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gpratt — Sat, 23 May 2009 10:39:43 CDT

MCC online economics

gpratt — Sat, 23 May 2009 10:26:26 CDT

This site will be utilized to document the process by which the Mesa Community College Social Sciences Department applies best practices to review online offerings.

The goal is to meet and collaborate to develop minimum expectations for course development and delivery. The discussion will begin with a review of the MCC Best Practices for Online Instruction.

February 5, 2009 Agenda 1:30 to 2:30 pm Second meeting - Southern and Dobson - Social Sciences Conference Room

Agenda

Special Guests

1:30 - 1:35
Bonnie Black, chair of DEC and Online Faculty Coodinator will overview the MCC Best Practices For Online Instruction

1:35 - 1:40
Melanie Kroenig will overview CIS 236 Curriculum and answer your questions. (You may enroll at the meeting)

1:40 - 1:45
Peggy Johnson has been invited to overview the mentoring program in the CLT

1. Review work on common access point for economics online courses in Webct - dev_gpratt - ecn_211212. Agree on common links and content.

2. Continue dialog dealing with common expectations for online instruction including use of discussion, multiple engagement activities and multiple assessments.

3. Review work on common online syllabus for economics classes.

4. Review work on rubrics.

5. Continue work on use of discussion in online economics courses and use of rubric.

5. Continue discussion requiring CIS 236 and CIS 237 Curriculum as minimum professional preparation to teach online economics classes.

6. Checklist for completed work by online economics faculty.

Completed posting online background to Economics online faculty http://mccsocialsciences.wetpaint.com/page/MCC+Economics+online+faculty
Completed the Online Poll regarding discussion in online instructor http://www.vizu.com/poll-vote.html?n=141238&recipient
Review and contribute to the common webct portal dev_gpratt - ecn_211212.
Based upon your review of the webct portal - make adjustments or comments regarding the links included in the draft portal, the syllabus template, the rubric template

7. Pilot to test drive our process - second 8 week 2009.

8. Schedule March meeting - March 10 Red Mountain 2 - 3pm

Current improvement in online economics

gpratt — Sat, 23 May 2009 10:24:27 CDT

There is no abstract available for this page revision.

Copyright

balsen — Thu, 15 May 2008 14:39:35 CDT

It's so easy to ignore copyright in the traditional f2f classroom...all you do is close the door. However, in the online world copyright has become a very high stakes game (not that it wasn't already in the f2f classroom). So let's be sure to think about some of these issues: fair use, TEACH act, etc.

(Posted by Beth Alsen)
http://www.copyright.iupui.edu/fairuse.htm
http://www.copyright.iupui.edu/checklist.pdf
How to appropriately and lawfully use existing copyrighted materials in teaching, research, and other activities. This is a checklist to determine fail use of materials that you are using in your course.

K-12 educators are notorious for "borrowing" materials due to lack of support and funding. Therefore, having 16 years of experience within the K-12 system, I wanted to learn exactly what could be called as "fair-use" and to make sure that I was applying it correctly. Therefore, I have focused on the Teach Act to investigate the "fair-use" policy. Both of the above sites are extremely beneficial. All educators should reference them. Many mistakenly assume that everything posted on the Internet is in the public domain. It is vital for you to know that, current copyright law gives legal protection to nearly all text, images, audiovisual recordings, and other materials that are posted on the Internet, even if the original works do not include any statement about copyright.

You may post materials on your websites only if: 1. You are the copyright owner of the material, or
2. The copyright owner of the material grants permission, or
3. The material is in the public domain, or
4. The use of the material is a "fair use" under the law, or
5. The material falls within another statutory exception.
For more details, go to the above websites. A world of information...posted legally.

Ashley, C. L. (2004). The TEACH act: Higher education challenges for compliance. EDUCAUSE Center for Applied Research: Research Bulletin, 13. Retrievied from http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ERB0413.pdf
(posted by Shelley)
Although this 11 page bulletin was published in 2004, it gives us some key issues to consider. Some major points to consider are

that the institution has to do some work (have copyright policies in effect, educate faculty & staff, provide notices to students, etc.) as well as the faculty;
only "nondramatic" literary or musical works may be presented in their entirety;
materials must be "integral" to the course, not just "ancillary"; and
material is controlled (password protected, only available as long as needed with the specific assignment, etc.).

Some common misconceptions include:

TEACH act does not replace fair use;
TEACH act does not condone copying material; and
most Learning Management Systems (LMSs) do not, by default, meet all the needs of the TEACH act (so you can't just upload something into your LMS and think it is OK).

http://www.lib.depaul.edu/copyright/tandlguidelines.htm
(posted by Suecat)

The article above is also on copyright rules for online learning and what facility can use and not use. It seems rather overwhelming to me. It's almost like a new set of rules to have to follow. I hope I am still ok with using material from the book I choose to use for class, also some of the teaching materials I have access to through Evolve - same book. I planned on giving them credit. What's confusing to me is am I expected to put quotes by everything - distracting. What do the rest of you think?

Peter says: Many of us are not lawyers, so it is confusing. However, as educators we are good communicators--for the most part. If an instructor goes too far, the copy shop says "you can't do that." When a student doesn't cite his/her sources I hand their work back to them and tell them to correct it. It seems to me we can support each other with gentle reminders and by periodically asking colleagues to review our course material. However, I would be hesitant to push the "publish" button in google too quick, just because it's easier than inviting people individually to view our site.

Lorna adds:: The four Educational Fair Use Criteria still apply to online classes, so that does give us all some leeway. I think that in using these Web 2.0 technologies as a course content holder, we should be really diligent because of the public nature of the content. When we use WebCT or Bb, our content is more secluded, therefore copyright violation is less easily detected.

Georgia Harper, Developing a Comprehensive Copyright Policy to Facilitate Online Learning
(posted by Kay) George Harper, who works in the Office of General Counsel of the University of Texas System, wrote this on-online overview of copyright issues related to online learning.

In respect to online learning, educational institutions must manage copyright and trademark issues with regard to:

Respecting the copyrights of content producers whose work is used in online courses offered by the institution, since “in many cases Universities will have liability for faculty infringements involving the creation of online course materials,” and
The need to manage copyright protection of valuable educational work created by university employees: “Our creations are getting more complex and more valuable. We simply must not fail to recognize their value or to preserve it for the University community's benefit.” The article predicts that patent protection for teaching methods is “on the near horizon.” http://www.utsystem.edu/OGC/INTELLECTUALPROPERTY/polcydev.htm

http://digitalarchive.oclc.org/da/ViewObjectMain.jsp?fileid=0000016179:000000676940&reqid=6657&frame=false
(Posted by Doug)
A collection of essays, mainly conference presentations. View David Green's article.
It describes the turbulent, and fluid, nature of digital copyrights, especially the disastrous laws passed to protect the music industry, resulting in far-reaching effects. The classical case of unintended consequences, as one might expect from a 400+ lawyers.

However, he describes what copyrights are and what you can do with them. "One of the most important points, often forgotten, ..., is that copyright comprises a bundle of rights (these include exclusive rights to reproduce a work; to distribute copies to others, either by sale or by lending; to prepare derivative works based on the original copyrighted work; and, in more limited cases, to display or perform a work). As an owner of rights you can decide what to do with them: if you publish an article you can decide how many rights to license or contract out to the publisher and how many to keep; if you develop an article with a colleague, or a distance education course with a partner or your institution, you should be aware of what the different rights are, and which rights each partner may have the most interest in; if you publish a piece of your own online, you may want to consider which rights you may want to waive, to enable it to be easily re-used. ...the new organization Creative Commons now makes it easy to distribute rights using an array of formal licenses that helps you choose how to dispose the rights accruing to the creator of a copyrightable work.

MCCCD Legal Services, Office of General Counsel; Use of Copyrighted Materials
in Academia .
Are you familiar with Maricopa's policy on copyright & academia? If there's any correlation between ease of finding it and general knowledge, then probably not. (Peter gives you permission to use the link he found ;-) ). The good news is it's pretty much in line with my practice, and probably yours too.

Posted by Lorna: One of the most useful sites for me, as a librarian and MCC's official Copyright Queen, is the U. S. Copyright Office web site. There's a section on Fair Use, and the FAQ's are helpful. For interpretation of Copyright Law, I always ask Maggie McConnell, one of the attorneys in our MCCCD Legal Services Department. Believe me, she really wants you to ask questions, rather than err on the wrong side of the law. Rather than emailing her, I use the phone. That way I can ask further questions and get clarification.

Know Your Copy Rights
This is a website for librarians to help educate the teachers on campus. The brochure is easy to read and understand without all the legal-eze. There is also a page dedicated to online teaching. [Posted by Lea]

Assessessment & Evaluation

aganesh — Mon, 12 May 2008 16:23:55 CDT

Heberling, Michael (2002). Maintaining Academic Integrity in an Online Environment. Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration, Volume V, Number I, Spring 2002. Retrieved 9 October 2007.
Heberling is president of Baker College Center for Graduate Studies, which has a robust online graduate program. Heberling addresses concerns about opportunities for plagiarism in online courses, and finds that while technology has created an environment in which students can engage in various forms of academic dishonesty, technology also equips educators with new tools for detecting it: " Ironically, a strong case can be made that it is actually harder to cheat online and that it is also easier to detect. In a traditional class, the instructor does not have the benefit of seeing ongoing written products from each student. A few intermittent written assignments do not provide the same level of insight into a student’s writing style that one would find in an online class." Heberling outlines various online tools for and methods of detecting academic dishonesty among online students and provides examples of how faculty have dealt with such issues. Further, he discusses the need for strong administrative support of faculty who strive to maintain academic integrity. Administrators must back up faculty when students complain about the consequences of their plagiarism.
Comments from Linda: I found this article very relevant to the writing classes I teach online. Because I can work more closely one-on-one with online student writers as they develop a piece of writing, I can tell when there are wild variations in the quality or voice of an assignment they submit. It is still possible for a person other than the registered student to complete the work in an online course, but the impostor would have to do ALL the work, or the stylistic differences between the student and the impostor would be obvious.

CIS237 Assessment and Evaluation - Week 6 Posted by suecat

http://www.thejeo.com/ReasonsFinal.pdf

This paper describes how due to the limited amount of resources available, a mid-western university is trying to implement a resource that would be fair to all involved - students, faculty, and administration that would effectively evaluate the work of the online student. They describe their pilot project of supporting online evaluations for distant education courses that would make a difference in evaluations. Described in this paper are issues considered and challenged that are ongoing to evaluation for the distant education student. They describe some of the benefits associated with electronic data gathering and reporting that help with this process.

Week 4: Assessments and Evaluations Posted by Shabana
Learning and assessment of learning is a complex process and becomes more complex for online assessment. Cheating and plagiarism have become big issues for distance learning and educators are focusing on different ways to reduce them.

Following is a worth reading article on the topic which provides valuable suggestions to minimize cheating in online student assessment. Cheating in Online Students Assessment: Beyond Plagiarism http://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/summer72/rowe72.html
The author says that online assessment has a narrower bandwidth than classroom assessment (instructors cannot watch students work, for instance) and this might make cheating easier. Three most common problems involved in online cheating are: Problem 1: Getting assessment answers in advance Problem 2: Unfair retaking of assessments Problem 3: Unauthorized help during the assessment Different suggestions have been provided to prevent online assessment cheating. As far as my experience is concerned I have not encoutered any issue of cheating may be due to nature of assessment. For quizzes, I give them open book exam and do not totally rely on these quizzes.

Another resource on rules of assessment and evaluations can be useful while planning and delivering an online assessment. http://www.iuk.edu/~koctla/assessment/9principles.shtml
9 Principles of Good Practice for Assessing Student Learning
1. The assessment of student learning begins with educational values.
2. Assessment is most effective when it reflects an understanding of learning as multidimensional, integrated, and revealed in performance over time.
3. Assessment works best when the programs it seeks to improve have clear, explicitly stated purposes.
4. Assessment requires attention to outcomes but also and equally to the experiences that lead to those outcomes.
5. Assessment works best when it is ongoing, not episodic.
6. Assessment fosters wider improvement when representatives from across the educational community are involved.
7. Assessment makes a difference when it begins with issues of use and illuminates questions that people really care about.
8. Assessment is most likely to lead to improvement when it is part of a larger set of conditions that promote change.
9. Through assessment, educators meet responsibilities to students and to the public.
Comment by suecat :It's a shame some students feel the need to cheat weather online or F2F. For some online classes instructors have their students come into the building to take course tests. This may give some people a sense of at least it will make it harder to cheat - if not nearly impossible. Some people are up for the challenge.
We can try and set up some things in our learning systems that will possible help somewhat with assessments. We can set up letting students only have one chance to take a quiz for example. I like the suggestion of open book exams as well and not totally depending on these. Trying to build a trusting relationship on line may detour on line cheating.

Alex's article

	Authenticating, Identifying, and Monitoring Learners in the Virtual Classroom: Academic Integrity in Distance Learning.
Authors:	Shyles, Leonard

Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the National Communication Association (88th, November 21-24, 2002, New Orleans, LA).
You can find a copy of the article here

This article was relatively short and started out with some pretty basic ideas for ensuring that students are not cheating, basically proctoring exams. This idea is certainly nothing novel whether in face-to-face courses or now with online but it keeps distance education courses from being totally distant. While this is a limiting factor, having the students come in for scheduled exams should be fairly easy to do since most students are from the local area and can reschedule other commitments like family and work. Additionally, it gives students a chance to physically interact with each other and possibly also with the professor.

The 2nd recommendation of the article was to use biometrics (e.g. fingerprints, retinal scans, photos, voice recognition, etc.). This idea is pretty interesting (including a monitor that they set up near their computer when they take a test) but not financially feasible. Students are already struggling to buy books etc., let alone some sort of biometric monitoring device.

Note from Doug:
I expect that, soon, all computers will have a biometric device. Many laptops have them (thumbprints) already.

Holzberg, C. (2002, November 1). Assessment, Assessment Rubrics and Evaluation Guidelines.techLEARNING.Retrieved November 14, 2007, from http://www.techlearning.com/db_area/archives/WCE/archives/evalguid.php Although the tools linked out from this article are not specific to online teaching and learning, they are a great list of online tools to help construct valid assessments and rubrics.
Comment from Shelley: I'm a huge fan of RubiStar. I rarely use one of the sample rubrics exactly as is...I usually combine a bunch of samples to help develop my own.

The Advantages of Rubrics, Posted by Kay
The five part series at this URL give comprehensive definitions and “How-To” instructions on creating rubrics. I was interested in the distinction between analytic rubrics (which identify and assess components of a finished product) and holistic rubrics (which assess student work as a whole).

Vonderwell, S., Lian, X., & Alderman, K. (2007). Asynchronous Discussions and Assessment in Online Learning. Journal of Research in Technology in Education, 39(3), 309-328. Retrieved November 14, 2007, from EbscoHost.
This is a research study of the assessment of graduate students in discussion board environments. The results demonstrate that higher order levels of thinking and learning can by demonstrated, and therefore assessed.

HELP. Where am I? Doug is lost in cyberspace.
Whose wiki am I in with this article? I've been following links that started in my wiki, but I've also been to Linda's and Shabana's, and Alex'. There is no indicator on the page to let me know my current location.

http://www.onlineethics.org/CMS/edu/resources/socimp.aspx.
This provides an extensive bibliography about much research covering the title issues, Legalities and Ethics.
In one of my Engineering classes, I was given only one department instruction, I must spend one period talking about ethics. This I built around student opinions about how they would behave when confronted with a variety situations - each one legal, but was it the 'right thing to do'?

All of this is universal, but what about on-line courses?
The simplest aspect is: how many of us are using pirated software? Have you ever paid for shareware download? This becomes an issue when you are making lessons from home.

There are many other issues concerning privacy. How do you protect your own?
http://www.hwg.org/services/classes/legalissue.html. This article refers to issues such as cyber-stalking and identity theft.

One other issue is what defines unacceptable language? There are many usages in common today, including prime time tv, that I cannot tolerate. I'm probably labeled old-fashioned, however, i believe that one's thoughts can be expressed more than adequately by the English language, or most others, without constant interjections of profanities. To me, that is a sign of limited language skills. I've witnessed it frequently from highly intelligent people I admire.

What constitutes hate speech? (I need to stop here, the editor won't let me enter anymore!! This sucks.) I wrote this on the editor on my (Doug's) wiki page.

Classroom Assessment Techniques Designed for Technology. Retrieved December 2, 2007, from
http://www.mtsu.edu/~itconf/proceed99/Martin.htm#Abstract

Angelo and Cross have developed strategies for assessing teaching effectiveness at the college level. As they have stated: "College instructors who have assumed that their students were learning what they were trying to teach them are regularly faced with disappointing evidence to the contrary when they grade tests and term papers." Angelo and Cross have developed some written "instant" feedback techniques which they call classroom assessment techniques. Generally using ungraded activities, the goal is to measure the "current state" of the classroom. We will examine a series of assessment techniques which are most useable in the technological classroom.

Comments by Margarita
Delivery of the content and assessment of the learning in the classroom are one of the key factors in learning. Why? Because it's here when we realize if the material has been grasped and understood by the student. Unfortunately, we still have to use in our classroom the traditional way of assessing student’s performance through quizzes and tests.
However, since I learned about CAT’s a couple of months ago, I have been able to see assessment with different eyes. The authors explain several techniques that can be used both in a F2F or an online environment. Techniques such as:
Minute paper, Chain notes, Memory Matrix, Directed paraphrasing, One-sentence summary, Exam Evaluations, Application cards, and Student-generated questions are explained in this article.

Classroom Assessment Techniques in Asynchronous Learning Networks. Retrieved December 2, 2007, from
http://technologysource.org/article/classroom_assessment_techniques_in_asynchronous_learning_networks/

As more college and university courses are offered via asynchronous learning networks (ALNs), such institutions face an important question: How can classroom assessment techniques be implemented for distance students, especially students communicating asynchronously?
Cross and Steadman (1996) define classroom assessment as "small-scale assessments conducted continually in college classrooms by discipline-based teachers to determine what students are learning in that class" (p. 8). Classroom assessment provides in-process feedback and allows instructors to implement continuous quality improvement techniques in their class (Soetaert, 1998).

Comments by Margarita
This is an excellent article that complements the CAT’s techniques mentioned above.
The author uses two simple questions to be used as assessment:
1. What is the one thing that helped you learn the most in this week's activities?
2. What is the one thing in this course that is least helpful to your learning?

(Posted by Lorna)
Gaytan, Jorge; McEwen, Beryl C. Effective Online Instructional and Assessment Strategies. American Journal of Distance Education, v21 n3 p117-132 Sep 2007.
https://ezp.mc.maricopa.edu/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ780620&site=ehost-live&ssl=y
Notable points
1. Meaningful and timely feedback is critcal.
2. Well designed rubrics that support assessment activities should be available to students.
3. A variety of online assessments should be used.
4. Assignments should be checked for clarity by a third party before they are posted.

Rowe, Neil. Cheating in Online Student Assessment: Beyond Plagiarism. Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration, Volume VII, NumberII, Summer 2004. Retrieved April 2008.
This paper give interesting insight into the history of cheating as the internet and distance learning has evolved. It covers topics as basic as knowing the individual that is actually taking the test, to hackers and spyware. There are suggested ways of minimizing the prospect of cheating such as avoiding multiple choice questions, or if MCQ's are used, use pools of randomly selected questions along with other ideas of proctoring. Jump to the bottom of the paper to view the list of recommendations.
(Posted by Lea)

Moskal, Barbara M. (2000). Scoring rubrics: what, when and how?. Practical Assessment, Research & Evaluation, 7(3). Retrieved May 12, 2008 from http://PAREonline.net/getvn.asp?v=7&n=3
This paper discusses assessing using rubrics. It is a scoring tool that divides an assignment or project into performance objectives providing a detailed description of what should constitute a quality final product. Objectivity is maintaintained when measuring student learning and grading their work. Different types of rubrics are discussed in this paper as well, for exampleanalytic versus holistic and general versus task specific rubrics. (Posted by Annapurna)

Getting Started

aganesh — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 12:06:53 CDT

Face to Face (f2f) teaching and learning has been occuring for thousands of years. We can read Plato's work and learn about ancient greek pedagogical strategies. And who hasn't heard of Socratic Method of teaching? Both teachers and students know what to expect the first day of class; however, in web-based classes (esp. if their is no f2f orientation) neither students nor instructors have thousands of years of experience to draw upon. What the heck do we do?

Condrad, D.L. (2002). Engagement, excitement, anxiety, and rear: Learners' experiences of starting an online course. American Journal of Distance Education, 16(4), 205-226. Retrieved 20 October, 2007, from Academic Search Premier.
This essay reports out on a study about students attitudes with online course materials. I like that it stress the importance of what happens at the beginning of the course. For example it says that most students want access to the course prior to the start date and want everything to be complete (esp. syllabus and schedule). The article also talks about when an instructor should first make him/herself known, including a discussion of what types of content and style that first message should include (official and personal, more casual). The results of the study also said that most students did not believe the course had really begun until the started to interact with course content. Definitely worth reading if you plan to teach online!

Comments by Shelley: One thing I really don't agree with is the "let students in weeks in advance." Although I am all about doing things that better facilitate student learning, I also want students to realize instructors on the other side of the screen are human as well. If you put the course live, they'll start it! I like that they dicussed what happens if a number of students get started early and then the rest trickle in on the actual start date; it looks like the "on time" students are already "late & behind." I will, however, completely agree with the fact that a course should be pretty much completely constructed and ready to roll the first day of classes (before you make it live). My first CIS236 crew should totally understand that since we all found out at the last minute the course was actually going to happen. It's disconcerting to students to "know" they have work and only have bits and pieces of the expectations and materials.

Littlefield, J. (2007). 10 Most Important Things You Can Do During Your First Week in an Online Class. About.com: Distance learning. Retrieved 20 October, 2007, from http://distancelearn.about.com/od/distancelearning101/a/FirstWeek.htm
Although this article is directed to students, it gives instructors an idea of what students want, and are being encouraged , to do the first week of class. My question to instructs is: how can we better facilitate these steps for students?

Comments by Shelley: I've done some of the following to help with these steps (I've made parallel comments to the numbers in the article):

Have all the assignments up so that they can see them; I also include that blurb about time in my syllabus. Many students cram online courses into their already full schedules thinking that because they don't need to make time for the f2f class, they can do it. They forget that the course still needs hours of work, remind them early!

Include the ISBN number of the textbook in the textbook listing (many students now shop for books at Amazon.
My tech tips part of the syllabus helps with reminders of virus protection, ad- and spyware, etc. I also try to give the tip about using Firefox as their browser, less problems, especially security. (FYI...MCC's version of WebCT also plays better w/Firefox as well.)
Build in an "introductions" assignment. I also have started keeping a roster page that I share with everyone that eventually includes everyone's email addresses (and any required account URLs).
Although I chalk the first week of online classes to "learn the technology," actually assign work that helps them learn the technology, start participating, and build community.

Again, the shared roster does this well!
If you have your course organized in repetitive modules, describe these typical modules to the students in your syllabus. Repetitive modules are probably the organizational method least likely to lose students throughout the semester.

Have the schedule available for them on day one. If you are using something like Google, share a calendar!
Have consistent repeating deadlines (I find Saturday's a midnight generally the best for online courses, can do work for one deadline on Saturday, and work for the next deadline on Sunday) so that students can set up their own consistent working schedule.
I believe in a social constructivist pedagogy that requires that students interact with one another; however, I realize that many students take online courses to get work done on their own. I try to balance these types of assignments so that students can work ahead on some assignments; but, also need to wait and interact with others for other work.
Comment by Doug: I always try to get students to study in groups, 2,3 or4. I also facilitate the formation of these groups. However, sometimes, like this semester, no-one is interested. Do on-line students interact more readily with other students? Is there a feeling of safety in anonymity?

12.Comment by Sue - Many of the on line students I had last semester knew each other from work and were resistant to meeting and working with new people. I know that some of the one's from other areas were trying to find work partners and I felt bad for them
because they were basically ignored. I ended up letting them do their last project by themselves - do you think that was ok?

Comment from Lorna:
On point #4, introductions. I developed the first online course in the library program, and this has always been a component. Th students upload a photo to the WebCT dropbox, and email me a brief bio. I put it all together into the "OUR CLASS" web page. In courses that have been developed more recently, this element has been missing. Many students have commented that they really liked this. While it was a lot of extra work for me, formatting pics, etc., I'll continue to do it. But, I'll make it easier on myself by having the students do the work. I really like how Peter managed the introductions in his class.

Starting Strong: Tips for Becoming a Top Online Student. Insidetrack. Retrieved 20 October, 2007, from
http://www.insidetrack.com/pdfs/Starting_Strong.pdf
This is a concise (two-page) collection of tips for students on how to prepare for success in an online class and guides students in making the best use of their time while waiting for an online class to begin. Tips cover: making contact with the college support team, setting up efficient workspace, managing time, becoming familiar with the online classroom, understanding one’s own motivations and priorities, enlisting support from people in your personal life, and making sure everything is in place for online success.
· Comments by Linda: I’ve found that online students are often highly motivated to get started and complete work quickly. Shelley has pointed out some of the problems with allowing students to start a class before its official beginning date, so what can we do to keep them gainfully occupied while they’re waiting? This flyer-style tipsheet in pdf format for easy printing and hanging on a bulletin board is a perfect starting point. A link to this page could be included with a welcome letter or other point of first contact.
Comments by Sue:
This time I tried a welcome letter and a how to log onto blackboard and felt better about the start of online teaching again. I hadn't done it for the first class, but I felt it gave the students something to help them to look forward to the first class. I asked for responses back - some did and some didn't. I think until a student tries an online class they won't really know what they are in for.

Getting Started Online: Advantages, disadvantages and getting started.
Retrieved 25 November, 2007, from

http://www.vfc.project.mnscu.edu/
This self-paced tutorial is designed for Minnesota college faculty members interested in learning more about teaching in an online environment. It offers a review of current literature in the field through readings on key topics, practical tips and suggestions for online teaching, and links to Internet resources for further study. The tutorial is divided into four modules, each of which also contain points to ponder, an instructional activity, and a short quiz.
In this tutorial, you'll have a chance to explore some of the advantages and disadvantages of teaching in an online environment, as noted by faculty experienced in online instruction. A variety of resources is presented that should allow you to learn more about what it's like to teach online, the instructional and technical issues that must be accounted for, and key factors that contribute to student success in this new learning environment. Hopefully, you'll be able to form your own opinion about the efficacy of online instruction and will be familiar with resources and tools that can help you get started in the development of an online course, whether it's a web-enhanced, hybrid, or completely online course.

Comments by Margarita: This is a very good website from Minnesota College for both students and teachers on Getting Started Online:

The website is divided into 4 modules: Online vs. Face-to-Face Instruction, Student Success Factors in an Online Learning Environment, Starting Small: Using Web-Enhanced or Hybrid Delivery Methods, and Finally Organizing your Online Course.

I found The Online vs. Face-to-Face instruction Quiz a good tool to reflect about online course expectations.
The module, Student Success Factors to keep in mind was also helpful in the sense that the student’s success in online education determines whether that student will embrace online learning and enroll in future courses. The teacher’s role and participation is an essential key factor in student retention and success.

E-moderating: The Key to Teaching and Learning Online, by Gilly Salmon. 2004, (2nd ed.) London: Taylor & Francis. Review by Jonathan Dougherty.
http://www.elearning-reviews.org/topics/pedagogy/communication/moderating/2000-salmon-emoderating/
As a geographer, I think in pictures. So I find Salmon's 5-stage model very helpful to get a handle on her $165 book in a hurry. From Learning Networks online course about Salmon's "E-moderating", the first week is all about access: "(1) Getting people communicating, (2) Encouraging participation, and (3) Establishing the value of being a reflective learner." I think these provide a workable "big picture" perspective in which to add the subheadings of things to do
the first week of class. (added by Peter C.)

University of Maine. Getting Off to a Good Start: The First Week http://www.learn.maine.edu/faculty/good_start.php
A couple of points stood out in this article:
1. Find out who has not been successful in getting into the class.
2. Contact (by phone) any students that have not shown any activity after the first week.
(Added by Lorna)

Illinois Online Network (2007). Instructional Strategies for Online Courses from http://www.ion.illinois.edu/resources/tutorials/pedagogy/instructionalstrategies.asp This site includes tips for instructional strategies categorized by formats used for online teaching and learning environments. For example: some of the tools discussed are: discussion, lecture, mentorship, small group work, and collaborative learning. The tips shared are practical with suggestions for different modes for the formats. (Added by Annapurna)

Course Syllabus & Policies

kgaisford — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 02:50:53 CDT

Lorna's Annotated Bib:
Robelen, Erik W. States Revamping Policies on Virtual Schools.Education Week, 6/13/2007, Vol. 26 Issue 41, p18-22 Retrived from Academic Search Premier, April 08, 2008.
The article dicusses how State Departments of Education are becoming involved in policy for schools offering online courses. Online programs have attracted much political attention as states work to better control funding for these types of courses and schools. Specific incidents in Colorado, South Carolina, Pennsylvania and Kansas are discussed.

Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. Best Practices for Electronically Offered Degree and Certificate Programs
This is a 16 page PDF document in which the HLC states it's expectations for online programs. I've used it in the past as a kind of checklist to see if the library in compliance. (Let's just say we have some work to do!) One of their expectations for syllabi is that they include provisions for instructor-led and student-led interaction.

Houghton Mifflin Company. Creating an Effective Online Syllabus
This 17 page PDF document had some good suggestions, and I borrowed some of them to clarify what I realised was foggy in my syllabus. For example, in my expectations section I had said that I expected them to log on the the class regularly. After reading the article, I changed it to "I expect you to log into the course regularly (at least three times over a seven day period) to check for announcements, new discussion posts, etc. Your full participation on a weekly basis is not only a requirement, it is an essential component of the online learning process." Note from Kay: This is an excellent resource. Thanks for pointing it out to us.

MCLI, Maricopa Community Colleges Maricopa Syllabus Resource Center
Our District syllabus resource center has some examples, links to articles, District regulations ( Online Policy Manual, Regulation 3.6 ), a best practices section, and a resources page. Discusses divideing the syllabus into three different functions:

practical
theoretical
institutional.

Center for Teaching Excellence, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Illini Instructor Series: Preparing a course Syllabus.
Describes the three major purposes of the syllabus.

Syllabus as contract
Syllabus as permanent record
Syllabus as learning tool

I was particularly interested in the Syllabus as Contract. This is what they recommend content-wise for the syllabus to serve as a course contract:

Clear and accurate course calendar
Grading policies: components and weights
Attendance policy
Late assignment policy, policies on incompletes and revisions
Academic dishonesty and academic freedom policies
Accommodation of disabilities policy

(Submitted by Lorna)

Waterhouse, S., Rogers R., The Importance of Policies in E-Learning Environments, Educause Quarterly, Vol. 23, Number 3, 2004.
I originally posted this article under the FERPA section of the wiki because it addressed Student Privacy Policy issues, but because it also contains other policies of importance in online teaching environments, I think it is better placed here. (Posted by Lea)

17 ELEMENTS OF GOOD ONLINE COURSES outlines what should be included in a syllabus, and the importance of the syllabus in letting students know as early as possible what to expect in a course. (Posted by Kay)

Electronic University Consortium of South Dakota, Online Course Readiness , points out that an online “syllabus should be available at the time the course is initially advertised.” This allows students to know what they are signing up for. (Posted by Kay)

CIS237

gdougdixon — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 18:02:20 CDT

WEEK 1 Introduction, Feb 22, 2008.
This is my wiki for CIS237.
I will not be using LiveJournal.I've updated my blog at Blogger (need to add this to my del.icio.us - the penny has finally dropped! This becomes my favorites list, at least for this course, when I'm not at my home computer. Prior to this, I considered it merely duplicative, until I spent several weeks away trying to access Shelley's words of wisdom).
I've added a photo of my desktop to Picasa and made it public at DougsCIS237. The icon is my Douglas kilt.
What else do I need to complete week 1 assignments? Have Gmail, obviously or I wouldn't have Picasa. Played Shelley's podcast and I've opened an iGoogle account with CIS237 tab. Also I've commented to several group members. Whew.

Week 2 This will be in diary form as a continuous entry. Feb 22 2008.
Just replayed LeeLefever's podcasts. He implies that Wetpaint can be treated just as Google docs, and appears to be similar to iGoogle, although iGoogle seems more of a repository than an editing device. As before, too many similar apps lead to confusion. I suspect it can only be resolved by using each and identifying strengths and weaknesses.

Feb 23. Having loaded up iGoogle, I can see merit in it and may eventually make it my Homepage. That would mean loading up del.icio.us with all my favorites. I think they can be grouped for easier handling. Can anyone else see my iGoogle page? Apparently, I have to email it to a 'friend'
Loaded course competencies into Google docs for my putative GOB course, also commented on the other entries in G-docs.
Looked at Flikr and will procrastinate on signing up for it because I have to sign up for Yahoo as well.
One task this week is to add to the Communications page. There is a large amount of great information there so I chose, instead, to reread much of it, including new stuff. (Thanks for the Venn diagram feed Devon). Note added later: http://www.scribd.com/doc/12389/On-Micromedia-Microlearning?ga_related_doc=1 is in an email from Jennifer Waters at MCC and explores what on-line education should be, as a comprehensive use of all media, rather than a using a bunch of tools. From my perspective, we don't even think about a pen or paper we write on as tools, simply the media we need to express ourselves, unless we had to sharpen a quill.

Got my whine into Blogger about too many duplicative apps as well as a graphical opinion about my subject matter.
Love the concept of Creative commons. I've worked for 15 years with a brilliant educator in San Diego who has never published, even though I've tried to push him to do it, because he is paranoid about losing control, and prestige, over his concepts. CC will be a tremendous benefit to him.

Last task to get up to date for Week 2. Definitions about things we all thought we understood but didn't.
Internet: An electronic method of transmitting information, without boundaries, as well as a repository of information.

WWW: Specific parts of the internet that can be accessed by a search engine. The parts have URL addresses, typically http://, and can be linked to each other. Not to be confused with gaming or with email.

Browser: Consists of 2 parts - The portal (or application) through which users access the internet. A browser is on your individual machine and acts as a sort of like a letterbox in your front door, but with long arms, which is the search engine that goes and finds information throughout the internet.

Disadvantages associated with each of these entries. Most obvious is the presence of evildoers trolling the internet in hope of compromising your computer or stealing valuable information. Less evil, but annoying, are the ad agencies pushing advertisements onto your computer, even at the expense of causing equipment malfunctions. Further down the list is IE which captures everywhere you've been and readily reports to the US government. Remember, there is no secrecy, even your own machine stores secret information about you that others (like your kids) can retrieve.

Advantages of the internet. Comparable to Guttenberg, providing a tremendous increase in the pool of knowledge and ease of accessing the same. It is allowing people around the world to establish or further an education. For on-line teachers, how do you handle a class of 1,000? How would you delegate to TA's?

Week 3.
The latest Communications article discussed the benefits of adding a class blog. I'm going to try this in the summer if I can get Bb to cooperate.

What is not always immediately obvious is the difference between a blog and a discussion group like this wiki. Blogs have latest on top, this has latest on bottom, unless its an inserted comment. I rely on an update message from Wetpaint - I don't know how to set it up, which is what I would need for Bb. Then I go to the bottom to find the name of the last contributor - if its me, I don't need to read it.

We have now set up an iGoogle homepage onto which we have loaded a bunch of active sites for easy and immmediate access. I can get into Googlemail, the latest emails are there to see, I can get into Google docs and can see all the latest additions to the class forum, I can collect RSS feeds from any URL I choose and Utube videos but I don't know how to be selective, yet. Anything on the web can be permanently part of my homepage. I'm beginning to appreciate the iGoogle homepage more and more. Eventually, I can see this becoming my regular Homepage instead of the Google version.

Week 4 It's all about iGoogle.
Here's the thing. I have to sign in to every app we are using, which becomes mildly irritating as it stops the 'flow'. I'm wondering if it is possible, or even wise, to keep logged in to them all while accessing them from iGoogle, and just use del.icio.us for occasional sites.

I'm having difficulty managing Google Reader. Sites I want to see are not showing, and an old site I removed is always there. I've managed to make one of them public but I don't how anyone will see it since I don't have any 'friends'.
Again, I'm frustrated by not being able to edit entries.

I've tried several times to load an image onto this Wetpaint page. All I get is a message saying the page has been reformatted, but no image.

Podcasting! Shelley is providing an audio recording through Gabcast which we listen to through her course blog. It works for us because then she doesn't have to repeat it to each student. It's no different from playing the messages on my answering machine, ironically she makes it via a telephone. I think my class is going to need a video feed for podcasts; SciVee.com may be the model, showing talk delivery plus written documents at the same time, or Gabcast talk over picture/video of documents eg textbook pages.

I'm wrestling with how students will access my on-line course and what skills and equipment they will have.
First of all, many are straight out of High school (17+) with limited academic skills. I don't expect them to be able to do anything but text. In fact, I suspect that any input by them will be, or should be, via a simple texting app, like Notepad.

Blogs are unwieldy for Q&A sessions. How can we get complex symbols into an IM system? (Only important for synchronous lessons).

Also, not all students will have a computer, they will use public access like libraries. How do they store information? Probably on a 'thumb' drive, since the apps are all on the server.

How about students with dial-up access? Not everyone has access to high-speed internet providers. In this case, they cannot participate in synchronous discussions. They will have to download everything they need, slowly, and work with it later.

For the future (Shelley this is for TLTR meeting). At registration, every student should automatically be loaded up with appropriate apps, complete with password access to each. They can change passwords later. We do all the labor, they just point and click.

How many times do we 'meet'? I need to provide an adequate timetable to download modules, with 2 specific times when I'll be available on-line for responses. Shelley reported the success that the ASL dept was having and expected that their modules where better than 'good enough' so should work for many years. Presumably, there will always be monitor to respond to IM's or emails. Is this where TA's can help?

Back to week 4 tasks. I looked at Dr. Coops website and downloaded the 10 things a student needs to start. This list will augment the MCC 'How to start online' article. By this time, we should lose some of them because they will certainly get the impression of the course intensity. Most of my students only go through the motions - they aim for their C-grade to get into the nursing program.

Podcasts etc for chemistry. I've commented before on the archaic nature of available online chemistry. Some of the commercial stuff is good, though still flawed, and I don't think I could duplicate it. I did become skilled in Excel and can set up If.. then statements with look-up tables. Maybe that's the way to go. So, what would I insert into my iGoogle as a suitable podcast for teaching chemistry? I'll keep looking.

Here's a pretty thing to consider: What do I ask the students to do on their first week? In my G-docs article I identify a welcome message that details all the different ways they will be required to access information. However, this must all be done BEFORE week 1 or all they will see is text or Powerpoint images. On the first day, I fully expect to jump right in and start on lesson 1. Preamble will include how I will deliver lessons to them, how homework will need to be done and returned, how and when exams and quizzes will be set and taken by them. I'd like this to be a Podcast with video but a Gabcast will do. I'll have a text version as well. If I wanted to make it like a PBS show, would there be a enough bandwidth? (See later comment on Softchalk).

They will need to get used to my delivery technique which requires them to find information from the textbook. My notes will guide them page by page, line by line.

While on the subject of how to present lessons, I took Dr. Peggy's Softchalk presentation. It looks like a neat way to package all the different inputs, text, images, audio, video, and interactive apps into one operation for the students. They only have to open one page. Now, do they still have to download and sign-up for all the apps we use to make the lesson? To be discovered. Here is a link to the first 15 minutes of week 1, chapter 1:
https://webct.mc.maricopa.edu/webct/urw/lc4130001.tp0/cobaltMainFrame.dowebct?JSESSIONID=CbGTHWvSzJpDpjMb0Ph1bvNDvrydxSqn2QbjKyvq1tnts2rQp4wz!1419081315!webct.mc.maricopa.edu!80!443
This takes me to Home page with Course list.
Click on Dev-Dougdixon.
Click on Learning module.
Click on CHM500 chapter1.
This will open my 1st lesson in Softchalk. Contains text, images, activities, audio, video, and interactive exams/quizzes.

Now this is an accomplishment. How to get screen captures into my wiki and blog. Blogger only accepts jpg or gif images. Kathleen Gaisford suggested I copy the screen capture into Photoshop, which i don't have. However, I was able to put it into Corel PhotoPaint which does not allow me to save as a jpg. It will save as a gif, but my image is too big - couldn't compress it enough. Bother. So I cheated and saved it as a bmp which is now on my blog. This image is a tif file.

Week xxx (I've lost count. Just do it by date?)
My aim has been to provide nursing students with a more appropriate science course that can benefit them and maintain their interest. Our current chemistry courses are exercises to be endured then forgotten. I first thought of this when failing students trying to get into the nursing program at ASU. Then, they had to take 2 semesters of Intro chem then a semester of O-chem They didn't even get to the interesting part which I call 'body' chemistry.

After starting this program, I recently discovered that ASU has adopted the same chemistry program as MCC, namely 1 semester of High School chem. with the same result - no interest or retained knowledge.

I propose a science course that can interest and stimulate, especially at the end of the semester. I t combines elementary knowledge of atoms, what they are made of, how they react, and how you name them. (Naming is the single major factor for failure). Knowing how molecules aare made, we then introduce the different types of organic molecules, with a minimum of reactivies. Finally, we show how these organic molecules are used in our bodies, as enzymes, as hormones, as cell building components. In previous establishments, this has paralled Anatomy&Physiology rather neatly.

Here is the major obstacle; who decides what the science curriculum must be for the nursing program. How can one make a significant curriculum change? Is science, esp. chem, an elective? If so, it could be a department decision.

Bottom line is, I don't see any point to pursuing this GOB course until I can get a 'buy-in'. BUT, I'm still determined to get chemistry on-line in a friendly fashion, and there are many attempts available with Creative Commons licenses so that I can use other peoples expertise without having to design and build every single jot and tittle for a course. Along these lines, ASU-West appears to be ready to start putting courses on-line. The proposed guideline is that it can be done without any cap for enrollment - the Dean sees $-signs. Which brings up the point, at what number of student enrollment does an on-line course become unmanageable? 50, 100, 500?

Having witnessed Shelley's efforts to manage a regular course load, as well as on-line courses with about 10 members (plusher usual excessive diligence in exploring new technologies), I know I could not cope as well with a large class. I was OK with 60 in a f2f classroom plus a bunch of smaller classes, but I envisage an overwhelming torrent of emails or blogs etc etc.

Week 8, or so.
Final decisions about the on-line course(s) I intend to build.

So far I have a luke-warm accepance response from the Dept chair at West to explore a possibility with the Nursing chair at West. I had no support from the Dept chair at MCC who considered that Rio Salado had already done it many years ago. (OK, he did pay my tuition for Shelley's 2 courses).

The upshot of the outcome is, it doesn't seem a credible investment in time to develop a GOB on-line chemistry course for nurses, yet. So, I will concentrate on building an Intro chem course. Since I teach 2 successive semesters of Intro during the Summer, I will start by applying these new technologies to those course as hybrids. I already use Blackboard and WebCT extensively for my West and MCC courses so I will expand on them and see if it is reasonable to fit parts into a Softchalk format, instead of multiple stand-alone entries. I like the look that Softchalk produces. An alternative is to consider CourseCompass from the publisher, Pearson, which Lea describes.I use one of their texts at West but expect to change to McGrawHill next year. Does McG-H have anything similar?

I'm going to make my final syllabus in Google docs, for class review. It will include much of latest sentiments such as, use it as a contract, be emphatic that students log-in 3 times a week, etc. (See Devon' latest blog on this). An important message he gave was to be liberally redundant in identifying sources of material.

One thing I've found is the wealth of information in classmates blogs. I refer to them frequently. I always try to get small groups of students to visit for homework. Many are not interested in doing that extra bit of work which is most rewarding. Some simply put on headphones and listen to music while the group resolves HW problems then merely copies the answer. I haven't been able to 'reach' them. Mainly, I don't understand what the hell they are doing in the class. Consequently, I have set-up a class blog for my summer classes and will encourage liberal use. I will read often but, like Shelley, hope they will teach each other.

I am now sensitized to copyright and FERPA. (I'm sure I would be tilling old furrows if I expressed my opinion on this sorry subject. I'm getting to the point where I don't even want to tell a student what his grades are. He might be disappointed, or worse yet, tell his mommy).
However, copyright is a legitimate concern, for all of us. I intend to build my courses, initially, around textbooks so I will stick to what the publisher makes available. Maybe an occasional reasonable use of some other source.

A previous week assignment was to consider bringing in an outside expert. In my Intro chem classes, I think my 40+ years of experience in using chemistry in many different environments makes me the expert. However, I also teach Chem. Engineers at Tempe and I do set aside a period in which I bring in someone with an engineering background to discuss their work and the engineering details. Do I have to name someone specifically? Of the several lengineers from local companies, Nancy Carlson, a Senior Engineer at Boeing, does a superb presentation on aerospace materials. The class always has a ball. (For purposes of full disclosure Shelley, see Nancy's photo attached)

FERPA

kgaisford — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 09:10:07 CDT

Submitted by suecat CIS237 Week 7

http://docs.moodle.org/en/FERPA
FERPA and MOODLE
I wanted to share this list of problems and possible solutions:

OPT OUT of profile info: there is no way for us to check "hide profile" for an individual student. Could we somehow add a field (that is accessible for those folks using batch enrolling techniques, from uploadusers to LDAP) that would selectively disable profile information for an individual student? Or, wouldn't it be even better to allow the STUDENT to check this box? I am checking on what roles should not have access to this information.
OPT OUT of name display in online users block: The on-line users block, while encouraging community, allows the display of any user on the system. If you click on the users name, you may be denied access to the profile (depends on roles settings), but the name is clearly visible. If a student opted out of directory information, then the online users block should also not display the name.
OPT OUT of other courses being revealed in profile: While the profile is likely accessible only by the student, the instructor, and other students in the class, it seems problematic from a privacy standpoint, to have all the courses that student is enrolled in to be displayed. Even an instructor probably doesn't "need to know" what other moodle courses a student is enrolled in. If they DO need to know this, they will likely have another method to access the information! Could we have a switch in the profile that the student can control to hide this information selectively?
Student submissions or sensitive instructor documents might be accessed by users who know the URL; some debate is in progress about whether or not preliminary test results were flawed owing to the possibility of loading subsequent attempts from the cache rather than the server. We do know that files uploaded into the course area can't be selectively marked "public" or "private". Work on the file repository code, due in Moodle 2.0, may solve this problem. At least in Moodle 1.6.3, I tested this. As a student, I could access a graded document returned to a student through a private forum if I knew the URL. I could do this if I was enrolled in the course. If I cleared the cache between different attempts, I found that I could not do this if I was not logged in at all or if I were logged in as a student but not enrolled in the class. So we need to get some more definitive data on what is actually happening, and be vigilant about taking cache into consideration.
Gradebook single student view: If a student comes to your office and wants to talk about grades, the gradebook view requires some clicking to get to the single student view. It is possible to view other student's grades as the instructor struggles to get to the right screen. Would it be possible to trigger "full class view" or "single student view" earlier in the process?
Assignment and Quiz single student view: A similar situation exists with assignments and quizzes. If a students asks me if I have one of their assigments or quiz results, I click on the assignment or quiz and the list shows the results for every student in my class. I don't think I know of a good way to show the results for a single student, especially if that student's submission has not been graded yet.
Notes (Introduced in Moodle 1.9): A new feature in Moodle 1.9 allows notes at the site, course, and personal level. You can disable this feature by setting moodle/notes:manage to prohibit for the teacher role. This feature can be useful, but should be used within school policy with respect to need to know and student privacy expectations.

Keeping Up-To-Date on FERPA – posted by Kay Gaisford, week 7 in CIS237
MCC’s FERPA info site provides comprehensive instruction for college personnel, and also updated information on changes in the way the FERPA law is interpreted. For teachers and classmates to make publically visible comments on students’ posted work may be problematic, whether the comments are complimentary or suggesting changes. However, this practice may very well fall within the hypothetical situation described in the MCC tutorial which was judged as not violating the student’s rights
There have been changes in application of the law over these years. For example, the Supreme Court ruled in 2002 that students may not sue institutions over FERPA violations, but offending institutions may lose federal funding. Another change is that FERPA regulations now allow for electronic releases. This electronic consent for release of student information must identify and authenticate "a particular person as the source of the electronic consent" and indicate "such person's approval of the information contained in the electronic consent." For example, use of a personal identification number or password known only to the institution and the student, or a computer image that is created from the scanned image of the borrower's handwritten signature

(From Lorna)

Toglia, Thomas V. "How Does the Family Rights and Privacy Act Affect You?" Education Digest, Oct2007, Vol. 73 Issue 2, p61-65. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier, April 8, 2008. (Persistent link to this article)

This is a concise summarry of FERPA, as it applies to educators and administrators. It alsoexplains how more recently enacted laws and regulations (such as the PATRIOT ACT and No Child Left Behind) impact FERPA and in may even extend FEPPA's privacy provisions. In addition to the FBI in the library and the Sherriff's Dept all over us, we may well havethe Department of Education's Family Policy Compliance Office investigating. According to the article, "Sanctions for noncompliance include temporarily withholding payments of federal assistance until a resolution is reached and may ultimately lead to termination of eligibility to receive federal funds."

Waterhouse, S., Rogers R., The Importance of Policies in E-Learning Environments, Educause Quarterly, Vol. 23, Number 3, 2004.
This article contains many different policy guidelines along with examples. It includes an interesting section on FERPA (scroll down to Student Privacy Policies). Nothing bad has happened yet, but I often wondered if it was a good thing that Blackboard allows students access to email addresses of all the other students in the class. The described Student Privacy Policy includes a Permission-to-use Form that allows students to state what information they will allow the instructor to make public or even available to other students in the class. (Posted by Lea)

ADA

lea.neibarger — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 20:21:53 CDT

Let's be proactive about accessbility and design our courses so that everyone can access them prior to notification from the Disability Services office.

AirInteractive. Resources for Accessible Web Development. Accessed March 18, 2008, from http://www.knowbility.org/air-interactive/?content=resources
This is a list of links with resources about designing accessible material for the web. I really like that their list includes links for checklists as well as a variety of testing websites and design tools to help with the design process. (posted by Shelley)

Rothberg, Madeleine and Tom Wlodkowski. Making Educational Software Accessible. Accessed March 18, 2008, from http://ncam.wgbh.org/cdrom/guideline2000/index.html
This is a great beginning resource that discusses issues and policies as well as gives a great list of specific tips that is organized by issue (so if you have to be reactive...). But mostly, I'm excited by the subtitle; they are acknowledging that math and science software could be difficult to make accessible and are addressing those issues as well. (posted by Shelley).

About Creating Accessible Office documents
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/help/HP030734311033.aspx
Educators who use Microsoft Office to create documents, spreadsheets, and slide presentations as part of their lesson materials will find lthis site informative and useful. On the right of the web page are links to 4 podcasts on creating assessable documents, and to other information on the topic. (posted by Kay)

Cook,Debbie and Mark Harniss "Accessibility and Distance Learning: An Overview " Accessed March 28, 2008 from http://www.afb.org/afbpress/pub.asp?DocID=aw080205
This article is on the AFB(American Foundation for the Blind) Access World web site. The focus is technology and people who are blind or visually impaired . It discusses accessibility of tools currently used in distance learning courses. One point that stood out was the need to keep them accessible for both student and instructor, so the course can be taught by those who are visually challenged. There's a link on their web site that allows the user to change the text zoom setting, font, text and background color, and navigation bar position, you can also remove repetitive links so they don't interfere with the screen reader, and than you can save these changes so that the site will always display the same way, no matter which computer you access it from. (Posted By Lorna)

Some current technology for accessibility:
It's always helpful to know what's available for universal accessibility so we can create materials that work with it. Wink Harner, director of disability services at Mesa Community College recommends "ReadWrite Gold (Texthelp), Kurzweil, or WYNN Wizard. These are all designed to provide access to electronic documents by what is called 'bi-modal input.' A student can get the textbook in electronic (accessible PDF) format, and a screen reader reads aloud the text which is highlighted. User can specific by word, sentence or paragraph. This is especially helpful for students with dyslexia, vision impairment (not blind --there are other resources for blind students online), as well as a host of otherreading & learning impairments. The studentsare able to receive the information both visually AND audibly. It reinforces the learning by using two of the five learning styles, and well, there are a host of other really nifty, amazing resources available, including the ability to read aloud any scanned document, test-maker software which comes with two of the three named above also will allow an instructor to create accessible tests & quizzes for the electronic delivery." Wink dictated her email to me using "DragonSpeak", software available to disabled students from their student services office. (contributed by Peter C.)

(WAI) Web Accessibility Initiative, W3C (World Wide Web Consortium), accessed April 9, 2008
An A-Z discussion of software and website accessibility. This includes definitions, tools, needs, assessment guidelines. Check the links in the box to the left on the homepage. There were two really good pages: "Implementation Plan for Web Accessibility" and Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. Lots of good information to consider when developing webpages. (contributed by Lea)

Home

rrodrigo — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 09:21:49 CDT

Welcome!

This is a website for and by instructors teaching with web-based technologies. Specifically, this website is being developed by participants in Mesa Community College's CIS236 andCIS237 courses. The idea is for this website to be an Annotated Bibliography resource. Users of the website should feel free to post web-based teaching and learning resources. Just be sure to follow two simple rules:

provide a bibliographic citation (with a live link if possible), and
provide an brief annotation on how/why this is a great resource.

Use the navigation menu on the left to negotiate the website. If you add a new page with a general topic, be sure to add the page title and appropriate link below.

Topics & Issues Related to Web-Based Teaching & Learning

Getting Started with a Web-Based Course
Communications
Assessment & Evaluation
Legalities

First Week/Introduction Activities

kgaisford — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 21:47:51 CDT

You have those traditional activities you do the first day of class, go over the syllabus, introductions, etc.; however, what do you do in an online course? What are the traditional activities? Why are they there? How do they transfer online? What are online specific needs? How do you introduce the technologies being used?

Mesa Community College Online Office. (n.d.) Distance Learning Course Information Checklist. Retrieved March 3, 2008, from http://www.mc.maricopa.edu/distance/docs/student_checklist.pdf
Most insitutions that offer a significant number of online courses have some "how to get started" page that usually includes a "checklist" for students. This is Mesa CC's checklist. Are you ready to answer these questions? Can your students easily find the answers to these questions. Consider finding a variety of these student checklists as a way to consider what to do during the first week of classes. (Entry by Shelley)
Kay's comment: I was glad to know about this link providing great informtion for online students. I adapted it in the document I shared with all of you detailing my first week prompts.

Browser Add-Ons

devoncadams — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 11:08:14 CST

FireFox is the browser of choice for both PC & Macintosh. The program is not owned by Microsoft, doesn't have security bugs, and can be tailored anytime to the users needs. Below are several add-ons from which you can choose. There are tons of add-ons for FireFox here.

Better Gmail
This add-on does what it suggests; it makes Gmail better. The first thing is that it forces an https:// which secures your email. It also builds in skins, adds icons next to your emails to show attachment types, and can add macros to use Gmail WITHOUT using your mouse. Macros sometimes aren't perfect, and glitches sometimes occur on a Macintosh in FF with this add-on but they aren't that noticeable. Note: Make sure you get Version 2!!

Greasemonkey
This tool lets you costumize JavaScript in your browser, which seems like a must have in today's Web 2.0 market. If you are very brave, you can write your own scripts!

FireFTP
Can't live without this one. Can you imagine FREE FTP access directly through FireFox! No extra application to worry about. And nothing to pay! One caveat is that you cannot make server side folders from this app. You must make them on the user side and then transfer them.

Week 1

gdougdixon — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 10:19:32 CST

Wow, am I behind. I plan to lurk, but this class is moving at the speed of light.

I will attempt to catch up.

Some of my sites

E Learning for Educators - a blog

E LEarning for Educators - a wiki

Comment by Doug: I'm still looking for an explanation that adequately differentiates a blog from a wiki. Greg, can you help?
Comment by Devon: Check out the Communications page here. I found an awesome graphic online that will help.

Comment by Doug,Leap Day: Greg, I can see your Wetpaint entry, and Devon has responded to my previous comment on this page. Can you see my Homepage in the Navigation section? Yours is the only Homepage from CIS237 I can see. Why?

Doug's Page

gdougdixon — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 09:48:54 CST

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.

Legalities

devoncadams — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 22:42:59 CST

Burgstahler, Sheryl, Ph.D. (2002). Universal Design in Distance Learning. Information Technology and Disabilities, Vol. VIII, 2002. Retrieved 15 November 2007.This informative article defines the term "universal design" as it applies to online materials generally and makes the case that universal design in distance learning benefits learners of all abilities and disabilities. The author lists physical and learning disabilities that students may present, accommodations that can help them succeed in the distance learning environment, and ways of building accommodation into the distance learning course up front rather than trying to work around design flaws later on. The article concludes with a sizable list of resources for educators who want to know more about ADA law, universal design principles, and information about specific kinds of disabilities.
Comment by Linda: This article is basically a primer in disabilities and accommodations in the distance learning environment. While it is entirely common-sense based, it provides a useful overview as well as a virtual checklist of design considerations for those building online courses.

DMCA: Friend of Foe?
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) is a United States copyright law that criminalizes the act of circumventing an access control, even when there is no infringement of copyright itself. It also supposedly heightens the penalties for copyright infringement on the internet. It's been in affect for a decade now, but outside of IT I never hear about this. The idea is that the DMCA is to better protect copyright holders, but a provision of this act is that if you believe your copyright is being infringed by a post (for example YouTube video) and you send a cease and desist notice to the domain (i.e., youtube.com) then they are required BY LAW to immediately remove that post without contacting the person who posted it. Let me reiterate, the person who posts the song, video, article, book, poem, etc... is never warned that the work is being taken off line. Part of the problem of the DMCA having too much control is that it immediately forces the website owner to take down any information without proving infringement, which is a huge deal especially in education. The DMCA essentially silences educational researchers, teachers, critics, etc...

Three demands of the public in relation to copyright include:
1. Fair use is the right to make unauthorized copies of works for certain protected purposes - mainly for academics, reporting, or criticism. When a student quotes a book in a high school paper, she is making a fair use, and can't be stopped by the copyright owner.

2. First sale is the right to sell a copy over and over again, once it is made, as long as you don't make any new copies. When you read a book, then sell it to a used book store to be bought and read by someone else, you're exercising your rights under first sale.

3. Limited time - copyrights are granted for a limited time. After that time expires, the work goes into the public domain - it can be copied and used by anyone, for any reason.

The DMCA strives against this. The provision says that it is illegal to circumvent access protections to content and to manufacture or make available things that circumvent the protections. An example of this is third party toner cartridges, for example.

Now Section 1201(a)(2) provides:
Distribution of circumvention tools is likewise prohibited, with the same or similar exceptions. Section 1201(a)(2) provides:

(2) No person shall manufacture, import, offer to the public, provide, or otherwise traffic in any technology, product, service, device, component, or part thereof, that—

(A) is primarily designed or produced for the purpose of circumventing a technological measure that effectively controls access to a work protected under this title;

(B) has only limited commercially significant purpose or use other than to circumvent a technological measure that effectively controls access to a work protected under this title; or

(C) is marketed by that person or another acting in concert with that person with that person’s knowledge for use in circumventing a technological measure that effectively controls access to a work protected under this title.

So essentially if you attempt to create anything with or WITHOUT intent of infringing on copyright, you are pretty much breaking the law and can be sapped of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Look, I am all for policies, rules, etc... but my problem is two fold. 1.) People who make rules really vague so they can interpret them however they want. 2.) People who make rules who have no clue at all how those rules affect other areas (e.g. EDUCATION!).

TEACH ACT 2002
In looking up resources dealing with copyright/ownership issues, I decided to post some basic information on this topic, that is the TEACH Act of 2002 (summary found here or here for a version that includes a checklist to see "whether you are ready to start using the TEACH act). This law basically afforded online courses all of the priviledges of f2f courses in using a variety of materials for teaching purposes. (This Act, not to be confused with the TEACH Act of 2007 which looks to assure the quality of academic instruction and monetarily compensate for it.)
Alex

Legalities by Shabana
I love the way Burgstahler described disability in her above article. “Disability is just one of many characteristics that an individual might possess. Others include height, age, race, native language, ethnicity, and gender. All of the potential characteristics of participants, including disability, should be considered when developing a distance learning course. Just as architects design buildings used by everyone, including those who use wheelchairs, distance learning designers should create learning environments that allow all potential students and instructors to access course content and fully participate in activities.”
Suggested universal design proposed by the author is amazing and useful for people with and without disabilities.
I think the initial step to be familiar with the resources for ADA compliance is to know what we have in our own institute. Disability Resources and Services (DRS) at S&D campus of MCC http://www.mc.maricopa.edu/students/disability/ provides comprehensive services for students with disabilities. ADA compliant academic adjustments are available for students with different conditions (blindness, visual impairment, deafness, hearing impairment, traumatic brain injury, or other health-related/systemic disabilities).
I agree with Linda here that asking the right question from the beginning can spare a student’s time and energies toward the right direction. The most important part of an instructor is to explain and describe the presence of disability resources to students on the very first day of class and then to be familiar with the 34 pages Faculty Resource Guide: http://www.mc.maricopa.edu/students/disability/forms/facultyguide.doc
Available services for students with disabilities at MCC include telecommunication device for the deaf, brailler, visual enlarger (b & w and colored), FM assistive listening devices, tape recorders, and loaner wheelchair and crutches. Services for psychological and psychiatric conditions like extended time, quite area are also available. The punitive style of accommodating a student with disability is not a solution at all. We need to be accommodating and retaining to enhance a required learning environment in f2f or online class for students with disabilities. It is also important to understand that each individual is unique with ones unique condition and a uniform formula cannot be applicable for each individual case.
Following article by Sheryl Burgstahler and colleagues is another good resource for the topic.
Steps Toward Making Distance Learning Accessible To Students And Instructors With Disabilities
Information Technology and Disabilities E-Journal, Vol. XI No. 1 August, 2005
The focus of this paper is students AND instructors with disabilities. The authors of this article discussed the policies, implementation, guidelines according to section 508 standards, dissemination, delivery and accessibility of a universal design that could benefit students and instructors with disabilities at University of Washington. It is expected that policies and procedures discussed in this article can lead further programs and accommodations for students and instructors with disabilities at other institutes.

10 COPYRIGHT MYTHS
This site was really interesting because it goes through several misconceptions about copyright. One thing I didn't realize is that (C) does NOT hold up. If you cannot use the C with a full copyright circle around it, then use the words "All Rights Reserved".

ADA Compliance by Shabana
It is surprizing to know that the international DO-IT Center at University of Washington
http://www.washington.edu/doit/
is putting so much effort in promoting research, productivity, and participation of students with disabilities. I have heard from different mental health professionals that many people with disabilities join community colleges due to different reasons. I would suggest that teachers' training workshops in ADA compliance should be prioritized in community colleges along with other professional development opportunities. I am looking forward for the ADA compliant course material workshop here at MCC in spring.

Legalities- Copyright Fair Use by Margarita

One of the three legal issues related to online teaching and learning is copyright issues and Intellectual Property Policies.

At http://www.lib.utsystem.edu/copyright one can find a Copyright Crash Course Online Tutorial that assists with how copyright laws work and about fair use.

Creative Commons
I found this website called Creative Commons: http://creativecommons.org/ in which you can get online and offline work copyrighted. However, after looking through the website and the licensing process, it appears that there is not too much legal protection if someone infringes upon one’s copyrighted materials. It seems that you are basically on your own.

I was about to post about Creative Commons, but saw the above. One thing that I discussed recently with a friend is the search tool through Creative Commons. It permits you to search for these files.

Communications

gdougdixon — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 10:00:16 CST

Communications tools are the heart of any online course. With the variety of synchronous and asynchronous tools that you can select from, across the spectrum of written, audio, and visual, the same material can be presented and discussions had in a infinite number of mixtures. However, as we know it is not only about the technology, but the purpose in which you use it. How will a specific communications technology better facilitate your learning outcomes? Most of the articles below not only discuss how you might use a specific communications tool, but also the more important question...why!

Lott, Chris. "Social Software Interaction." Online Image. 2. Nov. 2007. Flickr. Retrieved Feb, 16 2008. <http://www.flickr.com/photos/fncll/1829938057/>

The image on the left discusses the private versus public dissemination of knowledge in several ways that range from relatively direct, private (discussion board) & uniform to a public, customizable interface (wikis). Please click on the image to get a more thorough analysis from Devon Adams' blog post.

Strategies for Using Chat as a Communication Tool. Illinois Online Network: Education Resources. Retrieved 30 October, 2007, from:
http://www.ion.illinois.edu/resources/tutorials/communication/chat.asp
This extremely user-friendly page gives a number of quick and concise strategies for using real-time chat in your distance learning course. The page is organized into pedagogic uses and coping strategies related to chatting with online students. The pedagogic uses include a number of assessment techniques that can be used to determine (a) if a student is "getting" the content, and (b) that the student is doing his or her own work (e.g., writing his or her own research papers). The coping strategies offer sound advice for managing chats to make them as productive and time-efficient as possible.

Comments by Linda: I appreciate the quick and succinct nature of the tips presented here and intend to make good use of them next semester. The pedagogic uses section stretched my concept of what chat can do beyond answering those "how wide do the margins have to be" kinds of questions from students. This is an excellent resource for distance educators.
Comment by shabana04: Very helpful resource for diatance learning and teaching. I enjoyed the usefulness and clarity of tips presented here. I was already planning to add chat and who is online tools for my next semester online courses and these tips gave me better understanding of pedagogic use of this tool. The idea of virtual office hours will be helpful for students to stay connected and get a quick hold of instructors.
Comment by Doug: Once these concepts have been articulated, don't they now just seem common-sense?
I'm hoping to find, soon, how chats can be limited in distribution. Linda and I chatted last night and the transcript appears to be there for all to see in Gmail. The beauty about on-line is the apparent cloak of anonymity assumed by the student. If their every thought is published, will they start to withdraw, just like the slow learners in class?

Goldsmith, D.J. 2001 Communication, Humor and Personality: Student's Attitudes to Learning Online. Academic Exchange Quarterly 5.2, 108-113.
Article on the results of online student impressions from 72 different courses in the Connecticut Distance Learning Consortium. This research was a great comprehensive comparison of student's feelings at the end of the their online course. While this article did not address specific technologies on how to communicate with students, many of the reported comments from the results related to the student satisfaction with their communications with the professor. One of the most polar responses shown was satisfaction (or lack thereof) with the course, arising from the quantity and quality of feedback. The students loved the asynchronous, flexible nature of the course but still desired a direct link with their instructor and other students. Blogs seemed to help quite a bit but communications with the professor were paramount. They wanted quick, specific comments to their work. Additionally, if there were any ways that the professor could add humor or personal aspects to communications, these were highly regarded. (posted by Alex)

Comment by Peter: I found what I was looking for...what's the difference between "online grading" and "online teaching?" From Goldsmith "While timely feedback, good communication, and accessibility are all viewed
as necessary by online students, and emphasized as benchmarks of quality (Merisotis, J. & Phipps, R., 2000), courses that get the strongest evaluations from students have faculty, like good faculty in the classroom, who are completely present and bring their personality into the course in ways that enhance
learning". That, and humor!

Comment by Kay: The study confirms to me that faculty should play a role in distance learning as active as what they would do in face-to-face classes. Students clearly don’t want to be self-taught, no matter how comprehensive are the materials posted in the LMS. As Goldsmith commented, “Students are entitled to a professor who will teach and answer questions directly, just as in live classes.” The article gives me food for thought about designing classes that require my interaction with students.

Funaro, G. M., & Montell, F. (1999). Pedagogical Roles and Implementation Guidelines for Online Communication Tools. ALN Magazine, 3(2). Retrieved November 14, 2007, from http://www.sloan-c.org/publications/magazine/v3n2/funaro.asp.
This article reports out on a case study of 12 humanities faculty who used asynchronous discussion boards in their classes. It lists both ways in which the faculty use the discussion tools as well as tips for how to better facilitate discussions in that environment.

Comment by Shelley: I'm a big fan of list/guideline articles when it comes to helping with my teaching. I especially like this article since they include a prompt to help students with their online postings.

Bell, M. A. (2007). Celebrating Communication: Focus on Listservs. MultiMedia & Internet @ Schools, 14(3), 37-39. Retrieved November 14, 2007, from EbscoHost.
This is a general "ra-ra" article about how listservs are useful to people. The author did informal research of how/why people like listserves and the following three reasons came up repeatedly:

collegiality
sharing ideas, information, and advice
finding quick answers to then pass on to others (other faculty, administrators, etc.)

Teaching with Online Communication Tools. Retrieved December 1, 2007, from
http://www.cites.uiuc.edu/edtech/teaching_methods/pedagogy/communication/index.html
Online communication tools, from email to chat, provide powerful platforms to enrich discussions among students, implement collaborative assignments, foster peer review, and encourage greater communication between students and instructors. As with traditional writing assignments and discussion forums, using online tools to facilitate writing, collaboration, and discussion requires attention to the planning and structure of these activities in order for them to be successful. In addition, it is important to match the proper tool to these online activities.

Comments by Margarita: The author comments about how online tools can improve student writing, critical skills, and participation. He suggests for teachers to give clear directions and expectations for posting, grade postings, provide feedback for postings, and if you are teaching a hybrid course, it is important for you to integrate online discussions and writing with in-class activities. He also points out the importance of teaching with Asynchronous tools as teaching strategies such as: Cooperative/Peer Learning, Peer Review and Comment, Student-led Discussions, and Inquiry/ Problem-based learning. Finally, he comments on the benefits of teaching with Synchronous tools such as: Classroom communication, instructor-student communication, and group work.

http://www.albion.com/netiquette/corerules.html is a biblio on communications, how to post, more so on how to behave while online.
Rule 3 covers how to respond, basically don't be rude. However, it suggests that newbies 'lurk' for a while, ie read others posts until you are familiar with the content and style. It also points out something relevant to us right now: know where you are! We have so many participants in so many pages of so many apps, it is easy to become disoriented. I've discovered that del.icio.us is now my navigator around each of the apps.

Comment by Shelley: I'm fascinated by rule 5; it included that fact that you need to "look good" and that means "good" writing. This actually resonates with a discussion that Greg just posted in his blog last week. I posted comments there emphasizing the rhetorical situation of posting (audience & purpose...and in teaching, desired learning outcome). Ultimately I think if an instructor insists on "perfect" writing, students will get caught up focusing on that requirement instead of learning the content they are writing about. It's like the "you'll lose a letter grade for every 3 grammar mistakes" assessment strategy; is that really helpful? Pratt...I can't seem to find something that links me to your blog. Please share the URL with me again (dang, I thought I subscribed to it!).
Comment by Suecat: I think the rules are good and very important, however, I find it very distracting to try and read the point of someone's writing when it's practically written in text messaging format. I'm certainly not trying to criticize, but when someone doesn't even bother to try and use spell check I think we need to gently remind the person to use it. I think the point of their writing will be taken more seriously, at least by me. Now that I've said all that, I better use spell check myself. bye for now.

Yerks, AM. 1996. Pediatric Nurse The Internet and Pediatric Nursing: Guide to the Information Superhighway.
<http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FSZ/is_1_22/ai_n18607174>
article summited by suecat CIS237
The union between medicine and information technology, "telemedicine," is an important part of healthcare todayl (as it was in 1996). This article suggests that all healthcare professionals should be using this technology for information related to their practices. Radiology and diagnostic images can be obtained quickly, and useful in the treatment of patients, along with obtaining histories and pharmaceutical information that will allow the healthcare team to assess the patient's needs putting the whole picture together quicker. Likewise, health care administrators are able to communicate hospital guides, maps, updates and support contacts via computers located in lobbies or waiting rooms. Nurses and physicians can obtain needed information as well as utilize resources from a variety of sources by using the computer system. It used to be computer's were used for billing and financial systems, now the computer system is used to communicate so much more in the hospital environment.

Driscoll, Kelly. Collaboration in Today's Classrooms: New Web Tools Change the Game.MultiMedia & Internet@Schools. May/June2007, Vol. 14 Issue 3, p9-12Education Research Complete. EBSCO Publishing. Mesa Community College Library, Mesa, AZ. 21 Feb. 2008 <http://web.ebscohost.com>. Persistent link to this article
(since this is a subscription database, you may need to log in with yor MyMCC username and password)

The article talks about how the new Web 2,0 tools such ad wiki's, podcastss and blogs have made it easier for online instructors to accomplish specific communication tasks, and how there is a movement away from the constraints of the big, cumbersome course management systems that we have all been dependent on in recent years.
There's a description of each of these three communications tools, which I found useful, since I'm such a newbie.
The article indicates that Shelley's approach to course communication with "different and loosely strung together technologies" is one that is gaining popularity as teachers seek out inexpensive and easy to use tools that accomplish a specific task, and how our social networking generation of students come with some knowledge of how they operate.
One point made in the article that I never really thought about, was that this technology has evened the playing field, as the smallest K-12 systems have access to the same tools as do the large research universities -- no added costs of servers & IT maintenance since it's all self-hosted.
(submitted by Lorna)

Preparing Instructors for Quality Online Instruction. Yang & Cornelious, Spring 2005. Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration, Volume VIII, Number I; State University of West Georgia, Distance Education Center.
This paper has a great section on communication titled "Developing an Interactive Online Teaching-Learning Community." In a nutshell, the key to a rewarding class for instructors and students both lies in creating community. There are three levels of community: (a) making on-line acquaintances or friends; (b) building community conferment, which is like a membership card for the community of learners. This level requires online learners to be part of a long, thoughtful, threaded discussion on a subject; and (c) camaraderie, which was achieved after long-term and/or intense association with others involving personal communication (from Brown 2001). Effective tools include e-mail, listserv, threaded discussion, and chat room. Of course, the technology is changing fast but the underlying principles remain relatively constant. (research & review by Peter)

Online Discussion Tutor Tips
eLearning and Online Tutoring Support Materials for UK eUniversities, (no date), "How to be an eTutor”, [online] available from http://www.jd.org/lmd/app_root/level2/lmd_tutor.htm ,[Accessed Feb. 23, 2008]

Although this website is not an academic paper and was developed as tutor support material, it contains many useful and creative ideas for starting, moderating, managing, and how to get students to participate in online discussions.
(submitted by Lea)

http://www.scribd.com/doc/12389/On-Micromedia-Microlearning?ga_related_doc=1
Added by Doug: Let me be the first to add this splendid view of the future culled from an MCC email sent by Jennifer Waters. A unique interpretation of what on-line education is becoming. It considers it to be a much more comprehensive approach than simply using a bunch of tools. However, we have to know what the tools are and how to use them - hence CIS237.

Angelique Davi, Mark Frydenberg, and Girish J. Gulati, Blogging Across the Disciplines: Integrating Technology to Enhance Liberal Learning. Merlot Journal of Online Learning and Teaching, Vol. 3, No.3, September 2007. http://jolt.merlot.org/vol3no3/frydenberg.htm Posted by Kay from CIS237.
Researchers used the same assignment and assessment tool in three different courses (across disciplines) and in all cases they found that requiring students to complete assigned readings and respond on a course blog to posted discussion questions in advance of in-class discussion had the effect of engaging students and creating enhanced classroom discussion.
The article provides good information about the technical aspects of blogs (including the use of RSS to manage communication of content) and the value of blogging as a pedagogical tool to provide real benefits to a course. The study gives evidence that use of blogs serves to engage all students, even those not likely to volunteer comments in a face-to-face discussion.
Comment from Doug: I'm going to try this during the summer, if I can figure out how to run a class blog on Blackboard. I'm looking for ways to get students to open up and identify their areas of ignorance. They are usually happy to tell another student they don't know something. I'm anticipating that all bloggers will remain anonymous.

Community

v.clarksanchez — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 16:54:56 CST

Building a Learning Community Online by Chris Waters http://www.techlearning.com/story/showArticle.php?articleID=17301672
Comments by Victoria
This article is by a high school math teacher, who makes the point that developing a community of learners is more important in some fields than in others. Some fields, like math, lend themselves more to individual students relating directly to the material, and community building may detract or distract from learning. He acknowledges that there will be some students in almost any class, however, that benefit from group and pair work, blogs, wikis, personal pages, and other community building elements. Like in face-to-face teaching, "Differentiation in pedagogy is ideal as it pushes every student to the extent of his/her abilities."

Learning from Reflections - Issues in Building Quality Online Courses http://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/fall63/deubel63.htm
Patricia Deubel, Ph.D.
Nova Southeastern University
Comments by Victoria
This is a well-researched article with about fifty references at the end. The author covers a range of topics from instructional design to assignments to building community to closure to teaching an online course that someone else designed. Deubel cites quantitative and qualitative research that has been done that gives some insight into what students tend to expect from online courses, and what causes attrition. The references seem to stop at 2003, so it is possible that things have changed since the research was done, as this is a field that is changing quickly. I liked the specifics on web design: "Good web pages contain highly relevant material, are updated often, require minimal download time, are easy to navigate (Nielson, 1999), and are designed simply (Otto, 2002). Designers might benefit from the comprehensive research-based web design and usability guidelines of the National Cancer Institute (www.usability.gov/guidelines/) and The Web Design Group (www.htmlhelp.com)."

Greg's Page

gpratt — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 18:31:45 CST

Greg Pratt
Social Sciences Department
Mesa Community College
1833 W Southern Ave.
Mesa, Az 85283
Phone: (480) 206-1139

E-Mail: gpratt@mail.mc.maricopa.edu
Professional Web Site http://ww.mc.maricopa.edu/~gpratt/

Hi, my name is Greg Pratt and I teach economics at Mesa Community College in Mesa, Arizona. My teaching takes me from the classroom to the online world as I teach macro and micro economics, international trade and US economic history. Since 1995 I have attempted to effectively use instructional technologies in the classroom and in cyberspace. While not facilitating student learning I enjoy reading, running and resting. I am currently reading Alan Greenspan’s The Age of Turbulence which is a sobering view of the impact of globalization.

I teach Macroeconomics and Microeconomics Principles, Economic History of the US and the World Economy and has over twenty-five years experience in education.

I have been a high school teacher and have taught at the community college level since 1984.

I earned BS and MBA degrees from Arizona State University where I has taught undergraduate economics classes.

I am currently enrolled in the Graduate Certificate Program in E-Learning and Online Teaching at the University of Wisconsin.

I began teaching online in 1995 at Mesa Community College and has developed for online instruction and taught the four economics classes that form the basis of the economics program at MCC.

Prior to his work my higher education, I worked as a commercial loan officer for a regional bank headquartered in Arizona and as a tax auditor for the City of Scottsdale.

I had a swell time running in the 32 annual New Times 10k on Nov. 11, 2007.

I was born in Cleveland, Ohio. My father was completing work for his doctorate at Western Reserve University. 30 years later, my daughter received her masters from the now Case-Western Univerisity.

Shabana's Page

rrodrigo — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 18:18:42 CST

Week 5
Legalities by Shabana
I love the way Burgstahler described disability in her above article. “Disability is just one of many characteristics that an individual might possess. Others include height, age, race, native language, ethnicity, and gender. All of the potential characteristics of participants, including disability, should be considered when developing a distance learning course. Just as architects design buildings used by everyone, including those who use wheelchairs, distance learning designers should create learning environments that allow all potential students and instructors to access course content and fully participate in activities.”
Suggested universal design proposed by the author is amazing and useful for people with and without disabilities.
I think the initial step to be familiar with the resources for ADA compliance is to know what we have in our own institute. Disability Resources and Services (DRS) at S&D campus of MCC http://www.mc.maricopa.edu/students/disability/ provides comprehensive services for students with disabilities. ADA compliant academic adjustments are available for students with different conditions (blindness, visual impairment, deafness, hearing impairment, traumatic brain injury, or other health-related/systemic disabilities).
I agree with Linda here that asking the right question from the beginning can spare a student’s time and energies toward the right direction. The most important part of an instructor is to explain and describe the presence of disability resources to students on the very first day of class and then to be familiar with the 34 pages Faculty Resource Guide: http://www.mc.maricopa.edu/students/disability/forms/facultyguide.doc
Available services for students with disabilities at MCC include telecommunication device for the deaf, brailler, visual enlarger (b & w and colored), FM assistive listening devices, tape recorders, and loaner wheelchair and crutches. Services for psychological and psychiatric conditions like extended time, quite area are also available. The punitive style of accommodating a student with disability is not a solution at all. We need to be accommodating and retaining to enhance a required learning environment in f2f or online class for students with disabilities. It is also important to understand that each individual is unique with ones unique condition and a uniform formula cannot be applicable for each individual case.
Following article by Sheryl Burgstahler and colleagues is another good resource for the topic.
Steps Toward Making Distance Learning Accessible To Students And Instructors With Disabilities
Information Technology and Disabilities E-Journal, Vol. XI No. 1 August, 2005
The focus of this paper is students AND instructors with disabilities. The authors of this article discussed the policies, implementation, guidelines according to section 508 standards, dissemination, delivery and accessibility of a universal design that could benefit students and instructors with disabilities at University of Washington. It is expected that policies and procedures discussed in this article can lead further programs and accommodations for students and instructors with disabilities at other institutes.

ADA Compliance by Shabana
It is surprizing to know that the international DO-IT Center at University of Washington
http://www.washington.edu/doit/
is putting so much effort in promoting research, productivity, and participation of students with disabilities. I have heard from different mental health professionals that many people with disabilities join community colleges due to different reasons. I would suggest that teachers' training workshops in ADA compliance should be prioritized in community colleges along with other professional development opportunities. I am looking forward for the ADA compliant course material workshop here at MCC in spring.

Week 4: Assessments and Evaluations

Learning and assessment of learning is a complex process and becomes more complex for online assessment. Cheating and plagiarism have become big issues for distance learning and educators are focusing on different ways to reduce them.

Following is a worth reading article on the topic which provides valuable suggestions to minimize cheating in online student assessment. Cheating in Online Students Assessment: Beyond Plagiarism http://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/summer72/rowe72.html
The author says that online assessment has a narrower bandwidth than classroom assessment (instructors cannot watch students work, for instance) and this might make cheating easier. Three most common problems involved in online cheating are: Problem 1: Getting assessment answers in advance Problem 2: Unfair retaking of assessments Problem 3: Unauthorized help during the assessment Different suggestions have been provided to prevent online assessment cheating. As far as my experience is concerned I have not encoutered any issue of cheating may be due to nature of assessment. For quizzes, I give them open book exam and do not totally rely on these quizzes.

Another resource on rules of assessment and evaluations can be useful while planning and delivering an online assessment. http://www.iuk.edu/~koctla/assessment/9principles.shtml
9 Principles of Good Practice for Assessing Student Learning
1. The assessment of student learning begins with educational values.
2. Assessment is most effective when it reflects an understanding of learning as multidimensional, integrated, and revealed in performance over time.
3. Assessment works best when the programs it seeks to improve have clear, explicitly stated purposes.
4. Assessment requires attention to outcomes but also and equally to the experiences that lead to those outcomes.
5. Assessment works best when it is ongoing, not episodic.
6. Assessment fosters wider improvement when representatives from across the educational community are involved.
7. Assessment makes a difference when it begins with issues of use and illuminates questions that people really care about.
8. Assessment is most likely to lead to improvement when it is part of a larger set of conditions that promote change.
9. Through assessment, educators meet responsibilities to students and to the public.

End of Week 4 Posting

Week 3: Online Communications

http://www.ion.illinois.edu/resources/tutorials/communication/chat.asp
The above site posted by Linda and Shelley is an excellent resource for online communications. It’s a good idea to debrief individual students after turning in assignment if you suspect plagiarism, however, it’s really time consuming and still you don’t know who is at the other end. I mean it is still an issue in distance learning to identify who is taking a quiz at the other end. Any strategy or tip to control the issue?

To learn more about online communications I found the following resource very beneficial. http://www.lts.rmit.edu.au/renewal/onlcomm/
Information for online communications provided on the page is really helpful for a novice as well as an expert in distance learning. The following (and more on the web page) questions have been addressed and answered for distance learners and teachers.

What is online communication?
Online communication allows for communication anywhere and anytime at any place. It can decrease isolation and facilitate the learning process. A sense of community can be achieved via asynchronous and synchronous communication. Forums or threaded discussions give the students an opportunity to communicate and collaborate, allowing time to think, reflect and write in their own time.

Why use online communications?

flexibility of access anywhere, anytime
student interaction
enhancement and complements face to face educational activities
prompt and efficient feedback
sharing of information including electronic files
a sense of group community among students.
group task accomplishment
collaborative learning and problem-solving
peer review and tutoring
opportunities for critical and creative thinking
opportunities to develop written communication skills

Threaded discussions can be used to:

provide opportunities for interaction and communication
provide flexible assessment and performance feedback
provide quality learning resources
provide academic, administration and learner support

Examples of online communications

Online communication examples could include
Threaded discussions (asynchronous)
Realtime chat (synchronous)
Role plays
Simulations
Case studies
Guest speakers
Debates
Group activities
Interaction via alias

See the page for more about online activities.

(End of new posting)

Week 2:
Getting Started: For Students

In my previous comments on Shelley's page, I talked a little bit about what I do for my students getting started an online course (sending a detalied welcome message a week before the classes begin) and what I "will" add in my welcome message. While exploring the web for the topic, the following page caught my attention for some additional useful tips for students while starting a course.
http://www.distancelearning.org/howtosucceed.html
This page is established by Florida Community College and the term "Netiquette" is used for online classroom conduct or online manners. It describes the standards of academic communication which I believe is very important to maintain a clean academic online class communication. For example, using appropriate language while writng to instructor or students, avoiding capital letters in messages as Shelley pin pointed earlier, not replying to all when not required etc. The issue of proper gramer and spelling has been addressed. However, the Issue of using/not using emoticons has not been addressed (Linda, you can decide about it o:). I would like to add some of these communication rules in my getting started welcome message.

Getting Started: For Instructors

I agree more than 100% with Conrad's comments that, "instructors are judged on the clarity and completeness with which their course details are presented [at the beginning of an online course]." In view of an instructors role while developing and starting a distance leaning course I found the following URL very helpful and would recommend others to read while planning/developing an online course: http://teachvu.vu.msu.edu/public/pedagogy/fully_online/index.php?page_num=2
The need for expalining course policies, and maintaining individual teaching style is emphasized in this URL. The URL emphasized that while planning a distance learning course, an instructor should think of a f2f class that he/she conducts and then plan the online class in the same pattern. For example, while discussing Erikson's stage of generativity in my f2f class, I share my experience of an elderly/middle-aged-hero who has left a legacy or positive impact in my life. The objective of this sharing is to facilitate class interaction. I try to maintain the same pattern in my online course for an interactive classroom environment and it really works. I will be looking forward for further comments and feedback about helpful tips given in these two web pages.

Web-Based Teaching & Learning - Recently Updated Pages

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MCC online economics

Previous Meeting Agendas

Previous Meeting Minutes

Current improvement in online economics

Copyright

Assessessment & Evaluation

Getting Started

Course Syllabus & Policies

CIS237

FERPA

ADA

Home

Welcome!

Topics & Issues Related to Web-Based Teaching & Learning

First Week/Introduction Activities

Browser Add-Ons

Week 1

Doug's Page

Legalities

Communications

Community

Greg's Page

Greg Pratt
Social Sciences Department
Mesa Community College
1833 W Southern Ave.
Mesa, Az 85283
Phone: (480) 206-1139

E-Mail: gpratt@mail.mc.maricopa.edu
Professional Web Site http://ww.mc.maricopa.edu/~gpratt/

Shabana's Page

Web-Based Teaching & Learning - Recently Updated Pages

Avatars

MCC online economics

Previous Meeting Agendas

Previous Meeting Minutes

Current improvement in online economics

Copyright

Assessessment & Evaluation

Getting Started

Course Syllabus & Policies

CIS237

FERPA

ADA

Home

Welcome!

Topics & Issues Related to Web-Based Teaching & Learning

First Week/Introduction Activities

Browser Add-Ons

Week 1

Doug's Page

Legalities

Communications

Community

Greg's Page

Greg Pratt Social Sciences Department Mesa Community College 1833 W Southern Ave. Mesa, Az 85283 Phone: (480) 206-1139 E-Mail: gpratt@mail.mc.maricopa.edu Professional Web Site http://ww.mc.maricopa.edu/~gpratt/

Shabana's Page

Greg Pratt
Social Sciences Department
Mesa Community College
1833 W Southern Ave.
Mesa, Az 85283
Phone: (480) 206-1139

E-Mail: gpratt@mail.mc.maricopa.edu
Professional Web Site http://ww.mc.maricopa.edu/~gpratt/