ETC655: Module 4: Instructor’s Notes

Dear ETC545 students,

Congratulations on finishing our Module 3 instructions and requirements. Below are a few my observations and reflections to help you to advance your online learning experiences.

Module 4 Highlight (6/24-7/2)

• Module 4 lasts one week & two days.
• Last module.

DUE: 6/27, Thursday

• Due: 1st posting period for Module 4 discussions: You must respond to ALL KEY discussion questions.

DUE: 7/2, Tuesday:

• Due: 2nd posting period for Module 4 discussions: Two or more postings: Respond to all KEY questions; Respond to others' postings. Total NINE postings at least for this module.
• Due: Signature Assignment: Assignment 4: WBI Unit.
  • Submit your WBI Unit URL and instructions (if any) to BBLearn
  • Share your WBI Unit URL and instructions (if any) in BBLearn discussion area.

 

DUE: Course Evaluation: See your NAU E-Mail for the evaluation closing date.

• Part II-Bonus Activity (1 Point): Participate the Course Evaluations (See NAU E-mail for closing date)

Module 3 Discussion Statistical Analyses

• Highest postings in the class: 17; Lowest Postings: 11
• Average postings per student: 14.20 (Our class average went above the historical average.)
• Historical Average from previous semesters: 12.77 (Highest: 27.29; Lowest: 6.00)
• See ETC545 Module Discussion Statistical Analyses

Module 3 Discussion Notes:

• Respond to others' postings. Our classmates and I frequently ask the others questions. Don't forget to respond them.
• Follow-Up Postings: It is a good question to respond to deepen our knowledge on the discussion topic.  It is not required to respond the Follow-Up questions posted by the instructor in the 2^nd posting period but feel free to respond them if you have any thoughts and reflections to share with us, if any. 
• Challenging Discussion Question: Don't be afraid to try to address "Challenging Discussion Question" so you can learn more from our class.  Give it a try even it is not required.

Assignment 4: Signature Assignment: Development of WBI

·         A few notes for you:

o   Each required webpage has all required components.  Read the "Requirement" instructions carefully for each page. Any missing required components will result in point deduction.

o   Make sure all links work.

• Make sure your pages are easily to find and to navigate. If necessary, add some instructions to the BBLearn discussion area to help the audiences to understand.
• WBI Unit Q & A

Module 3 Discussion: Instructor's Reflections

Here are my reflections on Module 3 discussion topics to help you to conclude each discussion topics.  It is important for us to conclude each discussion topics; therefore, we can make valuable reflections on what we learned.

M3-KEY-1-Visual Design: Instructor's Reflection

I hope you have better understanding on visual learning, InfoViz/InfoGraphs. How do they support human learning?  Here is some information that I would like to share with you to strengthen your understanding on visual learning and InfoViz.

Information visualization (InfoViz), or InfoGraphics, refers to an information design that "uses picture, symbols, colors, and words to communicate ideas, illustrate information, or express relationships visually" (Emerson, 2008, p. 4). Research has concluded that InfoViz supports learning in: problem-solving (Ware, 2004); knowledge acquisition (Keller et. al., 2005); decision making (Chi, 2002; Spencer, 2007); understanding large and otherwise inaccessible amounts of data (Ware, 2004); recognizing unanticipated associations among data (Ware); discovering new explanations (Tufte, 1997); forming hypotheses about observed relationships (Ware); reducing cognitive load (Perkins, 1993); sense making (Chi); and allowing technology to support knowledge co-construction (Perkins). Card, Mackinlay, and Shneiderman (1999) argue that effective InfoViz linkage design includes six aspects:

• Memory and processing capabilities

• Information search paths

• Pattern detection

• Critical information

• Inferences

• Data manipulations

Within this information-overload era, reading every word and visiting every page on a site, or even checking every site available, may not be the most effective ways for students to understand or absorb educational content, instructions, and activities. InfoViz effectively supports both learners and instructors in organizing and personalizing online learning by transforming information into a visual format that enhances learning and teaching. It becomes particularly powerful when learners organize and personalize their learning information into InfoViz format as part of their PLE.

References

Card, S. K., Mackinlay, J. D., & Shneiderman, B. (1999). Readings in information visualization: Using vision to think. San Francisco, CA: Morgan Kaufmann.

Chi, E. H. (2002). A framework for visualizing information. New York: Springer.

Emerson, J. (2008). Visualization information for Advocacy: An introduction to information design. Retrieved March 1, 2010, from http://backspace.com/infodesign.pdf

Keller, T., Gerjets, P., Scheiter, K., & Garsoffky, B. (2005). Information visualizations for knowledge acquisition. Computers in Human Behavior, 22, 43–65.

Perkins, D. N. (1993). Person-plus: A distributed view of thinking and learning. In Distributed Cognitions: Psychological and educational considerations (pp. 88–110). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Spencer, R. (2007). Information visualization: Design for interaction (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Tufte, E. (1997). Visual explanations: Images, and quantities, evidence and narrative. Cheshire, CT: Graphics Press.

Ware, C. (2004). Information visualization: Perception of design (2nd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Morgan Kaufmann Publisher.

M3-KEY-2-Universal Design: Instructor's Reflection

Universal design and accessibility for online learning is very critical. Many of us were not familiar until we covered it in our class.  Now you have better understanding.  It is not easy to design a website that complies university design and accessibility.  Sometime it requires us to have technical skills.  If you have a chance to design and instruct online instructions, be sure to reach out your school's support.  Your school or school district may have instructional designers to assist you.

Resources:

• Accessibility: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accessibility#Web_accessibility
• Section 508: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Section_508_Amendment_to_the_Rehabilitation_Act_of_1973

 

M3-KEY-3-Tagging-Instructor's Reflection: Tag to Build Community

Social tagging linkage/architecture is a new way of contributing, organizing, and sharing collaboratively the mass of information and resources available on network environments. To build effective collaborative and sharing communities demands that students be equipped with social tagging skills. The ability of learners to maneuver within social media does not necessarily mean they are capable of engaging in social collaboration through social media. You must teach learners new digital literacy skills in social tagging to apply social media in constructing effective learning community and community learning. It is your responsibility as an educator to prepare and engage learners to "tag to share," "tag to organize," and "tag to collaborate" by ensuring they possess competent social tagging linkage skills and allowing them to ascertain what to tag for sharing with different community learners collaboratively.

I think social tagging linkage/architecture is not just for teachers, or classroom only.  In fact, any educational organization, institutions, learning community, network community should have their own Social tagging linkage/architecture to support them to strengthen their community resources, knowledge, and skills sharing and collaboration.  Agree?!

M3-KEY-4-Google Form-Instructor's Reflection

Google Form is an excellent tool for you to make your online instructions more active and interactive.  We may think it is just for survey and tests.  In fact, if we are creative, we can design it to organize our teaching, design, and class management etc.

Alice Keeler hosts a great website for Google Apps.

Here are great ideas for you to integrate Google Form to enhance your teaching and design.

http://www.alicekeeler.com/?s=Google+Form

 

 

M3-KEY-5-BYOD-Instructor's Reflection: BYOD is a prologue for PLE?

I see various arguments in this thread. It really represents our diversified viewpoints on BYOD.  On the surface, BYOD seems doesn't apply to online learning because online learners do not need to bring any their own technologies to a physical classrooms.  While some educators, BYOD is the minimum requirements for online learners because online learners must have their own technology; otherwise, online learning would not occur at all.  Agree? Disagree?

Regardless which side you stand, could we argue BYOD is a prologue for PLE?  With implementing BYOD, online learning can be more personalized and individualized.   

What are your thoughts?

 

M3-KEY-6-Strategies-Instructor's Reflection

Online instructional strategies are the key knowledge and skills we should obtain to design and to teach active and interactive instructions.

Frequently, we integrate them without clear knowledge; therefore, we don't know what exactly works in our teaching and design.

I encourage you to keep both types of instructional strategies for your future resources.

• Constructivist Instructional Strategies
• PLE & ONLE Instructional Strategies   

Use these effective strategies to guide your design and teaching.

For examine, if you value "online student publishing," what online tool you may use to deliver online student publishing, how will you assess online student publishing so you know whether it is effective to your design.

 

M3-KEY-7-ML: Instructor's Reflection: Mobilizing Content

Thanks for the great insights on ML.  I like that you apply additional literature to support your argument.  More specific, I like that you apply different aspects to examine ML, such as devices/technology, content, and interaction aspects.  You also brought an important learning psychology concept in distance learning, transactional distance: "The transactional distance-divide being the physical and psychological distance between the instructor and students present within online learning."

It is very important to examine ML from learning psychology aspect.

On mobilizing content, we know content tends to be for more formal learning. When we deliver content through mobile technology and context, there are a few questions perhaps we should ask us:

1. Because accessing the content outside of the traditional room, or indoor, the ML with mobile content would be more "informal." Agree or disagree.

2. If delivering mobile content is vital, what need to do is to put "all content" on mobile. Right way to do?

3. If putting everything on mobile, aren't we there already since almost all content is online currently.

These questions are not easy to answer but I would like you continue challenging yourselves with these questions.

 

I hope these reflections and summaries help you to prepare our upcoming instructions.  If you need any assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me.

 

Regards,

Chih