This is my first attempt at producing a Wiki for the group. We'll start with simple text.
How did I get here?
First, sign up with Wetpaint for an account. Just like you do for del.icio.us.
I then clicked on a wiki link posted by Shelley which took me to Googledocs, which is the same list as the emails, definitely not a wiki. After thrashing around, I finished at Wetpaint Central, then logged in and came to this page, after exploring a number of buttons that seemed to take me around in circles again. Haven't I been through this before?

Shelley's 18 Oct Getting started link gets you to W-Central fastest. (now do it via del.icio.us boolmark)

The major task now is to figure out how to broadcast this messge. I've copied a link, http://mcc-cis236.wetpaint.com/, and am looking for somewhere to which I can post it.

Anyway, here is my list of thoughts for the past week on using this umbrella of technologies.
CIS236: Confusion reigns.
· Obstacles to registering by phone and on-line.--Yes, Isn't it a good thing to experience that for yourself? (shelley)

· Setting up an account at Googlemail was painless, as was getting Picasa, Wiki,, and del.icio.us.

· However, I seemed to go around an endless loop, (or maybe a Mobius strip?) while trying to access Shelly’s posted information (Shelly’s Journey). A problem that recurred was seeing an unreadable/uneditable photo of a doc rather than the doc itself. Turns out, this was a Picasa picture of the doc. I’m wondering how to get to the doc itself. This will be resolved with experience. ahh, so what I think is interesting here is the difference between "giving" you the document to function from, and then taking a picture of the document to reflect in my own journal. But I like thinking about how I need to be more clear about what I'm doing. This also points to the danger of having duplicate information...students get confused. (shelley)

· Looking at the list of apps that are needed, or at least recommended for future use, was daunting.

I have used computers since the IBM mainframe/punched cards days, followed by Wang mini’s. I use Blackboard every day and have my own site on my MCC Dept. website so I’m not a novice. I can only sympathize with those who do not have a familiarity with computer technology. As Shelly has pointed out to me, think how your own students will feel about your lessons. On the other hand, they are, mostly, inveterate downloaders of games and music, so maybe my confusion is generational.

• I attempted to upload my profile from home. However, although I was in the Gmail arena, my email was rejected because one or more of the group had not registered an email address. I’m hoping that when all have Gmail addresses, group distributions won’t be a problem. I’ve also had this problem with my MCC classes using Outlook going out through my provider, qwest.net.--yes, this is an issue. Many faculty require students only email within the LMS system so this doesn't occur. This is one of the reasons I require all my students to get gmail accounts when I'm using lots of google applications. (shelley)
• 
  

Hey Shelley, if this works, have I done next week's task?

Week 2
Since the task is to identify how I would instruct students initially, I 'm going to post some comments from my LiveJournal. I don't know what my subject matter will be for an on-line course and I don't know if there are any textbooks that would be appropriate. I've built curricula for several classes for which there was no textbook so I had to write extensive notes for each class, then find diagrams/pictures that were appropriate but not copyrighted. Like many instructors, I used to take the textbook and rewrite it for the notes I delivered. --interesting...I think that gives you a double heavy workload; not only do you need to develop the course, but you are also developing a lot of the reading materials as well. The interesting question here is whether or not you are thinking you want to do "open content." In other words, do you make your material (notes, etc.) that you've developed free to the world? I think you are safe to do so, because teaching in courses is more than just reading material...learning activities help make the difference between just finding material and taking a course and being "certified."

Chemistry textbooks are ineffably boring, too many characters, too many plots - worse than Dickens' novels. However, they are superb repositories of valuable information, if you know where to look. So, my posted notes (I save paper by only posting on Bb or my MCC web site - no hand-outs) are designed to have the students explore the book and identify the information. --I love this idea that textbooks are the repository and they are overwhelming (ever looked at a writing handbook lately?). I think this same idea is why I have no problem "sharing" my course material on the internet. It takes having me, and the course, to really work through it and "learn" it. -Shelley

Nowadays, I go through the textbook, chapter by chapter, para by para, line by line and ask them to explain what each point means. I later do the same f2f.

The following reinforces some of Shelley's warnings, that can't be repeated enough times.
http://meyerweb.com/eric/talks/www6/706/POSTER706.html
..... For example, the author needs to remember that every new piece of data-- whether it is a new concept, an unfamiliar word, or a new graphic symbol on the page-- causes the same effect in the reader. It is something which must be added to the reader's set of knowledge. No matter how open the reader's mind is to new ideas, the act of integrating new information into their set of knowledge requires mental effort, and if the effort of integrating too many new things overwhelms the reader, the learning process breaks down. (Are you still 'listening' Shelley?)--yes, same thing happens when students are learning new course material and their writing skills break down! Is it "good" sometimes to do this?
Therefore, the amount of new information which a reader must handle at any one time should be kept to a minimum. If you are introducing a new concept, don't use new terms unless absolutely necessary, and vice versa. Present new information a step at a time, letting the reader put it all together as he goes. This is the difference between handing a person one ball at a time and throwing five of them at once, thereby forcing them to learn to juggle them in order not to drop any. Most people will simply let the balls drop to the ground and walk away in disgust, especially if you act like they should already know how to juggle. New concepts take time to get used to. Make this process as simple and painless as possible, and you will have a population of very happy readers. Make it difficult and mystifying, and what few readers you have will be likely to complain to you.....

Week 3
Using chat rooms is simple but can you chat with more than one person at a time? How do we chat with a group? I still need to find that solution. A further comment is that it is enormously time consuming and so easy for the 'thread' to be hi-jacked into irrelevant subject matter. Linda and I had a delightful conversation of the 'getting to know you' kind. However, this would not have been a good model for a classroom. I'm going to have to be diligent in maintaining the thread. --or you have to become comfortable with digression. This gets difficult when it comes to grading/assessing/evaluating! - Shelley

I have acomment on the use of wikis. We all chose a wiki that suited us. How many different places did Shelley have to go to find responses to her HW questions? For a class, I would certainly insist that all the students use the same version. Further, are we ll really using a wiki? I'm doubling up on WetpPaint and LiveJournal. Do they serve different purposes?- Remember in this class I wanted to introduce you to various technologies; however, many can do the same thing. It just depends on what type of assignment you do with the technology. -Shelley

Comment by Shabana04: I am also confused how to chat with a group. I feel that I started todays' group chat just with trial and error. Not sure what to do next time. Although we 3 had good conversation (you left early). Doug, I couldn't see yours and Linda's chat transcrips. Can you please tell how and where they can be found? It didn't come through my gmail. I agree with you about wiki while tracking others's postings. Mine is under Getting Started (Shabana's page). I guess that tracking/grading wikis can be made easier with clear instructions about how to use the page and how to make new connections at the beginning of the course. Each student should be asked to make only one page with his/her name on it (like Doug’s page) and post ones assignments with name and posting dates etc. I am assuming it will work but not sure what happens in reality. Shelley knows the best as she also has mentioned many issues with wiki. I personally, like an organized and structured environment of WebCT communication tools. Many students comment at the end of semester that they like the WebCT mode due to all in one page facility.


Week 4

I dislike all the editing paraphenalia that I can't get rid of. (Of which I cannot get rid?? How do you do this and not end in a preposition?--but you can!-Shelley) It's not nearly as bad as LiveJournal.

Shelley led us into a group chat room, 4 of us at one time. We could have been speaking 4 different languages for the all the mixed conversations. A group chat room needs a Rosetta stone, a way to show to which comment one is responding. Also, there needs to be only subject under discussion.

First thoughts this week are about testing students on-line. Much more difficult than trying to see if they've written clues on the inside of the label on their water bottles. After chatting with Linda about a single paper being emailed to all the class, then only the headers changed, I remembered giving a take-home final for Chem E's. They had 2 weeks to research an answer that required reading all the lesson notes for the semester. Then, they come into the class and write the answer, from memory.

I suspect, all we can do is look at content AND style to detect any extraneous influence, especially looking at erasures and corrections. This means that they are writing to an on-line source, in real time, not via a word doc type editor that is written first then sent. (Recent Linda posting indicates individual style becomes very apparent on-line).--Or maybe you can have them build the assignment througout the semester so you see all the process work. You are then suspect when their final project looks nothing like (or switches topic) from their process work. -Shelley

Also, for a test, do all students need to be taking it at the same time?
If I can see everyone's keystrokes, does it matter when they take it?
Can I detect an improvement in scores for those taking it later?
Can I use a one-way editor so that the exam cannot be downloaded? (Screen copy probably defeats any attempt).
--these are all great questions and decisions on what technologies to use become easier to answer when you know exactly what you want.-Shelley
I just tried to explore MCC WebCT tools, but all I could do was register to develop an online course. I 'm hoping the appropriate tools will be made available once the course is approved. I'll try ASU's Bb next. Note added later: Now that I'm a registered user, turns out it is Blackboard, with a lot more information available than I've seen before. It still looks very static, and I'm not thrilled about using the chat room for synchronous contact. It does have an "anybody there?" button, which I would use. Trouble is, it would work across all my courses. Life could be one long 'office hour' if one has several on-line courses.--yes, definitely one of the "problems" of teaching online!-Shelley

Exploring Bb at ASU led me to the course developer, SAKAI. I came across this extension of our understanding of how a LMS works. Could it be a model for the whole Maricopa CC system? Haven't absorbed it so I don't know what it really offers.--Sakai is another LMS, like Blackboard & WebCT. Mesa CC is playing with it this spring. If you would like a demo course to play in, just yell I can give you one! :-)--Shelley

http://lamp.acaweb.org/portal/
Welcome to the ACA LAMP (Learning Asset Management Project).
(ACA is the Appalachian Colleges Association).
As reported in the last ACA Newsletter, member schools were invited to join together as a "bundle of sticks" using a common Learning Management System. (The term "bundle of sticks" comes from the idea that an individual stick is easily broken, but a bundle of sticks is a force to be reckoned with. In this case, use of technology for teaching and a common Learning Management System are the chords that tie the bundle of sticks together.) This project, dubbed LAMP (Learning Asset Management Project), creates a cohesive mechanism for developing and sharing course content and courses through a shared Learning Management System.

The system that has been chosen for this endeavor is Sakai, the open source software authored and supported by a large number of major research universities. The system will be hosted by The Longsight Group, a professional hosting service dedicated to supporting higher education open source tools. LAMP has two types of affiliations: one for schools that will use Sakai as their primary production LMS, and one for schools that want to join with the collaborative effort, but that already have a production LMS in use. (This second type of affiliation provides limited access to Sakai for exploration and testing.) Academic deans have been reviewing the project and communicating their desire to join in the project to Martin Ramsay at the ACA. To date, nine schools have joined together to collaborate through LAMP.

Contact Martin Ramsay (martinr@acaweb.org) at the ACA for more information.