[VPAAEtal] ITDE Instructional Design Newsletter (TAMU-C) - July 2, 2008

Thu Jul 3 11:47:28 CDT 2008

	 	 Volume 1, Issue 11, July 2, 2008

Promoting Interaction and Communication in an Online Course

One way to promote interaction and communication in an online course is
through the use of an ice-breaker activity. For example, an early course
assignment might require students to submit biographical data consisting
of their name, hot-linked email address, hometown, recreational
interests, and primary professional interests. Students would also be
given the option to attach a file containing their photo. The
bio-graphical information would then be shared with the students on a
separate page in their online course. 

In a paper by LeBaron & Miler (2003), students were required to review
posted biogra-phies and begin a dialogue with one of their classmates
based on professional or rec-reational interests; their immediate
thoughts in reviewing the professional or recrea-tional interests,
followed by posing questions and responses using a threaded discus-sion
forum within the course. The students were given two weeks to complete
the ice-breaker assignment which would represent 20% of their overall
course grade.

Some students who waited late to complete the assignment found it
difficult to find a peer with whom they wanted to engage in
communication. As a result, instructors in the subsequent semester
decided that further refinement to the ice breaker assign-ment needed to
be implemented. To have more evenly distributed student communica-tion,
a team approach was initiated by the instructors who established private
team work areas populated with three students each using the original
ice breaker guide-lines. At the end of the exercise students were to
introduce their peers to the class us-ing a threaded discussion board. 

A majority of the students who participated in the refined ice breaker
exercise indicated that it was a good way to begin the course by
offering a method to meet classmates which in turn encouraged continuing
interaction and communication during the semes-ter. Each student
averaged 56 postings for the 14 week semester indicating a high level of
activity (LeBaron & Miller, 2003).

Standards, Benchmarks, and Guidelines for Online Courses

		In the June 16th issue of this newsletter we provided a
list of recommended standards, guidelines, and benchmarks for your
refer-ence in developing online or web-enhanced courses. That list
focused on the organization and design areas of an online course.  In
this issue, we provide you with recommended standards, guide-lines, and
benchmarks related to "instructional design and delivery." 

Promote Interaction and Communica-tion

r Students introduce themselves

r Students are encouraged to respond to classmate introductions

r "Ice-breaker" activity to get acquainted

r Instructor introduces himself/herself to model interaction

r Netiquette described and enforced

r Student participation is tracked and 'wallflowers" drawn into the
discussions

r Students are prompted by facilitator to expand on relevant points

r Reading and writing requirements are consistent with student abilities
and course unit load

Goals and Alignment to Learning Ob-jectives/Outcomes

r Pace of delivery of course is managed

r Course content is "chunked" for more manageable learning

r Instructional design is made clear (e.g., is it self-paced, or
group-paced)

r Expectations for synchronous vs. asyn-chronous activities are clearly
spelled out

Learning Objectives and Activities are Integrated

r Reading assignments match learning objectives

r Activities lead to learning desired con-cepts

	r Tasks and activities are designated as synchronous or
asynchronous; sequen-tial or may be completed in any order (clarified)

r Instructional material may be reviewed repeatedly (built-in
redundancy)

r Summary provided frequently, particu-larly at the end of topics, to
reinforce learning

Activities to Enhance Student Learning (addressing multiple learning
styles)

r Video clips of interviews, movements

r Historical audio clips of famous speeches

r Screen animations for instructional ex-ercises using software

r Personal interview reports

r Crossword or word search puzzles

r Matching and game-show-style trivia games

r Online scavenger hunt/WebQuest

r Annotated bibliography

r PowerPoint presentations as assign-ments 

Activities to Develop Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving Skills

r Discussions center on questions with-out a single correct answer

r Compare and contrast exercises

r Case studies

r Critique classmates' assignments

r Collaborative exercises

r Portfolios (building one activity upon another) to share/peer review 

LeBaron, J., & Miller, D. (2003). The Teacher as "Agent Provocateur":
Strategies to Promote Commu-nity in Online Course Settings. Retrieved
June 25, 2008, from http://gse.uml.edu/lebaron/Oulu-TAPfinal_030922.pdf
<file:///C:\Documents%20and%20Settings\francisalan\Desktop\June%2030%20N
ewsletter\IDU_Newsletter_06_15_08.pub>    

Seok, S. (2007). Standards, accreditation, bench-marks, and guidelines
in distance education. In M. Simonson, & C. Schlosser (Eds.) Quarterly
Review of Distance Education: Research that guides practice , 8(4),
pp.387-398. 

Tiered Storage of Online Courses

 Formative Surveys (Online Courses)

Students in online courses (01W, 02W...) are required to complete a
formative sur-     vey approximately two weeks after the beginning of
the term. These surveys serve to inform the instructors as to the
experience of students regarding the start-up of the course(s). Survey
administration dates and delivery of the survey results to faculty and 

		 Summative Surveys (Online Courses)

Students in online courses (01W, 02W...) are also required to complete a
summative survey approximately two weeks prior to the close of the term.
These surveys inform the faculty assigned to the course and the
department head of how the students evalu-ated the course. Survey
administration dates and delivery of the survey results to fac-ulty and
department heads is provided in table below:

  Term

  Dates Surveys are

  Administered to Students

  Results to Faculty/

  Department Heads

  Summer II 2008

  July 25 - July 30

  August 18 - November 18

  August Mini 2008

  August 15 - August 18

  August 29 - December 12

 Announcements 

Support Staff

Fall 2008 Populated

Fall 2008 courses are scheduled to be popu-lated with students on August
13th.

Ready to Develop or Modify Your Fall 2008 Course(s)?

Request that your Fall 2008 course shell be created by completing the
online course copy request form found at 
www.tamu-commerce.edu/itde/copyrequest.asp
<http://www.tamu-commerce.edu/itde/copyrequest.asp> .   

	Charlotte Larkin, Ed.D.

Director of ITDE

Julie McElhany, Ed.D.

Coordinator for Instructional Design

Dean Aslinia, M.S.

eLearning Support Specialist

Alan Francis, M.B.A.

eLearning Administrative Specialist

Jess Lamphere, B.S.

eLearning Support Specialist

**** A PDF version of this newsletter is avail-able at 
www.tamu-commerce.edu/itde/ newslettersArchive.asp.
<http://www.tamu-commerce.edu/itde/newslettersArchive.asp>  

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