Oakland University’s Psi Chi
Chapter Explores Open Education
BRENTON R. YANOS, WILLIAM FUSS, CANDICE LAMBERT,
EMILY OLTHOF, KAITLYN HARDING, & LAUREN ROGERS
FACULTY ADVISOR: CYNTHIA SIFONIS
E-Cornucopia Conference
May 26, 2011
Oakland University
http://oaklandpsichi.com/
Psi Chi: the International Honors Society
 Purpose: to encourage, stimulate, and maintain
excellence on scholarship of the individual members
in all fields (particularly psychology)
 Goals: academic recognition & nurture a climate
congenial to creative development
 How? New pathways using technological advances
 Open education

Theory that knowledge should be transparent and accessible to
anyone who wants to learn
Why have an open education policy?
 History of students wanting content from our events
but not being able to attend


Oakland University’s commuter population
Many non-traditional students
 Inopportune times of events, allowing certain
student populations to not benefit


OU’s class schedule
Work, family responsibilities, distance, etc.
 Focus on new events each year (with traditional
events being made available online)
The Student Perspective
 Educational institutions should take advantage of
the growth in technology

Rising OU population = more non-traditional students
 Convenience
 Information could reach undergraduates otherwise
unable to attend educational events.


“Commuter school” at OU
Students can participate in group learning activities without
actually be situated in the same location.
The Student Perspective
 “Supplemental education”
 Online content supplements but does not replace traditional
educational formats




Only when combined with traditional formats do students
recognize the benefits of eLearning (Serwatka, 2002)
Reexamining “live” information to investigate information
possibly missed.
Classroom interaction is important for educational and social
purposes.
How will a student ask questions?
 Students: The Natural Procrastinators
 Students may severely underestimate the amount of time
needed for online learning
 Students must be motivated to look for/access online material.
The Student Perspective
 Student adaptation
 Overestimation of student technological abilities



The college age group may indeed find it difficult to adapt to this
new way of learning
Lack of IT skills is one of the main reasons for student nonparticipation in eLearning environments (Wilson, 2001)
O’Connell (2002) proposes that some students may experience
problems with the eLearning process
 Access to information?
 Students still have the option of using computers at school if
one is not available in the home
 Time limit
Psi Chi’s Perspective
 Post facto:
 open education benefits students who were unaware of certain
events at the time they occurred
 Open education allows students from other Psi Chi
branches to gain knowledge from sources outside
their respective universities.

Creating organizational bonds between Psi Chi members from
across the U.S. Thereby broadening the educational goals of
Psi Chi.
 Preparation for this conference!
 Use of eLearning tools
Existing Online Psi Chi Content
 Podcasts
Psi Chi Psychology conference at Drexel University (March
2006)



Six research presentations
http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/psi-chi-cast/id140683358
University of Connecticut



Fifteen total topics
http://www.psychology.uconn.edu/resources/podcasts.html
Sonoma State University


Five lectures on Autism
Existing Online Psi Chi Content
 Oakland University content on iTunes U
• There is some non-lecture content posted on iTunes U
•
•
•
They are not getting many hits.
This could be because the podcasts are not really geared to undergraduate
students
Lecture content on iTunes U have gotten many hits
•
•
Dr. Sifonis has on average 15 hits on every lecture content of hers.
Possibly because the content is for undergraduates
• Our current workings:
•
•
http://www2.oakland.edu/psych/psichipodcast.xml
Downloads of non-lecture content geared towards undergraduates
•
Hypothesized to result in a moderate amount of hits
Future Online Psi Chi Content
 Expecting:
 More Psi Chi chapters to be using iTunes U




Share knowledge about different events
Post how to become or apply for an officer position
Post workshops that are held every year to open up space for
different workshops
Focus efforts elsewhere

Philanthropy

Outside researchers

Joint events
Future Direction
 Limited data exists
 However, open education is predicted to benefit many
undergraduates and professors here at OU
 Professors can:
 Have more lectures online as supplemental materials
 Enjoy multiple benefits

Can help with finding research assistants

Can make teaching more interactive

Lectures can be heard from people outside the university
 Increase awareness of open education
 across Psi Chi chapters, student organizations, and educators
Issues Before Recording
 Faculty Permission
 Approval to be recorded


Fear of being recorded
Releasing Power Point Presentation
 Psi Chi Officer Learning Curve
 How to use voice recorder/video recorder
 Equipment set-up
 New software
Audacity
 Camtasia (other future programs)

Issues After Recording
 Audacity
 Time
Editing “dead air”, “Q&A” and um’s and ah’s
 Adding intro

 Uploading content to iTunes U/website
 Problems:
Sampling bit rate
 Sound differences between computer source and online content

 Time demands
 New officer position
Benefits of Using Audacity
 Audacity
 Open source
 File size
 Saving in different formats
Video Recording
 Benefits
 Visual and audio content work together to enhance the
learning experience
 Limitations
 Video recordings not currently being used
File size limitations on iTunes University
 Bandwidth issues for hosting videos on our website
 Harder to edit
 Faculty are uncomfortable being video-taped
 Time taken to prepare a “mock presentation”

Future Goals
 Camtasia

Having a “standard” workshop available enables



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More time for student “Q&A”
More hands-on experience at workshop
Open up time for other new workshops
Give students who are unable to attend the presentation an
opportunity to benefit
 New Officer Position



Open education
Editing clips
Psi Chi website
 Need for Psi Chi laptop



Files in one place
Programs on one computer
Stays in Psi Chi
References
 O’Connell, B. (2002). A poor grade for eLearning:
Classroom students did better. Workforce, 81(7).
 Serwatka, J. (2002). Improving student performance
in distance learning courses. The Journal of
Technological Horizons In Education, 29(9), 46-52.
 Wilson, J. (2001). Lessons of a virtual timetable:
Education. The Economist, 2.