SoTL and Teaching with Technology

This week, I am attending the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning conference at Georgia Southern University in Statesboro. While I am new to the SoTL community, I feel that all I am learning is very familiar. Is it because I have been in education for so many years? Are all of us in education-related disciplines SoTL practitioners by default?

I have seen one session that was directly related to teaching with technology that addressed assessing wiki assignments. Several of you blogged about this and asked how we can assess students' contributions to wikis. There were a couple of suggestions made in the session, including:

• Instructor assessment (read wiki, assign grades)
• Peer assessment (peers are assigned wiki parts and rate using a rubric)
• Outside expert assessment (instructor's colleagues read wiki, declare "winning" pages)
  

I was particularly interested in the last of these, but the focus of the talk was peer assessment. I wonder what those of you who are considering using blogs think about these different methods, and if you would consider asking a colleague to review your students' work?

>>sac

iTunes U

Some of you may have heard that iTunes has been adopted here at UGA in the form of iTunes U. Visit itunes.uga.edu for more information and a link to podcasts developed here at UGA on all sorts of topics.

And what about bringing podcasting into the classroom? See http://www.psfk.com/2009/02/how-itunes-university-may-be-better-than-the-real-thing.html for more on that.

>>sac

When you fail to plan...

I had a call yesterday from a fellow faculty development professional who was concerned about a new online program being developed at her institution. The program is intended to provide training for an underserved population (great), was conceived of in the past couple of weeks (fine), and will start in about a month (WHAT?). The infrastructure for providing the training is not in place, the courses have not been developed, and the instructors have no training whatsoever in distance learning.

This is a recipe for disaster. While it may be possible to develop a new face-to-face course in a short amount of time, that development is based on experience regarding what works in the classroom. Teaching at a distance is different. It requires planning, planning, and more planning. That is, making certain the infrastructure is in place, faculty understand best practices for teaching online, and a support system is in place for both faculty and students. Can it all be done in a month's time? I doubt it. Will they do it anyway? Yep.

Taking the fear out of Facebook

A number of students, friends, and colleagues have shared their concerns about privacy when it seems everyone else is putting everything online. Facebook is a big topic of conversation - and rightfully so in my view. I'm all for the caution and reflection. What I don't like to hear, however is when someone is afraid of what might happen if they join a social networking site like FB. I am pretty sure the fear stems from lack of information. So, I offer a list of 10 Privacy Settings Every Facebook User Should Know (h/t Deb Stanley).

Feel better?
>>Sherry

If you had not seen it before, the h/t is a "hat tip" to the person who brought the article to my attention.

Multimedia Content Resource

Looking for multimedia or Web-based resources to facilitate understanding of a particular topic? Try a little MERLOT! Not the wine, but the Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching at merlot.org.

MERLOT is a Web site where you can search or browse for resources in your discipline, submit reviews, or submit your own resources. Some resources include complementary lessons or assignments.

Find anything useful?

>>Sherry

Shiny and New

Blackboard has just released the shiny, Web 2.0-friendly version 9.0. This is the first time since Blackboard acquired WebCT that both customer groups will use the same program. It is the "Next Generation" product, and it is definitely slick. It is also brand-new code. While I admire the bravery of institutions that jump right in, and I covet some of the features of NG, I wonder about the stability of this new product. Bb claims to have spent thousands of hours doing quality testing, but I guarantee the faculty and students at this institution would find bugs :-)

So, as much as I would like to be preparing a migration to NG, we will go with the stability of Bb Vista 8, or eLearning Commons as it will be called here.

>>sac

OMG!

An issue that often comes up with online writing assignments has to do with the changes in everyday writing associated with e-mail and texting. The latter in particular has popularized a number of acronyms and shortcuts that save time and money for those without unlimited texting. The phenomenon goes back much further than I thought, to the days of Internet Relay Chats and early Usenet bulletin boards. It also has a name, leet or leetspeak. Or in symbols, 1337. You can read much more than you probably want in the Wikipedia entry on leet.

While it is not likely that we would see students using the extreme forms of leet, poor grammar and acronyms do appear on a regular basis. What to do? The first thing is to determine if this is okay with you. Are there certain assignments where leetspeak is acceptable? Maybe on discussion boards? Then, address the issue with students. When is leetspeak okay? Perhaps your answer is never when it comes to class writing. The key is to make your expectations clear.

CU L8R!

>>sac

You can blog!

I kept a diary as a girl, a journal as a teenager, and now, I have a blog. Some of my class participants have more blogging experience than I do, so if y'all are reading, I hope to see your tips in the comments below :-)

Fortunately, there are a number of blogs on blogging with tips galore. Try these links, or just go to Google and search on "how to blog" or "blogging tips." Let me know what you find!

http://lorelle.wordpress.com/
http://weblogs.about.com/
http://www.dailyblogtips.com/category/blogging-basics/
http://bokardo.com/archives/9-lessons-for-would-be-bloggers/

>>sac

Shopping for Technology

I have discovered that Sunday morning is the best time to grocery shop. Saturday night revelers have just gone to sleep, many families are in church or sharing breakfast together, and those of us at the store early on a Sunday just want to get it done in peace. Knowing what to buy when I am there is not so easy. I have my habitual purchases - milk, juice, cereal, chicken, and so on - but I am often easily distracted by new products and items on the end caps. I am also a snoop, curious at what others have in their carts. I think, "if that person likes store-rolled sushi, maybe I will too." Sometimes I have a little trouble with these unusual purchases when I get home, but I have a lot of fun experimenting with them. Sometimes, they turn out to be purchases I make more often, perhaps even sharing with friends at a party or potluck.

You're wondering what all of that has to do with our class, right? There is logic to it, I promise. In this class, we are shopping for instructional technology. There are some technologies that we use habitually - listserv, WebCT, maybe blogging - but others are new. They are the latest and greatest, on the end caps or in someone else's cart. We may not know exactly what to do with them, but the good news about this class is that we can throw everything in the cart and try it out together. Facebook as classwork? Sure! Twitter assignments? Why not! And when class is over, we might have some new favorites that we use every time we teach.

Looking forward to shopping with you!
>>Sherry