Embedding

Sometimes I get scared. The things that frighten me are many and some of them are actually terrifying. On my list are sharks like the Carcharodon Megalodon and its smaller version the great white, as well as more mundane fears like falling off of a ladder or being sideswiped while riding my motorcycle. While I know that the likelihood of being attacked by an ancient and extinct cartilaginous creature of the seas is zero and the likelihood of being attacked by the smaller version is also zero in the mountains in which I live, I still have this part of me that is terrified anytime that I am in more than two feet of water I can’t see through. The likelihood of me meeting my other fears head on is not much greater on a day-to-day basis, but my fears are an ingrained part of my identity. I can imagine the fear felt by characters in Jurassic Park or the awesome might that the concept of a balrog has.

One thing that you will not find me afraid of though is a glowing white dot chasing people through the screens of the 1960s.

This isn’t really a post about that…but it is. Why is it that I can sit in wonder and look at the balrog or the rancor without losing my sense of rapture in the media but when I look at the white dot of terror I can’t help but laugh at the futile attempts of the couples on screen to avoid becoming a part of that burn on the negative? Why is my expectation of the media I interact with so much greater that I can’t view the 2D version of Avatar in the same way as the 3D version but I can watch a 2D version of other movies without losing a part of the experience? I think it comes back to that word: experience. I have built up in my mind an expectation for what the media I interact with should be based on my past experiences, and I have had a lot of experience throughout my life with media. In fact, my entire life has been in some ways defined by the media I have consumed from Sesame Street to Aliens to The Five People [I will] Meet in Heaven. From birth to high school to college to career to seasoned life to death, I have seen and experienced lives vicariously that have determined in small and significant ways the life I actually live. But I will never be afraid of a white dot…unless that dot is the beginning of an outbreak; my experience with media has surpassed the fear of the negative dot running amok.

That has implications though. When we think about media, and the ways to include it into courses we develop, instructors need to move beyond the media negative classroom and into a classroom experience that provides the same kinds of stimulation that people desire and expect in a digital age. The media has to be more than simply included though; it needs to be good. It needs to be included with purpose, design, and style in mind if it is going to become a valued and valuable resource in the online classroom. Media has the ability to bring to life concepts and ideas, to give voice to the faceless experts whose words in books inspire professors who inspire students, to provide accessibility of ideas to students who struggle with traditional learning mediums, and to add depth to a learning experience in the way that multiple cameras can add depth and breadth to a cinematic experience.

There is more to incorporating media in the classroom if the experience is going to be a change. It has to be more than a simple box thrown on the screen and played through. It has to be supplemented with sound and controls and user interactivity. All of this is flash though. It reminds me of Professor Gilderoy Lockhart from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. If all I have is the style without substance, the media does more harm than good. Nor do I simply want Snape though, whose knowledge of content was extensive but who scared me through his inability to engage his students and his dry focus on the content only. Students need something in between these if they are really going to get the most out of media embedded in the classroom.

The same is true for technology and different tools that can be used to extend learning. The tools must be selected for the right reasons and those reasons must be aligned directly with the learning objectives of the course. This adds interactivity to the classroom but also adds complexity for both the learner and the instructor. Each has to become skilled with the use of tools and the application of tools to learning tasks. Often times this is more of a challenge for the instructor, especially when the instructor allows the students choice, which can be a good practice. Each tool and media experience an instructor can incorporate with purpose and with quality is a window or a door or a knothole that students can use to gain entry into the content the instructor wishes to impart.

That accessibility is arguably more important than ever, given the enormous advantage technology has provided in equalizing the opportunity for students to gain access to instruction. More students and more types of students are taking more classes on more platforms from more locations than ever before. Students are no longer forced to attend a geographically convenient school nor are they confined by the barriers of language, gender, race, or time. The students are used to being given tools and media in a variety of formats and have come to expect that the learning environment will be as stimulating, if not more stimulating, than the interactive, media-rich world they live in day in and day out.

Or at least, they should have that expectation.

As an instructor it is difficult to live up to that standard for long and many times I am not able to pull it off…but give me the budget to avenge and I bet you I could make my classroom pretty darn impressive every day. Alas, I don’t have a budget of $220 million or even the modest budget of a movie whose negative space sphere scared the dickens out of the couples at the drive in. Instead, I make it through with tools like Camtasia, Prezi, Mindomo, Diigo, SharePoint, and my Office suite. These tools are great for what they do; they provide me with a way to begin conversations with my students about the role of interactivity and media in classroom instruction and allow me a way to bring learning to life in the real world.

Jaws helped cement my fears of the bigger fish in the sea and Aliens helped me remember my fears of the dark. Though the effects weren’t great by today’s standards they came from a time in my past where a plastic trashbag really could make a monster come to life. The groundbreaking effects of Star Wars have been eclipsed, but the media helped create a religion. Pong was lightyears ahead of its time, but it can’t hold a candle to Call of Duty or Spore.

vs

vs

You see, we have hit a point with media and interactivity that it is difficult to go backwards from. While we can appreciate the lectures of great professors, in an online classroom we expect the wealth of experience and depth of perception that media and interactive tools allow. And while, on a philosophical level the concept of a giant void that can erase your existence in an existentially, dreadfully visceral way is mind-blowingly intense, it is not the burned spot on a negative that makes us afraid of the world, or makes us change our religion, or makes us picture ourselves on a world where giant blue natives soar with the Mak Tao, it is the inspired, designed, developed, and produced media and tools that envelop us with ideas that we embrace. What is the power of media and tools in a classroom? If constructed and implemented in just the right way, it is the difference between:

and

 

...

        

Instructional Clarity

There is that moment of anticipation right before your lecture starts and you realize that your students will form their opinion of you based on the first set of words that come out of your mouth. Actually, you realize that many of the students have already made up their minds about you based on your previous students’ comments, ratings, and/or reviews on Rate My Professors. Then comes that next sweet moment when you remember that you are teaching an online class and your lecture can be prerecorded, cross referenced, and perfected…and your students will love every minute of it…if you can get them to watch it at all…

Wait a second; isn’t an online class supposed to be easier for the instructor and a walk in the park for students? Isn’t all that you have to worry about copying and pasting the assignment guidelines and due dates into the learning management system and then you can kick back and wait for all of their eagerly prepared assignments to come dropping into your box like presents at a holiday party? Of course, if it was that easy, wouldn’t everyone being doing it?

It is not that easy and an online class does not pilot itself. In fact, in some ways, creating the sense of community that one finds in a face-to-face environment is more difficult online than people assume. The asynchronous postings and geographical separation that occurs in many online environments makes the crafting of assignments and community building more important, arguably, than in a traditional brick and mortar classroom. In addition, cultural and linguistic differences can influence interactions in ways different from a physical classroom. That is why these kinds of classroom interactions need to be structured, clear, and personalized.

To make students feel a sense of belonging in the course, it is important to make them feel included by reaching out, inviting them to participate, constructing experiences that are engaging, reference them by name, and make them feel valued as individuals by taking an interest in their stories while providing them opportunities to have fun in the first few weeks of the course according to Dr. Rena Palloff and Dr. Keith Pratt, authors of at least three books on online teaching methods and strategies. While these are important elements to make students feel like their participation in online courses is valued, they also need to get to know their professor through a variety of text based and multimedia elements. This helps to personalize the professor and humanize the learning environment.

None of this is possible without the instructor having a clear set of instructional objectives, knowledge of the tools at his/her disposal, and clarity of communication for student behavior. An intimate knowledge of how to operate the technology that is available for the online classroom and how to select the appropriate technological tool for the instructional job at hand is important to make sure that all instructional tools are aligned with the instructional tasks required of students. It is also important to make sure that the instructor understands how much experience the students have with the new technologies being required of them so that the instructor keeps students from feeling cognitive overload during tasks.

If the instructor is not careful and cognizant of the ways that students feel in the beginning of the course and sets up the course in a way that the students feel overwhelmed or devalued, their participation and continued presence in the course will diminish and they may drop from the course. Introducing students to an online course and building community is more important than in face-to-face environments. The separation of the students from the instructor and from one another can be a barrier, but when effectively planed for by an instructor, an online class can be as meaningful as a traditional class. 

Online Discussion

King Arthur was a legendary character that created a round table in order to standardize equality among his knights. While his idea of creating a table that equalized the playing field is nice, many have argued over time that his ideal is just that...an ideal. In some cultures, some people are more equal than others. In American culture there is an ideal of equal opportunity. For many years there was nothing that really equalized the playing field for everyone, but one could argue that new technologies have changed that because limitations of geography have been minimized and information access has improved. 

With that in mind, answer in your discussion board response for this week the following questions: 


1. Arthur's idea had been that by having a round table, everyone would have an equal voice and there would not be anyone with more power than others when discussions were taking place. Explain why you do or do not think that the Internet has become a round table. 

2. Have new technologies equalized the playing field for many and if so in what ways? If not, why do you believe that they have not? 

3. Reflect on the two items above and explain why you believe that we have or have not moved towards equality with the invention of new technologies. 




By Thursday: You need to respond to the prompt above. There is no set limit on the number of sentences, but you do need to include enough information to fully answer the prompt. Remember that this prompt has multiple parts to it, and you will need to answer them all. Also, please remember that your responses must be based on research articles and outside resources from the class readings and beyond.

By Tuesday of next week: You will need to respond to at least two of your peers. Your response must do one of the following:

- Pose a question for further conversation.
- Provide an insight that could further the conversation.
- Provide an answer or clarification sought by the initial poster.

Comments like the following will receive NO credit:
"I agree"
"Totally!"
"You read my mind."
"Great post!"

Please make sure that you have checked for spelling and grammar errors. ​

The discussion board rubric can be found at this link. 

Um...could you explain what cheating means?

Cheating. This is a word that seems to strike fear into the hearts of instructors on a regular basis, especially when combined with the words distance education. There seems to be a general sense of insecurity with the idea that students will be academically honest and show integrity when interacting with course content from a distance. Styron and Styron (2010) explain that cheating is nothing new and that academic dishonesty can be traced back over 100 years; they go on to explain that even though cheating is old, new ways of cheating show up with new technologies. Styron and Styron (2010) go on to state that overall evidence of cheating has increased in recent years but that it is difficult to say whether or not the incidences of cheating in online environments is significantly higher than the average classroom.

This sentiment that online cheating may not be more likely than in regular classroom settings is supported by Hollister and Berenson (2009) as well as Kidwell and Kent (2008). What is interesting about many of these studies on cheating is that they are based, most often, on student self-reporting (Styron & Styron 2010). What was most interesting to me was the variation of responses to what students and faculty even consider to be cheating, a topic studied by Higbee, Shultz, and Sanford (2011). I find often times that the real questions that my students struggle with (and that I find myself pondering) are really what cheating is in an age of connectivist learning (Marais 2010).

I usually attempt to limit cheating by having students develop original creations and allowing them to make up assignments in many cases. Granted, I teach at a high school and this may not work as well in other environments, but allowing students to retest over time provides me with a low anxiety environment when it comes to tests. Grades are still put in, but the students have a limited window where they have the opportunity to prove that they know the information. This is not much different from the real world where learners can test multiple times for a certification, pay to take an ACT like test multiple times, or where learners can retake courses.

Of course, I got away from connectivist learning there for a second and need to go back to it. My classroom looks very different than most when it comes to major assignments because my students spend a lot of time talking to one another, sharing ideas, and crafting collaborative demonstrations of their learning. I still have tests and quizzes, but more often than not the students try to create projects and products that demonstrate their learning. Some people say that I allow my students to cheat because they spend so much of their time communicating with and supporting each other, but I think that in a networked world the true test of their abilities will come out through their interactions with others. They need to be able to perform certain tasks and specific skills individually, but in a globalized world they also need to be able to construct solutions with others in real time across an indeterminate space. So, I struggle sometimes with a narrow view of what cheating is. Like many things, I think that our technology has enabled us to move beyond the definitions that used to apply.

References:

Higbee, J. L., Schultz, J. L., & Sanford, T. (2011). Student Perspectives On Behaviors That Constitute Cheating. Contemporary Issues In Education Research, 4(10), 1-8.

Hollister, K. K., & Berenson, M. L. (2009). Proctored Versus Unproctored Online Exams: Studying the Impact of Exam Environment on Student Performance. Decision Sciences Journal Of Innovative Education, 7(1), 271-294. doi:10.1111/j.1540-4609.2008.00220.x

Kidwell, L. A., & Kent, J. (2008). Integrity at a Distance: A Study of Academic Misconduct among University Students on and off Campus. Accounting Education, 173-16. doi:10.1080/09639280802044568

Marais, N. (2010). Connectivism as learning theory: the force behind changed teaching practice in higher education. Education, Knowledge & Economy, 4(3), 173-182. doi:10.1080/17496896.2010.556478

Styron, J., & Styron Jr., R. A. (2010). Student Cheating And Alternative Web-Based Assessment. Journal Of College Teaching & Learning, 7(5), 37-42.