PARTICIPANT’S GUIDE
COLLABORATIVE
LEARNING USING
ONLINE TOOLS
Version 1 - December 2000
Visit the @ONE Web site
http://one.evc.edu/
COLLABORATIVE LEARNING USING
ONLINE TOOLS
DEVELOPMENT TEAM
Some of the material in this course evolved from "Using Email to Support Instruction", published by
@ONE, developed by Phyllis Yasuda and Sandi Watkins, September 1999
COURSE DEVELOPERS:
• Vivian Frederick, Instructor Emeritus, CIS, De Anza College, Cupertino
• Phyllis Yasuda, Instructor Emeritus, Business/CS, De Anza College,
Cupertino
CONTENT EXPERTS:
• Susan Adrian, English faculty, Mission College, Santa Clara, CA
• Alan Buckley, Political Science faculty, Santa Monica College, Santa
Monica, CA
• Julie Falsetti, ESL and Computer Science faculty, Hunter College, New
York City, NY
• Susan Gaer, ESL faculty, Santa Ana College, Santa Ana, CA
• Wendy Greenstein, English faculty, Long Beach City College, Long Beach,
CA
• Lucy MacDonald, Developmental Studies faculty, Chemeketa Community
College, Salem, OR
• Dan Mitchell, Music faculty, De Anza College, Cupertino
• John Swensson, English faculty, De Anza College, Cupertino
INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGNERS:
• Heidi King, Instructional Designer, @ONE
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• Karla Frizler Octavio, Instructional Designer, @ONE
The @ONE Project is funded by the Technology and Telecommunications Program of the California Community
Colleges Chancellor’s Office, Grant # 96-0490.
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@ONE Team
Marsha Conley, Instructional Development Coordinator, American River College
Stevie Daniels, Faculty, Fresno City College
Linda Delzeit, Faculty, Los Angeles Trade-Tech College
David Diaz, Faculty, Cuesta College
Jacque O’Lea, Faculty, Santa Ana College
Scott Vigallon, Instructional Designer, Las Positas College
Kip Waldo, Faculty/Staff Development, Chabot College
@ONE Staff
Ann Koda, Project Director, De Anza College
Catherine Ayers, Project Consultant
Karla Frizler Octavio, Instructional Designer
Heidi King, Instructional Designer
Shashi Naidu, Web Support
Marjorie West, Administrative Support
@ONE Advisory Committee
Martha Kanter, President, De Anza College, Co-Chair
Sandra Acebo, President, Butte College
Catherine Ayers, @ONE Project Consultant
David J. Bell, Director Information Services, Riverside Community College
Susan Cota, President Los Positas College
Linda Delzeit, Faculty, Los Angeles Trade Technical College
David Diaz, @ONE Team – Faculty, Cuesta College
Kathleen Doherty, Academic Partnership Manager, Adobe Systems
Nancy Glock Grueneich, Vice President of Learning, FACCC
Gregg Gordon, Higher Education Account Manager, Microsoft Corporation
Gus Guichard, Vice Chancellor, Human Resources, CCC Chancellor’s Office
Joe Georges, California Virtual Campus-PDC Director
Ann Koda, @ONE Project Director
Debra Landre, Faculty, San Joaquin Delta College
Cherri Li, Director of Academic Computing, Santa Monica College
Jim Marteney, 4CSD, Los Angeles Valley College
Jennifer Merlic, California Virtual Campus – PDC Training Director
Ric Mathews, Faculty, San Diego Miramar College
Paul Myers, California Virtual Campus, Region IV Director
Willie Pritchard, @ONE Supervising Administrator, De Anza College
Paul Simmons, Faculty Association of the California Community Colleges
Ron Speno, Government and Education Relations, Xerox Corporation
David Springett, President, Community College Foundation
Jack Tuller, Educational Channel Manager, North America, Macromedia
Linda Umbdenstock, CCC Research and Planning Group, Long Beach City College
Dianne Van Hook, Superintendent/President, Santa Clarita CCD
Scott Vigallon, @ONE Team, LasPositas College
Kip Waldo, 4CSD, Chabot College
Ian Walton, Technology Chair, CCC Academic Senate
Lindy Williams, Specialist, Telecommunications and Technology, CCC Chancellor’s Office
Tom Willis, @ONE Project Monitor, CCC Chancellor’s Office
Stacy Wilson, @ONE Evaluator, Council for PostSecondary Education
LeBaron Woodyard, Dean of Technology, CCC Chancellor’s Office
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About @ONE
As California’s community colleges take on the challenge of effectively integrating technology into
instruction and services, they do so with the goals of increased student access and improved
student outcomes. The @ONE project has been funded by the California Community Colleges
Chancellor’s Office to build a statewide training infrastructure with an electronic learning
community as an integral support and connection for faculty throughout the state. The @ONE
project is a faculty driven community college consortium that is dedicated to providing resources
to community college faculty and staff to support learning and students in the 21st century.
@ONE Mission
The mission of @ONE is to empower California Community College faculty and staff to enhance
student learning and success through expanded uses of effective technology by providing
training, online resources and support.
Permission to Use & Reprint @ONE Training Materials
Modification, reprinting and distribution of these training materials throughout the California
Community College system is authorized and encouraged, provided that @ONE is acknowledged
as the original author (e.g. add this line before reprinting: "These training materials adapted with
permission from @ONE, http://one.fhda.edu, [date]).
If you are outside the California Community College system and wish to use/adapt any @ONE
training materials, please contact the @ONE Office at 408.257.0409, or write to
info@onemail.fhda.edu to make arrangements.
Copyright © 2000, @ONE, California Community Colleges.
Evergreen Valley College, 3095 Yerba Buena Road, San Jose, CA 95135
• http://one.evc.edu/
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Table of Contents
Page
Table of Contents .................................................................................................................................................. vii
Collaborative Learning Using Online Tools.........................................................................................................1
Introduction ..........................................................................................................................................................1
Course Description ..............................................................................................................................................1
Minimum Prerequisites for All Modules ..........................................................................................................1
Module One: An Overview of Online Tools ........................................................................................................3
Introduction ..........................................................................................................................................................3
Module One Objectives ...................................................................................................................................3
Module One Prerequisites ..............................................................................................................................3
Benefits of Using Online Communication and Collaboration Tools ............................................................4
Educational Objectives and Strategies ..........................................................................................................4
A Look at Asynchronous Online Tools .............................................................................................................7
Email ..................................................................................................................................................................7
Benefits of Using Email ................................................................................................................................................... 7
Example of How Email Is Currently Being Used In Education........................................................................................ 7
Listservs.............................................................................................................................................................8
Benefits of Using A Listserv ............................................................................................................................................ 9
Example of How Listservs Are Currently Being Used In Education ................................................................................ 9
Listserv Demonstration .................................................................................................................................................. 10
Bulletin Board ................................................................................................................................................. 10
Benefits of Using A Bulletin Board ................................................................................................................................ 11
Example of How Bulletin Boards Are Currently Being Used In Education ................................................................... 12
Bulletin Board Demonstration ........................................................................................................................................ 13
A Look at Synchronous Online Tools ............................................................................................................. 14
Chat .................................................................................................................................................................. 14
Benefits of Using Chat ................................................................................................................................................... 14
Example of How Chat Sessions Are Currently Being Used In Education ...................................................................... 16
Chat Demonstration ........................................................................................................................................................ 16
Instant Messaging .......................................................................................................................................... 16
Benefits of using Instant Messaging ............................................................................................................................... 17
Example of How Instant Messaging Is Currently Being Used In Education .................................................................. 17
Instant Messaging Demonstration .................................................................................................................................. 17
Virtual Reality Environments....................................................................................................................... 17
Benefits of Using Virtual Reality Environments ............................................................................................................ 18
Example of How Virtual Reality Environments Are Currently Being Used In Education ............................................. 18
Virtual Reality Demonstration........................................................................................................................................ 19
Practical Considerations ................................................................................................................................... 22
Preparing Yourself ......................................................................................................................................... 22
Preparing Your Class..................................................................................................................................... 22
Privacy Considerations ................................................................................................................................................... 23
The Class Survey ............................................................................................................................................................ 23
Preparing Your Facility ................................................................................................................................. 25
Summary ............................................................................................................................................................. 26
Module Two: Using Asynchronous Communication Tools (Email, Listservs, Bulletin Boards) ................ 27
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Introduction to the Module .............................................................................................................................. 27
Module Two Overview ................................................................................................................................. 27
Module Two Objectives ................................................................................................................................ 27
Module Two Prerequisites ........................................................................................................................... 27
Benefits of Asynchronous Learning Activities .............................................................................................. 28
A Look at Asynchronous Teaching Strategies ............................................................................................... 29
One-To-One and One-To-Many Communication ..................................................................................... 29
Communication Styles .................................................................................................................................. 29
Network Etiquette ......................................................................................................................................... 31
Emoticons and Acronyms ............................................................................................................................................... 31
Providing Feedback ....................................................................................................................................... 32
Editing Student Writing ................................................................................................................................ 34
Additional Suggestions ................................................................................................................................. 36
Using Asynchronous Tools (Comparison Activities) ................................................................................... 38
Activity One: Comparing Asynchronous Tools .............................................................................................................. 38
Activity Two: Editing ..................................................................................................................................................... 38
Activity Three: Reflection (Selecting the Tool).............................................................................................................. 38
Activity Four: Brainstorming.......................................................................................................................................... 39
Practical Considerations ................................................................................................................................... 40
Setting Up Student Email Accounts ............................................................................................................ 40
Managing Asynchronous Communication ................................................................................................ 41
Managing Email ............................................................................................................................................................. 41
Setting Up Listservs ....................................................................................................................................... 42
Setting Up Bulletin Boards ........................................................................................................................... 42
Troubleshooting Strategies ........................................................................................................................... 42
Summary ............................................................................................................................................................. 43
Module Three: Using Synchronous Communication Tools (Chat, Instant Messaging, Virtual Reality
Environments) ........................................................................................................................................................ 45
Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................ 45
Module Three Overview ............................................................................................................................... 45
Module Three Objectives .............................................................................................................................. 45
Module Three Prerequisites ......................................................................................................................... 45
Benefits of Synchronous Learning Activities ................................................................................................. 46
A Look at Synchronous Teaching Strategies .................................................................................................. 47
Communication Styles .................................................................................................................................. 47
Providing Feedback ....................................................................................................................................... 50
Online Office Hours ...................................................................................................................................... 50
Setting Expectations ...................................................................................................................................... 50
Network Etiquette for Synchronous Communication .............................................................................. 52
Using Synchronous Tools (Comparison Activities) ...................................................................................... 53
Activity One: Comparisons ............................................................................................................................................ 53
Activity Two: Reflection ................................................................................................................................................ 53
Activity Three: Brainstorming ........................................................................................................................................ 53
Practical Considerations ................................................................................................................................... 54
Using Chat ...................................................................................................................................................... 54
Using MOOs ................................................................................................................................................... 56
Using Instant Messaging .............................................................................................................................. 58
Summary ............................................................................................................................................................. 60
Module Four: Creating Effective Lessons Using Online Tools ....................................................................... 61
Introduction to the Module .............................................................................................................................. 61
Module Four Overview ................................................................................................................................ 61
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Module Four Objectives ................................................................................................................................ 61
Module Four Prerequisites ........................................................................................................................... 61
Review of Previous Modules............................................................................................................................ 62
Collaborative Learning Considerations .......................................................................................................... 63
Developing a Sense of Community ............................................................................................................. 63
Setting the Tone.............................................................................................................................................................. 63
Modeling/Coaching ........................................................................................................................................................ 64
Designing Effective Groups .......................................................................................................................... 66
Encouraging Collaboration ........................................................................................................................... 68
Forming Groups ............................................................................................................................................................. 68
Extending Classroom Discussions. ................................................................................................................................. 69
Encouraging Students To Use Community Resources. .................................................................................................. 70
Valuing Student Contribution/Assessment .............................................................................................. 71
Setting Expectations ....................................................................................................................................................... 72
Identify Learning Objectives ............................................................................................................................ 78
Activity One: Selecting Objectives ................................................................................................................................ 79
Match Tools to Objectives ................................................................................................................................. 80
Activity Two - Selecting Appropriate Tools .................................................................................................................. 80
Create A Lesson/Activity ................................................................................................................................. 81
Activity Three: Creating a Lesson Plan .......................................................................................................................... 81
Summary ............................................................................................................................................................. 84
Additional Resources ........................................................................................................................................ 84
Appendix A: Tools ................................................................................................................................................. 85
Email Basics ........................................................................................................................................................ 87
Setting Up Email Accounts ........................................................................................................................... 87
Creating a Message ........................................................................................................................................ 89
Receiving the Reply and Creating an Address Book ................................................................................ 90
Creating Folders and Filters ......................................................................................................................... 93
To create a filter: ............................................................................................................................................. 93
Creating Distribution Lists ........................................................................................................................... 95
Setting Up a Signature File ........................................................................................................................... 97
Setting Up a Yahoo! Groups Account ............................................................................................................. 98
Using a Listserv ................................................................................................................................................ 102
Using a Bulletin Board .................................................................................................................................... 104
Using Chat ........................................................................................................................................................ 106
Using a MOO .................................................................................................................................................... 108
Appendix B: Some Useful Web Sites ................................................................................................................. 113
Free Email ......................................................................................................................................................... 113
Listservs............................................................................................................................................................. 113
Bulletin Boards ................................................................................................................................................. 113
Chat .................................................................................................................................................................... 114
Instant Messaging ............................................................................................................................................ 114
MOO .................................................................................................................................................................. 114
Netiquette ......................................................................................................................................................... 115
Collaborative Learning and Instructional Design ....................................................................................... 115
Online File Storage ........................................................................................................................................... 116
Course Management Software ....................................................................................................................... 116
Other Sites of Special Interest To Teachers................................................................................................... 116
Appendix C: Typical Classroom Activities and Suggestions for Online Tool Use ..................................... 119
Appendix D: Class Survey .................................................................................................................................. 121
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Appendix E: @ONE Training Course Evaluation—Participant ................................................................... 123
Course Content Evaluation Form – Participant ............................................................................................................ 123
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Collaborative Learning Using
Online Tools
Introduction
The overall goal of this course is to provide a conceptual picture of
online tools for communication and collaborative learning in teaching.
Brief explanations and examples will be used to help participants
understand what tools are available and how they are being used.
The online tools described in this course provide effective alternatives for
face-to-face communication. These tools can be used to create an
environment that encourages all students to speak and participate in
group discussions and exercises.
Infused throughout this course are the principles presented in the
California Community Colleges Academic Senate Report, "Guidelines for
Good Practice: Technology Mediated Instruction, " which is available in
the Senate archives, at the URL given in Appendix B.
Course Description
This hands-on course is divided into four Modules as listed below, each
designed for approximately two hours instruction time.
• Module One: Overview of Online Tools
• Module Two: Using Asynchronous Communication Tools (Email,
Listservs, Bulletin Boards)
 Module Three: Using Synchronous Communication Tools (Chat,
Instant Messaging, Virtual Reality Environments)
 Module Four: Creating Effective Lessons Using Online Tools
Minimum Prerequisites for All
Modules
Participants must
1. Have an e-mail account that can be accessed from the lab during this
course time and
2. Be able to complete the following tasks:
3.

Send and receive messages

Reply to a message
Be able to use a World Wide Web browser to access the Web for
"surfing" and research activities.
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Be able to use a word processor and perform basic operations such
as creating documents, saving documents in various file formats,
and cutting and pasting between documents.
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Module One: An Overview of
Online Tools
Introduction
Online tools can be divided into two types: asynchronous and
synchronous. Asynchronous tools are those that can be used by any
participant at any time—multiple users do not need to be logged on
simultaneously. Asynchronous tools include email, listservs and bulletin
boards. Synchronous, "real time," tools are those that must be used at the
same time by all participants. These include chat tools (Chat, IRC, Instant
Messaging), and virtual reality tools (MOO/MUDs).
In Module One, the individual tools will be presented in the framework
of how they might be used for effective communication and
collaboration.
Module One Objectives
Participants will
 Learn about effective use of online tools for communication and
collaborative learning.
 Learn the differences between asynchronous and synchronous
communication tools.
Module One Prerequisites
Participants must
1. Have an e-mail account that can be accessed from the lab during this
course time and
2. Be able to complete the following tasks:
3.
4.

Send and receive messages

Reply to a message
Be able to use a World Wide Web browser to access the Web for
"surfing" and research activities.
Be able to use a word processor and perform basic operations such
as creating documents, saving documents in various file formats,
and cutting and pasting between documents.
We also suggest that you read Module One prior to class time.
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Benefits of Using Online
Communication and Collaboration
Tools
Just as one presentation style is not effective for every student, one mode
of technology is not universally effective. The goal of instruction should
be to make a variety of options available for different students with
different learning styles. The use of online tools offers simultaneous
opportunities
 to encourage progress for the comfortable majority of students and
 to concentrate on the variety of individual and specific difficulties
encountered by smaller groups of students.1
In other words, the online tools may make it possible
 for the visual learner to learn by "seeing" discussions as he
participates
 for the tactual learner to learn by actively participating in learning
activities
 for the auditory learner to learn by "listening" to and participating in
online discussions
Educational Objectives and Strategies
When thinking about incorporating these new tools into a course, it is
important to keep in mind the following two primary questions.
1.
What are your educational objectives/strategies for your class? Once
you have a list of your educational objectives, you can begin to look
at the use of new technology tools to see how they might enhance
your objectives.
2.
Which of those objectives can be met by using online tools? You will
be able to answer this question better after you finish Module One.
Here are some possible objectives you may wish to consider when using
online tools in your classes:
1.
Offer more options for students with different learning styles.
2.
Create more meaningful interactions with the student. For example,
students who correspond with the instructor by email or listserv
once a week may, in fact, receive considerably more useful personal
attention than those who sit quietly in the back of a lecture every day
all semester. A student who participates electronically in a guided,
threaded online discussion will almost certainly experience a richer
Academic Senate of California Community Colleges. Guidelines for Good
Practice: Effective Instructor-Student Contact in Distance Learning. Spring 1999
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interaction than that provided by a single question and answer in a
traditional classroom.2
Academic Senate of California Community Colleges. Guidelines for Good
Practice: Effective Instructor-Student Contact in Distance Learning. Spring 1999.
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3.
Extend the classroom boundaries. One instructor regularly takes her
students into a virtual reality environment to meet with another
class from a distant state. In the MOO they spend an hour discussing
the assigned topic.
4.
Enable all students to participate including:
 The shy person
 The reflective thinker
 The disabled student
 The working student
 The distance-learning student
5.
Offer your students more opportunities to use the language of your
discipline by requiring regular participation in electronic
discussions.
6.
Encourage the development and growth of the learning community
through the use of student collaboration and group work.
7.
Encourage your students to identify, use and share community
resources.
Use the following space to add other objectives that may occur to you. Be
as detailed as you like.
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A Look at Asynchronous Online
Tools
The beauty of these tools is that they provide the means for almost
instant communication without regard to time or place. For example,
you can pose a question for your students and the students can respond
at any time (within the limits of your assignment). Students can
communicate with each other without having to be in the same
physical/geographical location. Many times students will ask questions
or make observations using electronic media that they might not have
volunteered within the confines of a classroom.
Email
Email ("electronic mail") refers to messages sent via the Internet. Many
Internet users got their start using email. Email is a fast and easy way to
send messages from one person to another or to a group (either by using
multiple recipients or through an email distribution list.) Messages are
typically delivered within minutes rather than days.
Benefits of Using Email
Email is a simple way to begin using online tools and it provides some
unique opportunities for the instructor and students.
1.
Email allows you the opportunity to provide individual attention to
students in need.
2.
As long as access is available to all students, group projects can be
assigned even though students cannot arrange for a common
meeting time.
3.
Students who are unable to participate effectively in class
discussions may be more comfortable joining in discussions via
email where they can take time to formulate their responses.
4.
The thinking process of students can be illuminated through email
conversations.
5.
Students who did not regularly use email before will master a skill
required in today's workforce.
6.
The use of email upgrades students' communication skills by forcing
them to carefully choose and use appropriate words to express their
thoughts.
Example of How Email Is Currently Being Used In Education
You can use an email assignment as an introductory device during the
first few days of a class. Sometimes you will learn more about a student
than you expected. Suppose you ask each student to use his/her
permanent email address to send you an email that includes:
 the course title and number
 the student's name and telephone number
 the type and location of the computer the student normally uses
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the email program the student normally uses
why the student is enrolled in your class
any other comments the student wishes to make
This assignment might generate the following reply in which you learn a
valuable piece of information (Judith is hearing impaired) that will
enable you to help this student more effectively than you might
otherwise have done.
Subject: CIS 100
Date: Mon, 14 Aug 2000 21:35:09 -0700 (PDT)
From: jabberwocky@freemail.com
To: wellcraft@school.edu
Dear Mrs. Wellcraft. My name is Judith Baker.
My telephone number is 555-7438. I am sending
this email from my home, using Netscape 4.5 on
a Power Macintosh 7300/180. I enrolled in your
class because it is a requirement for my major,
and I am really looking forward to learning
about computers. If possible, I would like to
sit in the front row as I am hearing impaired.
Sincerely, Judith.
You can use the emails you receive to create an address book for your
class. If you require this assignment from students in more than one
class, be sure to insist that they put the course name and number in the
subject line. That way you can automatically sort the replies into the
right class folders (as described in Module Two)
Listservs
A listserv, or mailing list manager, is simply software that receives
messages and automatically sends them out to the email addresses of a
group of users who have subscribed to the list. This allows the group to
communicate without having to send individual emails to everyone in
the group. Instead, each subscriber posts a message to one address,
which serves as an alias for all subscribers' addresses. Messages to and
from mailing lists are sent and received the same way as any other email
message.3
Some of the most popular mailing list management programs are
LISTSERV, ListProc, and Majordomo. Even though LISTSERV is a
proprietary and copyrighted name owned by L-Soft International, Inc.,
the term “listserv” has become the generic name used to describe
discussion lists much the same way that Xerox is used to refer to a copy
or Kleenex is used to refer to a tissue. It is for that reason that we have
used "listserv" throughout this Guide instead of "mailing list" or
"discussion list.”
Young, Margaret Levine. The Complete Reference: Internet, Millennium
Edition. McGraw Hill. 1999
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TIP: If you have your students' email addresses, you can subscribe them
yourself in order to avoid subscription problems by inexperienced
students.
Benefits of Using A Listserv
A listserv can be used effectively for a traditional class, an online course,
or any hybrid in between. Here are some benefits you can expect from
using a listserv:
1.
Students can continue class discussions after they have left the
classroom, on weekends, at nights, or whenever they are inspired to
discuss a topic.
2.
Students can also
 ask questions about homework,
 find study partners
 share research information.
3.
Listservs automatically send information to all subscribers; therefore,
you can answer one question for everyone in the class rather than
answering the same question 30 times. This insures that everyone
(including those who were afraid to ask the question) gets the
answer. It also gives you more time to concentrate on learning
objectives.
4.
You, as well as your students, can initiate highly active discussions
on a listserv.
Example of How Listservs Are Currently Being Used In Education
John Swensson, one of the content experts for this Guide, uses listservs
extensively. He made the following statement about his usage:
I sometimes also add content experts to my listserv, and
let the students know whom I have invited to join the
class. So if I am teaching a Critical Thinking class about
the Viet Nam Conflict, I may invite a couple of articulate
Viet Nam veterans to join the list, or authors who have
written about the war. I also may include a professor
from a University in Viet Nam. I suggest to my content
experts that they receive a ‘digest’ on a daily basis.
NOTE: a Listserv Digest (or Bundle) is an email message sent
periodically (usually daily) that lists all of the postings to the listserv by
subject line and sender.
John also has a college counselor join the listserv:
For the past three years I have asked a counselor to
assist my students whether they be online or in-class
students. The counselor joins the listserv on a ‘digest’
basis to cut down on the amount of email she receives.
Generally, she lurks, but may respond whenever she
wishes to do that. When we have students in crisis, she
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is already aware of the student because of listserv
participation, and she can then work one-on-one via
email or face-to-face counseling. All of the students have
her email address and they routinely send questions
soliciting academic advice from her. If they hit a need for
personal counseling, they email her for an appointment.
Very efficient and effective use of the counselor’s time.
Listserv Demonstration
Your trainer will demonstrate using a listserv.
Bulletin Board
Another way to facilitate communication among your students is by
using a Web-based bulletin board, another device that sends messages
from one person to many recipients. Bulletin Boards are also known as
discussion boards and/or message boards. Think of a public bulletin
board in the local supermarket where anyone can post a message about
any topic. Any user of a Web-based bulletin board can post a message
that can be read by anyone who accesses the bulletin board.
The main historical difference between listservs and bulletin boards is
that listserv messages are automatically sent to subscribers' email
inboxes, while bulletin board users must generally go to a location on the
Web to read and post messages. However, some bulletin boards now
provide the option of receiving copies of postings via email.
Another important difference is that bulletin board discussions are
usually "threaded", while listserv messages often are not. In a threaded
discussion, messages about a particular topic are grouped together,
making discussions easy to follow. Users are able to reply and associate
their message with a specific message already posted.
NOTE: Some hybrid group discussion facilities are currently available
that combine the threaded capability of a bulletin board with the
automatic email delivery of a listserv.
Here is an example of the content of a threaded bulletin board. Note that
the first thread (topic) has not been expanded to reveal its text, while the
other thread has been expanded. Also note that each reply is indented
below the original message. This is a common organizational convention
in bulletin boards. The line numbers in this example were added to make
it easy to reference them; they are not typically found in bulletin boards.
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Welcome to English 123! (wellcraft)
Descriptive Paper (wellcraft)
Write a definition paper (1000 words). Choose a
subject and define it, either literally or
connotatively. You may also try defining through
imagery.
Re: Descriptive
Blythe Adams
What are you
was thinking
Paper
(adams@yahoo.com)
going to write your papers on??? I
about Love!!! What do you think???
Re: Re: Descriptive Paper
Michael Lee (lee@yahoo.com)
Are you crazy - love in 1000 words??? You
could write a whole library on just
"romantic" love - sigh…
Re: Re: Descriptive Paper
Maria Vasquez (vasquez@yahoo.com)
Michael's right - you'd get killed if you
choose love for the first real assignment of
the class! Try something less complex.
Re: Re: Descriptive Paper
Blythe Adams (adams@yahoo.com)
OK!! OK!! I get the message - maybe I'll
just do the paper on <ahem> The Egg! That
certainly is simple!
Re: Re: Descriptive Paper
Bridget Jones (jones@yahoo.com)
Right Blythe - The Egg! Yikes!! Do you think
you can get 1000 words about an egg? Do you
really think Ms. Wellcraft will go for
that??? Maybe you should find some place
between the complexity of love and the
simplicity of the egg!
Benefits of Using A Bulletin Board
A bulletin board makes it easy to post important information about your
courses such as:
 schedule changes
 grading procedure for a project
 reading lists
 frequently asked questions (FAQs)
 any other information you want to get to your students in a timely
fashion.
Focused questions posted on a threaded bulletin board can stimulate
student discussions. For example, you can
 post a question that generates thoughtful inquiry about a topic and
then sit back and see where it takes your students.
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post more than one question and the replies to each will be grouped
together to facilitate following the discussion.
Example of How Bulletin Boards Are Currently Being Used In Education
Following is an example of how Mrs. Wellcraft might use a bulletin
board to stimulate discussion and thinking in her Statistics class. Here is
the main screen showing the subject lines for the topics she has posted;
notice that the first message already has a reply posted to it:
Here is the text of Mrs. Wellcraft's first message. The link to Sally's reply
appears immediately below:
Here is Sally's reply:
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Mrs. Wellcraft can now reply to Sally's message and answer her
question. It is highly probable that other members of the class are
confused about the same topic as Sally. By using the bulletin board, Mrs.
Wellcraft can make the information available to the entire class at the
same time.
Note the misuse of the word, "phenomena" in Sally's message. If Mrs.
Wellcraft wishes, she could send Sally an email message correcting that
misuse.
Bulletin Board Demonstration
Your trainer will demonstrate how to log into and use a bulletin board.
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A Look at Synchronous Online Tools
These tools provide the means for instant communication without regard
to place; however, all participants must be on-line at the same time. It's
like meeting in a classroom without physical boundaries. Questions can
be posed and responses received by the entire group at the same time,
allowing for instantaneous negotiation of meaning and clarification
(which could take days using asynchronous tools). In some instances this
format may seem a little overwhelming for the novice user, but skillful
leadership can help overcome such fears. We will consider synchronous
tools in terms of complexity—from the simple chat session to the multiuser, virtual reality environment.
Chat
A good analogy for an Internet based chat is to think of a meeting in
which the participants may be physically located anywhere in the world,
but are able to communicate almost instantly by typing text which
immediately appears on the screens of all participants in the chat. Many
commercial Web sites (such as Yahoo!) provide a way to send and
receive such messages. The only equipment you need to participate in
these Web-based chats is a late-model browser (Netscape Communicator
4.x or Internet Explorer 4.x), typically with Java enabled.
Benefits of Using Chat
The following paragraphs describe some of the benefits you can derive
from using scheduled chat sessions with your classes:
1.
Chat sessions are a good way to introduce Content Experts from
outside the class. For example, an Art Appreciation class might
invite an art museum director to join the class's chat session at a
specific time without any travel constraints being imposed on the
Expert.
2.
Online office hours held in the format of a chat session can be an
efficient use of an instructor's time. Almost always more than one
person can benefit from the same discussion. When others
participate, more than one point of view gets expressed to all
participants.
3.
Most chat tools allow you to keep a record of conversations (with the
permission of all participants, of course). This provides students
with a transcript of notes that they can refer to after the chat,
allowing them to focus on the discussion at hand, without taking
feverish notes. Students who were unable to participate in the chat
can review each class discussion. Finally, the transcripts give the
instructor a somewhat objective method of evaluating student
participation.
4.
Chat sessions can be relatively spontaneous. For example, if a
controversial topic is in the news, an instructor might schedule a
chat session that day to discuss the event as it affects his/her
discipline.
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Example of How Chat Sessions Are Currently Being Used In Education
Professor David Sheftman of Cabrillo College reports as follows on his
use of Chat:
I offer two nights a week a chat session where I
conference with students, we discuss as a small group or
larger class the assigned reading material, and we
address specific writing issues such as how to make
sentences more concise or detailed.
Such chat sessions could be mandatory assignments or, if made optional,
could be viewed as Online Office Hours during which individual
questions would be answered.
Chat Demonstration
The following screen shot was taken from a Yahoo! chat session. It is
presented here to show you the typical parts of a chat screen.
There is a section for displaying the current conversation and a section
for displaying the names of the chatters. The box labeled "chat" at the
bottom of the screen is used to communicate with other chatters. When
you type something into the Chat box and click the Send button, your
comment shows up in the conversation screen. Other buttons on the
screen are used to control the other activities, and, of course, since this is
a free service, the advertising is there to help pay for it.
Instant Messaging
When you use an Instant Messaging system, you keep a list of friends
and contacts with whom you wish to correspond. When one of the
people on your list logs on to the system, you are notified by some
means such as a sound, a pop-up box on the screen, a flashing menu bar
or some other attention-getting device. You can then chat interactively or
transfer files. All users on the contact list must be using the same direct
chat system, e.g., AOL or Yahoo! or ICQ.
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Benefits of using Instant Messaging
If you and every student in one of your classes were running the same
direct chat system, students would know when one of the group were
online. Some benefits would be:
1.
It would be easy to identify classmates who might be available for
conversations without having to ask everyone for a schedule.
2.
Spontaneous problem-solving chats might emerge without having to
schedule them in advance.
3.
Students working in pairs can communicate using instant messaging
instead of email.
4.
You can make yourself available for questions outside of regularly
scheduled office hours.
Example of How Instant Messaging Is Currently Being Used In Education
Instant messaging can be used for a regularly scheduled online office
hour. By doing so, each student's question could be asked and answered
privately. At the same time you could be doing research, composing
your next lesson, or catching up on email…just as you would during
your regular office hour while awaiting student visitors. In some instant
messaging programs, a sound will alert you that a student is logged in
and wanting to talk.
Instant Messaging Demonstration
Your trainer and lab assistant will demonstrate the use of instant
messaging for the class.
Virtual Reality Environments
Environments for chat sessions are continuously evolving and, as they
are re-invented, their users define new titles and acronyms to identify
the different metaphors upon which the sessions are based. Thus, we
come to the world of MUDs, MOOs, and MUVEs.
A MUD is a text-based chat based on a virtual world in which you can
interact with other users (chatters) and with the defined environment.
Depending on your source, MUD can stand for Multi-user Dialogue,
Multi-user Domain, or Multi-user Dimension. The term originally came
from Multi-User Dungeon, referring to a text-based version of the game
"Dungeons & Dragons," in which the user entered a dungeon in search of
unknown adventures. Each user was expected to assume the role of a
character in the adventure. MOO stands for Multi-User-Dimension,
Object Oriented, referring to the programming involved. A MOO
contains characters and objects which have certain rules of conduct
associated with them that help to define the environment. MUVE stands
for Multi-User Virtual Environment.
The virtual environment metaphor continues to evolve and now includes
both text and graphics. It also encompasses a wide variety of virtual
worlds, including adventure games, hangouts for social chatting, and
even symposiums for serious discussions of weighty matters. Because
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most educationally focused virtual reality environments are MOOs, we
shall use the term “MOO” here to refer to all MOOs, MUDs and MUVEs.
Benefits of Using Virtual Reality Environments
MOOs tend to be a richer communication environment than a chat room.
They appeal to students' imagination and retain their interest; thus,
learning takes place almost effortlessly once they understand the
environment. When using a MOO, students can:
• talk with others in real-time, plus express non-verbal gestures.
• participate as part of a community, and help build that community
as well.
• meet for class discussion.
• conduct group or pair work.
• exchange ideas and opinions with international peers.
• conduct research for reports.
• log MOO sessions for future analysis.
• participate in conferences with their teachers4
Example of How Virtual Reality Environments Are Currently Being Used In
Education
Leslie D. Harris of Susquehanna University in Selinsburg, Pennsylvania,
reports that she regularly uses the Diversity University MOO to pair her
class with a comparable class at George Washington University in
Washington, D.C. During these MOO sessions, students meet together
on Diversity University MOO to discuss readings assigned to both
groups.
A California teacher (Wendy Greenstein of Long Beach City College)
assigns MOO based discussion sessions. Here is a quotation from one of
her students, describing his reaction to a MOO discussion:
This form of learning was exciting to me when
discussing readings with my classmates from one of our
textbooks. Two other classmates and myself sat on one
of the couches and discussed the issue of euthanasia. I
was somewhat reluctant and apprehensive about
speaking up in this kind of forum but soon warmed up
to the conversation and was freely giving my opinion
and debating with others. I was surprised at my ability
to be free with my views considering that I tend not to
talk too much when involved with standard face to face
discussions with others. I also noticed that time seems to
pass very quickly while involved in MOO discussions.
Falsetti, J., Frizler, K., Schweitzer, E., and Younger, G. (1997). New Ways of
Using Computers in Language Teaching. Alexandria, VA: TESOL Publications.
4
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Virtual Reality Demonstration
The following MOO conversation will be the basis for this
demonstration. The conversation took place among Greg Younger in
Colorado, Lonnie Turbee in New York and Yoshimasa Awaji in Japan.
They were planning a presentation for an upcoming conference.
The line numbers in this and other MOO and Chat examples were added
to make it easy to reference them. Line numbers are not a regular or
typical MOO feature.
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Transcript from schMOOze University, March 6, 1996
logged and printed with permission
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
Yoshi asks, "have you begun planing the demo at
TESOL yet?"
Colega grins.
Gregor laughs. "Begun, yes."
Colega says, "Yes. I get to rant on about
pedagogy, they do the hard part demonstrating it."
Gregor says, "We're worried about our tech
setup...we didn't get what we asked for."
Yoshi jumps up and down and exclaims, "earthquake
here!!!"
Gregor [to Yoshi]: We proposed a hands-on workshop
in a lab....but there is no lab. :o(
Yoshi says, "and it's terrible too."
Gregor [to Yoshi]: Are you serious!?
Yoshi nods.
Gregor helps Yoshi hold onto his computer!
Colega asks, "Are you okay?"
Yoshi says, "yes."
Gregor's eyes widen!
Yoshi says, "gee, that scared me..."
Gregor can't believe he and Colega are
"witnessing" this!
Yoshi says, "sorry to interrupt. please go on."
Gregor laughs out loud!
Colega exclaims, "Yoshi!"
Gregor exclaims, "Sorry to interrupt?!?!?!?! Ha
ha ha ha ha ha!"
Yoshi asks, "what?"
Colega [to Yoshi]: You're incredible!
Yoshi asks, "what's so funny about it? my
language?"
Colega exclaims, "Such calm! Such composure!"
Gregor exclaims, "I think an earthquake is well
worth interrupting a chat about our stupid
presentation!!! Hee hee!"
Yoshi smiles.
Gregor grins at Yoshi, shaking his head in
amazement.
Colega stares, open-mouthed, at the screen.
Yoshi says, "every time when there's an
earthquake, i feel as if it's the end of my real
life."
Yoshi exclaims, "but i'd rather be in that
situation while i'm mooing here!"
Yoshi laughs out.
Gregor exclaims, "Colorado has no earthquakes you
can feel...I have only felt one tiny tremor in my
life, when I was maybe 5 years old. When I think
of earthquakes, I think of San Fran and Kobe...I'm
not so calm about it!"
Yoshi says, "we have several of them a year here."
Gregor exclaims, "I know...I can't imagine!"
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35. Yoshi says, "and i hear it's one of the very first
thing that frightens people from other countries
with out it."
36. Yoshi says, "so,...do you have at least ethernet
line from the local net? if you want me to, i can
bring some 8-port hubs there."
37. Gregor says, "Here in Colorado, the earth seems
very solid...with the mountains thrusting out of
the plains, it's as if we can see the bones of the
earth...when I see earthquakes on TV, it's as if
there is nothing solid in the world."
38. Gregor says, "Hee hee! Back to business."
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Practical Considerations
You must spend some significant time preparing yourself, your students
and your facility in order to make effective use of online tools. Here are
some suggestions.
Preparing Yourself
Preparation before class begins can save time and effort later, allowing
both teacher and students to concentrate on instruction rather than
scrambling to fix problems. Such preparation should include making
sure that information about your use of online tools is readily available
to your students.
1.
Use the college schedule of classes, catalog, and/or your campus
web page to inform students that your class will use online tools for
communication, including whether such use will be
 required
 available as an optional method of communication, or
 used as a supplement to regular class instruction
2.
Use your course syllabus and other handouts to describe what
facilities students will need in order to successfully use the
designated online tools in your class.
3.
Make sure students will have the facilities available to access the
tools (campus labs, local library, home, Internet cafes, etc.)
4.
Set up separate email account(s) to use for communication with
students in your classes. Your personal account then remains free
and uncluttered for personal and professional communications.
5.
Set up the bulletin board, listserv and chat room facilities you plan to
use well before classes begin, and test everything prior to first use,
especially in student labs.
6.
Disclose how online assignments will be graded. Remember, if
access is not available on campus, consider not making online
assignments mandatory.
7.
Prepare online writing guidelines informing students what’s OK and
what is not (e.g. Are complete sentences required? What about
proper punctuation, acronyms and slang terms? Is special
identifying text required in the subject line of emails?)
Preparing Your Class
In addition to the student material suggested in the previous section, the
first class meeting can be used to assist students who need help making
the transition to online tools. Some colleges provide technology training
for students while others rely on teachers themselves. Check with your
trainer about your school's policies and resources.
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Privacy Considerations
Remind your students not to assume that what they write in an email or
post on a bulletin board will be private. Tell them not to write or send
anything they would be embarrassed to have the world view. Caution
them not to post personal information such as phone numbers,
addresses, or Social Security numbers. We highly recommend that you
have your students protect their personal accounts by creating a free
web-based email account to be used only for your course.
The Class Survey
You should do a written survey of the class. After the students have
completed the written survey, you should encourage open discussion of
the survey questions. Those activities can give you a quick sense of the
skill and comfort level of students’ online experience and use of the
Internet. The knowledge you gain from this exercise will assist you if
and when you decide to assign students to group activities. When you
assign groups, it is usually beneficial to have one experienced technical
person in each group. That way, your time can be spent in interaction
and communication with your students, rather than providing technical
support.
There are some questions on the following page that will help you
identify the skill levels of your students. Appendix D contains a copy of
this survey suitable for customizing and copying.
Your Trainer may use this survey as a basis for group discussion.
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Suggested questions for Class Survey
1.
What is your name?_________________________________
2.
Rate your level of technological expertise
proficient_____
average______
novice_______
3.
Do you use the Internet?
4.
Do you have an email account?
5.
What type of email account do you have? (AOL? College provided?
Other ISP?)
6.
How often do you check your email?
7.
Have you ever subscribed to an email list (a.k.a. listserv or
discussion list)?
8.
Have you ever participated in a bulletin board or message board?
9.
Have you ever participated in an online chat room?
10. Can you use a word processor to copy and paste?
11. Do you have access to a computer with Internet access that you can
use regularly for completing assignments?
12 Will you be using the college labs for your work in this class?
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Preparing Your Facility
Before making the decision to use online tools in your classes, you must
determine whether such use is possible.
Check your campus policies and resources. Many colleges employ
technical support staff who can help you set up a campus-based listserv
or bulletin board. If not, you can always make use of free, Web based
sites. Some examples are listed in Appendix B.
Even though many students now have computers at home with Internet
access, you must make sure that every student can have access to the
Internet before you require the use of any of these tools in your class. On
many campuses, access can be provided through an on-campus
laboratory facility. The community library or local Internet cafes may
also be equipped to assist your students.
If you plan to have students access a MOO from an on-campus student
lab setting, be sure to confer with the laboratory support personnel to
find out if the MOO is accessible. In the world of MOOs, some are
strictly games or social, while others are excellent educational tools
(notably TappedIn, Diversity University and schMOOze University).
Because of the game association, some labs devoted to student use have
installed special protective software (called firewalls) that may block the
use of MOOs. If that situation exists in your school, you can probably get
the policy changed; but it may take some time, including a proposal
based on sound pedagogy and learning objectives.
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Summary
You have learned that, when choosing an online communication tool for
use with your class, there are some things you should consider:
 You, the instructor, should be comfortable using the tool.
 There should be adequate technical support for the tool at your site.
 If the tool is a required element of your class, all students must have
equal access.
 Keep in mind that you may assign different activities during one
term that require different communication tools.
The following table identifies some pertinent features of the online tools
presented in this module.
Tool
Email
Email Distribution
Lists
Listservs
Bulletin Boards
Chat
Instant Messaging
Virtual Reality
Environments
One to
One
x
x
x
x
One to
Many
x
Synchronous
x
x
x
x
Asynchronous
x
x
x
x
Threaded
x
x
x
x
x
You should now have a general understanding of each of the online tools
that may be used to supplement classroom teaching. You should also be
aware of the benefits of extending communication lines with your
students through the use of these tools. Module One also suggested
activities for you to do to prepare yourself and your students for using
the online tools.
Module Two presents an in-depth look at asynchronous tools and
associated teaching strategies, including methods of editing student
writing and providing feedback. Module Three concentrates on
synchronous tools. After completing those modules, you will be
prepared for Module Four: Creating Effective Lessons with Online Tools.
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Module Two: Using
Asynchronous
Communication Tools
(Email, Listservs, Bulletin
Boards)
Introduction to the Module
Module Two Overview
The online tools presented in this course can improve
communication between instructor and students in traditional
courses as well as add interaction to distance courses. Module One
introduced asynchronous tools (such as e-mail, listservs, and bulletin
boards) and discussed possible benefits of each. The overall goal of
this module is to provide opportunities for you to try these tools
using sound activities that you can take back to the classroom.
Module Two Objectives
Participants will learn how to
 enhance faculty-student communication using asynchronous
tools
 enhance student-student communication using asynchronous
tools
 manage class communication using asynchronous tools
 develop troubleshooting strategies and backup plans when
using asynchronous tools
Module Two Prerequisites
Participants should be familiar with the similarities and differences
between various asynchronous online tools (email and distribution
lists, listservs, and bulletin boards), plus hands-on experience using
email. Module One provides this background as well as suggestions
for preparing the instructor and his/her students for the use of the
tools.
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Benefits of Asynchronous Learning
Activities
Here are some examples of how you can use asynchronous online
communication tools to enhance the learning environment.
1.
Group projects can be assigned, and students can participate as
never before. Community college students, unlike dormitory college
students, are not easily able to physically get together for group
work on activities that promote learning communities. Community
college students may
 Have jobs and/or long hours,
 Have long commute times,
 Have family demands,
 Not be able to come at traditional class times.
2.
Asynchronous online tools allow students to collaborate at any
time—day or night—in traditional or distance classes, at times suited
to their schedules. They can also participate in discussions when
they are inspired (i.e. not just during scheduled hours).
3.
Online resources can easily be shared quickly and accurately. Most
online programs allow URLs pasted into the text of the message to
be clickable. If the complete URL is included in a message to a
group, any member of the group can click on it and access the
resource.
4.
Instructors and students will feel less anxious about time "lost" when
a class is cancelled. Instructors can warn students about the
cancellation beforehand and provide ideas for alternative activities.
5.
Students who are more comfortable writing than speaking up in
class may become more visible in online groups. These students will
say things online that they might not otherwise share in the
traditional classroom, usually because they have time to reflect and
articulate. For example, students with disabilities (as well as ESL
students because of their accents and pronunciation) sometimes feel
uncomfortable in face-to-face discussions. They are often hesitant for
fear of calling attention to themselves in the classroom; these
students are often more verbal in online discussions.
6.
Students in need can be identified by their participation (or lack of
participation), and personalized attention can be given to them.
7.
Communications can extend well beyond the physical limits of the
classroom. Students from all over the world can join to discuss topics
of common interest without regard to differences in time zones.
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Can you think of any other examples?
A Look at Asynchronous Teaching
Strategies
One-To-One and One-To-Many Communication
Asynchronous online tools enable you to communicate with two
different audiences. One-to-one communication takes place between
individuals such as when a student has a private email discussion with
the instructor or with another student.
One-To-Many communication includes a larger group of participants.
These communications are useful when you need to communicate the
same information to many others. The obvious examples are when you
need to:
1. Articulate the requirements of an assignment
2. Inform students of a relevant news event
3. Remind students about changes in due dates, cancellation of classes,
etc.
In these instances, the information goes from one (the teacher) to many
(the students) via email distribution lists, listservs, or bulletin boards.
Communication Styles
Online message composition largely ignores capitalization, punctuation,
and other grammatical rules. This creates a sense of freedom, but also
contributes to the difficulty of establishing a positive tone--the tone in a
message that creates the desired reaction by the recipient. The following
messages were written in reply to Ms. Wellcraft's request for an email
from each student demonstrating that he/she was able to get on line:
Message 1
Ms. Wellcraft,
This is my first assignment. I hope this class
meets expectations.
Mike Stevens
Eng. 123/4
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Message 2
Hi Ms. Wellcraft!
Here is my first email message to you. I am so
excited about this class and using email. It is
the first time I have tried it and I can’t wait to
hear from you to see if it works! This is so
great!!!!! I can’t wait to send email to all my
friends and family!!!!!
Please answer back right away!
excited!!!!!
I am so
Sincerely,
Your Student,
Shari Wilson
English 123 Section 4
ps This is so cool!! My boyfriend told me about
how you can use the keyboard to make little faces
as you write – like this…
: - )
I just love this class!!!!!
Different people have different communication styles. When we think
about communication styles, we usually think of oral communication—
some people are vibrant talkers, some are quiet and introspective. But
we must also consider written communication styles, especially in
courses where much of the discussion is written.
Here are several important reasons why written communication is so
much different from face-to-face communication:
• We cannot use body language (e.g. folded arms, facial expressions)
to give or receive clues about the context of what we read,
• We cannot hear voice inflections (e.g. changes in tone, pauses) to
pick up irony, humor, sarcasm or other tonal clues,
• We cannot use props (e.g. books, pictures) to frame the discussion.
Thus, it is much easier to misunderstand meanings or to draw the wrong
conclusion about a person based solely on their written communication.
In the previous messages, Mike Stevens might be seen as cold and terse
whereas Shari Wilson seems very warm and bubbly. However, it may
be that Mike is merely uncomfortable using email for the first time, he
may just be in a hurry, he may have had a particularly trying day at
work, or his style of writing may be “just the facts, ma’am." If he is fresh
from a business communications course, he has probably been
encouraged to use concise, clear language in order to avoid
misunderstanding. Vague or abstract terms and extraneous information
in business correspondence are discouraged as they might detract from
the purpose of the message.
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Therefore, students (and faculty) must be aware of different
communication styles, and consider enriching electronic
communications by including clues to clarify meanings. For example,
Message 1 from Mike Stevens would convey a different sentiment if one
addition were made:
Ms. Wellcraft,
This is my first assignment. I hope this class
meets expectations. <grin>
Mike Stevens
Eng. 123/4
Faculty can do much at the outset of class to make students aware of
these differences and to set the correct tone for class communication. In
many cases, the tone you take in your initial email assignment will be the
one that students assume as well.
A good way to model the behavior you desire in your students is to
make active, visible use of the online tools yourself.
1.
Respond to emails; a short message acknowledging receipt is often
sufficient.
2.
Use the listserv or bulletin board at least once a week—post changes
in schedule or assignments, class cancellations, comments on
especially interesting/complex online discussions, etc.
3.
Assign specific tasks to students (e.g. participate in one listserv
discussion topic per week; respond to at least two bulletin board
threads).
Students will be more active in their participation if they are aware that
the instructor knows they are taking part and values their comments.
As an instructor, it is doubly important to accurately get your message
across to the student. The way you communicate depends upon what
you are trying to say and to whom you are trying to say it. For example,
you may use one technique when communicating an assignment to a
class. You may use an entirely different technique when working behind
the scenes to coach a student on how to give more diplomatic responses
to classmates.
Network Etiquette
Netiquette is short for Network Etiquette, a loosely defined code of
behavior for communicating over the Internet. You can find numerous
versions of rules that include such things as:
 Guidelines for posting messages.
 Suggestions for making messages clear.
 The use of emoticons, (combinations of characters which represent
emotions), acronyms, or other ways of conveying emotion.
Emoticons and Acronyms
Emoticons--also called Smileys--are designed to convey emotion.
Emoticons are made by combining letters and symbols on the keyboard.
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Their purpose is to prevent misunderstanding and add some personality
to messages. Here are some samples of common emoticons (tilt your
head to the left to see the expressions!):
:-)
or
:)
Smiley—most common.
;-)
or
;)
Wink
:-0
or
:0
Gasp
:-(
or
:(
Unhappiness
Acronyms are abbreviations which convey meaning quickly. This is
particularly beneficial for slow typists. Here are some samples of
common acronyms:
BRB
—
Be Right Back
BTW
—
By The Way
F2F
—
Face to Face
FAQ
—
Frequently Asked Question
FYI
—
For Your Information
IMO
—
In My Opinion
IMHO
—
In My Humble Opinion
IRL
—
In Real Life
LOL
—
Laughing Out Loud
ROTFL
—
Rolling On The Floor, Laughing
NOTE: Because the use of all capital letters is considered SHOUTING,
you should generally avoid using them for most text other than
acronyms.
There are numerous sites covering these topics, many of which can be
accessed by searching the Internet. Appendix B contains a few URL's
about emoticons and acronyms. Be aware, however, that many
individuals are offended by their use. We suggest you use them
judiciously and that you distribute a list of those that may be used in
your online discussions, so that students will be less apt to feel left in the
dark about the meaning of postings.
Which emoticons or acronyms would you want your students to use?
Providing Feedback
Students say one thing they particularly like about online tools is the
instant feedback they receive from instructors. Consider the following
two scenarios:
Scenario 1
Ms. Wellcraft’s class meets once a week on Monday. Steve turns in his
paper to her on Monday night (week 1). Ms. Wellcraft reads and edits
Steve’s paper and returns it to him with suggestions for improvement the
following Monday night (week 2). Steve revises his paper and gives it back
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to Ms. Wellcraft the following Monday night (week 3). Ms. Wellcraft reads
and grades the paper and returns it to Steve the following Monday night
(week 4).
Total time—4 weeks.
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Scenario 2
Steve finishes his assignment, emails it to Ms. Wellcraft and fires up
Netscape to check out his favorite sites. Ms. Wellcraft is online reading her
email. She gets Steve’s message, reads his assignment and responds back to
him with her suggestions for improvements. Thirty minutes later, Steve is
ready to log off, but he decides to check his email one more time. He receives
Ms. Wellcraft’s suggestions, edits his paper and sends it back to her. Ms.
Wellcraft reads and grades the paper the following day and sends it back to
Steve.
Total time—24 hours
It’s not surprising that students like the second scenario better (although
you may not be as obsessive as Ms. Wellcraft!). Who can’t remember
being in school (whether elementary or college) and having the thrill and
terror of seeing the teacher grade your test right after you finished?
Knowing how you did right away is very powerful.
TIP: Let students know at the beginning of class your communication
policies (i.e. expect a response to email within 24 hours).
Editing Student Writing
Because email is just plain text, it can be difficult to keep straight which
wording belongs to the student and which the instructor or peer editor
wrote while correcting writing assignments. Although some email
programs (e.g. Eudora, Outlook) allow the use of color, bolding or other
special formatting, these resources are not universal. So, when dealing
with many students using different computer platforms, operating
systems and programs, you must come up with alternative methods of
keeping instructor/editor feedback separate from student work.
Following are some techniques to help students see their original work
and its relationship to your (or their classmates’) feedback. Be sure to let
your students know at the beginning of class which strategy you will be
using so they know what to expect.
1.
Symbols such as greater than ( > ) or colon (:) are provided by some
programs at the beginning of quoted text in replies. When this
happens, editors can reply in between the quoted text, using
additional white space to emphasize comments.
>My name is Maria Vasquez. I live in Hayward
>California. Before that, I lived in Fresno. I
>like to work in my garden. I grow tomatoes,
>corn and peppers.
Maria—I like how you began your paragraph.
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2.
T W O
Instructors can write their comments in all CAPS.
My name is Maria Vasquez. I live in Hayward
California. Before that, I lived in Fresno.
like to work in my garden. I grow tomatoes,
corn and peppers.
I
MARIA – I LIKE HOW YOU BEGAN YOUR PARAGRAPH!
NOTE: The generally accepted convention is that ALL CAPS
indicate yelling. Be sure to warn your classes that you will be
responding in this manner. You wouldn’t want students to think you
are always angry!
3.
Instructors can use arrows, quotes, parentheses, brackets or angles of
all types to differentiate comments.
My name is Maria Vasquez. I live in Hayward
California. Before that, I lived in Fresno. I
like to work in my garden. I grow tomatoes, corn
and peppers.
>>>>> Maria, I like how you began your paragraph.
4.
Instructors may develop a numbering system
1 = misspelling
2 = not clear
My name is Maria Vasquez. I live in Hayward
California. Before that, I lived in Fresno. I like
to work in my garden. I grow ***1 tomatos, corn
and ***1 pepers.
5.
Instructors can put asterisks into paragraphs and detailed comments
underneath the paragraph,
* My name is Maria Vasquez. I live in Hayward
California. Before that, I lived in Fresno. I
like to work in my garden. I grow tomatoes, corn
and peppers.
*Maria: I like how you began your paragraph.
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Instructors can label their commentary with text to indicate what it
is. You can use all caps or not. In this case we have used all caps for
the label and mixed for the remainder.
My name is Maria Vasquez. I live in Hayward
California. Before that, I lived in Fresno. I
like to work in my garden. I grow tomatoes, corn
and peppers.
INSTRUCTOR COMMENT: Maria, I like how you began
your paragraph.
Additional Suggestions
Here are some examples of techniques that can make communications
clearer.
1.
Quoting earlier messages for clarity. If the program you are using does
not provide symbols before quoted text in replies, you can add them
for clarity. For example:
2.
Composing clear messages. Encourage students to think before they
send. As you begin to receive your first student assignments, you
may notice a variety of ways students incorporate their work into
electronic messages, not all of which make for easy reading, or for
responding and grading! Just as you needed to learn to clarify your
assignments to your students, students also need guidance about
how to create and refine their work so that it can be easily
understood in this medium.
It will soon be apparent to students that communication for your
class will require more thought and planning than dashing off a
quick email to a friend. One of the easiest ways to help students
compose, whether it be an assignment or a response to a group
discussion or activity, is the use of a word processor. A word
processor allows students to compose, edit, format and check
spelling and grammar. Then, they simply go online, copy the
material and paste it into the message.
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Here are some things for students to be aware of when they first use
a word processor for composition:
•
•
•
•
It’s OK to have two applications (word processor and an online
tool) open at same time and to copy from one and paste into the
other. In fact, the safest, most accurate way for students to share
web resources is to copy the URL from the web and paste it into
their document.
Material may lose formatting. Students must be assured that
you will be looking for content, not formatting, if that is your
policy. (see #4, below)
Some characters may not transfer (i.e. symbols such as bullets).
There could be font problems—such problems can be avoided by
using a common monospace font such as Courier, or fonts
common to both Mac and PC such as Times or Arial.
3.
Avoid "flame" wars. If students receive a “flame” (an angry or rude
message) and are tempted to reply in kind, suggest that they first
create a message offline. Advise them to set it aside until they can
write another more reasoned response. (John Swensson, who teaches
Critical Thinking courses at De Anza College, views this topic
differently. He states that some of his best online discussions and
learning are results of flaming! As usual, there is more than one
"right" way to teach.)
4.
Using Attachments wisely. Attachments are files that are sent along
with a message in their original form. Attachments allow one to send
material that is sometimes more complex than the traditional plain
text of word processors. Such material might include heavily
formatted documents or files that contain graphics. Because
attachments are handled differently by different programs, they can
often be difficult, time-consuming, or even impossible to open.
Remember to warn your students that attachments can carry
computer viruses that are potentially damaging.
Here are some instances when it is appropriate to use attachments:
• Document requiring Math or Science fonts, which contain
symbols necessary for the assignment.
• Word processing document, the content of which would be
difficult to understand without special formatting. (Be sure to
save and attach in Rich Text format.)
• Music notation or MIDI files
• Graphic files
Here are a few rules you might use if you accept attachments:
• Have the student also paste the attachment's content into the
email message to be sure the recipient(s) gets the content, even if
the message isn't properly formatted. In this scenario, the
instructor still gets the assignment on time, even if the
attachment doesn't open.
• Think about the platform and operating system the recipient of
the message may be using and make proper allowances. You can
anticipate other common problems such as software versions,
file types, etc., and distribute instructions for your students.
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Avoid sending large attachments that would take a long time for
the recipient to download.
An alternative to using attachments is to have students upload files
into public storage spaces such as is available within course
management software or at a web-based online resource. Some
examples are given in Appendix B under the heading "Online File
Storage."
Using Asynchronous Tools
(Comparison Activities)
The objective of these exercises is to give you an opportunity to
experience, from the student perspective, what it would be like to
complete an assignment using a listserv and a bulletin board. Your
trainer will lead you through some of the following activities using both
of these asynchronous tools.
Activity One: Comparing Asynchronous Tools
Your trainer will assign activities that will enable you to compare the use
of listserv, bulletin board, and email. Some possible topics are:
1.
Introduce yourself to the class.
2.
Share your two favorite Web sites.
3.
Prepare and post questions for a guest speaker.
4.
Have a question and answer session with your Trainer about the
class.
5.
Respond to question(s) posted by your Trainer.
Activity Two: Editing
Your trainer will assign activities that will allow you to practice peerediting techniques.
1.
Edit a paragraph posted on the listserv and/or bulletin board.
2.
Compose and peer edit an email document.
Activity Three: Reflection (Selecting the Tool)
Participants will discuss the asynchronous tools as follows:
1.
What are the positive values of each tool?
2.
Which tool would be most appropriate and effective for the activities
you participated in?
3.
Which tool would be the easiest to implement for the activities you
participated in?
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Activity Four: Brainstorming
In the large group, brainstorm other potential uses of asynchronous
tools. You should come away from this activity with a list of possible
activities for use in your own classroom.
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Practical Considerations
Even though many families have computers with Internet access in their
homes, some do not. Therefore, instructors must ensure that all students
can obtain free/low cost entry to online computers in campus labs,
community libraries, or other sites if they wish to require the use of
online tools in their course. It is also essential that ample assistance be
provided for first-time users.
In order to keep listserv and bulletin board discussions within the
confines of your class, they can usually be made "private". That way they
will not be listed on any public directory, you can maintain some control
over user access, and a sense of privacy can be maintained.
Setting Up Student Email Accounts
Student email accounts can be obtained and set up in a variety of ways:
1.
Colleges may have structures in place which automatically assign
accounts to students upon registration or may allow students to
request that an account be created (in some cases, faculty must do
this for a class of students).
2.
Students may already have their own accounts. If they do, you
should require them to create another account for the class so the
privacy of their personal account will be maintained. Another
benefit of this practice is that disruptive students will not have access
to other students' permanent accounts.
3.
Free Web email accounts suitable for instructional use are available
from a number of providers on the Internet (See Appendix B). An
advantage of Web-based mail is that students can easily gain entry
from any computer with Web access. We strongly encourage you to
promote these resources.
If email is to be required, faculty must be sure that all students have
access and are able to use it. Thus the first email task, which should be
done very early in the class, should verify that students:
• Have an email account.
• Are able to send messages.
• Are able to receive messages.
Your first email assignment may look something like this:
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A student’s response may look something like this:
I have my email account and am sending you this
sample message to make sure we can communicate via
email. I look forward to hearing from you that
you received this email.
Sincerely,
Blythe Adams
ENG 123 Section 4
Managing Asynchronous Communication
You may want to create a Web site for your course(s) to unify your
online resources. Links to your email, listserv, and/or bulletin board
should be there, as well as links to other resources.
Managing Email
When you use email in your classes, the amount and quality of
correspondence received can easily become overwhelming if adequate
preparation and organization are not in place. Here are some suggestions
that may help:
1.
Let students know your communication policies up front to establish
realistic expectations. For example, you will reply to their email
within 24 hours, from Monday through Friday.
2.
Use folders and filters to help organize messages into their
appropriate classes and/or groups.
3.
Require key words (e.g. course/section number) in the Subject line
of the message to assist in sorting and grouping messages.
4.
Use signature files to have your name and important contact
information appear at the bottom of every message.
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Set up a separate email account for assignments and use
AutoResponse to automatically let your students know that you
have received their email.
CAUTION: To avoid an endless loop of responses to and from your
email account and a listserv, do not use an email account that is set up
for AutoResponse to correspond with a listserv.
Setting Up Listservs
Setting up a Listserv on your school's server requires special software
that is installed and regularly maintained by a technically trained staff
person. Check with your campus to see if listservs can be provided for
your courses. By using this local source, students in your course will be
using tools they might be using in another campus course. You are also
more likely to find on-campus technical help when you need it.
If your college does not provide local listserv support, free listservs are
available from many sources, some of which are listed in Appendix B.
You can use one of these free services to create a private listserv for each
class, assuring that your class listservs will not appear in any public
directory.
See Appendix A (“Using a Listserv”) for one example of how to set up a
discussion list.
Setting Up Bulletin Boards
A non-web-based bulletin board also requires complex software that
must be installed and maintained, tasks that most community college
instructors would find difficult and time consuming.
As with listservs, check with your campus to see if bulletin boards can be
provided for your courses. If so, technical support will be easier to obtain
and students can use the same tools used in other campus courses. If
your institution does not provide bulletin boards, see Appendix B for
some free web-based bulletin boards.
Before selecting a web-based bulletin board, think carefully about how
you will be using it. Is it important to you to have control of the settings
and the way the bulletin board is presented? How easy is it for you to
delete postings? Can you archive postings easily? Your answer to these
and similar questions will influence your choice of a bulletin board.
See Appendix A (“Using a Bulletin Board”) for one example of how to
set up a bulletin board.
Troubleshooting Strategies
Students must assume the responsibility of making sure that their
equipment and software are functioning correctly, just as the school
assumes the responsibility for maintaining the equipment and software
on campus. For a variety of reasons, however, there are occasions when
online tools don't work. Here are a few suggestions that may help:
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1.
Discuss some common, easily solvable pitfalls to watch out for:
• No spaces are allowed in email and web addresses,
• Typos in addresses will make the message undeliverable,
• Check the address of the recipient before sending if your class
uses a listserv. (When students want to send private replies to
the author of a post, they often forget that using the Reply
feature will send the message to everyone on the list.)
2.
Offer alternate forms of delivery of material in case of problems.
• Fax
• Drop off at office
• Snail Mail
Summary
Now that you have completed Module Two and used some
asynchronous tools, you should have a better understanding of email,
listservs and bulletin boards, and how you may be able to use them to
supplement your teaching. Module Three will provide you with the
opportunity to try synchronous (real-time) tools.
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Module Three: Using
Synchronous Communication
Tools (Chat, Instant
Messaging, Virtual Reality
Environments)
Introduction
Module Three Overview
The online tools presented in this course can improve communication
between instructor and students in traditional courses as well as add
interaction to distance courses. Module One introduced synchronous
tools such as chat, MOOs and MUDs, and discussed possible benefits of
each. The overall goal of this module is to provide opportunities for you
to try these tools using sound activities that you can take back to the
classroom.
Module Three Objectives
Participants will learn how to:
 enhance faculty-student communication using synchronous tools
 enhance student-student communication using synchronous tools
 manage class communications using synchronous tools
Module Three Prerequisites
Participants should have a general understanding of why and when
synchronous online tools such as chats and virtual reality environments
can be useful instructional tools. You should understand how the use of
these tools can help you meet your course objectives and support your
own teaching style. Module One provides this background as well as
suggestions for preparing yourself and your students for the use of these
tools.
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Benefits of Synchronous Learning
Activities
Synchronous tools give you and your students an electronic "place" to
hold a conversation. The "place" is created and accessed differently,
depending upon which tool is being used. Only your imagination limits
the possibilities. By using synchronous tools, you can:
1.
Expand the boundaries of your classroom:
 You can schedule a guest speaker to address your class and/or
participate in a conversation.
 Quite often television news stations will schedule chat sessions
about current events. You can have your students participate in
such chats if it is appropriate for your course.
 You can coordinate one or more assignments with a teacher in a
distant school and join your two classes together for a discussion
period.
2.
Increase opportunities for counseling, mentoring, and tutoring:
 You can schedule an online office hour during an electronic
communication session (using chat or MOO) at a predetermined
time during the day or evening. That way you can be available
to class members regardless of your physical location or that of
your students.
 You can ask a school counselor to be available (in a chat session,
a MOO, or using instant messaging) at specific times for the
exclusive use of your students.
 An in-class tutor can set up a separate electronic communication
hour to use for peer tutoring.
3.
Facilitate group work and collaborative learning:
 Synchronous tools are particularly useful for group work and
collaborative learning. You can establish a private course chat
room and give each student group an assigned time (perhaps
one evening a week) to discuss its particular project. You may or
may not choose to participate in the chat. John Swensson of De
Anza College reported that his students voluntarily met in a chat
room several times a week at 11:00 p.m. Even though he did not
participate in the chat (it sometimes lasted until 2:00 a.m.), he
regularly examined the chat log and from that deduced that
"there was a whole lot of learning going on."
 You can use one of the established educational MOOs and create
a virtual classroom for your students as well as a virtual office
for yourself.
4.
Make learning fun!
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A Look at Synchronous Teaching
Strategies
Communication Styles
Module Two included a general discussion of communication styles. The
topics presented there are also valid for Module Three. You may wish to
review the "Communication Styles" section of Module Two before
continuing.
When you use synchronous tools, all of which are based on almostinstant written communication, it becomes very important to define
clearly your rules and expectations for the session. When you make an
assignment using a chat or a MOO activity, you will probably want to
give your students a list of topics that will be covered. That way they can
be prepared to contribute to the conversation in a meaningful manner.
Tell your students that complex questions should be formulated and
written down ahead of time for use during the synchronous session. A
brainstorming/pre-activity assignment would be appropriate.
Even though an assignment is focused and well-written, some students
may still get "lost" in the hubbub of the chat or MOO activity and not
participate. You may want to act as moderator (or assign someone else to
that role) to encourage quiet students to contribute to the discussion. A
moderator can also deal with the overly verbose student by simply
asking someone else to voice his/her opinion.
The text-based nature of most synchronous tools may not adequately
convey the nuances of emotions and feelings that occur in true face-toface meetings. Users of synchronous tools attempt to overcome this
disadvantage by inserting text-based hints of their emotions at
appropriate times. Chat rooms typically just allow for "speaking" with no
descriptive phrases, unless the speaker includes text-based emoticons or
smileys as described in Module Two.
Probably the major difference between using chat and MOOs is that
MOOs provide a richer environment for communication. Even though
MOOs are text based, the command language makes it easier for
participants to express non-verbal gestures—e.g. "Susan laughs at
George's joke." For example, look at the following logs of a Chat
conversation and a MOO conversation between a student and teacher.
The paragraphs following the MOO illustration explain how the
conversation was created. These examples are reprinted with the
permission of all parties involved. As you read these examples, note
how the extra emotions expressed in the MOO conversation enliven and
add to the exchange. Once again, line numbers appear for ease of
reference, and are not typical Chat or MOO features.
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Chat Conversation
1. Student_1 joined the room
2. Student_1: Hi, Mr. T
3. Teacher: Hello there!
4. Student_1: Is this your online office hour?
5. Teacher: Yes, it is. I'm here every Thursday
from 5-6 EST. I also try to make it every
Sunday night.
6. Student_1: Great! I have some questions
about this week's assignment.
7. Teacher: OK, let's hear them.
8. Student_1: What kind of examples should we
use in our essay on communication problems?
9. Teacher: You could include several examples
of how different hand signals in your
culture don't translate in the United
States.
10.Student_1: You mean, like waving, or making
an “O” with your hand?
11.Teacher: Exactly. Also, make sure you talk
about what making an "O" with the index
finger and thumb means in this culture and
what it means in your native culture. Do you
understand?
12.Student_1: In American culture, the “O”
means "OK!" but in Greek culture it means
"Get the money!" Is that right?
13.Teacher: Yes, that’s it exactly. Do you have
any funny stories that illustrate
communication problems here in this country?
If so, include those too. Keep your reader
engaged.
14.Student_1: Now I understand. Thanks for
your help!
15.Teacher: Good luck! Let me know if you have
any other questions.
16.Student_1 leaves the room.
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MOO Conversation
1. Student_1 has arrived.
2. Student_1 says, "Hi, Mr. T"
3. Teacher exclaims, "Hello there!"
4. Student_1 asks, "Is this your online office
hour?"
5. Teacher says, "Yes, it is. I'm here every
Thursday from 5-6 EST. I also try to make it
every Sunday night."
6. Student_1 says, "Great! I have some
questions about this week's assignment."
7. Teacher says, "OK, let's hear them."
8. Student_1 asks, "What kind of examples
should we use in our essay on communication
problems?"
9. Student_1 can't think of a single one.
10.Teacher says, “You could include several
examples of how different hand signals in
your culture don't translate in the United
States."
11.Student_1 asks, "You mean, like waving, or
making an “O” with your hand?"
12.Teacher says, "Exactly. Also, make sure you
talk about what making an "O" with the index
finger and thumb means in this culture and
what it means in your native culture. Do you
understand?"
13.Student_1 nods and makes sure she's got it
right.
14.Student_1 asks, "In American culture, the
“O” means "OK!" but in Greek culture it
means "Get the money!" Is that right?"
15.Teacher says, "Yes, that’s it exactly. Do
you have any funny stories that illustrate
communication problems here in this country?
If so, include those too. Keep your reader
engaged."
16.Student_1 smiles at Mr. T. “Now I
understand. Thanks for your help!”
17.Student_1 waves goodbye.
18.Teacher waves back. “Good luck! Let me
know if you have any other questions.”
Line 1:
The student connects to the MOO by using the login
command (probably connect) and enters the teacher's office
by using the join command. Line 1 resulted from the join
command.
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Lines 2&3 Once in the office, the student speaks to initiate
conversation. The teacher uses the same command to
respond. Quite often the speak command is simply the use
of quotation marks (") before text to be spoken.
Lines 9, 13, The expression of emotions or non-verbal gestures is
16, 17, 18 communicated with the emote command. The emote
command is sometimes invoked by the use of the colon
before the text describing the action or emotion.
Other lines The verbs used to describe the speech (exclaims, asks, says)
are determined by the ending punctuation of the spoken
phrase.
At the end of the conversation, Student_1 logs out.
Although most MOO commands are similar, different MOOs have
unique syntactical rules and commands. The section entitled "Using a
MOO" in Appendix A contains a list of basic MOO commands. When
you decide to use a MOO you should expect to spend some time getting
familiar with the rules and language of the MOO.
Providing Feedback
It may be difficult to provide detailed, individual feedback to your
students while you are actively participating in an online chat or MOO
session. Such sessions usually include other classmates and you will
want to keep that in mind if you participate in the conversation. You can,
of course, provide guidance and prompt students with questions. You
can even offer some mild praise, just as you would in a normal
classroom.
If necessary, you can send private messages to individuals in a group
chat that the other participants won't see, but some chat systems do
indicate that some private message is being sent. Probably the best
option is to reserve in-depth feedback for a more private venue. One way
to do that is to give each student a copy of the online session log, on
which you have written comments about the student's participation.
Another way is to email students with your assessment of their
contributions shortly after the session has ended.
Online Office Hours
As mentioned previously, you can conduct an online office hour during
a chat or MOO session at a predetermined time during the day or
evening. You can also use a private chat room or instant messaging if a
student desires privacy. Use of the online office hour relieves you of the
responsibility to be on campus and it also provides an opportunity for
students to reach you from their workplace or home.
Setting Expectations
When you make an assignment for an online synchronous session you
should clearly define the parameters of the assignment. Establishing the
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ground rules ahead of time gives your students goals to strive for and
makes it easier for you to evaluate each student's participation. Publish
your policies for synchronous communication sessions either on your
Web site or in print.
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1.
Tell your students how they will be graded.
 Is their participation required? or optional for extra points?
 Is it enough if they just "show up"?
 Will they be graded on the number of meaningful comments
and/or questions they contribute?
 Will they be expected to contribute to more than one topic?
 Will there be a follow-up quiz?
2.
Tell your students what you expect regarding online behavior.
 Will the conversation be a free-for-all or will you (or an assigned
moderator) be calling on students to participate?
 Are Smileys () and acronyms (BTW) permitted? encouraged?
prohibited?
 Do you allow slang terms to be used or do you insist on more
formal conversational language?
 Approximately how long should students' contributions to
conversations be? Remember that an online conversation is
ongoing and that it will continue while a student is creating a
lengthy response. This could cause the student to miss part of
the conversation.
3.
Tell your students whether or not you plan to keep a printed log of
the synchronous session.
 Will you be using the log for grading purposes only?
 Will you be using the log for eventual publication? If so, get
written permission from each student to use his/her remarks.
Network Etiquette for Synchronous Communication
In addition to the "Netiquette" rules given in Module Two, there are
specific conventions that are observed in chat and MOO sessions. In
general, you should remind your students that these online sessions are
public and they should behave accordingly. Here are some
recommended guidelines for using synchronous tools:
1.
Try to confine your remarks to one or two lines of type.
2.
Avoid any extremely personal comments.
3.
Do not use all uppercase letters. That is considered SHOUTING.
4.
Use emoticons sparingly and avoid the use of esoteric acronyms. The
occasional LOL (Laughing Out Loud) or BTW (By The Way) or
IMHO (In My Humble Opinion) can usually be translated by other
users; but IYSWIM (If You See What I Mean) may be difficult for
some to decipher.
5.
Learn the language and the rules of the MOO before you introduce it
to your students. This may take anywhere from one week to one
term! Each MOO has specific code words that control the activities
and individual rules that govern how characters interact, where they
can visit, and what they can do.
6.
Teach your students the necessary language and rules of the MOO
before you bring them into it.
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Using Synchronous Tools
(Comparison Activities)
These exercises will give you an opportunity to experience what it would
be like to complete an assignment using either chat or MOO. Instant
Messaging is not included in the exercises because of the inherent
difficulty associated with setting up the messaging links in a classroom
situation.
Activity One: Comparisons
Your trainer will assign activities that will enable you to compare the use
of chat and MOO. Some possible topics are
1.
Introduce yourself to the class.
2.
Simulate an online office hour in which groups have three minutes
to ask questions of the trainer/instructor. Others "lurk."
3.
Prepare and submit questions to a guest speaker.
4.
Brainstorm online how chats and MOOs can be used for professional
development activities.
5.
Play games such as Jeopardy or Twenty Questions.
6.
Devise a scenario for role-playing.
Activity Two: Reflection
Participants will discuss synchronous tools as follows:
1.
What are the positive values of each tool?
2.
Which tool would be most appropriate and effective for the activities
you participated in?
3.
Which tool would be the easiest to implement for the activities you
participated in?
Activity Three: Brainstorming
In the large group, brainstorm other potential uses of synchronous tools.
You should come away from this activity with a list of possible activities
for use in your own classroom.
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Practical Considerations
The section entitled "Practical Considerations" from Module One also
applies to synchronous tools.
If you are a new user of synchronous tools, you should begin slowly. The
tools are evolving rather rapidly and the classes you teach using these
tools will likewise need to evolve. Remember that you must be proficient
in the use of synchronous tools prior to introducing them to your
students. If you display a high level of confidence and enthusiasm, your
students are much more likely to participate eagerly in the exercises.
When choosing a Chat or a MOO, one of the things you will certainly
want to investigate is the ability to log transcripts of the Chat or MOO
session. Such logs can be used for student reviews as well as the basis for
your evaluation of student participation and performance. Absentee
students can be given a "makeup" assignment consisting of reading the
transcript, summarizing the discussion, and emailing the summary to
you within a stated deadline. If these kinds of activities appeal to you,
you will certainly want to choose a Chat or MOO that provides for easy
logging of session transcripts.
Anyone whose online conversation is being logged should be aware of
this. At the beginning of each Chat or MOO logged, be sure to get
permission from all participants.
CAUTION: When scheduling chat or MOO sessions with colleagues or
students in distant locations, consider the possible difference in time
zones. Appendix B contains a useful link to a worldwide time and date
chart.
Using Chat
See Appendix A (“Using Chat”) for one example of how to set up a chat
session.
A chat session can deteriorate into trivialities unless there is a clear
objective for the meeting; therefore, you should have specific goals for
any chat session you assign. You must make sure the chat session has a
clear objective and that there is a way to keep people on track. If you do
not wish to act as moderator, you can assign a student to lead the chat.
You may even need to adopt a policy of deducting points from students
who "goof around" during an assigned chat session.
You should be completely comfortable with the chat software you are
using before introducing it to your students. Your chat room should be
easy for students to find and enter.
In some cases you may want to divide your class into groups before
starting a chat session. If you have 25 students in your class and you
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divide it into five groups, that means you will only have five chatters in
the room instead of 25.
Scheduling a guest speaker for a chat session is an excellent use of the
tool. For chat sessions where a guest speaker is to be present, it is
worthwhile to have your students create questions ahead of time.
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Alan Buckley of Santa Monica College has the following suggestions for
how to manage class chats:
"First, only the instructor or student leader can make unsolicited
comments in the chat room. When a student wishes to ask a question
or make a comment, they enter a "?" (question) or "!" (comment),
which signifies their request to speak. The instructor or student
leader maintains a list of requests and then calls on students to speak
in the order of their request.
"Second, a student may "speak" as long as they wish. In order to
simulate the natural flow of conversation, students are encouraged
to break their statements or questions into smaller phrases, using an
ellipsis […] to indicate that they have not finished their statement.
Once they have completed their statement, the student uses a final
punctuation mark (period, exclamation point, question mark) to so
indicate. The instructor or student leader then answers the question
or calls upon the next student speaker.
"Finally, students with moderate-to-poor typing skills are
encouraged to type their entire statement and then enter that
statement all at once when called upon to speak.
"These simple rules can turn a chaotic chat into a structured and
useful discussion. Students learn these simple rules in about two
minutes (really!)."
Appendix B contains a URL for logs of Dr. Buckley's student chat
sessions. As you read through some of these chat logs, it is easy to see
that the rules he espouses really do work.
Using MOOs
See Appendix A (“Using a MOO”) for one example of preparing to use a
MOO.
When you first introduce new teaching/learning tools to your students,
you must take some time for them to understand the concept and to
become comfortable with the tools. The following recommendations for
introducing students to MOOs were posted by Lonnie Turbee on a
discussion list in 1994. It is reprinted here with her permission:
If you're looking for a way to introduce MOO to your students,
here is a suggestion. One could say that going to a MOO
is like going to a foreign country where a creole of your own
language is spoken. Imagine you are an American going to
Jamaica, for instance.
You go to the country, and there are people there, but they're
doing things you don't understand. You can hear them speaking,
but you don't know what they're accomplishing with their
speech. You need to learn the vocabulary.
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You also experience culture shock. Each MOO has its own
culture. If you stay long enough you can begin to understand
it. If it frightens or confuses you too much, you either go back
home, or you go to another MOO whose culture is easier
for you to assimilate.
Different people handle culture shock and language difficulties
in different ways. Of the teachers I have introduced to
MOO, several found out how to establish an identity. Some were
very quiet, probably learning by listening. Others got
disoriented and possibly uncomfortable and left rather quickly.
One has stayed around long enough to learn a lot of the
creole, to the point of being able to build his/her own room.
MOOs require all sorts of skills besides linguistic skills,
primarily those of any seasoned traveler in a foreign country.
The nice thing about most educational MOOs is that those who
decide to become inhabitants can help create its culture.
The culture of most educational MOOs is that of a learning
environment populated by teachers and learners. This fact
should make these MOOs more comfortable places for our
students than social or gaming MOOs, without an educational
focus.5
The following considerations for using MOOs were derived from the
publication, New Ways of Using Computers in Language Teaching 6, and
augmented by a communication from Julie Falsetti, one of its authors,
who is the founder of the schMOOze University MOO.
1.
Provide the students with a conceptual picture of what the MOO
will be like (perhaps using transparencies on an overhead projector
or screen shots in PowerPoint). Emphasize that they will be talking
to people from all over the world. Remind them to be careful to
respect the culture of others.
2.
Take small groups into the MOO for their first visit so that you can
provide all the help students need and so the students won't be
overwhelmed by all the text in a crowded virtual room. The more
familiar they are with MOO before they log on to begin assignments,
the more risks they will probably take once there.
3.
MOO assignments should be designed as individual or small group
efforts. If the entire class is always in the MOO together, they tend to
talk only to each other. (Appendix B contains a URL for an
Turbee. Lonnie. " Introducing MOOs." E-mail to TCHR-SL discussion list.
August 6, 1994
5
Falsetti, J., Frizler, K., Schweitzer, E., & Younger, G. (1997). Getting Started
Using MOOs: MOO and YOO—What to DOO. In T. Boswood (Ed.), New Ways
of Using Computers in Language Teaching. Alexandria, VA. TESOL
Publications.
6
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interesting MOO assignment in the section pertaining to schMOOze
University.)
4.
Review the netiquette guidelines for the MOO. Each MOO has
different rules regarding courteous behavior, established by its
inhabitants. For example at schMOOze University it is considered
polite to knock on the door of a private room or office before
entering.
5.
Provide a handout of the basic MOO commands that gives examples
of their uses. At first your students will feel secure knowing they
have a handout to refer to, but they will quickly internalize the basic
MOO commands and put the handout aside.
6.
Students should have a reason for visiting a MOO; i.e., a task they
must complete. For instance a Nutrition instructor might make an
assignment to compare the cuisine of various countries. Students
would get the information by interviewing other users in the MOO.
7.
Remember typing speed. Students who have low-level keyboarding
skills will be at a disadvantage in a MOO, as they will find it difficult
to keep up with conversation. However conversing in a MOO could
be just the motivation some students need to get their fingers flying.
8.
Introduce the "lag monster". Prepare your students to expect some
amount of lag (temporary freezing of the screen) during MOO
sessions. Assure them that others in the same room and all over the
MOO are experiencing the same thing to prevent the students from
feeling hurt if they misinterpret the silence on the screen for being
ignored. Tell the students that it is considered polite to send out a
note letting others know you're lagging.
9.
Set your cyber-language standard. Let students know in advance
about the variations of language they might see in the MOO, and
make sure they know your philosophies on what they can and can't
use as part of your class (e.g., would you mark down a student for
using hafta instead of have to).
10. Check your institution's lab policy on MOOs and MUDs. Make sure
the computer lab or classroom can technically support MOO and
that there are no firewalls blocking MOO access. Be aware that
because MOO began as games, you might have to put in a pitch for
its educational value in order to make MOO available for your
students.
Using Instant Messaging
Because of the nature of instant messaging, we feel that it should be an
optional feature instead of a requirement for your classes. Some students
will want the ability to spontaneously chat with you or a classmate and
others will not be interested.
There are currently several different instant messaging systems
available, including ICQ (“I Seek You”), AOL Instant Messenger, Yahoo!
Messenger, and MSN Messenger. NOTE: At course publication time, one
of these systems were compatible with each other.
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If you decide to use instant messaging with your classes, the first thing
you must do is decide on the system or systems you will use and provide
directions on how/where to download the appropriate software. Then
you have to establish your friends/buddy/contact list. Probably the least
time-consuming way for your students to have instant messaging
capability with you is to instruct each student to add you to his/her list.
That way you will be notified and can simply respond instead of having
to actively enroll each student. The students can take responsibility for
creating their own contact lists with each other.
You can seek specific step-by-step setup instructions for each messaging
system at their respective websites (see Appendix B, under “Instant
Messaging”).
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Summary
You have learned that there are different kinds of synchronous
communications available on the Internet, some of which are accessible
through the World Wide Web. It is up to you to decide which one, if any,
of these tools might be helpful to your students' learning. Hopefully, you
are also aware of the advantages and disadvantages of each tool. Your
choice of which synchronous tool to use should be determined by the
needs of your students and their learning objectives, the level of
technology available to you, your own expertise, and the amount of
technological support available on your campus.
Module Four will lead you through the process of designing technologyenhanced lessons and activities incorporating your choice of
synchronous and/or asynchronous online tools presented in this course.
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Module Four: Creating
Effective Lessons Using Online
Tools
Introduction to the Module
Module Four Overview
In the prior modules, we discussed various online tools and how they
might be used in instruction. The purpose of this final module is to lead
participants through the process of designing technology-enhanced
lessons/activities in which students are actively engaged.
Module Four Objectives
Participants will
 Identify learning objective(s) for students
 Select tool(s) that will help students achieve learning objective(s)
 Learn how to design online groups and activities
 Develop a short lesson/activity to take back to the classroom
Module Four Prerequisites
Participants should have experience using asynchronous and
synchronous online tools and understand the advantages and
disadvantages of each. You should understand how the use of these tools
can help you meet the objectives set for your courses and how the tools
can support your own teaching style. You should have a general
understanding about how to prepare students for using online tools and
for providing feedback. Modules One, Two and Three provide this
background.
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Review of Previous Modules
Let's briefly refresh our memory of the tools and their attributes by
reviewing the table from Module One:
Tool
Email
Email Distribution
Lists
Listservs
Bulletin Boards
Chat
Instant Messaging
Virtual Reality
Environments
One to
One
x
x
x
x
One to
Many
x
Synchronous
x
x
x
x
Asynchronous
x
x
x
x
Threaded
x
x
x
x
x
Remember: There is no one correct tool that should be used to create an
effective lesson; two instructors may have the same course objective and
choose to meet them using different tools. Both approaches may be
equally appropriate. Your comfort level and personal preferences play a
large part in the effectiveness of the activity. Generally speaking,
asynchronous tools (email, listservs, and bulletin boards) are easier to
use when you first embark on online instruction. But you may decide to
use synchronous tools first. Do not feel that you must use each tool—
select one that fits your purpose and your teaching style. Once you
become comfortable with one, you will probably want to explore others.
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Collaborative Learning
Considerations
Developing a Sense of Community
Just as you take the time on the first day of class to create a positive
learning experience for your students, you should use your early online
communications to create a sense of community among online students.
Setting the Tone
Much of what you do online is not that different from what you would
do in the traditional classroom. Setting the right tone, making students
feel comfortable and safe, explaining proper ways to exchange views so
that points can be made but feelings don’t get hurt or sensibilities
offended are all things you do every day in your classrooms. The
effective use of online tools presents the same types of challenges.
As you think about structuring the environment of your online
discussions, keep these points in mind:
1.
The tone you take—whether it be formal, informal or
conversational—will likely be the one most students will assume.
2.
Remind students of your response time policy to avoid unrealistic
expectations.
3.
Provide guidelines for online behavior. You should occasionally
"lurk" to ensure they are being followed.
4.
Model effective postings and replies for students. Tell them what
your standards are for good postings or replies. You could include
some "starters" like "I agree with Joan because…" or "I disagree with
Mike because…"
5.
Remind students to reply to posts in a timely fashion and make use
of Netiquette (see Module 2) to prevent misunderstandings.
Collaboration depends upon cooperative feedback.
Effective guidelines for student online behavior can be stated quite
simply as illustrated by the following posting, “Rules of the Road,”
shared by Mary Kay Englen on De Anza College’s Distance Learning
listserv:
There are certain rules that we ask everyone to
follow so that everyone understands what is
expected of them as a user of the list. We expect
everyone to act like mature, intelligent adults,
and to treat each other courteously. Pretend
you’re all in a classroom together, and that your
Mother or the instructor is watching. If you
wouldn’t do something while you were in the same
room as [that] person, please don’t do it here …
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Keep the Subject heading lines relevant. If the
topic changes, change the SUBJECT line …
Modeling/Coaching
Lurking is an Internet term used to refer to those who read messages, but
who don’t comment on them or engage in the conversation. The manner
in which lurking occurs differs with the tool used. With email, teachers
would instruct students to send copies of emails to them. With listservs,
the instructor would get a daily digest. Instructors would read postings
when using bulletin boards. When using chats and MOOs, instructors
could enter and say nothing or read a log of the sessions.
In some online conversations, lurking may be considered rude; but when
used in the manner described here in an academic setting, it is a very
effective tool for coaching students and modeling student discourse.
Here is an example of how this might work:
Scenario: Maria and Steve have been assigned as partners for Assignment
1—Write a paragraph in which you introduce yourself to the class.
During the assignment, they will:
1. Compose and edit their own paragraphs.
2. Exchange documents to read, edit, and make suggestions to their
partner, sending a copy to the instructor
3. Refine their own document based on the suggestions.
4. Send the final version to the instructor and class.
A resulting exchange may look something like this:
Steve
I’m glad you got my paragraph ok and that our
email is working! What a relief. I really want to
do well on this assignment. What did you think of
my paragraph?
Maria
Maria,
The first part about where you live and your
hobbies was ok. I didn’t like the part at the
end.
Steve
It seems clear from this communication, that Maria is excited, wants to
do well, and is eager for Steve’s comments. However, Steve’s response
could easily be misinterpreted by Maria. She could be thinking, “Wow,
he says the beginning is OK —he’s probably trying to be nice—but even
so, ok is so average, and he doesn’t like the end at all!!! I must be a
terrible writer—what am I going to do???”
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The instructor, who is "lurking" behind this exchange, could act as a
Coach, and send the following message to Steve:
Steve,
I’m glad you responded so promptly to Maria’s
message. It’s obvious she is excited and wants to
do well.
Why don’t you be more specific about
what it is you don’t like in her final paragraph —
that way, she can focus on what you think is the
problem – as in:
In the last part, you talk about how you prefer
written rather than spoken communication but you
don’t explain why. If you give an explanation or
example – such as “I am a very shy person and it
is difficult for me to talk in a large class
because I get all panicky,” that might make the
paragraph more effective because it explains why
you prefer written communication.
Ms. Wellcraft
When students are just beginning to develop their online communication
skills, faculty may wish to lurk in this manner and monitor the messages.
When appropriate, they can coach students behind the scenes and
remind them to communicate effectively using proper “Netiquette.”
In the classroom, your behavior as you coach and facilitate discussions
sets an example for students. As you model the kinds of feedback or
responses that are appropriate and coach or reword comments which,
while correct, might be hurtful or ineffectual, students begin to
understand and follow your example. Online communication is no
different. Consider these two responses to a student.
Ineffective:
I don’t understand.
Effective:
In paragraph 3 you say . . . but in paragraph 4
you say . . . I don’t understand. Can you explain
what you mean?
Sometimes student editors become overwhelmed and need assistance.
For example, consider the following story: 7
7MacDonald,
Lucy, Keynote Address, Third Annual TCC Online Conference,
1998, http://leauhi.kcc.hawaii.edu/org/tcon98/keynote/macdonald.html.
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Am I Supposed To Be The Teacher?
A student peer editor was frustrated with another student’s paper, which
was not even readable until she ran the spell checker. She called the
instructor and asked if she was supposed to be the teacher. The student’s
paper was barely literate. She would have to correct every little thing, before
it was even ready to be considered a first draft.
The instructor replied that her sense of frustration was valid and it was this
frustration that needed to be communicated to the student, not any
“corrected” paper. She should communicate to the student how barely
literate the paper was and how she felt about it as a reader and suggest that
this would not be appropriate to turn in to either the editing group or the
instructor.
The instructor, coaching the peer editor, suggested that she send the student
to the writing center and/or the tutoring center for help. The news that
there was a writing center available and that students could access the
tutoring center for free help was a revelation to both the peer editor as well
as the student.
Should you coach in public to all students or in private behind the
scenes? Just as in your “real” classroom, it depends. Public postings
directed to the class is still part of the class and the normal rules of
classroom deportment apply. If someone swears or makes sexist or
other inappropriate remarks, the situation must be dealt with right away.
It can be done privately by the instructor, but it must also be addressed
publicly. If not, other students will feel that such behavior is allowed
because no message was sent to advise them otherwise.
Here are some additional suggestions:
1.
If you observe monologues and few interactions, ask the students for
feedback.
2.
Watch small group discussions for comments about members who
may not be participating, or scan the participants list to see who did
not leave a message. Better still, ask the groups to report on
participation. Then, ask the offending student to commit to
participation at a specific level and inform the rest of the group of
his/her commitment.
3.
Deal with these issues behind the scenes with direct one-to-one
messages to the offending student and with others in the group who
notice.
4.
If a student asks you for your opinion, coach others in the group
behind the scenes to provide feedback to the student.
Designing Effective Groups
There are many ways to group students: alphabetically, by schedule, by
astrological sign, by hobbies or interests, by technology comfort
level/experience, by personality types … the possibilities are endless.
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time only groups. Here are some suggestions that will help you organize
more thoughtful, long-term groups.
1.
Survey the Class
Take a survey of the technological ability of your students during the
first class meeting (see Module 1).
2.
Aim for 3-5 Students in a Group
Many instructors find four to be an effective number of students for
outside-the-class group work. Larger groups make it easier for some
members to get "lost" in the group and not participate.
3.
Place One Technologically Savvy Person in Each Group
Group people who haven’t used online tools before with those who
have more technology experience. Students are usually happy to
share their expertise, and this is a good time to let them practice their
tutoring skills and bond with other members of their group.
4.
Decide What To Do About “Flakes”
Student groups need guidelines to assist in developing timelines for
completing assignments online. How can you as the instructor act as
coach to assist student groups with this task? At a minimum, a
gentle reminder such as the following can be posted:
5.
Group students with similar schedules in case they need to use
synchronous communication (chat, phone, face-to-face, etc).
6.
If you don't want to set guidelines, you can ask each group to set its
own standards for participation.
7.
Help students recognize that effective groups often don’t have the
same workload for every member. To make it work, members
should expect to do more than their share.
Other ideas?
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Encouraging Collaboration
Even though students may not realize it, we know that they learn better
by doing their own research and discussing it with classmates than they
do from listening to our lectures. Many students do not realize that
knowledge resident in one person's head can hold the key to solving a
problem for another. The first student often does not realize that he/she
is withholding anything from the other. Collaboration is difficult; it takes
time for students to become effective at sharing what they know. If you
can nurture the development of a learning community within your
groups, the chances will increase that students will become more
articulate about their ideas and group discussions will become more
than an exchange of data.
How can you use online tools to increase student interaction and create a
feeling of community? An easy way for an instructor to begin
encouraging collaboration is to start with pairs, then progress to larger
groups.
Forming Groups
Learning partnerships are valuable early in the term as icebreakers,
providing a peer in an otherwise new environment. They also build a
sense of trust among the partners and act as a mechanism for bonding.
Example—Dyads: Working in pairs, or Dyads, is a good choice for a first
assignment. Dyads are logistically easier than large groups and provide
a useful entrée to group work online. Here is an example of how it might
work:
1.
Class is divided into Dyads (pairs).
2.
Partners use email to interview each other.
3.
Partners each write up the interviews.
4.
Dyad sends rough interviews back and forth for partners to edit.
This also gives the “interviewee” the right of refusal of material that
might be sensitive.
5.
Upon completion of final revisions, interviews are sent to the whole
class to help all students get to know each other.
As students become more comfortable with partnerships, larger work
groups can be formed. These groups can work collaboratively on
research papers or other assignments. In Peer Learning Groups, students
assist one another on various tasks, such as writing assignments or math
problem solving.
Example—Peer Learning Groups: Groups consisting of 5 students are
required to come up with 5 test questions on the chapter just completed.
The flow of the assignment might go like this:
1.
The Facilitator assigns a section of the chapter to each group
member.
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2.
Each group member creates their test question and posts it for the
rest of the group.
3.
Each member of the group makes editing comments and suggestions
for each question.
4.
Original creator refines his/her question and posts it to the group.
5.
Refined questions are compiled and posted by the Recorder for final
edits.
6.
Final edits are made by group members and sent to the Presenter.
7.
Final questions are recompiled and posted by the Presenter for the
entire class.
Projects such as this provide a good opportunity for the instructor to
make students aware of the importance of setting internal group
timelines for projects.
Extending Classroom Discussions.
Often, classroom discussions are at their most intense and compelling
just as time runs out. As groans of frustration fill the air, both instructor
and students wish there were ways to extend the discussion time. Online
tools allows this to happen and, because the content is already
established in class, additional relevant readings or resources can be
assigned to improve and raise the level of discussion. Consider this
example:
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By using online discussion, we have the additional benefit of providing
an alternative, more comfortable forum for reflective thinkers and
students who are uncomfortable contributing in a classroom situation.
Encouraging Students To Use Community Resources.
Many classes profit by moving outside the classroom to do research or
otherwise gain a better understanding of their subject. Online activities
can be designed which encourage and enrich the use of such resources.
For example:
1.
A class can join with classes from other schools for an online
discussion of a current event or mutual assignment using a listserv,
bulletin board, or MOO.
2.
Students can practice writing to pen pals in foreign countries.
3.
Students who have been studying a particular topic can prepare
questions for and participate in a chat session with an expert on that
topic.
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Suggest some other ideas below:
Valuing Student Contribution/Assessment
Some students may have a difficult time with collaboration as illustrated
in the following story.
Creation Myths of
Space Age Plot
Cyberspace—Chapter 6
Students needed to learn how to do peer editing,
something that was very new to them. Some senior
citizens protested saying that sending papers
around for everyone to read and having all the
students work on the papers was cheating. I talked
about collaborative writing, about teamwork, about
a sense of audience, about working together, but
to no avail. Finally in frustration, I said "OK.
So it's cheating. Well, I give you permission to
cheat! " 8
One of the most important concepts faculty and students discover is that
online assignments (like other assignments) must be significant, must
count, and missing them must have consequences. It is not uncommon
for students and instructors to get frustrated when online assignments
are used in a way that makes them seem peripheral and inconsequential.
You should provide a model of a high quality completed assignment so
your students will know what to strive for. Models posted on a bulletin
board or class website can serve as ongoing references for your students.
Here are some possible criteria to consider when deciding how to value
student contributions and assign points.
1.
Quality of contribution. For example, points will be given when:
• The source of the idea is clearly stated.
• The comment clearly and succinctly communicates the topic or
issue.
2.
Level of participation. For example:
• Participation is a requirement (Will one posting a week be
sufficient?)
• Posts will be counted and points will be awarded for them.
• Points will be given to the person who starts another relevant
thread (topic of conversation)
MacDonald, Lucy, Online Instruction: Trends and Issues, Teaching in the
Community Colleges Online Conference, 1998, Creation Myths of Cyberspace,
Chapter 6, http://www.lucyonline.com/creation_front.htm.
8
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Points will be awarded to the first person to contribute to each
topic.
Students who contribute relevant links will receive points.
Remember: Give yourself permission to make subjective decisions as to
whether an entry is worthy of credit to avoid mindless “posting for
points.” A contribution is more than "I agree;" it's "I agree with Catherine
because …"
Add your own ideas for grading:
Setting Expectations
Collaboration is often difficult for students; they have trouble focusing
during their online conversations because they don't know what you
expect from them. One instructor (Julie Falsetti) has her classes do email
exchanges with other ESL (English as a Second Language) classes. But
she assigns a task to be completed in order to help them focus in their
communications. For example, students were asked to find out about
women's roles in their partner's country and write a comparison
composition. Other considerations in making your expectations clear
follow.
Quality of Assignments/Participation
As students get used to the idea of online time, one pitfall is the
temptation of students to send rough drafts instead of polished work.
Perhaps this is because students can work literally right up to the
deadline and hit the send button; perhaps it is because we tend not to
proofread online messages as carefully as we read printed material;
perhaps students get used to sending draft quality material.
Here are some strategies to assist with this problem:
1.
Warn students about this temptation and encourage them not to do
it.
2.
If a document is received and you notice lots of problems in the first
paragraph, send it back.
3.
Ask the student or group to send a sample paragraph beforehand to
which you can give sample feedback.
4.
Use peer editing to refine assignments before you see them.
5.
Post successful papers from previous classes for motivation and
example.
6.
Post sample papers with corrections for modeling.
Managing Assignments
As you plan your activities and assignments, think carefully about how
you can make your life easier. Consider the following:
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1.
You don’t have to be so reactive; you needn't read every message.
2.
As you become more comfortable with groups, read only the toplevel report—not all the lower level chat. Think about your
classroom situation. In a “real” class, the instructor doesn’t listen to
every comment in every group.
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Collect group reports:
• Form groups (4-5 students) to answer assigned questions; each
answers one question.
• Have students peer edit each other's answers.
• Finally, have each group report findings to the instructor and/or
the class. This method allows students to take charge and then
report. The instructor only deals with 5 reports rather than 25.
Writing Effective Online Assignments
Designing each activity or assignment effectively will prevent you from
having to deal with “The Email from Hell:”
Poor Ms. Wellcraft. She thought she assigned a discussion group
activity; but instead of a stimulating online discussion of the five
questions, what she got was 30 student papers to grade, each containing
the answers to the five questions as well as bundles of email questioning
the assignment.
A more effective assignment might be:
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Just as you think about the design, communication, and logistics of
assignments when you teach a traditional class, you must carefully
consider the same concepts for an online assignment. In most cases, the
same principles will apply. The key is to think through the design up
front, before inundation and frustration set in. Each activity or
assignment you design should be:
•
•
•
•
Well thought out and clear to students. Students should understand
what you want and how the process will work without having to ask
for elaboration.
Clearly communicated. If there is the slightest opportunity for
confusion or ambiguity, someone will find it!
Designed for easy reading. Use formatting techniques to avoid
confusion.
Well written. It would be embarrassing for the instructor to have a
poorly written message circulating over the Web—use a
spellchecker!
Try using some of these guidelines to help craft your assignment:
1.
State the assignment objective in an explanatory paragraph.
2.
Give an overview of the assignment.
3.
Use headers and spacing to separate sections of your message.
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4.
Give the due date.
5.
Keep paragraphs short.
6.
Use numbering or bullets (•) to clarify, e.g.:
• Step 1
• Step 2
The following samples may help you:
Sample 1—weak
Sample 2—good
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The following is a more complex example. Although it was written to
utilize the web, email and a bulletin board, the lesson can easily be
adapted to a traditionally taught course.
Sample 3—good
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Identify Learning Objectives
Remember discussing learning objectives/strategies in Module One?
These are the reasons why you would use communication/collaboration
tools (i.e. to help students meet these objectives). We suggested the
following possibilities; you may have added others:
1.
Offer more options for students with different learning styles.
2.
Create more meaningful interactions with the student. For example,
students who correspond with the instructor by email or listserv
once a week may, in fact, receive considerably more useful personal
attention than those who sit quietly in the back of a lecture every day
all semester. A student who participates electronically in a guided,
threaded online discussion will almost certainly experience a richer
interaction than that provided by a single question and answer in a
traditional classroom.9
3.
Extend the classroom boundaries. One instructor regularly takes her
students into a virtual reality environment to meet with another
class from a distant state. In the MOO they spend an hour discussing
the assigned topic.
4.
Enable all students to participate including:
 The shy person
 The reflective thinker
 The disabled student
 The working student
 The distance-learning student
5.
Offer your students more opportunities to use the language of your
discipline by requiring regular participation in electronic
discussions.
6.
Encourage the development and growth of the learning community
through the use of student collaboration and group work.
7.
Encourage your students to identify, use and share community
resources.
Now that you have used all of the tools, you probably have a better idea
of which objectives/strategies would work well with your subject
matter, teaching style, and student population.
MacDonald, Lucy, Online Instruction: Trends and Issues, Teaching in the
Community Colleges Online Conference, 1998, Creation Myths of Cyberspace,
Chapter 6, http://www.lucyonline.com/creation_front.htm.
9
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Activity One: Selecting Objectives
You are to select one to three collaboration/communication-related
learning objectives appropriate for a course you teach. You will create a
lesson/activity to address one or more of these objectives in Activity
Three.
HINT: Is there an objective you have had problems achieving using
traditional methods? Might online tools help?
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Match Tools to Objectives
As you have discovered, some tools are better suited to certain
objectives. The choice is determined not only by the features of the tools
themselves, but also by the teaching/learning styles of the instructor and
the students involved.
Activity Two - Selecting Appropriate Tools
In this activity, you are to work in pairs to decide which tool(s) are suited
to achieve the results desired by the following instructors. You will
compare your ideas with the rest of the group when you are through.
Scenario 1 - An instructor proposes a topic for discussion by the
entire class. Students are to be graded on whether or not they
participate in the discussion.
Scenario 2 - An instructor feels students will have questions
about course content. Other students may benefit from some of
the answers or from the discussions that lead to the answers.
Scenario 3 - The author of a well-known book in the discipline
has offered to come to discuss his latest book with one of the
instructor's classes. Since other sections of the course would
benefit from the discussion, he agrees to make his "visit" online.
Scenario 4 - An instructor wants to assign an essay that will be
peer edited by members of each student's group before being
submitted for grading.
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Create A Lesson/Activity
Activity Three: Creating a Lesson Plan
Using the worksheet on the next page, you are to create a lesson plan
that addresses the objectives you developed in Activity One. Your plan
will include
• Description of activity and tool(s) to be used
• Clearly stated objectives for the activity (What are the expected
outcomes?)
• Plan for evaluating outcomes
• Practical considerations for the instructor
• Draft of the assignment to be given to students
• Timeline of when things should be done (e.g. reserving lab,
contacting speakers)
Keep in mind that this is not a course on instructional design. However,
resources that will help you learn more about designing lessons
involving technology and about collaborative learning are referenced in
Appendix B.
Also, for your reference, Appendix C contains a table listing typical
classroom activities and the online tools which can be used to support
them. You may find it helpful to review this list in order to generate
ideas for your own lesson plan.
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Worksheet for Activity Three: Creating a Lesson Plan
1.
Description of activity and tool(s) to be used
2.
Clearly stated objectives for activity (What are the expected
outcomes?)
3.
Plan for evaluating outcomes
4.
Practical considerations for the instructor
•
Draft of assignment to be given to students (If you need more
space, write on reverse side or type on another sheet of paper.)
•
Timeline of when things should be done (e.g. reserving lab,
contacting speakers)
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Summary
Online tools can be used effectively to promote communication and
collaboration within the class as well as with outside communities. You
have used both asynchronous and synchronous tools in activities that
can be adapted for the classroom. You have learned basic concepts that
will help you design collaborative groups and develop student
interaction online. You have evaluated online tools and designed an
online collaborative activity. We hope this background will help you
more easily and enjoyably use online tools to enhance student learning—
whether in a traditional or an online course. Appendix C contains a table
listing typical classroom activities and the online tools which can be used
to support them.
Additional Resources
For live links to the URLs, go to the course page at the @ONE Web site
given in Appendix B.
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Appendix A: Tools
In this section, you will find step-by-step, how-to instructions for several
free online tools. @ONE does not guarantee that these are the best tools
available; however, we have tested them in pilot sessions of this course
and have determined they work well.
Please be aware that tools are constantly being upgraded and improved,
so the screens and directions may be different from what we published
here in December 2000.
@ONE will make every effort to keep an updated version of Appendix A
available for download from the @ONE web site:
http://one.evc.edu/ services/download.html
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Email Basics
Setting Up Email Accounts
1.
Launch your browser.
2.
Enter the following URL for Yahoo! Mail:
http://mail.yahoo.com
3.
If you already have a Yahoo email account, type your ID and
Password in the white spaces and go on to Activity Two. To get
registered and create your Yahoo email account, click Sign Me Up!
4.
Scroll to the bottom of the signup screen and click the Terms of
Service link (under the Submit This Form button). When you finish
reviewing the Terms of Service, use your browser's Back button to
return to the signup form.
5.
Fill out the Choosing Your ID and recalling Your Password sections
with your information.
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6.
Scroll down and fill in the Customizing Your Content section.
7.
Click the Submit this form button to submit your account request.
8.
Your Yahoo! email account will be created and your browser
window should look similar to the image that follows.
9.
Scroll to the bottom of the page and click the link, Continue to
Yahoo! Mail
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10. When you click the Continue to Yahoo Mail link your browser
window should look similar to the following image.
Notice that there is one message waiting in your inbox. This is a message
from Yahoo! Containing your account information. To see the reply,
11. Click on the Check Mail link on the left; your new messages will be
listed.
12. Click on the Yahoo! link in the Subject column to display the
message. Be sure to keep this email as you may need to refer to it
later.
Creating a Message
To create and send a message from your Yahoo! Mail account:
1.
Click the Compose link (on left side of screen).
2.
Enter the email address of the person to whom you wish to send a
message in the To: window. Remember: Address information must
be entered exactly correct. Watch for typos!
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Enter the subject and message.
4.
When your message is complete, click a Send button at the top or
bottom of the window.
5.
You will receive a message from Yahoo! Mail indicating your
message has been sent.
NOTE: If there are problems with your message, (incorrect email
address, etc.), information about the nature of the problem will be
displayed.
Receiving the Reply and Creating an Address Book
Incoming mail is placed in your Inbox as it arrives. To view incoming
messages from your Yahoo! Mail account:
1.
Click the Check Mail link on the left of the screen to see a list of
messages received.
2.
Click on the subject link of a message from someone you would like
to add to your address book.
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Yahoo provides an empty address book for each user. To add the
address of the sender of a message to your address book:
3.
Click the Add Addresses link on the right side of the screen.
4.
When the Address book appears, click in the box next to the sender’s
name, and then click Add Checked under the Add As Individuals
option.
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You have added this email address to your Address Book. Whenever
you want to send an email to a person in your address book:
5.
Click the Compose link on the left of the screen
6.
Click the Address Book link on the Compose screen to display the
Address Book screen. The one below displays names starting with
the letter "S."
7.
Click in the TO box on the left of the recipient, then click on the
DONE button.
You will be returned to the Compose screen with the recipient’s email
address inserted. Since you will not be sending email at this time,
8.
Click on the Cancel button.
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Creating Folders and Filters
Folders will help you organize your work just as in a manual filing
system. To create folders from your Yahoo! Mail account:
1.
Click on the Folders link on the left. A list of your folders will
display.
You may want to refer to this screen often as it lists all of your folders
and indicates which contain messages you have not yet read in the
Unread column. Notice that Yahoo! Creates 4 default folders, which are
listed by name on the left. To create a new one,
2.
Type the name for the new folder in the Create a Personal Folder
field and click the Create Folder button. For this activity, name the
new folder Eng1A
Your new folder now appears in the list of folders.
Now that you have a folder, you can manually check email and move it
into your folder. However, you can also establish a filter so that all email
having a common feature can automatically be filed into the folder.
To create a filter:
3.
Click the Options link on the left side of the screen. The following
screen will appear.
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4.
Click the Filters link in the second column of options.
5.
Click on the Create button to obtain the New Filter screen.
To have all emails which contain a specific phrase in your new folder
(for example to place any emails containing “Eng1A” in the Eng1A
folder),
6.
Type the key phrase (e.g. Eng1A) in the Subject contains the phrase
line.
7.
Select the target folder (e.g. Eng1A) from the Deliver message to:
drop-down box.
Your screen should resemble the next figure.
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8.
Click on the Save button.
You have created your first filter. All incoming email containing
“Eng1A” in the subject line will be saved in the “Eng1A” folder.
Creating Distribution Lists
Distribution lists make it easier to send email to a group of people. To
create a list from your Yahoo! Mail account:
1.
Click Addresses on the left side of the screen to obtain the following
image
To begin a list for a group,
2.
Click the New List button and the Add List screen will display.
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3.
Type a name for your group in the Name of List field on the right.
To add members to your new group,
4.
Hold down the Command and Shift keys, then click to select the
members for the new group from those in your address book (listed
on the left). When you are through, click on the Add>> button. Your
screen will resemble the following:
5.
Click the Save button to complete the process.
Your new distribution list now appears along with the all-inclusive
“Everyone” group.
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Setting Up a Signature File
You must first log on to your Yahoo! Mail account. To create signature
lines which will appear at the bottom of your messages,
1.
Click on Options from the list on the left.
2.
Click on Signature from the first column of the list of options.
3.
Type the lines you would like to appear as the signature lines of
your messages in the space in the middle of the screen (e.g. your
name, office hours, office number, phone number).
4.
Click to select the Add signature to all messages as default box so
these lines will automatically be inserted at the end of all messages.
5.
Click on the Save button to complete the process.
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Setting Up a Yahoo! Groups
Account
For your hands-on listserv, bulletin board, and chat activities, you will
be using Yahoo! Groups, a popular site acquired in June 2000 by
Yahoo! Your trainer has set up a Yahoo! Groups site for your course.
HINT: If using this resource in your own classroom, you may want
your students to initiate the subscription process themselves. We found
it more efficient to obtain participants' email addresses and register
them ourselves; this is the procedure used below.
Prior to class time:
1.
Obtain and have handy the email addresses for all
participants/students.
NOTE: In a training session, you may wish to set up dummy Yahoo
email accounts using generic names (Student 1, Student 2, etc.).
Participants can use those dummy accounts during the course.
2.
Trainer Tip:
If you are using
participants' existing
Yahoo! Mail account s
(i.e. not dummy
training accounts), note
that your participants
must register with
Yahoo! Groups as well.
Go to the Yahoo! Groups website at
NOTE:
At publication time,
Yahoo! Groups had just
taken over Yahoo!
Groups, and changed
the registration process.
This may change again,
so be aware that some
of these instructions
may not follow exactly
what you see on the
screen.
http://groups.yahoo.com/
3.
Sign up for membership in Yahoo! Groups. (NOTE: If you already
have a Yahoo! Mail account, you simply need to follow the link
under "Getting Started." Follow the instructions there.)
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4.
Go to your email account and check your mail. You will receive a
confirmation from Yahoo! Groups, which contains an authorization
number. Follow the Yahoo! Groups directions and complete your
registration using that authorization number.
5.
Once your authorization is complete, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com. Click the Start a Group button to create
a new group. You will need to give your group a unique name and
supply some information about the group. We suggest that you
restrict this site for your members only.
6.
The last step of registration asks you to register participants and
create a Welcome Message which appears in their invitations:
7.
Use the email addresses of the participants/students to subscribe
them to the group, and check the second radio button to directly
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subscribe members. Using this approach can save class
management time.
NOTE: The default method of sending invitations requires potential
users to respond to the invitations before membership becomes active.
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L E A R N I N G
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When you are through, a congratulatory screen will appear
confirming the information about your group, including its web
address (for chat and bulletin board) and posting address (for
listserv).
Print this page for future reference.
Participants will each receive a welcome message, which will include
the name of the group, any personalized note you included, and
instructions for using Yahoo! Groups.
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Using a Listserv
NOTE: The Yahoo! Groups site actually combines the attributes of listservs
and bulletin boards into a service they call a "group. " Users can choose
whether they want to receive messages in the form of a listserv (via their email
inbox) or access messages via the Yahoo! Groups site (via bulletin board). Be
sure to set up and test your group at least a few days before introducing it to
students.
You can use the Yahoo! Groups' listserv by simply using email. All
messages sent to the posting address will be forwarded to all
subscribers (e.g. CLOtest@yahoogroups.com).
1.
Your trainer will give you the email address to which listserv
messages are to be sent. Write that address below:
__________________________
2.
Write and send an email to the listserv at the above address.
3.
Check your email periodically. All postings to the listserv will be
sent to you.
4.
If you wish to reply publicly to a listserv message, click the Reply
link. When you send the reply, everyone on the list will be able to
read your response.
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NOTE: It is very important that you replace the listserv name with the
private email address of the recipient, however, when you wish to
respond privately to a post.
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Using a Bulletin Board
NOTE: The Yahoo! Groups site actually combines the attributes of listservs
and bulletin boards into a service they call a "group. " Users can choose
whether they want to receive messages in the form of a listserv (via their email
inbox) or access messages via the Yahoo! Groups site (via bulletin board). Be
sure to set up and test your bulletin board at least a few days before
introducing it to students.
Although Yahoo! Groups is technically a listserv, it can also function
much like a bulletin board. To prepare for using its bulletin board
features, copy the sign-in information specific to the bulletin board that
will be provided by your trainer.
Web address:
1.
Go to the Web site and sign in.
2.
The main page for your group reappears, but the links on the left
are now active.
3.
Click on the "Messages" link to view the posted messages.
Notice that you can view the messages by thread (View by
Thread), as in the above illustration, or by the date they were
submitted (View by Date). When viewed by thread, replies to posts
are indented (see entry under "Using Email"), and topics are easier
to follow.
4.
To view all postings in one thread, click on Expand Messages.
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5.
To view an individual posting, click on its link in the Subject
column on the left side of the screen. A screen similar to the
following will appear:
6.
To post a reply to the bulletin board, click the Reply button; the
listserv address will automatically be inserted. To send a private
reply to the author of the post, be sure to change the recipient's
address to the author's email address.
7.
To begin a new threaded discussion topic, click the Post link. The
screen will look much like an email message screen. Simply type a
subject for the thread, type your comment, and post it.
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Using Chat
NOTE: If you’re using Yahoo! Groups for the listserv and/or bulletin board
features, it also offers an easy-to-use Chat facility since participants are
already members of the same “group.” Be sure to set up and test the chat room
at least several days prior to introducing it to your students.
To use the Chat facility offered by Yahoo! Groups, copy your group's
Web sign-in information below (see your "welcome" message from
Yahoo! Groups):
Web address:
Password:
1.
Go to the Web site and sign in.
2.
The main page for your group reappears; click on the Chat link on
the left side.
3.
A screen similar to the following appears.
Left = chat in progress
Middle = non-verbal gestures ("Emotions") you can express
Right = others online with you ("Chatters") - use [PM] to send
a private message to another user in the chat room
Bottom = area for typing what you want to say [click SEND]
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To change font, etc., select [PREFERENCES]
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Using a MOO
There are several good educational MOOs available to use, but we have
chosen TappedIn as the demonstration model. Tapped In is specifically
aimed at educators, usually has a live person to help you, and has an
easy-to-use Web interface gateway. Some other MOOs require you to
install a MOO client program (software) in order to use them.
NOTE: If you’re not already a regular TappedIn user, you will need to request
a character and explore the MOO prior to introducing it to your students.
Logging in to Tapped In
Before logging into Tapped In, make sure your browser supports frames, Java,
and JavaScript.
1.
Open your web browser to the Tapped In page:
http://www.tappedin.org/
2.
Click the button labeled Guest Login.
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3.
Type your name (it can be real or anything you wish) in the box at
the bottom of the screen, immediately below the instruction line,
and press Return.
4.
Examine the different sections of the screen.
The left side of the top third of your screen contains a scrollable
graphic of the Reception Area.
5.
Go ahead and scroll that window to see what is in the Reception
Area.
The right side of the top third of your screen contains two tabs
labeled Who's Here and What's Here.
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6.
Click the Who's Here tab to see who else is in the room with you.
7.
Click the What's Here tab to see what objects are in the room.
The middle portion of your screen is also scrollable. It shows you
the conversation that is taking place at the moment. To see what
happened when you first entered, scroll back to the top of this
window. As you scroll, you will see a text-based graphic of the
Reception Area together with some helpful hints. Don't be alarmed
if the screen pops back to the bottom at times. It does that when
someone says something. Just keep scrolling back until you see all
that you want to see.
The bottom window (where the I-beam is) is where you type.
8.
Your Trainer will guide you through some activities to familiarize
you with this MOO.
9.
If you want to work on your own, you can try one or more of the
commands listed in the table at the end of this section.
10. When you finish experimenting with the commands, you can click
the Help tab at the top of the screen. You will be presented with
the following screen.
11. Click the link Self-guided Web Tour and follow the suggestions on
the screen.
There are many commands you can use in a MOO to communicate
with
others, navigate and help create your environment. To get started, you
just need a few of the basics and you can converse and navigate your
way around. The chart on the following page is provided for your
future use to help you understand and remember some basic MOO
commands. The minimum commands you'll need to participate in a
MOO discussion
using Tapped In are listed in this chart.
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As you continue to use MOO, you may be able to find the information
you need online. Also, most MOOs identify people who are
experienced and willing to help you. TappedIn has a help desk staffed
with a real human from 8:00 am until 8:00 pm. Read the rules for the
MOO you are in and follow them.
Appendix B contains useful links about MOOs. These are also available
on the supplemental web page for this course at http://one.evc.edu/
NOTE: Whenever you see text in the following command list typed in
[brackets], be sure to substitute appropriate text, without the brackets.
Remember that these commands refer to TappedIn. Other MOOs have
similar commands, but their command symbol may differ. For
example, Diversity University and SchMOOze University use the @
symbol instead of the /.
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Basic MOO Commands (Tapped In)
Whenever you see text below in [brackets], substitute the appropriate text, without the brackets.
COMMAND
"[text]
FUNCTION
Speak to others
in same room.
(" not required.)
EXAMPLE (What Eve types)
"Hi, everyone!
Others see:
Eve says,"Hi, everyone!"
2
:[text in 3rd
person]
Emote or express nonverbal gestures
:shrugs her shoulders
Others see:
Eve shrugs her shoulders.
3
/page [name]
[optional
message]
/page Adam May I join you?
Adam sees:
Eve pages "May I join you?"
4
/join [name]
Contact someone
in another room,
e.g. ask permission
to join him/her.
Moves you to current
location of another
character
5
/look
Gives description
of current room
and its characters
6
/look [name of
character/object]
Gives description of
the character or
object
/look
Eve sees:
List of all objects and
persons in the room.
/look Dorf
Eve sees:
Description of "Dorf".
7
/who
Gives list of everyone
who is logged on and
where they are
8
/sit [table]
Places you in a
private, smallgroup discussion.
/who
Eve sees:
List of current users and
their location
/sit yellow table
Yellow table residents see:
Eve has arrived
9
/stand
Removes you from
a table & into the
large group.
/stand
Yellow table residents see:
Eve goes out.
10
/help [topic]
Displays topics
for which help is
available
/help OR point and click
Eve sees:
Display of help topics
11
/home
12
/logout
Go back to where
you started when
logging in
Leave Tapped In
/home
Eve sees:
You click your heels three times.
/logout OR point and click
Others see:
Eve has disconnected.
1
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/join Adam
Adam sees:
Eve has arrived.
C O L L A B O R A T I V E
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U S E F U L
A P P E N D I X B
W E B S I T E S
Appendix B: Some Useful Web
Sites
Free Email
A directory of over 1000 Web-based email providers
http://www.emailaddresses.com/email_web.htm
Heartz Mail
http://www.heartz.com/
Hotmail email
http://www.msn.com/
Yahoo! email
http://mail.yahoo.com/
Juno email
http://webmail.juno.com
USA email
http://www.usa.net/personal
Listservs
eCircles discussion group
http://wwwld-00-06-ec.ecircles.com/magic/products/discuss/qsdiscuss.cgi
Yahoo! Groups (A free listserv that can be viewed in a threaded fashion)
http://groups.yahoo.com
Free Forums (A free listserv that can be viewed in a threaded fashion)
http://www.freeforums.com/
Liszt (A searchable database of discussion lists)
http://www.liszt.com/
Bulletin Boards
http://www.amazingforums.com/
http://www.beseen.com/
http://www.coolboard.com/
http://www.multicity.com/
http://groups.yahoo.com/messages/
A searchable database of bulletin boards
http://www.dejanews.com/
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A P P E N D I X B
U S E F U L W E B
L E A R N I N G
U S I N G
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T O O L S
S I T E S
Chat
Free Chat Rooms
http://home.about.com/education/chat.htm
http://host99.com/freechat.htm
http://www.1chatblvd.com
http://www.beseen.com/
http://www.chatlist.com/
http://www.chatweb.net
http://www.heartz.com/
http://www.multicity.com/
http://www.onchat.com
http://chat.yahoo.com/
http://xoom.com/chat
Chat Logs – Alan Buckley, Santa Monica College
http://www.vcsun.org/~rowpup/DrB/
Instant Messaging
ICQ Home
http://web.icq.com/
ICQ download site is
http://www.icq.com/download/
MSNMessenger download site (to use with Hotmail)
http://messenger.msn.com/default.asp?mlcid=us
Yahoo Messenger download site (to use with Yahoo Mail)
http://messenger.yahoo.com/
AOL Messenger
http://aol.com
MOO
Educational MOOs
AussieMoo (promotes educational uses of Moos)
http://farrer.riv.csu.edu.au/aussiemoo.html
Café Moolano
http://moolano.berkeley.edu/
DaMOO
http://damoo.csun.edu:8888/
Diversity University MOO Home Page
http://www.du.org/
An extensive discussion of MOO's, using Diversity University as the subject
http://leahi.kcc.hawaii.edu/org/tcon99/papers/danford.html
Diversity University MOO Commands and Information
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W E B S I T E S
http://www.northern.wvnet.edu/~tdanford/dumoo.html
EdMOO
http://edx1.educ.monash.edu.au/projects/moo
Lingua MOO
http://lingua.utdallas.edu/
schMOOze University Home Page (an ESL/EFL MOO)
http://schmooze.hunter.cuny.edu:8888/
Schmooze assignment
http://schmooze.hunter.cuny.edu/venny.htm
Tapped In (resource for educators)
http://www.tappedin.org/
Creating an office in Tapped In
http://www.tappedin.sri.com/info/offices.html
Things to try in Tapped In
http://www.tappedin.sri.com/info/things_to_try.html
Other MOO Related URLs
A list of MOOs for exploration
http://distancelearn.about.com/education/distancelearn/msubmoos.htm
http://www.ucet.ufl.edu/~tari/connections/connections-home.html
http://home.earthlink.net/~d3davis/mainpg.htm
Information page for Text Based MUD's, including client download sites.
http://www.onlineroleplay.com/Text-Based_MUDs/
A comprehensive list of Virtual Reality Resources
http://fog.ccsf.cc.ca.us/~kfrizler/training/moo.html
Netiquette
http://www.acronymfinder.com
http://www.albion.com/netiquette/index.html
http://www.darkmountain.com/netiquette/index.shtml
http://www.dtcc.edu/cs/rfc1855.html
http://www.everythingemail.net/glossary.html
http://jade.wabash.edu/wabnet/info/netiquet.htm
http://www.primenet.com/~vez/neti.html
http://www.solscape.com/chat/smileys.html
http://www.solscape.com/chat/acronyms.html
http://redtail.unm.edu/cp/netiquette.html
Collaborative Learning and Instructional Design
Collaborative learning bibliography
http://www.psu.edu/celt/clbib.html
Collaborative learning network
http://www.collaborative-learning.org/gallery.html
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A P P E N D I X B
U S E F U L W E B
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U S I N G
O N L I N E
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S I T E S
Collaborative learning support site
http://www.bus.indiana.edu/isweb/teachln/collab.htm
Tutorial: Designing Technology-Enhanced Instruction
http://one.evc.edu/ services/idTutorial/idtutorial.html
Online File Storage
http://www.Yahoo!Groups.com/
http://www.idrive.com/
http://www.driveway.com/
Course Management Software
WebCT
http://www.webct.com/
Blackboard
http://www.blackboard.com/
Etudes
http://www.etudes.cc/classroom.html
Other Sites of Special Interest To Teachers
@ONE
http://one.evc.edu/
About's educational site
http://home.about.com/education/index.htm
Discussion about online teaching
http://leahi.kcc.hawaii.edu/org/tcon99/discuss/deliv-l/index.html#35
Global Schoolhouse Projec
http://www.gsn.org/
Learning styles evaluation
http://bsd-server.nc.edu/virtcol/ss/learn.html#five
Nicenet's Internet Classroom Assistant
http://www.nicenet.org/
Simple Email glossary
http://www.everythingemail.net/glossary.html
The Technology Source Online Web periodical
http://horizon.unc.edu/TS/
Worldwide time and date chart
http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/full.html
Sites relating to Web Hoaxes
http://www.icsa.net/html/communities/antivirus/hoaxes/
http://www.nonprofit.net/hoax/hoax.html
California Community Colleges Academic Senate Archives
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U S I N G
O N L I N E
U S E F U L
T O O L S
A P P E N D I X B
W E B S I T E S
http://www.academicsenate.cc.ca.us/Academic%20Senate%20Web/Publications/PUBLIST.htm
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T O O L S
A P P E N D I X C
A C T I V I T I E S
Appendix C: Typical Classroom Activities
and Suggestions for Online Tool Use
Activity
Initial Roll Call
Survey Class
Instructor's General Announcements
Instructor makes assignment
Instructor creates groups and informs members
Students turn assignments in to instructor
Instructor initiates student discussion by posting
questions
Class meets at specific time to discuss specific topic
Students are assigned roles and are asked to respond to a
specific situation relative to the course
Groups work out details of assigned project
Group members edit their product
Students ask questions of instructor
Instructor has virtual office hour
Students consult in-class tutor or counselor
Students become acquainted with other group members
Instructor answers certain well known questions
Student research
Instructor gives individual feedback on project
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Online Tool
Each student sends his/her email address to instructor
and subscribes to the class listserv.
Students take survey from instructor's Web page or
Instructor sends survey to individual students and
receives their replies via email
Listserv, bulletin board, or email
Listserv, bulletin board, or email
Listserv, bulletin board, or email
Email
Listserv, bulletin board. chat or MOO
Chat or MOO
MOO
Individual group bulletin boards or email or listserv or
chat or MOO
Email or bulletin board
Email, listserv, bulletin board, chat, MOO
Chat or MOO
Email, chat or MOO in groups at specific time
Email within group containing personal details or group
listserv or bulletin board
FAQ page on instructor Web site or FAQ thread on
bulletin board or listserv
All tools, especially WWW, predefined chat rooms (e.g.
"scottish clans", "gardening", etc.) or questions to
strangers via MOO or IRC
Email or instant messaging
C O L L A B O R A T I V E
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O N L I N E
T O O L S
A P P E N D I X D
C L A S S S U R V E Y
Appendix D: Class Survey
1.
What is your name?___________________________________
2.
Rate your level of technological expertise

proficient_____

average______

novice_______
3.
Do you use the Internet?
4.
Do you have an email account?
5.
What type of email account do you have? (AOL? College provided? Other ISP?)
6.
How often do you check your email?
7.
Have you ever subscribed to an email list (aka “listserv” or discussion list)?
8.
Have you ever participated in a bulletin board or message board?
9.
Have you ever participated in an online chat room?
10. Can you use a word processor to copy and paste?
11. Do you have access to a computer with Internet access that you can use regularly for completing
assignments?
12. Will you be using the college labs for your work in this class?
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Appendix E: @ONE Training Course
Evaluation—Participant
@ONE: USING TECHNOLOGY TO ENHANCE TEACHING & LEARNING
Course Content Evaluation Form – Participant
COLLABORATIVE LEARNING ONLINE
Note: We encourage you to do this evaluation online at:
http://one.evc.edu/
Your feedback is important to us. Your reaction and comments will provide us with a basis for
improvement of @ONE course materials. Please take a few moments and complete the evaluation
below. For each of the statements below, circle the response most appropriate
1=Strongly disagree
2=Disagree
3=Neither agree/nor disagree
4=Agree
Content
1. The course objectives were clearly stated.
2. The information was presented in a clear and logical manner.
5=Strongly agree
Disagree
1 2 3
1 2 3
3. I think my students will benefit from my having had this training.
4. Exercises and examples used in class are relevant to my work
5. The pace of the training was sufficient for me to learn the skills
applicable to my work.
6. The instructional level was suitable for me
As a result of this training:
7. I intend to use collaborative learning strategies to support my classroom instruction to a greater degree.
8. I have a better understanding of the benefits and limitations of using
email, listservs, bulletin boards, chat rooms and MOOs as
collaborative learning tools.
9. I will be able to manage online collaborative learning activities with
students more efficiently.
10. I will be able to develop more meaningful collaborative learning
activities for students online.
Agree
4 5
4 5
1
1
2
2
3
3
4
4
5
5
1
1
2
2
3
3
4
4
5
5
1
2
3
4
5
1
2
3
4
5
1
2
3
4
5
1
2
3
4
5
1
1
2
2
3
3
4
4
5
5
Course Materials
11. The participant materials will aid me in applying the training to
my work.
12. The materials were clear and easy to follow
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F O R M
13. I will refer to the supplemental webpage and resources for
follow-up support.
1
2
3
4
5
Please turn over
Additional Comments
Please describe the most valuable elements of this training course:
Suggest improvements to the course: check all that apply
Raise the prerequisite standards. ___
Provide better information before course. ___
Reduce content covered in course. ___
Update content covered in course. ___
Increase content covered in course. ___
Make the course less technically difficult. ___
Slow down the pace of the course. ___
Allot more time for the course. ___
Provide more written material and
instructions. ___
Improve course organization. ___
Clarify the course objectives. ___
Make the course more technically
sophisticated. ___
Speed up the pace of the course. ___
Make course activities more stimulating. ___
Additional Comments:
Other Topics You’d Like to See Covered in @ONE Courses:
Compared to other workshops or training I’ve attended, I’d rank this one as:
One of the best
Very good
Good
Fair
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One of the worst
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T O O L S
A P P E N D I X E
E V A L U A T I O N F O R M
May we quote you?
Yes
No
Name: (optional)
______
Discipline:
_____________
College:
_____________
Email address:
____________________________
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