Group items tagged

This site is from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. There is a list of numerous resources on evaluating quality in all types of online learning. So if I wanted to see what other organizations were using to evaluate, there is an article geared toward benchmarking. There are also several articles on distance learning and accreditation

The author of this study is Penny Ralstom-Berg, a Senior Instruction Designer at University of Wisconsin, where a survey of what makes a good course from a student perspective was conducted. The summary of the study starts on slide 20. The top 10 desires is consistent with what we've been focusing on in this class, however the bottom top is somewhat at odds and seems, to be, counter-intuitive to what I would have expected. Top 10: Assessments are appropriately timed, varied and appropriate; Instructions on how to access resources are sufficient and easy to understand; Course components are web-based or easily downloaded for use offline; Requirements for interaction are clearly explained; Opportunity to speak with instructor, classmates through email, bulletin boards, any time / any place; Technologies required are readily available - provided or easily downloaded; Clear instructions tell me how to get started and to find course components; Criteria for how I will be evaluated is descriptive and specific; Navigation is logical, consistent, and efficient; The grading policy is clearly stated Bottom 10: I find course-related content and share it with the instructor and classmates; I use wikis, shared documents, or other online collaborative tools to complete group work; I am asked to introduce myself to the class; I coach other students and help answer their questions; Opportunity to speak with my instructor and classmates through… same time, same place technology; Instructor does not participate in class discussions Course contains interactive games or simulations; I author / create course-related content and share it with instructor and classmates; I work in groups with other students; Course contains audio and video content

Reading through these student recommendations was very helpful, and as you say - they complement the material presented in the Boettcher textbook very well. I was somewhat confused by Penny Ralton-Berg's differentiation between the Top 10 and Bottom 10 items. My impression is that there is a low student positive response for their contributing course materials for a class site.(??)

I am not certain I grasp the meaning of that slide presentation. Some of it I get and agree with.

I am sharing a video I made for the class project. I welcome any critiques or information on how to make this a better video. I do not know if I have addressed all the elements Jen has asked for. I tried to address as many as I could...except those I will learn about in Module 8. This was my first attempt in making a eLearning video on You Tube, with the help of Jing and Screencast. I found a few frustrations along the way; but it was fairly easy to use. I have the following probs: 1.) I could not fit the screen to the screen used in You Tube; 2.) I had problems setting the volume controls on my recording; 3.) I found myself unable to think as fast as the video was going and 4.) the overall quality of the screen when used" full screen" was not as good as I would have liked it to be. Finally, I have never ( well maybe not NEVER) had so darn much fun doing something so darn frustrating at times.

Using a headset doesn't get the kind of result I want. However, I will try to do that the next time around. I have found this to be a problem when I made the elluminate recording, too. I could think you must be a fan Mary Ann! I really don't know what I am doing when I start these projects...they just sort of do themselves. My husband just shakes his head and ignores me. His computer is in our office. It is L shaped and I am on one side and he is on the other on the inside side of the L.That way we can't see each other...it keeps me from being tempted to do things to him, I might not want others to know about ( I am saying this while I untangle my fingers from his neck...at the moment.)

Thanks for posting your work. It gives us all good yardstick for our own assignment.

I have made some personal comments on obtaining the skills and not being able to get the job one trains for.

To elaborate on your: " My point is this, giving my student the skills to do the job they hope to do in the future is not the end of the learning process." School has the dual purpose of both enlightening us as people and preparing us for a profession. As this article points out, obtaining a degree or going to school does not guarantee of a job. It may not guarantee a job, but without you can't have the insight or credential to eventually get there.

What deeply saddens me is technical and community colleges may give you the skills; but then they may drop the ball by not helping beyond that point. Without internships and situations for obtaining experience...one cannot overcome the obstacle of needing experience in the field. Same goes for my hope to teach...which may just be a dream I am holding onto with no basis in reality. Then the feds paid for the courses, the college got the money and I am in fact the loser.

Hybrid Class QM video. About an hour long.

This is a great example of student response to posting an hour long video. I've found most students don't want to take the time to watch something for an hour. If you are in instructor and would like students to watch a long video, how do you motivate them to do it? And how do you decide whether the long video is the best way to help them learn? Also, how do we balance the amount of resources we provide learners, with giving them time to find things on their own?

First of all, it is a video that you have to want to view. Students may or may not view it. It shoud be informative; but not mandatory. That way, those who are truly interested will watch and those that are not will not. The same can be said about those who have the time. There is a little nav tool under the video to Fast Forward as well. Hour long videos should be presented to those who want an official or gov reponse to a need or issue. Resources are optional or can be made optional. I would not want to limit the possibilities of my learners!

I used Prezi to create a presentation this week...a simple one. Need to use tool more to get to the advanced features.

Susan, Thanks for posting this informative piece on sepsis - which kills an astounding 125,000 people per year! The quality of the video in full screen mode in Prezi looks great!

I was impressed with the quality of the video also. Prezi allows you to copy and paste code into blogs and other tools. In addition, you can download the entire Prezi presentation to present from your computer. As I understand the sepsis diagnosis...sepsis doesn't get recognized as the problem, many times until they cannot reverse the situation.

I thought this had merit.

Interesting find. I'm not familiar with the site, and they don't have a lot of information about who they are. It seems like they are aggregating video from multiple sources. What I can't tell, is if the sources are submitting the video, or if the site is collecting them from other sites. One interesting thing I've found when I suggest instructors look for online videos, is that they worry about accuracy and quality. To me, this is a great learning opportunity for students. For example, I recommended a welding instructor have his students find welding videos on Youtube so they can critique the safety techniques in the videos. Students are often more interested in finding mistakes in videos, than in receiving a lecture :)

I have added my page on Wikispace. I have a video I want my learners to view. I have asked them to research the topic and present their blogs, videos and etc.,in Diigo. I have asked them to discuss this Module's question on the need or not for a Silver College similiar to the one in Japan for aging Japanese people. Japan is one step ahead of the U.S. in trying to deal with the many issues and needs of their aging population. Grading or assessment will be determined by the quality of the participation and discussion in Diigo. The Module discussion would be set up to continue for one week and is 25% of that Module's grade. The idea is not to grade the students but to encourage them to research the topic and bring to the discussion some ideas as to whether this is a useful idea or not if applied to the Senior population in America. I will be writing a blog regarding this lesson as well. I have not finished it yet.

Joy, I really like the way you set up the assignment related to the short film on how Japan is gaining huge benefits by engaging its senior population. When you think about it, this enlightened Japanese view to making good used of aging citizens isn't controversial at all. Farming retired folks out to finish their lives out in disconnected retirement homes seems so backward, and poorly planned. We should be gathering together all of that life experience through good design, and putting it to good use!

I hear you Bruce!

As part of the lesson 8 readings (Boettcher, Page 146), there is a description of the characteristics of quality on discussion postings. This outline is helpful and an extremely important element of eLearning course design that I had not previously thought about so succiently. Analogously, the link above - lists the guidelines - one should consider for good job postings. I think the underlying messge is to post a depth of detail (like salary range) which with all the information we have to consider is probably quite helpful.

This is a guide from Northern AZ U. I'm not a huge fan of rubrics for assessment, but I think they can sometimes help students get an idea of your expectations. If you can implement them without stifling creativity, they might be useful to you.

I think this course is a good example of how rubrics can fall short. We've got a small group of students with very diverse experience. You all want and need something very different from this course. Your projects should all be different. While I can give you some idea of expectations, it's difficult to plan in advance for your audience and still provide the individualized learning necessary in some disciplines and courses.

I find myself feeling somewhat torn regarding how the rubrics for online student participation are presented on this Northern Arizona University website. On one hand, it provides a rock-solid method for accurately measuring various levels of student engagement. On the other hand, it means the instructor has to parse out dozens of tiny point assignments for every student - ie. a potential micromanagement purgatory. Since I haven't tried this NAU recommended approach to online assessments, I should rein in my initial resistance, and take a plunge into this rubric pool to see how it works in practice.