. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

 

Collison, G., Elbaum, B., Haavind, S., & Tinker, R. (2000). Facilitating online learning: Effective strategies for moderators. Madison, WI: Atwood Publishing.

 

Iverson, K. M. (2005). E-learning games. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc."

 

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Session 2.63
Extreme Makeover: Centra to Wimba + Blackboard Vista to Moodle

 

Mr. Sam Eneman - Instructional Technology Consultant

University of North Carolina at Charlotte

 

Conference Strands: Best practices and Case studies and implementation examples

 

I t’s challenge enough to transition to a new live online classroom system. Add to that the extra demand of rolling out a new learning management system while supporting the old one. That‘s the situation the Center for Teaching and Learning at the University of North Carolina Charlotte faced beginning in Fall 2009. 

We began transitioning to Wimba after using Centra for more than nine years. We also began a move from Blackboard Vista to Moodle, implementing both the Moodle Wimba Activity Module and the Wimba Blackboard Vista PowerLink for professors to use in their courses. We also enabled a wimba.uncc.edu portal for non-instructional uses by staff members and faculty.

 

In this session, participants will learn why we selected Wimba and how we managed these multiple deployments and implemented a robust and active training and support strategy for all these platforms. You'll also hear about obstacles we overcame and some best practices we developed.

 

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1:30-2:30  Round 7

 

Session 2.71
Teaching Mathematics Online: A Hybrid Model

 

Ms. Tamar Avineri - Mathematics instructor

North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics

Session Handout: AvineriPPT.pptx

 

 

Conference Strands: Best practices and Innovative Hybrid (blended) models

  

When designing an online mathematics course, it is critical to create a course that puts the mathematics in action.  It is important to avoid presenting a static environment in which students feel that they are simply reading a textbook online.  In this session, we will discuss strategies and practices that enhance the online mathematics classroom, bringing the mathematics alive and empowering the students involved.  Experiences teaching in a hybrid environment in which there are both synchronous and asynchronous components will be emphasized.

 

At the conclusion of this session, it is expected that participants will be able to envision, and perhaps begin to design, their own online course structured under a hybrid model.  This model would include synchronous and asynchronous components that work together to provide students with a dynamic, engaging and rigorous experience.  While the session will be focused on mathematics, participants who teach in all disciplines will have been exposed to strategies and ideas that they could revise for their own use.  It is expected that participants will have an enhanced sense of the possibilities that exist in developing courses in a hybrid learning structure.

 

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Session 2.72

Beyond the Bricks: Grade or Credit Recovery in or out of School
Session Handouts:  BR-CREDR-0910-WEB.pdf , BR-SECNDRY-0910-WEBr1.pdf

 

Ms. Barbara Roberts - Compass Learning

Nancy Smith - Compass Learning

 

 

It takes a lot of different materials to build a student ready for 21st century challenges. And engaging high school students in need of grade/credit recovery is a constant challenge. Quality curriculum that is both engaging and rigorous is an essential component in the assembly of our students’ futures. CompassLearning’s Odyssey secondary courses use an exciting mix of direct instruction, via high quality videos, and flash-based, interactive instruction to teach and re-teach important skills and concepts. Course and state standards-aligned assessments create automatic, individualized learning paths that focus on non-mastered skills. Browser-based access means students can learn, practice, and assess at any time, from any location, to extended access to first-class learning opportunities both in and away from the school setting.

 

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Session 2.73
Blended classes as a tool for increasing cohort graduation

 

Ms. Hope Johnston - Distance Learning and Extended Day Coordinator
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools

 

Ms. Cyndi Wellner
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools

 

 

Conference Strands: Best practices and Innovative Hybrid (blended) models

 

In May 2010 the general assembly enacted a bill directing the State Board of Education to create a plan for increasing cohort graduation. [Senate bill 1246]. With the emphasis on the graduation rate, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS) turned to a blended education model that yielded unprecedented success. What are the keys to success in a blended model? How can you implement a similar program in your district? Distance Learning Coordinator Hope Johnston and Distance Learning Advisor Cyndi Wellner will highlight steps to creating an effective program, the keys to success and how you can implement a similar program in your district!         

 

After analyzing district data on success rates in North Carolina Virtual Public School classes it was noted that students who participated in schools providing a teacher or facilitator for students had much higher pass rates than schools without supervision and support. Further research indicated that this trend was being seen across the country. In August 2009 the Department of Education (DOE) released similar finding in its Meta Analysis and Review of Online Learning Studies. Based on our own data, those of the DOE and other institutions (including iNACOL and SREB), CMS began blended pilots for those off track for cohort graduation.

 

In CMS, 8th grade students whose test results/skill set indicate a need for  remediation prior to taking English I or Algebra I take a “Foundations” class as a 9th grader. This class allows them to gain skills necessary to pass English I/Algebra I but it can also mean that the student is not longer on-track for cohort graduation.  In summer 2010, CMS conducted a pilot program at Independence High School whereby students off-track for cohort graduation were given the opportunity to redirect their studies and position themselves to matriculate with their peers. Eighty-Seven students participated in the pilot and the results were stunning: 96% course pass rate in English I; 100% course pass rate in Algebra I.

 

This webinar will present the findings of the 2010 pilot, lessons learned and tips for success. Participants will leave with a framework for how to create successful blended classrooms and specific attention will be given on steps for program implementation. Time will be allotted for questions and comments .

 

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3:30-4:30  Round 8

 

Session 2.81
Collaborating Across Sections and Large Groups with Sakai

 

Mr. Rob Moore - Instructional Technology Developer

 School of Government - The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

 

Dr. Anastacia Kohl
Romance Languages - The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

 

 

Conference Strands:  Paper presentation and Case studies and implementation examples

 

Sakai is an open source learning management system that offers more flexibility and functionality than the Blackboard platform. In this presentation, hear from an instructor and the instructional technology support that moved a large multi-section course to the Sakai system as part of a language-specific Sakai pilot within the UNC Sakai pilot. During this presentation, you will hear firsthand the lessons learned and have an opportunity to view screenshots of the finished result. The success of this language-specific pilot was a contributing factor in the recent decision by UNC to move from Blackboard to Sakai.           

 

This presentation will fit in the case study topic and will be a 60 minute presentation co-facilitated by Dr. Anastacia Kohl, from the Department of Romance Languages at UNC-Chapel Hill and Rob Moore, instructional technology developer for the UNC School of Government.  In the fall of 2009, Rob started the ROML Sakai Pilot to move the large multi-section courses out of Blackboard and into Sakai to leverage the Sakai section aware tools.  Dr. Kohl is the coordinator for the largest of these courses and was responsible for managing more than 40 sections of an intermediate Spanish course each academic semester. 

 

In this presentation, we will specifically discuss how the utilization of Sakai’s section aware tools significantly improved communication and coordination between coordinators and instructors. These section aware tools set Sakai apart from other popular learning management systems and will make this presentation applicable to any type of course that has sections and any group that has a need for collaboration such as teaching teams or committees. During this presentation, we will explain the motivations for making the transition, what steps we took to make the change, and the support and training that was provided. We will also discuss lessons learned and provide screenshots of the finished results that highlight the key features. We will look at this transition from the faculty and student perspectives as well as from the training and support perspective. There will be an opportunity for attendees to pose questions at the conclusion of the presentation.

 

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Session 2.82
Click to Select STEM: Today's Students to be Tomorrow's Global Leaders
Session Handouts:  CompassLearning Science.pdf STEM_Article_0910.docx STEM - Georges_Corner_Newsletter_0910.docx

 

Ms. Barbara Roberts - Compass Learning
Ms. Nancy Smith - Compass Learning

 

 

I n order to develop students who are global leaders in the STEM areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, we must first build students who are competent in all subject areas, able to think, communicate, and engage. CompassLearning Odyssey provides schools with both high-quality instructional materials and teacher professional development to build competence and confidence.  Tools like Odyssey Community and Odyssey Writer and project based learning activities like Brain Buzzers and Thematic Research Projects infuse STEM themes throughout the curriculum and allow students to explore greater depths of all subjects.  The Odyssey math and science curricula, along with reading/language arts and social studies, build students’ foundational skills so they are successful in all disciplines.

 

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Session 2.83 - Vendor Session
Bb Learn and Bb Collaborate: "A Day in the Life"

 

Michelle Valada and Marc Stringer - Bb Collaborate K-12 (formerly Elluminate and Wimba)

 

 

Shana Glenzer and Mike Lange - Bb Learn K-12

 

Blackboard works with our clients to develop and implement technology that improves every aspect of education.  Our solutions are transforming the education experience for millions of students every day. Our technologies expand opportunities, encourage greater collaboration, and create personalized, engaging experiences for students, teachers, parents, and administrators. Through our online, mobile, collaboration and mass communication solutions, we’re closing the gap between the way students live and the way they learn. With tools like these, we can build a better education experience for everyone.  Please join us to take part firsthand in a day in the life of a student using the Learn and Collaborate tools in and out of the classroom.  Experience the engaging tools that extend the classroom beyond the traditional walls including, wikis, blogs, content management, virtual classrooms, interactive archives, breakout rooms for student collaboration and more.

 

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Thursday – February 17

 

 

 

9:30-10:30  Round 9

 

Session 3.91
Expertiza: Promoting Richer Interactions among Students in an Online Course

Session Handout:  Gehringerhandout.pdf

 

Dr. Edward Gehringer - Associate Professor of Computer Science
North Carolina State University

 

Conference Strands:  Paper presentation and 21st Century learning

 

All online instructors would like their students to take initiative to communicate with and learn from their classmates.  In most classes, this is difficult to achieve.  Our Expertiza system attacks this problem with peer-reviewed assignments in which students are required to give formative feedback to their peers.  They can also sign up for specific projects, and help out classmates on other topics by suggesting references through a built-in social-bookmarking system.  Projects can be done in teams, with each member rating the others’ contribution.  This presentation recounts ways in which student interaction can build an online class into a learning community.  "This session has two goals: To describe the kinds of interactions between students that help build community in an online class, and to present our Expertiza system as a way of encouraging these interactions.

 

The Expertiza system began as an online peer-review system oriented toward student-generated content … the idea that students in a class are capable of producing material that is useful for teaching other students, or has value outside the class.  We show the features of Expertiza that facilitate this—a signup sheet, where students sign up to work on a certain topic, and review rubrics, which students use to review others’ work.

 

We soon found a need for other kinds of interactions—metareviews, or “reviews of reviews,” which are used to measure the quality of reviewing; feedback from authors to reviewers, to allow authors to answer reviewers’ questions and rate the helpfulness of the review; and teammate reviews, which allow team members to rate the contributions of their teammates.

 

As we have gained more experience with the system, we have added facilities to tap the collective knowledge of students in producing quality projects.  Students can suggest topics for projects, which the instructor can approve, reject, or send back for revision.  Once approved, topics may be chosen by other students.  Not only can students suggest topics, they can suggest resources that other students may consult when working on the topics—a form of social bookmarking.

 

Thus, our approach gets each student to interact with many other students in the class.  Attendees at this session will learn about these interactions, and learn to identify new kinds of interactions.  They will see how software can be used to encourage greater interaction among students, and thereby mitigate the isolation of the distance learner, thus overcoming a prominent drawback of distance education.

 

Session 3.92
ePortfolios for Learning

 

Yvonne Monterroso - Desire2Learn

 

Advocates of ePortfolios claim they are the biggest software evolution in education since the creation of learning management systems (LMSs).  They have become a primary tool for students, faculty, staff and institutions to document their accomplishments and move forward in their life-long pursuit of learning and student success by reflecting on those accomplishments.  Join us as we explore the Desire2Learn® ePortfolio, a powerful, yet intuitive platform for collecting, organizing, reflecting, and presenting learning artifacts that integrates seamlessly with the Desire2Learn Learning Suite. Presenting materials for assignments, working on group projects, résumé creation, and job seeking are made easy through diverse design, sharing options and flexible permissions and configuration options.

 

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11:30-12:30  Round 10

  

Sesion 3.101
The Development and Evolution of a Program for the Remote Observation of Graduate Interns

 

Dr. Richard Hartshorne - Associate Professor

 UNC Charlotte

 

Dr.Tina Heafner
UNC Charlotte

 

Dr. Teresa Petty
UNC Charlotte 

 

 

 

Conference Strands: Paper presentation and 21st Century Learning

 

 

To address teacher shortages in underrepresented content areas as well as underserved geographic areas, UNC Charlotte has developed an online certification program. As one component, a technology-mediated, remote observation program was created and implemented to address issues related to monitoring graduate intern’s teaching experiences. In this presentation, we will discuss both the origins and continual evolution of this remote observation of graduate interns.            

 

In spring 2009, the Department of Middle, Secondary, and K-12 Education began offering a 100% online graduate internship to lateral entry and non-teaching licensure candidates as part of a fully online Graduate Teaching Certificate program. This internship experience is the main evaluation of candidate effectiveness and preparation and consists of a series of four teaching observations conducted by a university supervisor. In the past, the four observations have been conducted in person, which has served as a barrier to offering the internship course to both teaching and non-teaching candidates and for broadening course offerings to a larger geographical area. To address the challenges and in preparation for a truly online experience, project directors have designed an innovative approach to conducting teaching evaluations, one that captures the advantages afforded by technology. However, with creative strategies come unanticipated challenges and often limit the potential to broaden outreach programs.

 

The objective of this presentation is to provide a detailed overview of the initial design, development, and implementation of a program for the remote observation of graduate intern’s classroom teaching experiences, as well as the evolutionary process that has occurred since the initial implementation of the remote observation of graduate interns. Presenters will discuss findings from a study in which teacher education candidates were evaluated during their graduate internship by university supervisors using both traditional and remote teaching observations. This discussion will focus on a comparison of the use of remote observations with traditional face-to-face observations and an evaluation of the impact of both approaches through the following five variables: learning effectiveness, cost-effectiveness, access to resources, teacher education candidate satisfaction, and university supervisor satisfaction. Additionally, this presentation will discuss the evolution of the remote observation of graduate interns based on both formative and summative evaluation measures that have been implemented since its inception.

 

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Session 3.102
An Instrument for Evaluating Online Courses and Programs

 

Dr. Candace Holder - Director VLC Quality Assessment Support Center

 North Carolina Community College System Virtual Learning Community

 

 

Conference Strands: Best practices and Assessment, evaluation, and quality improvement

 

 

This presentation updates an instrument developed in conjunction with the VLC Quality Assessment Support Center for the VLC to facilitate the “judging” process for online courses. Resources reflected in the instrument include Quality Matters and the latest from SACS. The focus of the instrument is on the domains, components, and elements that are essential in assuring student success.

 

The objective of the presentation is to demonstrate the functional aspects of the VLC Quality Assessment Center’s instrument for evaluating online courses and programs. The critical components from SACS, Quality Matters, and other sources that go into a proper assessment and evaluation of online courses will be enumerated. The presentation will include an inventory of references, description of the process of synthesizing the domains, components, and elements including problems encountered and lessons learned. The presentation will include a detailed discussion on the instrument’s primary domains of Policies, Course Overview, Resources, Access, Learner Support, Instructional Design, Presentation, and Accessibility. The adaptability of the instrument for local customization will be demonstrated with examples from community colleges currently using the instrument. Participant’s take-aways will include access to the instrument and a thorough understanding its functionality and adaptability to their local college

 

 

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1:30-2:30  Round 11

 

 

Session 3.111
Learning and Creating with 21st Century Online Tools

 

Mr. Robert Ladd - Media Design Specialist

Health Sciences Library - The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

 

Barbara Renner
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

 

 

Conference Strands:  Best practices and 21st Century learning

 

 

In this presentation we will discuss how Web 2.0 and multimedia tools can be used to engage online learners. We believe these are powerful tools for creating engaging learning experiences. They can empower users to collaborate with other learners, and to create their own online learning materials, two essential 21st Century skills.

 

We will describe how we use these tools to support faculty and students in face-to-face classes, to teach students how to create their own learning materials, and to create online educational resources for alumni and the greater community.  In this presentation we will discuss how Web 2.0 tools (including blogs, bookmarking tools, and wikis) and multimedia tools (audio and video) can be used to engage online learners and how the use of these tools by teachers and learners is evolving.

 

 

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Session 3.112
Integrating 3 Dimensional Interactive Learning Activities (3D-ILAs) into courses

Session Handouts:  i3D Learning Activities_courses_thumbnails.pdf , How_To_Operate_ILA.docx , Adding a Learning Activity to Moodle.docx , Adding a Learning Activity to Blackboard.docx , NCLOR_flyer.pdf

 

Mr. Bob Ervin - Vice President Learning Technologies

Fayetteville Technical Community College

 

Mr. David Smith
Fayetteville Technical Community College

  

Conference Strands: Best practices and 21st Century learning

 

 

The presentation will feature newly developed 3D-Interactive Learning Activities (3D-ILAs) that are available through the NC-LOR VLC and FTCC 3D collections. Emphasis will be on 3D-ILAs aligned with the module learning objectives of specific VLC courses. The demonstration will include how to access the 3D-ILAs through Blackboard and Moodle and strategies for integrating them into a course.           

 

 

Participants will take away from the presentation an appreciation of the enhancement capabilities for their courses of 3D-ILAs along with practical knowledge on how to access and integrate the 3D-ILAs into their courses.  3D is a disruptive technology in the sense that it will replace two-dimensional presentations and change the way we present course content to students. As the entertainment industry and mobile devices become 3D enabled, students will want the same level of technological sophistication in the education environments. This presentation will show how to stay ahead of the curve.           

 

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Session 3.113
"Research" meets "Real World:" Understanding - and implementing - Transactional Distance 40 years later

 

Ms. Heidi Maston - Doctoral Candidate
Fielding Graduate University

 

Conference Strands:  Paper presentation and Student support

 

While the debate over pedagogy, content design and overall effectiveness of D.E. delivery formats reign supreme, what appear to be left out of this debate are the reflective and implementive lessons of earlier theorists and researchers.  These lessons and earlier theories can, and should be, examined and implemented in the current technology driven classroom in order to meet the ongoing needs of today’s 21st Century learner. 

 

This presentation will examine a foundational theory of distance education, Transactional  Distance, and its potential ability to increased academic learning via a set of parameters put into motion by the instructor. 

 

As technology has evolved, and the availability of educational opportunities has expanded as a result of the evolving connectivity methods and mediums, the current tendency of letting the technology “be” the teacher, is creating a false sense of learning.  This reliance on technology as the teacher has lead some administrators and instructors to assume that students are psychologically equipped to handle the challenges of self-directed learning without the benefit of a tool designed for such a specific endeavor. This study will investigate ways to fill that gap, by creating such a learning rubric [publishing date 2011], which serves both the instructor and student learner.

 

This study will determine if the variables of transactional distance, structure and dialogue, can influence the self-efficaciousness of the distance based learner toward higher academic learning. This study, and resultant rubric, will provide a working base for future research to be done on the viability and working components of technology development at the corporate level in order that the needs of the student can be considered as an authentic part of the learning outcomes matrix.

 

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3:30-4:30  Round 12

 

 

Session 3.121
Digital Native Reality

Dr. Bobby Hobgood - Director of Research and Development in Online Curriculum and Instruction
LEARN NC - School of Education: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

 

Conference Strands: Best practices and Student support

 

 

In a world of technological ubiquity, digital natives navigate a sea of digital interfaces. They travel unfettered across virtual landscapes equipped with dispositions and dialects to facilitate their passage.   Their adventures are rich in action and invitation.  Their travel gear, heavily packed with technology tools for negotiating interaction and obtaining social and cultural capital. 

 

Yet on occasion, they feel stranded on islands of boredom.  Restlessness sets in.  In such moments, no single device can rescue them.  Enter the 21st century educator.  While we too, turn toward technological solutions for educational challenges, we are often surprised by the absence of measurable student achievement and the occasional student disinterest. Where does technology intersect with student engagement and achievement?  Let’s explore the allure of technology and its role in the educational voyage of the digital native.  We’ll dissect the appellation “digital natives” as we discuss a framework for technology integration.

 

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