[VPAAEtal] ITDE Instructional Design Newsletter (TAMU-C) - May 30, 2008

Mon Jun 2 10:25:01 CDT 2008

		 Online Learning InfoCast

Blogs and Other Collaborative Tools in an Online Classroom

		The use of Web Logs, or Blogs for short, as a tool for
collaborative education is gaining in use among colleges and
univer-sities. Boulos, Maramba and Wheeler (2006) detail several avenues
where blogs can effectively harness web based technology to create
communities of users interested in a common topic.  Richard Miller of
Rutgers University discusses in a presentation to the Rutgers Board of
Gov-ernors, how all students, regardless of major,  will need to have
networked multi-media composition skills in order to be effective l in
the modern workplace (Miller 2008).

Access to this type of open and readily available learning environment
is becom-ing more prevalent due, in large part, to the spread of
cheaper, better supported personal technology. This makes "anytime,
anyplace" learning more  trans-parent and ubiquitous to  both the
creator and collaborators as well as end users.  The ease of learning
and use of blogs make them a popular venue for dissemi-nating
information to large groups.  Oomen and Burke (2008) describe 13
different ways to integrate blogs into a online classroom.  Some of
these include:

* Provide a forum for students to reflect on weekly readings

* Develop and share resources related to a course or course topic,
collabo-rate on case studies

* Create an advocacy campaign and build online coalitions

* Conduct interviews with community members

* Discuss current issues relative to a field of study

* Pilot Web 2.0 tools and critique them

* Critique case studies

* Write a book review

* Lead a study session

* Facilitate a debate

* Extend a face-to-face- or an online discussion

* Construct a departmental newsletter

* Analyze a journal article

This same ease of use can also make blogs, and other web based
technologies such as Wikis and Web Casts,  vulnerable to vandalism and
mis-information attacks.  However, due to the almost Darwinian 

	nature of collaborative peer review and editing, inaccurate
information is quickly rooted out and corrected.  The term
"Darwikinism" has been coined to de-scribe the process that can be seen
to mirror nature where "Unfit"  postings are ruthlessly edited or
replaced by items that are considered to be "Fit" by the commu-nity of
users.  As this process continues over time, the result is a overall
more ac-curate and reliable page (Boulos, Maramba and Wheeler 2006).

Components to consider in developing an effective blog for use as a
distance learn-ing tool include (Yan 2008):

* Structure the blog to make it as easy as possible for contributors to
add content

* Set guidelines and monitor the con-tent before it is posted to the
blog

* Use logins and passwords are sug-gested to prevent vandalism and
spammers from gaining access to the blog

* Use pseudonyms to help maintain security for user identity

Blogs and other web based tools can make eLearning a content rich,
collabora-tive experience which help produce high quality educational
outcomes for the stu-dents.

Jess Lamphere

eLearning Support Specialist

Sources:

Boulos, Maramba and Wheeler. Wikis, blogs and podcasts: a new generation
of Web-based tools for virtual collaborative clinical practice and
education. BMC Medical Education 2006, 6:41[http://
www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6920/6/4].

Giles, J. Internet encyclopedias go head to head. Nature 2005,
438(7070900-1 [http:// www.nature.com/nature/journal/v438/n7070/

full/438900a.html].

Miller, Richard E. "The Future is Now: Presentation to the RU Board of
Governors." www.YouTube.com. 2008. Rutgers University. 27 May 2008
<http:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=z65V2yKOXxM>.

Oomen-Early, J., & Burke, S. (2008). 13 ways to integrate blogging into
the Web 2.0 classroom [Electronic version]. Online classroom, May, 5-8. 

Yan, J., Social technology in the classroom, New England Journal of
Higher Education; Winter 2008, Vol. 22 Issue 4, p27-29, 2p.

 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 department heads is
provided in table below:

  Term

  Dates Surveys are

  Administered to Students

  Results to Faculty/

  Department Heads

  Summer I 2008

  June 12 - June 16

  June 18- August 18 

  Summer II 2008

  July 17- July 21

  July 23 - August 18

 Summative Surveys (Online Courses)

Students in online courses (01W, 02W...) are also required to complete a
summa-tive 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 stu-dents evaluated the course. Survey
administration dates and delivery of the survey results to faculty and
department heads is provided in table below:

  Term

  Dates Surveys are

  Administered to Students

  Results to Faculty/

  Department Heads

  May Mini 2008

  May 23 - May 26

  June 4 - August 16

  Summer I 2008

  June 25 - June 30

  July 11 - August 18

  Summer II 2008 

  July 25 - July 29

  August 18 - November 18

 Announcements 

	  IDU Staff

	Students may now enter their Summer I, 2008 courses. They will
have access to Summer I courses up to two weeks beyond the last day of
the term. 

Summer II, 2008 courses are currently be-ing copied. In order to handle
this course copying process with the greatest efficiency and accuracy,
we request your assistance. If you have not requested that your Summer
II 2008 course(s) be copied as of this date, please complete the online
course copy request form located at

www.tamu-commerce.edu/itde/ copyrequest.asp
<http://www.tamu-commerce.edu/itde/copyrequest.asp> .  

Summer II 2008 courses are scheduled to be populated with students on
June 25th.

  Julie A. 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

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman.tamuc.edu/pipermail/vpaaetal/attachments/20080602/3426e51a/attachment.htm
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 13374 bytes
Desc: image001.jpg
Url : http://mailman.tamuc.edu/pipermail/vpaaetal/attachments/20080602/3426e51a/attachment.jpg
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 1647 bytes
Desc: image002.jpg
Url : http://mailman.tamuc.edu/pipermail/vpaaetal/attachments/20080602/3426e51a/attachment-0001.jpg
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 1531 bytes
Desc: image003.jpg
Url : http://mailman.tamuc.edu/pipermail/vpaaetal/attachments/20080602/3426e51a/attachment-0002.jpg
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 1818 bytes
Desc: image004.jpg
Url : http://mailman.tamuc.edu/pipermail/vpaaetal/attachments/20080602/3426e51a/attachment-0003.jpg
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 981 bytes
Desc: image005.jpg
Url : http://mailman.tamuc.edu/pipermail/vpaaetal/attachments/20080602/3426e51a/attachment-0004.jpg
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 947 bytes
Desc: image006.jpg
Url : http://mailman.tamuc.edu/pipermail/vpaaetal/attachments/20080602/3426e51a/attachment-0005.jpg
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 2076 bytes
Desc: image007.jpg
Url : http://mailman.tamuc.edu/pipermail/vpaaetal/attachments/20080602/3426e51a/attachment-0006.jpg
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 1248 bytes
Desc: image008.jpg
Url : http://mailman.tamuc.edu/pipermail/vpaaetal/attachments/20080602/3426e51a/attachment-0007.jpg
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 1287 bytes
Desc: image009.jpg
Url : http://mailman.tamuc.edu/pipermail/vpaaetal/attachments/20080602/3426e51a/attachment-0008.jpg
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 1360 bytes
Desc: image010.jpg
Url : http://mailman.tamuc.edu/pipermail/vpaaetal/attachments/20080602/3426e51a/attachment-0009.jpg
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 1228 bytes
Desc: image011.jpg
Url : http://mailman.tamuc.edu/pipermail/vpaaetal/attachments/20080602/3426e51a/attachment-0010.jpg
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 1285 bytes
Desc: image012.jpg
Url : http://mailman.tamuc.edu/pipermail/vpaaetal/attachments/20080602/3426e51a/attachment-0011.jpg
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 1347 bytes
Desc: image013.jpg
Url : http://mailman.tamuc.edu/pipermail/vpaaetal/attachments/20080602/3426e51a/attachment-0012.jpg
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 1594 bytes
Desc: image014.jpg
Url : http://mailman.tamuc.edu/pipermail/vpaaetal/attachments/20080602/3426e51a/attachment-0013.jpg
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 1692 bytes
Desc: image015.jpg
Url : http://mailman.tamuc.edu/pipermail/vpaaetal/attachments/20080602/3426e51a/attachment-0014.jpg
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 1772 bytes
Desc: image016.jpg
Url : http://mailman.tamuc.edu/pipermail/vpaaetal/attachments/20080602/3426e51a/attachment-0015.jpg
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 1818 bytes
Desc: image017.jpg
Url : http://mailman.tamuc.edu/pipermail/vpaaetal/attachments/20080602/3426e51a/attachment-0016.jpg
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 981 bytes
Desc: image018.jpg
Url : http://mailman.tamuc.edu/pipermail/vpaaetal/attachments/20080602/3426e51a/attachment-0017.jpg
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 947 bytes
Desc: image019.jpg
Url : http://mailman.tamuc.edu/pipermail/vpaaetal/attachments/20080602/3426e51a/attachment-0018.jpg
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 2074 bytes
Desc: image020.jpg
Url : http://mailman.tamuc.edu/pipermail/vpaaetal/attachments/20080602/3426e51a/attachment-0019.jpg
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 1529 bytes
Desc: image021.jpg
Url : http://mailman.tamuc.edu/pipermail/vpaaetal/attachments/20080602/3426e51a/attachment-0020.jpg
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 1613 bytes
Desc: image022.jpg
Url : http://mailman.tamuc.edu/pipermail/vpaaetal/attachments/20080602/3426e51a/attachment-0021.jpg
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 1712 bytes
Desc: image023.jpg
Url : http://mailman.tamuc.edu/pipermail/vpaaetal/attachments/20080602/3426e51a/attachment-0022.jpg
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 1156 bytes
Desc: image024.jpg
Url : http://mailman.tamuc.edu/pipermail/vpaaetal/attachments/20080602/3426e51a/attachment-0023.jpg
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 1203 bytes
Desc: image025.jpg
Url : http://mailman.tamuc.edu/pipermail/vpaaetal/attachments/20080602/3426e51a/attachment-0024.jpg
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 1258 bytes
Desc: image026.jpg
Url : http://mailman.tamuc.edu/pipermail/vpaaetal/attachments/20080602/3426e51a/attachment-0025.jpg
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 1386 bytes
Desc: image027.jpg
Url : http://mailman.tamuc.edu/pipermail/vpaaetal/attachments/20080602/3426e51a/attachment-0026.jpg
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 1470 bytes
Desc: image028.jpg
Url : http://mailman.tamuc.edu/pipermail/vpaaetal/attachments/20080602/3426e51a/attachment-0027.jpg
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 1543 bytes
Desc: image029.jpg
Url : http://mailman.tamuc.edu/pipermail/vpaaetal/attachments/20080602/3426e51a/attachment-0028.jpg
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 1478 bytes
Desc: image030.jpg
Url : http://mailman.tamuc.edu/pipermail/vpaaetal/attachments/20080602/3426e51a/attachment-0029.jpg
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 1590 bytes
Desc: image031.jpg
Url : http://mailman.tamuc.edu/pipermail/vpaaetal/attachments/20080602/3426e51a/attachment-0030.jpg
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 1672 bytes
Desc: image032.jpg
Url : http://mailman.tamuc.edu/pipermail/vpaaetal/attachments/20080602/3426e51a/attachment-0031.jpg
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 8276 bytes
Desc: image033.jpg
Url : http://mailman.tamuc.edu/pipermail/vpaaetal/attachments/20080602/3426e51a/attachment-0032.jpg