Telecommunication Technology Comparison:
With a poor economy, high gasoline prices, high parking permit costs and textbook prices on the rise, students are looking more and more at taking online classes versus the traditional classes. Although some students might have other reasons for taking online classes, such as disabilities, child care or work related issues, online classes are always the first to fill up at Riverside Community College.
Instructor's lectures are still the most popular method of disseminating information from professor to students. Whether it be a traditional, hybrid, redesign or online class, students can expect 70-90% of their learning to come from their professor's lectures. Therefore, it is important for all modalities of lectures to be able to relay the information to the students. For online classes, two forms of telecommunication that can be implemented for lectures are podcasts and Skype.
Podcasts could be used to record a lecture for students to play at any time. The asynchronous of the lectures are a plus, especially if not all of the students could meet at the same time. Also, not all students are the same type of learners, and for some students, replaying the lecture podcast over and over is possibly what they need in order for them to grasp the information.
In a mathematics classroom, a podcast video could be recorded for each section throughout the book. In additional, a Bamboo tablet might be connect so that the recorded podcasts could have the features of working out some of the math problems by hand and showing each of the steps of a solution. Of course, the main lecture and explanations would probably use PowerPoint slides to present the main topics, but for the sample problems, it would be helpful to use a Bamboo tablet so that the instructor can write out the steps to solve the problems. A podcast could also record the voice of the instructor talking the students through the solution.
One of the main advantages of using a podcast would be for the students who need to see or hear a topic more than once. Repetition will sometimes help students develop stronger mathematical skills as they progress through the levels. An audio only podcast would probably not be necessary since most students need to view and hear a math lecture instead of just picture the problems in their head.
The other form of telecommunication for a lecture in an online math class would be to use Skype to broadcast a lecture. Skype could be used to broadcast both audio and video either through a web camera shooting a picture of the whiteboard or paper of the instructor or using a Bamboo tablet and a web conferencing program like WizIQ. The students would be able to have all of the benefits of being in a "live" classroom without leaving the comforts of their own home. The instructor could set up a class time and all of the students would be logged into Skype from wherever they had Internet access. Then the instructor would set up a conference call with all of the students.
The advantages of using Skype versus a podcast would be the ability to ask questions as the problems are being performed. Students would be able to ask for alternative solutions or the possibility of solving a particular problem in a different way. This is probably the closest to the real thing as far as online lectures go. It would be almost like having the instructor sitting right next to you and your computer.
The disadvantage of using Skype would be the synchronous of the activity. All of the students would have to be online at the same time and would have to stay attached to the computer for the entire lecture. They could not leave during the lecture and get the notes at a later time. Another disadvantage would be the Internet speed of the students in the class. If the students all have different Internet speeds, more than likely the slower bandwidths would have choppy lectures which might be difficult to understand and follow. Also the videos might be delayed or slow in streaming.
As far as presenting a math lecture, I would be more inclined to use the video podcasts media versus the Skype, simply for the asynchronous ability to present a lecture to the students. I realize that not all students learn at the same rate and having the ability to play and replay a lecture is powerful. Also, most of the students work or have children to take care of, so getting a suitable time for all of the students to meet during the week might be difficult. That might be one of the main reasons for taking an online class in the first place. With the video podcasts, students would be able to work on their math 24 hours a day. If the bandwidth of their system is slower than what they would like, they have the ability to download the lecture, save it to a flash drive and take it to a faster computer with more memory or a better video card.
I also like the idea of using the Bamboo tablets to assist in writing out the math problems and working them out in the podcasts. I believe that viewing how the solution is arrived at is one of the most important steps in a math class. The Bamboo tablets would provide this opportunity for the students to view the solutions to various sample math problems.
My second choice for lectures would be to use Skype. However, I would lean more towards using Skype for virtual office hours rather than lectures. For virtual office hours, a Bamboo tablet could be used and students could "call in" with questions on specific problems from their homework. I currently use Skype as an alternative to the telephone for students in both my online sections and face to face sections. Very seldom to I get any calls from students, but the students know that I am available to assist them if they want.
Online math classes are not for all students. Some students need the face to face interaction and the environment of being in the class in order to learn mathematics. Some students are disciplined and have the special ability to learn math through listening. However, for those students who have no choice but to take online classes or no classes at all, I feel the video podcasts are the best way to get through to the students. The students are able to view the lectures at the best time for them. They can view the lectures as many times as they wish, or they can skip through sections that they might be comfortable with. Also, the students might want to view part of a lecture and then pause the podcast as they work through the sample problem on their own. Then they have the ability to view the full solution once they worked through the problem on their scratch paper. I think the students would agree that they prefer asynchronous lectures versus synchronous lectures.
James
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Week 5 Annotated Bibliography
Here are my annotated bibliographies with links to the articles in PDF format:
Citation:
Price, E., Malani, R., & Simon, B. (2006). Characterization of instructor and student use of ubiquitous presenter, a presentation system enabling spontaneity and digital archiving. American Institute of Physics, 7(3), 125-128.
Summary:
With new technologies being developed everyday for students, traditional methods of teaching may be a thing of the past. This study examines the usage of the Ubiquitous Presenter (UP), which is a tablet PC based program that allows the user to write on prepared slides. The writing process known as “ink” can be added to prepared slides to show emphasis, animation, or simply to stress an important topic. The ink can be a multiple of colors and can be erased at any time. One of the strengths of this UP system is that each stroke of the stylus on the tablet pc can be recorded and view synchronously via the web.
This research study involved two physics classes using the UP system to teach the students. Lecture slides were “inked” in class during both studies. The instructors could add color, erase, more details or definitions or simply blank space to their slides. Problems could be worked out during lecture on the tablet pc instead of the traditional method of using the chalk board.
A student survey was administered to the students in both of these classes and the results were tallied. The students from both classes felt the UP system was a benefit to the learning of the materials rather than a distraction. The students usually viewed the recorded lecture slides right before taking an exam or quiz. Other students used the slides for lectures that they might have missed. Both blank slides and fully inked slides were viewed by the students. Very few of the students took advantage of watching the progressive slide recordings where the slides progressed from unmarked slides to fully inked slides.
Review:
The UP system is what the future teachers need to start preparing for. More and more of these newer technologies are going to start taking over traditional methods of teaching on the chalkboard in front of the classroom. This system could be implemented in both a traditional class like this study was conducted on, or hybrid and online classes. The recording features of the UP system are definitely an advantage especially for the students who want to review notes in preparation for an exam.
The survey and results sections were also very interesting. A majority of the students used the slides to help review materials before an exam or quiz, but very few admitted to using the slides to make up for class lectures that they might have missed. A majority of the viewed slides were the fully inked versions versus the bare prepared slides. These results could be very different depending on the institution that one might be teaching at, such as community college versus a 4-year university.
Article #1
Citation:
Cox, B. (2008). Developing interpersonal and group dynamics through asynchronous threaded discussions: The use of discussion board in collaborative learning. Education, 128(4), 553-565.
Summary:
Communication in an online class is one of the difficulties we face as educators. The methodologies that are implemented to replicate the face to face discussions are often times the most troublesome part of online teaching. However, discussion boards can be used to replicate the instructor to student as well as student to student discussions that can occur in a traditional face to face class.
This study examines using the discussion boards as a tool to generate discussions in three online classes between both the instructor and the students. The instructor posts opened ended questions in which the students in the class would respond to either the instructor’s initial post or to other students’ replies. This type of communication is asynchronous which benefits most graduate students who are working during the day.
Discussion boards allow the students to respond to both the instructor as well as other students in the class. This type of social relationship that is created is similar to the face to face discussions and relationships, but in online classes, this relationship simply takes more time to develop. Sometimes students are more hesitate to respond to another student online because they cannot see the body language of the student receiving the reply. Other students would post comments and replies to a discussion board that would never raised their hand in a face to face classroom.
A study was conducted with three graduate level law classes, one 5 weeks and two 10 weeks in duration. The classes were online with a discussion board type of response system. The instructor would post open ended questions and the students would respond to either the instructor and/or to other students in the class. The results were very similar in all three cases. The discussion boards allowed all students in the class to participate in discussions. Their thoughts and ideas were shared with others in the class. Also, the learning community that was created by the discussion boards took a little longer to establish than it would have in a face to face class, but the asynchronous format allowed for collaborative learning.
Review:
This is an interesting article for anyone who is interested in the use of discussion board to promote telecommunications in an online course. The use of open ended questions for the instructor to post might not be suitable such as in a pre-algebra or geometry course, but higher levels of mathematics might benefit from this type of discussion.
The author notes the fact that discussion boards do create a learning community for the students to develop; however, it might take more time than it would in a face to face class. Collaborative learning is essential to any online class and discussion boards are one way this can occur.
Article #2
James
Citation:
Price, E., Malani, R., & Simon, B. (2006). Characterization of instructor and student use of ubiquitous presenter, a presentation system enabling spontaneity and digital archiving. American Institute of Physics, 7(3), 125-128.
Summary:
With new technologies being developed everyday for students, traditional methods of teaching may be a thing of the past. This study examines the usage of the Ubiquitous Presenter (UP), which is a tablet PC based program that allows the user to write on prepared slides. The writing process known as “ink” can be added to prepared slides to show emphasis, animation, or simply to stress an important topic. The ink can be a multiple of colors and can be erased at any time. One of the strengths of this UP system is that each stroke of the stylus on the tablet pc can be recorded and view synchronously via the web.
This research study involved two physics classes using the UP system to teach the students. Lecture slides were “inked” in class during both studies. The instructors could add color, erase, more details or definitions or simply blank space to their slides. Problems could be worked out during lecture on the tablet pc instead of the traditional method of using the chalk board.
A student survey was administered to the students in both of these classes and the results were tallied. The students from both classes felt the UP system was a benefit to the learning of the materials rather than a distraction. The students usually viewed the recorded lecture slides right before taking an exam or quiz. Other students used the slides for lectures that they might have missed. Both blank slides and fully inked slides were viewed by the students. Very few of the students took advantage of watching the progressive slide recordings where the slides progressed from unmarked slides to fully inked slides.
Review:
The UP system is what the future teachers need to start preparing for. More and more of these newer technologies are going to start taking over traditional methods of teaching on the chalkboard in front of the classroom. This system could be implemented in both a traditional class like this study was conducted on, or hybrid and online classes. The recording features of the UP system are definitely an advantage especially for the students who want to review notes in preparation for an exam.
The survey and results sections were also very interesting. A majority of the students used the slides to help review materials before an exam or quiz, but very few admitted to using the slides to make up for class lectures that they might have missed. A majority of the viewed slides were the fully inked versions versus the bare prepared slides. These results could be very different depending on the institution that one might be teaching at, such as community college versus a 4-year university.
Article #1
Citation:
Cox, B. (2008). Developing interpersonal and group dynamics through asynchronous threaded discussions: The use of discussion board in collaborative learning. Education, 128(4), 553-565.
Summary:
Communication in an online class is one of the difficulties we face as educators. The methodologies that are implemented to replicate the face to face discussions are often times the most troublesome part of online teaching. However, discussion boards can be used to replicate the instructor to student as well as student to student discussions that can occur in a traditional face to face class.
This study examines using the discussion boards as a tool to generate discussions in three online classes between both the instructor and the students. The instructor posts opened ended questions in which the students in the class would respond to either the instructor’s initial post or to other students’ replies. This type of communication is asynchronous which benefits most graduate students who are working during the day.
Discussion boards allow the students to respond to both the instructor as well as other students in the class. This type of social relationship that is created is similar to the face to face discussions and relationships, but in online classes, this relationship simply takes more time to develop. Sometimes students are more hesitate to respond to another student online because they cannot see the body language of the student receiving the reply. Other students would post comments and replies to a discussion board that would never raised their hand in a face to face classroom.
A study was conducted with three graduate level law classes, one 5 weeks and two 10 weeks in duration. The classes were online with a discussion board type of response system. The instructor would post open ended questions and the students would respond to either the instructor and/or to other students in the class. The results were very similar in all three cases. The discussion boards allowed all students in the class to participate in discussions. Their thoughts and ideas were shared with others in the class. Also, the learning community that was created by the discussion boards took a little longer to establish than it would have in a face to face class, but the asynchronous format allowed for collaborative learning.
Review:
This is an interesting article for anyone who is interested in the use of discussion board to promote telecommunications in an online course. The use of open ended questions for the instructor to post might not be suitable such as in a pre-algebra or geometry course, but higher levels of mathematics might benefit from this type of discussion.
The author notes the fact that discussion boards do create a learning community for the students to develop; however, it might take more time than it would in a face to face class. Collaborative learning is essential to any online class and discussion boards are one way this can occur.
Article #2
James
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Week 4 Skype
I already had Skype downloaded on my computer, so I made two calls this evening. The first call was to a friend who lives in Washington. She has a web camera connected to her computer as do I. So we were able to talk to each other over the internet as well as see each other. This feature works out well, especially if you web cam is portable. I used Skype once on my laptop computer equipped with a built in web cam to show my friend what my house looked like from the inside. I basically was able to walk throughout the house, holding my laptop and the friend could see what the inside of my house looked like as I was talking to her. Pretty cool feature....
The other call was to a colleague. She was online and I could see that she just logged on, so I called her and asked her a question related to our mathlab on campus. We talked for about 10 minutes before she had to attend to her children who were eating dinner.
I currently have 15 people on my Skype list. In order for me to start a conference call with two or more people, they need to first be on Skype. Then I would go to "call", and select "start conference call". A new window would appear which has all of my Skype friends listed and I would select which people I want to call and add them to my conference call list. Then I would select "start" and the calls should go through. It is pretty simple to use and works well. I have used this feature probably 6-8 times before instead of driving to a location to have a 3 campus committee meeting. Better yet, we were able to meet from the convenience of home.
James
The other call was to a colleague. She was online and I could see that she just logged on, so I called her and asked her a question related to our mathlab on campus. We talked for about 10 minutes before she had to attend to her children who were eating dinner.
I currently have 15 people on my Skype list. In order for me to start a conference call with two or more people, they need to first be on Skype. Then I would go to "call", and select "start conference call". A new window would appear which has all of my Skype friends listed and I would select which people I want to call and add them to my conference call list. Then I would select "start" and the calls should go through. It is pretty simple to use and works well. I have used this feature probably 6-8 times before instead of driving to a location to have a 3 campus committee meeting. Better yet, we were able to meet from the convenience of home.
James
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Week 3 Telecommunication Technologies
I have used several of the technologies that were mentioned in this week's podcast in my online classes that I have taught and are currently teaching, and several of the technologies have been used outside of class in social settings. I will talk about my experiences with each of the technologies, discuss their strengths and weaknesses, and discuss how I would incorporate these technologies into my online classes.
Streaming Media:
I have used streaming media in my online classes, but none of the videos were created by me. The software package from the textbook publisher has streaming media videos that the students can download to explain how to complete mathematical problems. The students have told us that the videos download just fine in our school's mathlab, but at home, sometime there is connection problems. I feel this is because not all of our students have high speed internet at home and some might still be connecting to the internet via dial up modems.
My experience with using streaming media outside of online classes is with our digital library and YouTube. We have a newer digital library at RCC which has many books, lectures, presentations and award ceremonies on video via streaming media. I have watched several of the "Distinguished Faculty" lectures on streaming media when I was unable to attend the actual event. This has worked out just fine for me.
I have also used YouTube to watch videos related to both karate forms and sparring matches. Many times I might forget moves to some of the forms or katas that I should know. I just search for that form's name on YouTube and usually someone has a video uploaded with them performing that kata. Or, many of the national and international sparring matches are on YouTube and it is good experience to watch how some of these top rank fighters spar in their matches.
Podcasts:
I have never been exposed to a podcast until I started taking Dr. Newberry's classes. It was last year when I asked Dr. Newberry what program I could use to create my own podcasts because I felt this method of explaining steps to students in online classes was so successful. He told me about Audacity and I downloaded the free program from the internet. Now, I currently created and distribute one podcast per week in my online MAT 35 Intermediate Algebra class to my students. The students will listen to the podcast (hopefully within the first few days of the week) and that will explain or remind them of any upcoming exams, quizzes or homeworks that are due. I like the media richness of the podcasts because it allows the students to feel as if they are actually listening to their instructor inside of a classroom setting. Plus, if the students do not catch all of the dates for the items that are due that week, they can always go back and replay that portion of the podcast.
I have also created a podcast for the Japanese terms that are commonly repeated in karate classes. Most of the students are non-Japanese speaking students, so listening to the correct pronunciation is more assuring to them to not embarrass them in class. I have several of these Japanese mp3 format podcasts uploaded to my website. Here is an example: dojokun
Forums and Bulletin Boards:
I have used forums such as StudyOnTheBeach.com and sludgepump.com in my ETEC classes with Dr. Newberry. I like the forums because everybody the opportunity to respond to questions that the instructor asks. Plus being that forums and bulletin boards are asynchronous, this works great with busy graduate students who may work at all different hours of the day. I feel this method of discussion if far better and more effective that using a chat room discussion which I have used in the past.
I also participate and read other online forums as well. CorvetteForum.com and KarateForum are two of my most visited sites for updated information regarding corvettes and karate. With the corvette forum, participants will post information related to performance of the vehicle to corvette cruises and hangouts spots. With the karate forum, I have read articles related to best websites to purchase supplies all the way to which tournaments to attend and why. So a great deal of information is posted on these forums and they are both heavily visited by hundreds of people daily.
Dr. Newberry also discussing many advantages of using the bulletin board type discussions rather than the threaded discussions in his article: The Use of Bulletin Boards for Discussions in Online Learning.
Threaded Discussions:
My only experience with a threaded discussion was last year when I was appointed chair of our Standard One accreditation committee. The administrative and faculty co-chairs of the steering committee thought that the best way to get all faculty, staff and students involved with the accreditation process would be to create an online accreditation class and have our discussions through the use of threaded discussions. The threaded discussions were supported by our college through WebCt at the time. They thought this would show who was participating in the discussion and also allow asynchronous participation. So each week, my job was to post questions related to the Mission Statements and Institutional Effectiveness. I was also supposed to encourage everybody who was a part of my standard to participate in the discussion through the threaded discussion board. It worked out okay, but I think actually trying to find a time and day where we could all meet would have been more successful. The threaded discussions also gave us a "paper trail" of participation by all for the accreditation team to see.
Skype or VOIP:
I have not used Skype in an online class that I am taking, but I have used it in the classes that I am teaching for office hours. I would let the students know certain hours during the week in which I will be online with Skype and they could call me with questions. This seems to work well, except for the students who do not have a microphone. Then the chat seems to work better. But out of 89 students, only 3 students have come forward to let me know they do not have access to a microphone for Skype.
I have also used Skype for conference calls. I am the department chair of mathematics at our campus and we would like to hold monthly meetings with all 3 campuses of RCC to make sure that we are on the same page and to discuss any problems related to math during the past month. We have used Skype to talk to each other from our office computers rather than drive to a certain location to talk. This has worked out great for us and I think we will continue to use this method. If there is something that we have to see, such as a document, we will scan it and send via email to the other campus. Or we have used the web camera feature that is tied into Skype to "show" something to our viewers.
I also use Skype in my personal life. This media is very rich because it is basically talking to another person. There is not a whole lot of room for ambiguity. The only disadvantage that I could see is that the communication is synchronous. This works well with another person or a small group of people, but might proved to be challenging when more people are involved.
Chat and Instant Messaging:
I have used the chat room discussions in Blackboard before in my online classes. This is very difficulty because not everybody types at the same speed and until you click on submit, someone else might have already responded to the same questions that was posed. Therefore, typing speed is an issue. Also, since everything is done by typing, we had synchronous discussions and some participates might not have typed anything for almost the entire discussion. There was not a way of really knowing if they were actively participating in the discussion or perhaps doing something else.
I like to use chat and instant messaging when I am talking with my friends. I am not sure what the deal is with typing versus talking, but many of my students rather type when they are communicating versus talking. We can see that with the text messaging. Why do young people have a cell phone if all they are going to do is text message? Some might say that they text message when they are sitting in a classroom and talking would not be allowed, but they also text message when they are in the shopping malls or hanging out with their friends. I think it is one of the "in" things to do nowdays.
MyMathLab also uses a chat feature where the students can chat live with an online tutor who will respond to their questions. But one of the disadvantages that we have found with this feature is that students have a hard time explaining their questions to the tutors. Trying to type a math problem is the most difficult part of using this feature. That is the main reason that many of my students dislike this feature on the program.
For me, using the mentioned technologies in my online classes is questionable. I currently use podcasts and Skype in my online math classes that I have currently. This two technologies seem to work just fine for me, primarily because podcasts are asynchronous and Skype is synchronous. Plus, both of these methods of communication are rich when it comes to media richness. See Dr. Newberry's article: Media Richness, Social Presence and Technology Supported Communication Activities in Education.
I would like to learn how to create streaming videos in the future, perhaps in the form of lectures on various topics and I could have these videos on the school's server and when students wanted to watch a lecture topic, they could just download that particular section's video. This type of media would be very useful for the student and in terms of media richness very rich. It would be as close to sitting in an actually classroom without the ability to ask questions as the lecture went on.
I am not too sure if I would use threaded discussions or chat rooms/instant messaging in my online classes because of the difficulty of typing in mathematical problems. For these types of asynchronous discussions, I would probably strive more to the forums and bulletin boards especially if the latest thread would float to the top. Students might be able to answer each other questions using a math forum in an online class.
Just my thoughts.....
James
Streaming Media:
I have used streaming media in my online classes, but none of the videos were created by me. The software package from the textbook publisher has streaming media videos that the students can download to explain how to complete mathematical problems. The students have told us that the videos download just fine in our school's mathlab, but at home, sometime there is connection problems. I feel this is because not all of our students have high speed internet at home and some might still be connecting to the internet via dial up modems.
My experience with using streaming media outside of online classes is with our digital library and YouTube. We have a newer digital library at RCC which has many books, lectures, presentations and award ceremonies on video via streaming media. I have watched several of the "Distinguished Faculty" lectures on streaming media when I was unable to attend the actual event. This has worked out just fine for me.
I have also used YouTube to watch videos related to both karate forms and sparring matches. Many times I might forget moves to some of the forms or katas that I should know. I just search for that form's name on YouTube and usually someone has a video uploaded with them performing that kata. Or, many of the national and international sparring matches are on YouTube and it is good experience to watch how some of these top rank fighters spar in their matches.
Podcasts:
I have never been exposed to a podcast until I started taking Dr. Newberry's classes. It was last year when I asked Dr. Newberry what program I could use to create my own podcasts because I felt this method of explaining steps to students in online classes was so successful. He told me about Audacity and I downloaded the free program from the internet. Now, I currently created and distribute one podcast per week in my online MAT 35 Intermediate Algebra class to my students. The students will listen to the podcast (hopefully within the first few days of the week) and that will explain or remind them of any upcoming exams, quizzes or homeworks that are due. I like the media richness of the podcasts because it allows the students to feel as if they are actually listening to their instructor inside of a classroom setting. Plus, if the students do not catch all of the dates for the items that are due that week, they can always go back and replay that portion of the podcast.
I have also created a podcast for the Japanese terms that are commonly repeated in karate classes. Most of the students are non-Japanese speaking students, so listening to the correct pronunciation is more assuring to them to not embarrass them in class. I have several of these Japanese mp3 format podcasts uploaded to my website. Here is an example: dojokun
Forums and Bulletin Boards:
I have used forums such as StudyOnTheBeach.com and sludgepump.com in my ETEC classes with Dr. Newberry. I like the forums because everybody the opportunity to respond to questions that the instructor asks. Plus being that forums and bulletin boards are asynchronous, this works great with busy graduate students who may work at all different hours of the day. I feel this method of discussion if far better and more effective that using a chat room discussion which I have used in the past.
I also participate and read other online forums as well. CorvetteForum.com and KarateForum are two of my most visited sites for updated information regarding corvettes and karate. With the corvette forum, participants will post information related to performance of the vehicle to corvette cruises and hangouts spots. With the karate forum, I have read articles related to best websites to purchase supplies all the way to which tournaments to attend and why. So a great deal of information is posted on these forums and they are both heavily visited by hundreds of people daily.
Dr. Newberry also discussing many advantages of using the bulletin board type discussions rather than the threaded discussions in his article: The Use of Bulletin Boards for Discussions in Online Learning.
Threaded Discussions:
My only experience with a threaded discussion was last year when I was appointed chair of our Standard One accreditation committee. The administrative and faculty co-chairs of the steering committee thought that the best way to get all faculty, staff and students involved with the accreditation process would be to create an online accreditation class and have our discussions through the use of threaded discussions. The threaded discussions were supported by our college through WebCt at the time. They thought this would show who was participating in the discussion and also allow asynchronous participation. So each week, my job was to post questions related to the Mission Statements and Institutional Effectiveness. I was also supposed to encourage everybody who was a part of my standard to participate in the discussion through the threaded discussion board. It worked out okay, but I think actually trying to find a time and day where we could all meet would have been more successful. The threaded discussions also gave us a "paper trail" of participation by all for the accreditation team to see.
Skype or VOIP:
I have not used Skype in an online class that I am taking, but I have used it in the classes that I am teaching for office hours. I would let the students know certain hours during the week in which I will be online with Skype and they could call me with questions. This seems to work well, except for the students who do not have a microphone. Then the chat seems to work better. But out of 89 students, only 3 students have come forward to let me know they do not have access to a microphone for Skype.
I have also used Skype for conference calls. I am the department chair of mathematics at our campus and we would like to hold monthly meetings with all 3 campuses of RCC to make sure that we are on the same page and to discuss any problems related to math during the past month. We have used Skype to talk to each other from our office computers rather than drive to a certain location to talk. This has worked out great for us and I think we will continue to use this method. If there is something that we have to see, such as a document, we will scan it and send via email to the other campus. Or we have used the web camera feature that is tied into Skype to "show" something to our viewers.
I also use Skype in my personal life. This media is very rich because it is basically talking to another person. There is not a whole lot of room for ambiguity. The only disadvantage that I could see is that the communication is synchronous. This works well with another person or a small group of people, but might proved to be challenging when more people are involved.
Chat and Instant Messaging:
I have used the chat room discussions in Blackboard before in my online classes. This is very difficulty because not everybody types at the same speed and until you click on submit, someone else might have already responded to the same questions that was posed. Therefore, typing speed is an issue. Also, since everything is done by typing, we had synchronous discussions and some participates might not have typed anything for almost the entire discussion. There was not a way of really knowing if they were actively participating in the discussion or perhaps doing something else.
I like to use chat and instant messaging when I am talking with my friends. I am not sure what the deal is with typing versus talking, but many of my students rather type when they are communicating versus talking. We can see that with the text messaging. Why do young people have a cell phone if all they are going to do is text message? Some might say that they text message when they are sitting in a classroom and talking would not be allowed, but they also text message when they are in the shopping malls or hanging out with their friends. I think it is one of the "in" things to do nowdays.
MyMathLab also uses a chat feature where the students can chat live with an online tutor who will respond to their questions. But one of the disadvantages that we have found with this feature is that students have a hard time explaining their questions to the tutors. Trying to type a math problem is the most difficult part of using this feature. That is the main reason that many of my students dislike this feature on the program.
For me, using the mentioned technologies in my online classes is questionable. I currently use podcasts and Skype in my online math classes that I have currently. This two technologies seem to work just fine for me, primarily because podcasts are asynchronous and Skype is synchronous. Plus, both of these methods of communication are rich when it comes to media richness. See Dr. Newberry's article: Media Richness, Social Presence and Technology Supported Communication Activities in Education.
I would like to learn how to create streaming videos in the future, perhaps in the form of lectures on various topics and I could have these videos on the school's server and when students wanted to watch a lecture topic, they could just download that particular section's video. This type of media would be very useful for the student and in terms of media richness very rich. It would be as close to sitting in an actually classroom without the ability to ask questions as the lecture went on.
I am not too sure if I would use threaded discussions or chat rooms/instant messaging in my online classes because of the difficulty of typing in mathematical problems. For these types of asynchronous discussions, I would probably strive more to the forums and bulletin boards especially if the latest thread would float to the top. Students might be able to answer each other questions using a math forum in an online class.
Just my thoughts.....
James
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