Catherine Solheim: August 2010 Archives

Great combination of great presentations and time to devote to my project. It was especially helpful to learn about the fair use analysis tool and the various policies and people available to help us answer questions about data privacy and materials use. Appreciated Brad's philosophy to push the envelope (within reason) when it comes to fair use. The Creative Commons licensing is a tool everyone at a land-grant university should know about and consider using. First time I'd heard about it and will spend some time exploring this option.

The introductions to Camtasia and Presenter provided us with a good overview of the tools, where to access them and how to get started using them. After listening to both sessions, I think I'll still rely on Presenter to do the audio-narrations of PowerPoint presentations. But Yelena showed me some of the finer points of creating the presentations that were very helpful.

I also found ways that Camtasia will be useful - demonstrations of how to find/use a particular site, a web-based tool, etc. I invariably have students go to the wrong website to access their free credit report, even though I demonstrate it in class. Creating a 'how to' presentation with Camtasia will allow me to post the tutorial on Moodle so students can access in real-time - hopefully avoiding a costly mistake. Same is true for navigating the IRS website... although I'll have to get better at that myself before I create the tutorial!

Afternoon time to play with UThink and other blogging tools was very valuable. Am going to create a blog using Tumblr. Austin demonstrated the site and it seemed much more user-friendly than other options available. Another step forward on the journey.....

Continue to get a bit clearer everyday about my hybrid course design and the tools that will help me achieve my goals. But today I realized that using a blog and creating one are very different animals! Spent some time again with Austin to learn about style, design, etc. Tonight my task is mapping the course the old-fashioned way - on a piece of paper! Hopefully it will help me get the clarity and focus that's needed to set up the blog design.

Really appreciated the two presentations today. The information and personal reflections Michelle shared about on-line interaction were very helpful, particularly for an undergrad course I teach that uses a lot of web-based learning activities.

Jill's presentation took the mystery out of VideoAnt for me. I've really hesitated getting into video, thinking I wouldn't have the savvy to do it. But her demonstration inspired me to test it out and I thought of a way I could use it in the hybrid course I'm developing. Thanks to both of you!!!

Continue to be amazed at all the excellent resources we have here at the U but didn't know existed! I've added a couple I found tonight on the Moodle site.

Anybody remember the Mamas and the Papas, or am I dating myself?

Anyway, it was a good Monday, judging by the way my head felt like it would explode with ideas at 2:00 p.m.. A couple of good ideas I can put to use right away.

First, I plan to share the QM information with a couple of colleagues who are working with me to revamp an existing on-line course. It will be a good exercise for the 3 of us to walk through the standards to see if we're meeting the mark.
?? In what central black hole has this been hiding for three years ??

Second, I took a big step down the course development path this afternoon. Kudos to awesome Austin who helped me think through the best tech tool to use for the hybrid course I'm developing. Was leaning toward individual Google sites for all students - was it because it was the latest 'bell or whistle' in the tech toolkit? Anyway, Austin showed me how I could achieve some learner interaction with the sites, then showed me how it might work better if I use the UThink Blog. It will allow me to create separate categories which will basically be the students. They can use links to websites, reports, documents, etc. and share their evaluations and responses based on the rubrics I've prepared. Peers can comment and give feedback to what they post.

Since I'm already somewhat familiar with the UThink blog, I can concentrate more on creating good learning activities to reach the course objectives (better use of my time). Also seems like it will take less time for students to get up to speed on using the tool itself which should translate to more time spent on the substance of the course (better use of their time).

My tasks now are to revisit my course objectives and begin to map out the learning activities to achieve them. Then I need to decide which of them are best in-class, which will work best on-line and how the semester will play out accordingly. Am getting excited to see how it will take shape.

Thanks for the healthy and delicious salads and snacks today! Serena rocks!

Thanks to my colleagues and new-found friends who helped me celebrate a memorable birthday tonight at Madison's Great Dane Pub. It was truly a surprise - I don't know how you knew and how were able to keep it a secret! But know that I was very touched and will always remember the evening with laughter and a smile! And Jill, Linda, Anna, and LeAnne .... look out!

Sometimes the best learning at a conference happens serendipitously in the hallways when one cannot physically get in to a crowded session. Happened this afternoon when Linda, Jill, Dave and I sat down outside one of the over-crowded sessions.

Was hearing about a session Linda attended on service-learning and shared that I wanted to find a better way for students to share structured reflections about their service-learning experiences in a course I teach on global and diverse family systems. They submit their reflections on Moodle; I read them and give feedback. Was frustrated because peers didn't have access to there reflections; the learning was limited to me and the individual student.

"Why not use the UThink blog tool?" said one of my wise colleagues. Others agreed and pointed out the features of the blog that would facilitate sharing within the class. Duhhhhhh - why didn't I think of that? Problem solved! Thank you friends!

This session provided good information and also affirmed some of the work I'm trying to do. Sometimes one can feel pretty lonely in these new endeavors, so always nice to have someone else talk about similar struggles but also state how important it is to work through them.

I loved his reference to 'adaptive systems' that exist on the edge of chaos - don't think universities like to think of themselves as 'chaotic'.... so is that why we've moved so slowly into the distance learning world? These adaptive systems are stable but flexible - a shout out for flexibility!!! Referenced the book "Blur" by Davis and Meyer - anyone read that?

Dave King is a top administrator at Oregon State, a land-grant system like the U of M. He is trying to get traditional outreach entities like Extension and continuing education integrated with collegiate units who focus on credit-bearing courses leading to degrees. He shared a "spectrum of access" that moved from access to real-time research data to information to programs to learning objects to learning modules to undergraduate courses to degree programs. Difficult to explain without his visual, but basically there is a middle section on the continuum that is 'life-long learning'. This is the area we need to develop - in essence, a blend of the classic Extension programming with the credit-bearing learning experiences. A key to this is creating modularized, interactive learning experiences that can be 'packaged and delivered to multiple audiences, sometimes with some modifications but not always.

I think his model is right on target, maybe because it names what I'm trying to do with the creation of a certificate program for financial education/coaching. Target audiences would be non-profit and human services staff, social workers, teachers, etc. as well as students who are preparing for careers in those fields. A steering committee is considering the competencies needed to do personal finance education and/or coaching.

On-line delivery of these modules makes it so much more accessible to these different audiences. The bigger challenges for me are the start-up cost of time to develop the modules and the development of the business model to sustain something like this. I'm looking to Dave and his colleagues to help me figure this out!

I'm interested in knowing if anyone else is trying to reach learners within and outside the University with similar material through on-line delivery? Would welcome hearing about your experiences and tips for making this happen.

I enjoyed participating in this workshop on communities of practice (CoP). Wenger has an engaging style and encouraged interaction throughout the 3 hour session. He invited our stories of participation in CoP through which we came to understand some critical elements of this type of learning environment.

I liked his frame for CoP - the idea that these communities are learning partnerships - grounded in a 'social discipline of learning'. The goal is to make sense of our learning together - we help each other solve problems, we hear each others' stories, we find synergy across structures, we keep up with change, we reflect and improve upon our practice, we build shared understanding, we cooperate on innovation, we find a voice and gain strategic influence.

I really appreciated his comment that a "piece of design" such as a classroom is not necessarily a CoP. While this 'designed space' could be a CoP, it requires purposeful action to develop into that. The three elements of a CoP - domain, community and practice, must all be purposefully considered to create the space in which learning together can occur.

I wondered how a professor can truly be a member of a CoP in a course they're teaching if they are also evaluating/grading students' work? Wenger gave an example of a writing course. The prof created a CoP OUTSIDE the class requirements - a voluntary writing club. In that space, she participated as a full member of the CoP, sharing her own struggles with and questions about writing and getting and providing feedback from learners (who also happened to be her students). I continue to wonder if it is still possible for students to fully trust that the experiences they share in the Writing Club will not enter the evaluative process of the professor.

I do however, think this is much more feasible for a graduate level course and think I will experiment with a CoP in the family policy course I'm developing within this Treks experience. I will do the same policy analysis and web site development for my area of interest along with the students so I'll be able to enter the CoP as a learner as well. Because I assign grades on a very different basis in grad courses than I do for undergraduate learners, I think this will work. What do the rest of you think? Any snags you think might be problematic? Any experiences that will help me think this through?