Spectrum Newsletter

Microteaching

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 08:38:31 -0500

What is microteaching?

Why wait for student evaluations to receive feedback on teaching practices? Microteaching provides an opportunity for faculty and teaching assistants to improve their teaching practices through a “teach, critique, re-teach” model. Microteaching is valuable for both new and experienced faculty to hone their teaching practices. It is often used in pre-service teacher training programs to provide additional experience before or during the clinical experiences.

Microteaching is a concentrated, focused form of peer feedback and discussion that can improve teaching strategies. It was developed in the early and mid 1960's by Dwight Allen and his colleagues at the Stanford Teacher Education Program (Politzer, 1969). The microteaching program was designed to prepare the students for their internships in the fall. In this early version of microteaching, pre-service teachers at Stanford taught part-time to a small group of pupils (usually 4 to 5). The pupils were high school students who were paid volunteers and represented a cross-section of the types of students the pre-service teachers would be faced with during their internships.

Why use microteaching?

Microteaching has several benefits. Because the lessons are so short (usually 5 to 10 minutes), they have to focus on specific strategies. This means that someone participating in a microteaching session can get feedback on specific techniques he or she is interested in exploring. In a pre-service or training situation, participants can practice a newly learned technique in isolation rather than working that technique into an entire lesson (Vare, 1993).

Microteaching is also an opportunity to experiment with new teaching techniques. Rather than trying something new with a real class, microteaching can be a laboratory to experiment and receive feedback, first (Kuhn, 1968).

How does micro-teaching work?

In the classic Stanford model, each participant teaches a short lesson, generally 5 to 10 minutes, to a small group. The "students" may be actual students like in the original Stanford program or they may be peers playing the role of students. In the case of pre-service teachers and teaching assistants, there generally is at least one “expert”, as well. If desired, the session can be videotaped for review at a later date (Vare, 1993).

The presentation is followed by a feedback session. In some cases, the feedback session can be followed by a re-teach, so that the faculty has an opportunity to practice the improvements suggested during feedback (Vare, 1993).

Giving Feedback

Receiving criticism is difficult for everyone. Setting a tone of respect and professionalism may help participants to be tactful and to keep feedback constructive. Here is an example of ground rules used by the CASTL program at California State University (http://fdc.fullerton.edu/learning/CASTL/carnegie_microteaching_materials.htm):

Ground Rules

Respect confidentiality concerning what we learn about each other.
Respect agreed-upon time limits. This may be hard, but please understand that it is necessary.
Maintain collegiality. We’re all in this together.
Stay psychologically and physically present and on task.
Respect others’ attempts to experiment and to take risks.
Listen and speak in turn, so everyone can hear all comments.
Enjoy and learn from the process!

Feedback should be constructive and based on observation, rather than judgments. A good example of feedback is "You fidget with your pen while talking, and that is distracting," rather than "You seem nervous and unprepared." The first comment is about observable behavior, while the second is a judgment about what that behavior means.

Commenting on observable behavior also leads to suggestions for improvement. Again, using our pen example, a better example of feedback would be "You fidget with your pen while talking. Perhaps it would be better to keep a hand in your pocket."

In the Stanford model, feedback was given using a 2+2 system. Each participant started his/her feedback with two positive comments, followed by two suggestions for improvement. This gives the faculty a sense of his or her strengths as well as areas of improvement.

How can microteaching be used?

The most common application for microteaching is in pre-service teacher training, like the original Stanford model. However, that certainly isn’t the only application. Microteaching has also been used to train teaching assistants and new faculty on teaching methods. Even experienced faculty members can refine their teaching techniques using microteaching.

A similar technique, microrehearsal, has been used to train prospective music conductors (Kuhn, 1968). Like microteaching, the students conduct a 5 to 10 minute rehearsal with sample musicians. Following the rehearsal, the musicians provide feedback on the prospective conductor’s rehearsal technique.

Microteaching techniques can also be used in other fields. In business, microteaching can be used to focus on presentation skills, persuasion and negotiation techniques, and interviewing techniques. In counseling and social work, microteaching can be used to hone questioning skills as well as active listening skills. It also applies outside of the classroom. For example, departments like Career Service can use microteaching techniques to prepare students for job interviews.

Ultimately, microteaching is a useful technique for teaching soft skills, presentation skills, and interpersonal skills. This focused approach encourages growth through practice and critique. The “teach, critique, re-teach” model gives the faculty immediate feedback and increases retention by providing an opportunity for practice.

References

Kuhn, W. (1968). Holding a Monitor up to Life: Microteaching. Music Educators Journal, 55(4), 49-53.

Politzer, R. (1969). Microteaching: A New Approach to Teacher Training and Research. Hispania, 52(2), 244-248.

Vare, J. W. (1993). Co-Constructing the Zone: A Neo-Vygotskian View of Microteaching. Retrieved January 23, 2009, from http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/contentdelivery/servlet/ERICServlet?accno=ED360285.

http://www.ln.edu.hk/tlc/learning_matters/01-99-0399.pdf

http://fdc.fullerton.edu/learning/CASTL/carnegie_microteaching_materials.htm

Using Audio Feedback to Promote Teaching Presence

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 08:35:26 -0500

What does a faculty member do in order to be present in the classroom? The answers to this question may seem obvious; show up for class, lead class activities and discussion, and assess student learning, to name a few. Such in-person interactions have been a benchmark of quality instruction for years and are usually indicative of smaller, discussion-based classes. But when class sizes are larger or when courses are transformed to blended or fully online formats, how can the same quality of dialogue and connections among students and faculty be maintained? Let's explore the tenets of an engaging learning environment and one possible approach for connecting on a personal and meaningful level with students despite class size or format.

No matter the discipline or subject matter, a primary goal of many faculty is to foster an engaging learning environment that promotes critical thinking and application among students. As students exchange ideas with faculty and are challenged to deepen their understanding, opportunities for authentic knowledge construction and enriched application often result. Garrison, Anderson, and Archer (2001) refer to such a collaborative and constructive educational experience as a Community of Inquiry (COI) whereby three key elements crucial to the success of any learning endeavor are highlighted: cognitive presence, social presence, and teaching presence.

The role of the faculty member is vital to developing a Community of Inquiry (COI) and the overall success of the course. Specific tasks such as selecting course content, setting the climate of the online community, and supporting discourse throughout the course all take place within the interplay of the cognitive, social, and teaching activities. Let’s now take a closer look at each of the key components that comprise the COI and then explore the use of audio feedback to promote teaching presence.

Social Presence

Social presence is defined as, "The ability of participants in the community of inquiry to project their personal characteristics into the community, thereby presenting themselves to the other participants as ‘real people’" (Garrison, Anderson, & Archer, 2000, p. 89). In blended or online course environments, developing social presence can be more challenging than in more traditional face-to-face environments and yet is equally important to the overall success of the learning experience. Social presence is the pathway whereby cognitive presence is developed. As faculty and students cultivate social presence in a course through meaningful dialogue, deepened analysis and application of course concepts can take place.

Cognitive Presence

Cognitive presence categorizes the intellectual processes of an educational experience and refers to the degree to which participants in any community of inquiry are able to construct meaning through sustained communication (Garrison et al., 2000). Involving the higher-order thinking processes and knowledge acquisition associated with critical thinking, cognitive presence in the learning community is shaped as learners reflect upon their learning experiences and incorporate insights into their collaborations (Garrison, 2003; Garrison et al., 2001). The experience of actively engaging with the concepts of learning in both a self-reflective fashion internally as well as exploring and refining understanding in community is one benchmark of quality learning experiences.

Teaching Presence

Teaching presence refers to functions within the learning experience often performed by the instructor, including the design and facilitation of the educational experience (Garrison et al., 2000). These roles need not be limited to simply the instructor, as students can also exhibit teaching presence in the course through such activities as leading group discussion assignments of collecting and sharing instructional resources. In fact, Rourke and Anderson (2002) found that students actually preferred peer teams leading online discussion as compared to the course instructor.

Students have indicated that exemplary faculty are those who create a learning climate that includes strong elements of social, cognitive, and teaching presence (Perry & Edwards, 2005). Especially in blended or online learning environments marked by significant reliance on computer-mediated communication, the necessity for teaching presence is amplified. Pawan, Paulus, Yalcin, and Chang (2003) found that without the instructor’s definitive teaching presence and modeling of collaborative discussion contributions, learner discussions primarily consisted of low-level cognitive interactions. While there certainly is a place for such cognitively insignificant postings in the creation of the social climate, the ultimate goal should be for learners to engage in high-level thinking and communication of new knowledge gained in a way that stimulates the learning experience for all members of the community.

Students expect to be reciprocated for their efforts (Aviv, Erlich, & Ravid, 2005). The faculty member’s influence within the educational experience is crucial to ensuring that communication flows freely and that dialogue proceeds in a collegial and responsive fashion. As the faculty member sets the climate for the dialogue to take place, the expectations established help guide the interactions of all members of the learning community. It is through purposeful development of social, cognitive, and teaching presence faculty can connect in meaningful ways with students no matter the class size or format.

Why Audio Feedback?

For many years faculty have relied solely on textual comments for providing feedback to students. These comments often take the form of handwritten notes in hard copy form on written assignments of all kinds as well as written feedback on project rubrics or evaluation forms. Convenient and accessible to the vast majority of students, such comments often highlight strengths and weaknesses in student performance and provide specific suggestions for improvement. With the development of electronic assignment submission tools within learning management systems like Blackboard, students can now submit written assignments and projects electronically, allowing faculty more options for reviewing student work and providing feedback. No longer must feedback be provided in hard copy form as such written comments can be embedded electronically within submitted student files.

Yet, textual feedback, particularly in the context of a blended or online course, can lack rich detail and tone. Whereas face-to-face learning environments provide ample opportunity for students to hear the "voice" of the instructor and ask questions seeking further clarification, such interactive experiences are more difficult to foster in the online learning environment. Faculty often attempt the time-consuming task of providing detailed written comments to student work submitted electronically while longing for a more efficient and personable way to provide meaningful and personal feedback to students. As textual forms of communication dominate current electronic communications, opportunities to engage auditory and kinesthetic learners ought to be cultivated.

Easy-to-use audio and video technologies are available to faculty who seek to provide alternative forms of feedback beyond simple text. While text feedback is still by far the most accessible to learners, audio and video capabilities are becoming commonplace among learners today and many are growing to expect and appreciate when such media are incorporated to enrich feedback. Ice, Swan, Kupczynski, and Richardson (2008) studied the impact of asynchronous audio feedback in an online course and noted the following:

Students perceived audio feedback to be more effective than text-based feedback for conveying nuance.
Audio feedback was associated with feelings of increased involvement and enhanced learning community interactions.
Audio feedback was associated with increased retention of content.
Audio feedback was associated with the perception that the instructor cared more about the student.

In addition, Ice (2008) reported that students were far more likely to apply content for which they received audio feedback than content for which text-based feedback was received and at significantly higher cognitive levels. This supports the rationale the audio feedback can enhance textual feedback and serve as a viable alternative.

Approaches to Using Audio Feedback

Faculty have numerous options when considering incorporating audio feedback to enrich the quality of the feedback provided to students. With an affordable microphone connected to a computer, faculty can take a number of different simple approaches to adding audio feedback to student assignments, including but not limited to, the following:

Audio Comments in Microsoft Word

Microsoft Word allows for the insertion of voice comments in any Word document. In Word 2002 and 2003, simply click the drop-down arrow of the New Comment button on the Reviewing toolbar and select Voice comment. This opens the Sound Object dialog box for you to record your comment. In Word 2007, add the Voice Comment button to the Quick Access toolbar using the following steps and then insert comments as described above:

Click the Office Button.
Click the Word Options button.
Click Customize.
Click the drop-down arrow of the Choose Commands From box and select Commands Not In Ribbon.
Scroll to and select Insert Voice.
Click the Add button, and then click OK.

Several drawbacks to using the audio commenting features in Microsoft Word exist. Some include the requirement of using Microsoft Word as well as the fact that depending on the number and length of audio comments included, the size of the file can become too large to email or return electronically to the student in Blackboard. This presents obvious challenges and therefore should only be considered for very brief audio commenting.

Audio Comments Using Adobe Acrobat Professional

For more extensive audio commenting in electronic documents, a more feasible option is to use the embedded audio features of Adobe Acrobat Professional. Similar to adding audio comments using Microsoft Word, faculty can record and embed audio comments resulting in considerably smaller file sizes than resulting from the same approach with Microsoft Word. Faculty would need a license of Adobe Acrobat Professional in order to convert submitted files to PDF and record audio comments in the files, while students only need the free Adobe Acrobat Reader software to open the commented files. Details on academic pricing for Adobe Acrobat Professional are available from ITS.

Audio/Video Feedback Using Jing

Perhaps the most versatile and affordable approach is to use a capture program such as the free Jing in order to record audio feedback while viewing electronically submitted work from students. These short video recordings, also often referred to as "screencasts," can include cursor movement, typing, or other on-screen activity as well as narration.

After downloading Jing from http://www.jingproject.com and installing on either a Windows or Mac computer, faculty simply can launch Jing and then open an electronically-submitted file, select a window or region, and begin recording. Jing records all on-screen activity and narration, allowing the faculty the freedom to virtually review students’ work, showing where in the assignment improvement is necessary. Such an approach can be used for any type of electronically-submitted assignment or project and is not restricted to only written assignments. Once finished recording, Jing compresses it into a Flash.swf file that faculty can either save and then return to the student via Blackboard or upload to the free Jing server and receive a link to the video file that can then be sent to the student.

As the available technology continues to advance, numerous additional approaches are sure to become available in the future for enhancing the quality of feedback for students. No matter what approach is ultimately selected, an improved educational experience for students will result.

Learn More

The Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center offers a variety of programs regarding the principles and practices of incorporating media in teaching. The current program schedule and online registration information is available at http://www.niu.edu/facdev/programs/fscurrent.shtml

References:

Aviv, R., Erlich, Z., & Ravid, G. (2005). Reciprocity analysis of online learning networks. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, 9(4), 3-13.

Garrison, D. R. (2003). Cognitive presence for effective asynchronous online learning: The role of reflective inquiry, self-direction and metacognition. In J. Bourne & J. C. Moore (Eds.), Elements of quality online education: Practice and direction. Needham, MA: The Sloan Consortium.

Garrison, D. R., Anderson, T., & Archer, W. (2000). Critical inquiry in a text-based environment: Computer conferencing in higher education. The Internet and Higher Education, 2(2-3), 87-105.

Garrison, D. R., Anderson, T., & Archer, W. (2001). Critical thinking, cognitive presence, and computer conferencing in distance education. American Journal of Distance Education, 15(1).

Ice, P. (2008). Better learning with sites and sound. Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved December 3, 2008, from http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2008/12/03/audio

Ice, P., Swan, K., Kupczynski, L., & Richardson, J. (2008). The impace of asynchronous audio feedback on teaching and social presence: A survey of current research. Paper presented at the ED-MEDIA 2008 - World Conference on Educational Multimedia & Telecommunications.

Pawan, F., Paulus, T. M., Yalcin, S., & Chang, C. (2003). Online learning: Patterns of engagement and interactions among in-service teachers. Language Learning & Technology, 7(3), 119-140.

Perry, B., & Edwards, M. (2005). Exemplary online educators: Creating a community of inquiry. Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education, 6(2).

Rourke, L., & Anderson, T. (2002). Using peer teams to lead online discussion. Journal of Interactive Media in Education, (1). Retrieved July 17, 2007, from http://www-jime.open.ac.uk/2002/1/

Teaching Through Key Questions

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 08:28:58 -0500

Asking students challenging and thought-provoking questions encourages students to tap their existing mental models and build upon previous knowledge. Faculty can ask key questions to get students to see the relevance of a topic. In turn, it is hoped that students will then ask follow-up questions, engaging in dialogue while critically analyzing viewpoints shared. Therefore, by encouraging students to ask questions faculty provide opportunities for students to become actively engaged in the learning process while also developing valuable metacognitive skills that will benefit them the rest of their lives.

This article shares tips for designing and asking effective questions, during the beginning, middle and end of class, as well as asking questions outside of class.

Tips for Designing and Asking Effective Questions

In his powerful book, The Craft of Teaching, Kenneth E. Eble (1988) shows the essential connection between "the art of asking questions" with meaningful class discussions (p. 88). Eble suggests "three cardinal principles" when forming questions:

"Ask real questions even though they may seem off-hand, simple, or imprecise." Avoid using stock questions that fail to match course content and worst of all, your teaching style. Instead, form questions that are related to course content, current and ongoing discussions, and ones that are interesting to your students. Finding students’ interests can be achieved through an early course survey and more intimate classroom discussions.

"Be ingeniously responsive to the students' answers and questions." Class conversations, as Eble suggests, should be accepting of all points of view, whether or not the answer is correct, "vague, wandering, irritating, or whatever" (1988, p. 89). In other words, everyone should feel comfortable answering questions without fear of ridicule, non-acceptance, or laughter. This is especially important when asking questions in a classroom of diverse learners. Some students not educated in western cultures may not be comfortable answering questions they learned by listening to more autocratic instructors and did not ask questions because doing so questioned the authority of the instructor. Other students could have learning disabilities or are fearful of speaking in class. It is important, then, to create a learning environment in which you welcome and encourage questions. Model your expectations at the beginning of the semester and provide examples of ways you expect questions to be asked and answered. "Never deliberately ignore a question or demean the questioner" (Eble, 1988, p. 89). If class time is coming to an end and you feel students have questions yet to ask, have them write the questions on a note card that they submit before leaving class. You can address these questions at the beginning of the next class period or comment directly on the card which you can return to the student.
"Try to achieve a rhythm in a series of questions so that the group arrives at moments of larger understanding." Prepare a series of questions that begin with less complicated content that eventually leads to more complex content. Present questions with just enough information to encourage students to think deeply and form a meaningful answer. Instead of expecting one person to answer the question, ask students to pair up and discuss the question and prepare a shared answer. This allows them to talk about and share their collective knowledge with the class.

Avoid using language that is ambiguous or not yet relevant to course content. Do not assume students know the "terminology du jour." Asking vague questions by virtue of ambiguous or out-of-context language may elicit vague answers. Therefore, "questions should be definite and unmistakable" (Eble, 1988, p. 90, citing Fitch).

The following tips and techniques have been compiled from of a number of sources (see references) that provide ways to prepare and deliver effective questions in the classroom. Although this list is not exhaustive, the points provide a range of ways to integrate questions in the classroom. The list begins with preparing questions and ends with ways questions can be used outside the classroom.

Preparing Questions

First and foremost, design course goals and learning objectives to help students achieve what you want them to learn. Once course goals and objectives have been developed you can begin to prepare complementary and effective questions.
Get acquainted with your students so you can customize questions that challenge them to think more critically about course content to help them learn. This does not mean that you must scrap the foundations, key concepts and content that drives your course. It means, however, that you can meet your students along the way to challenge the knowledge they bring to the classroom and to present content through questions that is useful and relevant to them.

Questions at the Beginning of Class

Arrive early to help students who have questions about previous lectures, readings and exam preparation.
Begin the semester the very first class, by asking students the type of questions you plan to ask throughout the semester. This will set the stage for the class, and help students form more complete impressions and establish expectations.
Begin the class with a key question. Assume that students who come to your class are interested in being there. “Hook” students with a question based on what they know (through readings and course content, by virtue of their academic level, freshmen versus seniors, or by their major). This key question can be the foundation upon which they can "hang" further concepts (facts and content). The key question can be projected on the screen as students enter the room or asked as soon as the class begins. Here are a few key question examples:

"How will the proposed economic stimulus package affect you as a college student?"
"Why should we be concerned about melting arctic ice?"
"How will your successful completion of this class prepare you to enter the work force?"

Ask provocative questions to energize students into saying something. Keep the topic relevant to the course and be prepared for discussions that could begin to get divergent. Know when to draw the line on discussions that veer from the question or when students dominate the discussion at the expense of others. Here are examples of provocative questions from Ken Bain's book:

"Why did some societies get in boats and go bother other people while others stayed at home and tended to their own affairs?"
"Why are human beings occasionally willing to leave home and hearth and march off into the wilderness, desert, or jungle and kill each other in large numbers?"
"Why are some people poor and other people rich?"
"How does your brain work?"
"What is the chemistry of life?"
"Can people improve their basic intelligence?"

Tell stories about your life, your friends, and other people that provide meaning to the topic of the day. Stories can provide the springboard some students might need to ask questions. For example, as an instructor in a University Experience class, you could tell the story of your first experiences away at college and that you were academically dismissed for poor grades. This personal story might compel students to ask questions about study skills, time management and taking exams.

Questions During Class

Teach with the notion that students are naturally curious and have them “develop an intrinsic interest that guides their quest for knowledge, and an intrinsic interest?that can diminish in the face of extrinsic rewards and punishments that appear to manipulate their focus (Bain, 2004, pp. 46-47). In other words, provide content in such a way that students can see how it can be used in their professions and the relevance of course content to job-related skills. Provide meaningful comments on graded papers and exams show them the "why" so they can learn "how" to improve.
Be aware of how you present questions. Do you ask questions in a friendly or authoritative manner? What is the purpose of asking questions? Do you want your students to learn from the question or are you asking the question just because?
Avoid schooling where bulimic learners (Bain, 2004, p. 40, citing Nelson) memorize facts and short-ranged information to later purge, making room for the next feeding (Bain, 2004, p. 41). This force fed competitive-type of schooling reduces students to be mere receptors of information to compete for grades and have little interest in learning something new.
Incorporate relevant vocabulary when responding to a student’s question. For example, when a student asks why her computer is not operating as fast as it had been, you can tell her that she might need more ROM. The student can then ask, "What is ROM?" a question she would not have asked except in this context (the idea for this example was improvised from Bain, 2004, p. 104).
Ask students to bring one or two questions to class based on textbook readings or content covered in the previous class. Provide some sample questions to help students write meaningful questions. These questions can then be submitted (a good way to take attendance) and randomly addressed at the beginning of the class period or used to develop exam questions.
Avoid answering your own question. Once asked, give students a few seconds to form a good answer. If the first answer is not what you had expected, do not discount the effort the student has made. Instead, ask the student if they could re-phrase their answer or to elaborate a bit more. If they are still having some difficulty, ask another student to help form the correct answer. Ask questions that students can think for themselves (McComas & Abraham, 2004).
Engage other students by having them answer the question of one of their peers. It has been shown that students can learn from other students if given the opportunity to do so.

Questions at the End of Class

End the class by asking the students:

"What questions do you still have about today’s topic?"
"If you were to ask one last question, what would it be?"
"What was the muddiest point today?"
"What was the most meaningful point we covered today?"

These questions help the students to synthesize the information and draw conclusions. Their responses to one last question and muddiest point can be submitted for your review—you can address student issues at the beginning of the next class period or review to clarify content.

Make notes about how students responded to questions asked during the class as well as the type of questions students asked of you. These notes can help you prepare for and modify subsequent classes (Gross Davis, 1993 citing Kasulis).

Questions Outside the Classroom

Questions do not have to be limited to the classroom setting. You can ask specific questions related to textbook readings, homework and study. Meyers and Jones (1993) suggest that questions should fit into prospective classroom activities, model theories and approaches used in academic disciplines and professional careers, extend meaning to materials read or discussed previously, promote a critical analysis of the materials, and make the students think about how the text applies to their personal experiences (p. 128). Here is an example of such questioning:

Please take particular note of pages 13-14 of Kaisha's article in which he comments on decision-making in Japanese business. Recall our discussion of decision-making in the American auto industry last week. What comparisons and contrasts can you draw between the two approaches to decision making? We will be using these two approaches in a simulated decision-making exercise Thursday (Meyers and Jones, 1993, p. 129).

Other questions related to reading assignments can follow these examples:

What [material from] the chapter do you think we should review?
What item in the chapter surprised you?
What topic in the chapter can you apply to your own experience? (Meyers and Jones, 1993, p. 130 citing Gaede).

Summary

Using questions in the classroom can help students engage with course content, the instructor, and other students. Good instructor-generated questions can also guide students in developing better answers and help them to form questions of their own. For further information on using questions in the classroom setting, please contact Janet Giesen in Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center at giesen@niu.edu or 815.753.1085.

References

Bain, K. (2004). What the best college teachers do. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Eble, K. E. (1988). The craft of teaching (2nd.ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers. [Eble’s is a highly referenced book]

Gross Davis, B. (1993). Tools for teaching. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers.

Meyers, C., & Jones, T. B. (1993). Promoting active learning: Strategies for the college classroom. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

McComas, W. F., & Abraham, L. (2004). Asking more effective questions. http://www.usc.edu/programs/cet/private/pdfs/usc/Asking_Better_Questions.pdf

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Center for Teaching Excellence (2006). Levels and types of questions. http://www.oir.uiuc.edu/Did/docs/QUESTION/quest1.htm

Online Tutorials

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 08:27:25 -0500

Online tutorials can be an effective strategy to enhance teaching, whether instruction is entirely web-based, or supplements a traditional face-to-face class. While the design of online tutorials range from passive and basic to interactive and sophisticated, many times design decisions are made by costs, resource demand, and time considerations.

Simple web-based tutorials can be designed to display content in a text and/or image format. Students passively view website material much as they would read a textbook. Indeed, these tutorials have come to be labeled ‘electronic page turners’. A related format is the ubiquitous PowerPoint Slide presentation, requiring students to view slides in either a manual or automated manner. A voice narration can be added to enhance the experience, but ultimately, this type of tutorial demands minimal interaction from users.

Other online tutorials utilize technology that record all onscreen activity. An example is tutorials created with the Sympodium Smart panel display, an increasingly common item in on-campus smart classrooms. In addition to displaying PowerPoint slides, faculty can incorporate text, images, video, audio, and Flash-animated lessons. Faculty can also draw freehand shapes, equations, and figures. Most of the content can be manipulated (magnified, cloned, hidden, etc.). Several years ago, a math instructor at NIU developed a tutorial describing Inverse Trigonometric functions. Using the Smart Notebook software ‘Record’ feature on the Sympodium Smart panel display, the instructor was able to document a session writing out lesson notes (primarily mathematical equations) with an accompanying voice narration.

More recently, another faculty member used a similar technology to recreate the ‘Intro to the Course’ lesson, one of only three planned face-to-face sessions in a primarily online course. After the initial face-to-face class meeting was cancelled due to inclement weather, the faculty member developed a tour of the course website, which contained a myriad of elements. Every aspect of the tour was recorded, along with voice narration, as it would have occurred in the face-to-face classroom session. Figures 2 and 3 exhibit how an area of the website is zoomed in upon for added emphasis.

Other tools go beyond recording online activity. The software program ‘Articulate Engage’ allows faculty to develop tutorials that require a higher degree of student/content interaction. Using pre-designed templates, content can be presented in one of 10 different interaction styles including Process (allowing users to discover the steps of a linear process), labeled graphics (identifying the key elements of an image), and a timeline (discovering the events of a timeline).

Other than the selection and refinement of appropriate content, most of the tutorials mentioned in this article do not require a significant time or resource commitment to develop.

However, online tutorials can be quite sophisticated and comprehensive, demanding a high degree of interactivity from students. Tutorial features can include multiple layers of content, multimedia files, hyperlinks to relevant websites, quizzes, Flash-based games/instructional modules, and case studies with decision-branching sequences. While the quality can be exceptional, these tutorials ‘projects’ can be costly and time consuming, requiring a design team made up of content experts, instructional designers, artists and programmers. An example of this type of tutorial is the NIU Responsible Conduct of Research website that allows users access to participate in a series of online tutorials (www.niu.edu/rcrportal). Users can explore research integrity issues in the areas of data management, research mentoring, collaborative research, peer review, and authorship.

While there are resources on campus that can assist faculty to develop sophisticated and elegant online tutorials, staff in the Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center can assist instructors on developing basic, yet fairly interactive online tutorials. For information contact Faculty Development.

The Early Warning System in Blackboard

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 08:25:42 -0500

Early Warning System Rules

The Early Warning System is a Blackboard tool that can be used to monitor student progress in a course and alert faculty to possible performance problems among students. The tool can also be used to communicate those warnings to students themselves to let them know how their performance is being measured. Notification warnings can be generated based on a set of rules that take into account graded performance, late or missing course work, or attendance within the Blackboard course. For example, as shown on the picture below, a rule can be set up to generate a warning if there are any students in the course who scored below a certain percentage on a quiz or if some students have not logged in to the course for several days, or if students' assignments are past due.

The Early Warning System can monitor student activity according to three types of rules that faculty can set up for their course:

Grade Rule - This rule is based on the students’ grade for a particular assessment. It can be an automated Blackboard assessment such as a test, a survey, or a safe assignment, or a manually added assessment. Blackboard generates the warning notification based on the score entered into the Gradebook, whether the score is calculated automatically or entered manually.
Due Date Rule - This rule generates warning notifications based on specified due dates for assessments that are created and graded through Blackboard. It cannot be applied to manually graded assessments.
Last Access Rule - The last access rule generates a warning notification based on when students last accessed the Blackboard course.

Reviewing Alerts and Notifying Users

Once the Early Warning System rules have been created, faculty must check the Early Warning System periodically and click the Refresh button to discover incidents of student performance that trigger warning notifications. The Early Warning System does not continuously monitor the course; it must be done by the faculty.

The Early Warning System consolidates warning notifications based on the rules and allows faculty to easily address problems to students. Faculty can specify which notification warnings they want to communicate to students and they have control over the message each time a warning is sent. Faculty can use the default message generated by Blackboard or they can modify the message to more accurately communicate the seriousness of the situation.

Blackboard maintains a Notification Log of all the Early Warning System messages that have been sent to students in the course. The Notification Log, which lists statistics by individual student, is searchable and can be used to verify that a student was alerted to a problem.

The Early Warning System is a helpful feature in Blackboard that allows faculty to monitor student performance proactively based on attendance, student assessment, and assessment due dates. The Early Warning System is an extension of the Blackboard Performance Dashboard and is closely integrated with it. The link to the Early Warning System page can be found in the course Control Panel under Assessment; it also appears as a column in the Performance Dashboard.

For more information on how to create and apply Early Warning System rules in a Blackboard course please refer to the documentation page found at: http://www.niu.edu/blackboard/assessments/earlywarning.shtml

New Features in Blackboard 7.3

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 08:24:25 -0500

Blackboard is the course management system used campus-wide at NIU that allows faculty to post materials, deliver tests and surveys, hold online discussion and perform many other course-related functions. In December 2008 Blackboard was upgraded from version 7.1 to 7.3. This upgrade includes some subtle new user features and system capabilities that previously have not existed.

The new features in Blackboard 7.3 primarily can be found in three main toolsets: Discussion Board, Assessment and Gradebook, and the Visual Text Box Editor. In addition, the new Early Warning System tool in Blackboard can be used to monitor student progress and alert faculty to possible performance problems.

For more details regarding the new features and tools in Blackboard 7.3, visit http://www.niu.edu/blackboard/resources/version73.shtml

The Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center offers a wide array of programs each month regarding the principles and practices of teaching with Blackboard. The current Blackboard program schedule and online registration information is always available at http://www.niu.edu/blackboard/workshops

Upcoming MyNIU-Entering Final Grades Open Labs faculty sessions

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 08:23:04 -0500

May 4, 2009 from 1:00 until 4:00 in Founders Library 297
May 5, 2009 from 8:30 until 11:30 in Founders Library 297

These sessions are come and go - come for 5 minutes or stay for longer to learn about entering final grades into MyNIU. The ERP Training team will be available to demonstrate the entering grades process and answer any questions.

Help with Entering Final Grades is located on the MyNIU Training website at http://www.niu.edu/myniutraining/training/self_service_tutorial.shtml. Select the Job Aid link to see a printable version of Entering Final Grades or the SeeIt! link to see a video-like format.

Please view the MyNIU training calendar to see a complete listing of MyNIU training classes. Go to: http://www.niucalendar.niu.edu/EAS/Caldirect.aspx?cal=228&view=month

Upcoming Teaching Effectiveness Institute

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 08:21:21 -0500

Teaching Effectiveness Institute: Fundamental Principles of Effective Instruction will be offered on Thursday, August 13, 2009 from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm. Day one of the institute is geared toward an audience who is new to teaching and to those wanting to refresh their knowledge about teaching fundamentals.

Teaching Effectiveness Institute: "Raising the Bar: Lower Expectations and Higher Learning," by Connie Staley, Ph.D. (University of Colorado, Colorado Springs) will be offered on Friday, August 14, 2009 from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm. The workshop is open for faculty and staff, and will explore complex issues, such as what can those of us who value higher learning do to help students with lower expectations dig in and grapple with the challenge, and how we can raise the bar, This workshop will also generate innovative teaching strategies to counteract the issues. For more details and to register online, visit http://www.facdev.niu.edu or email facdev@niu.edu.

Using Questions for Teaching and Learning

Tue, 3 Mar 2009 11:19:37 -0600

Through the art of thoughtful questioning, [instructors] can extract not only factual information, but aid learners in: connecting concepts, making inferences, increasing awareness, encouraging creating and imaginative thought, adding critical thinking processes and generally helping [students] explore deeper levels of knowledge, thinking and understanding" (Wilson, 1997, para. 2).

"questions play an essential role in the process of learning and modifying mental models" (Bain, 2004, p. 31). Essentially, mental models are ways we internalize information based on real and imaginary conditions - mental models involve making sense of situations. For example, many software interfaces involve a series of tools on a toolbar at the top of an open application that includes a menu item called "File." Most computer users are used to its placement on the toolbar. However, the new, 2007 version of Microsoft Word does not include the menu item "File" on the new Ribbon. Those of us transitioning to the new Microsoft Word 2007 will have to construct a new mental model that places the file menu inside the Office Button instead of on the toolbar.

"Questions help [students] construct knowledge, "point to holes in [their] memory structures and are critical for indexing the information that [they] attain when [they] develop an answer for that inquiry" (Bain, 2004, p. 31). Asking our students lots of questions (or them asking questions of us) helps place or index those thoughts in long term memory (Bain, 2004).

So, here's the 64 thousand dollar question: If expecting students to ask questions is so important to their academic success, then why don't we allow students to ask more questions? Perhaps we have so much to teach that we cannot allow students to take class time away by asking questions or, because experience tells us that students ask bad questions. Conversely, it may be that students have asked questions that we cannot answer. No matter the reason, we should encourage students to tap their existing mental models by asking them challenging and thought-provoking questions. In turn, we can hope that students will then ask us challenging and thought-provoking questions. And by encouraging students to ask questions they will help themselves learn. In the next section, we will see how Bloom's Taxonomy can be used to help instructors and students develop effective questions.

Bloom's Taxonomy

In the 1950's, Benjamin Bloom and his colleagues identified a hierarchy of learning behaviors that were categorized into three learning domains; the cognitive (mental skills known as knowledge), the affective (feelings and emotions known as attitudes), and the psychomotor (physical or manual skills known as skills). These skills are ordered on a continuum ranging from lower order thinking skills to higher order thinking skills. The thinking process is such that one "cannot understand a concept if [they] do not first remember it, ...[and] cannot apply knowledge and concepts if [they] do not understand them" (Churches, A., 2008, Para. 1). Therefore, it may be helpful to structure questions we ask of students based on their levels of thinking.

Bloom's Taxonomy is typically depicted as a hierarchical structure (Figure 1). This structure, which represents the cognitive domain, illustrates mastery of skill acquisition, where the learner moves from the more fundamental "knowledge" level to the more abstract levels of "synthesis" and "evaluation." Next we will see how Bloom's Taxonomy neatly ties into questions that range from the simple, "what" questions which focus on recall to the more complex, and "how" questions that require students to think deeply and critically. Each of the six levels then can be considered question categories.

Bloom's Taxonomy and Related Question Bloom's Taxonomy can be used to prepare questions that "will require students to use the thinking skills which he [or she] is trying to develop" (University of Illinois, 2006). The following table organizes the thinking skills from lower level to higher level and provides related question examples, all of which are based on the cognitive (knowledge) domain of learning.

Table used with permission by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Table 1 Center for Teaching Excellence (2006).
Bloom’s Taxonomy and Related Questions

Knowledge - Remembering previously learned material, e.g., definitions, concepts, principles, formulas. -What is the definition of "verb"? -What is the law of supply and demand? -What are the stages of cell division?

Comprehension - Understanding the meaning of remembered material, usually demonstrated by explaining in one's own words or citing examples. - What are some words which are commonly used as adjectives? -What does the graph on page 19 mean? -Explain the process of digestion.

Application - Using information in a new context to solve a problem, to answer a question, or to perform another task. The information used may be rules, principles, formulas, theories, concepts, or procedures. -Using the procedures we have discussed, what would you include in a summary of Bacon's essay? -How does the law of supply and demand explain the current increase in fruit and vegetable prices? -Based on your knowledge, what statistical procedure is appropriate for this problem?

Analysis - Breaking a piece of material into its parts and explaining the relationship between the parts. -What are the major points that E. B. White used to develop the thesis of this essay? -What factors in the American economy are affecting the current price of steel? -What is the relationship of probability to statistical analysis?

Synthesis - Putting parts together to form a new whole, pattern or structure. -How might style of writing and the thesis of a given essay be related? -How are long-term and short-term consumer loan interest rates related to the prime rate? -How would you proceed if you were going to do an experiment on caloric intake?

Evaluation - Using a set of criteria, established by the student or specified by the instructor, to arrive at a reasoned judgment. -Does Hemingway use adjectives effectively to enhance his theme in The Old Man and the Sea? -How successful would the proposed federal income tax cut be in controlling inflation as well as decreasing unemployment? -How well does the Stillman Diet meet the criteria for an ideal weight reduction plan?

Types of Questions Different teaching and learning situations call for different types of questions and authors have suggested that you vary the types of questions you ask in class (Bain, 2004; Eble, 1998; Gross Davis, 1993; McComas & Abraham, 2004). The types of questions and "varying the intellectual approach to those questions" (Gross Davis, 1993) will engage students’ to stimulate their thinking and help them generate meaningful answers. Of the over 21 systems that classify questions (McComas and Abraham, 2004, citing Wilen), Gross Davis (1993) presents the following list that can be used when planning course questions.

- Exploratory questions probe facts and basic knowledge: "What research evidence supports the theory of a cancer-prone personality?" - Challenge questions examine assumptions, conclusions, and interpretations: "How else might we account for the findings of this experiment?" - Relational questions ask for comparisons of themes, ideas, or issues: "What premises of Plessy vs. Ferguson did the Supreme Court throw out in deciding Brown v. Board of Education?" - Diagnostic questions probe motives or causes: "Why did Jo assume a new identity?" - Action questions call for a conclusion or action: "In response to a sit-in at California Hall, what should the chancellor do?" - Cause and effect questions ask for causal relationships between ideas, actions, or events: "If the government stopped farm subsidies for wheat, what would happen to the price of bread?" - Extension questions pose a change in the facts or issues: "Suppose Gregg had been rich instead of poor; would the outcome have been the same?" - Priority questions seek to identify the most important issue: "From all that we have talked about, what is the most important cause of the decline of American competitiveness?" - Summary questions elicit synthesis: "What themes or lessons have emerged from today’s class?" (pp. 83-84).

"Tweets" for NIU Faculty and Staff

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 16:39:49 -0600

Looking to stay up-to-date on the latest news and upcoming workshops for faculty and staff at NIU? One way to do so is to follow the faculty development news feed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/facdev

Twitter is an online application that is part blog, part social networking site, and part cell phone/IM tool. It is designed to let users describe what they are doing or thinking at a given moment in 140 characters or less. As a tool for students and faculty to compare thoughts on a topic, Twitter can be used academically to foster interaction and support metacognition ("7 Things ," 2008).

Notices from Twitter, also referred to as tweets, can be viewed either online by logging in at twitter.com or can be delivered automatically by instant message (IM) or text message (SMS).

For a three minute introduction to Twitter, visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddO9idmax0o

References

7 things you should know about Twitter. (2007). Retrieved October 24, 2008, from http://connect.educause.edu/Library/ELI/7ThingsYouShouldKnowAbout/44762

Lefever, L. (2008) Twitter in plain english. Retrieved October 25, 2008, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddO9idmax0

Faculty Development Offers Online Programs

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 16:38:19 -0600

NIU Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center has recently begun offering online development workshops to supplement the face-to-face sessions that are already offered. These online sessions provide NIU faculty/staff and teaching assistants with the opportunity to participate remotely from their office or home computer or even by phone. Sessions are archived for on-demand playback and made available at http://www.niu.edu/facdev/programs/archives.shtml

Programs offered in the online format will be designated as "ONLINE" in the monthly program schedule delivered electronically via email and RSS each month.

For more details concerning our upcoming online workshops or to subscribe to the online program schedule so that you'll be notified when new online programs are announced, visit http://www.niu.edu/facdev/programs/fscurrent.shtml

Mac Series

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 16:37:31 -0600

The Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center currently offers numerous multimedia-based workshops, ranging from basic video capture to advanced short focused tutorials. Until recently, participants have relied on PC-based computer workstations in the Digital Multimedia Studio computer lab. Recent market trends indicate a surge in U.S. Higher Education Market Share of Apple computers from 10.1% (2003) to 20.5% (2007) (IDC WW PC Tracker, Nov. 2007). In anticipating a possible growing demand, Faculty Development has acquired several Mac Pro workstations. This will permit instruction of a number of Mac-OS applications, currently in development for Fall (2008) and Spring (2009). The proposed ?Mac? Series workshops include - Creating Enhanced Podcasts, Using iMovie, and Introduction to GarageBand.

Podcasting has become an increasingly popular form of content distribution in education, a trend also evident at NIU. While the Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center has offered an audio podcasting workshop for almost two years, one of the proposed workshops will allow instructors to expand online instruction to include ?enhanced? podcasting. An enhanced podcast is a podcast multimedia format that allows images to be displayed in time with audio. Thus, faculty will be able to distribute voice narrated lectures to their student using the subscription feature of podcasting. This added capability is likely to enhance the ?Mobile Learning? capability of the NIU community. This workshop, Creating Enhanced Podcasts, may be offered in the Spring 2009 semester.

The other two Mac-based workshops focus on audio and video editing: Introduction to GarageBand and Using iMovie. Although the Garageband software is promoted as a personal recording studio for musicians, the Introduction to Garageband workshop will focus on the program?s versatility for recording/editing/arranging/mixing voice recording, and adding music.

The iMovie software uses an intuitive interface that significantly facilitates the process of video editing, creating new movies, and publishing them for viewing on a course website or for sharing on the popular website, YouTube. Introduction to Garageband and Using iMovie are tentatively scheduled for Spring 2009. Other Mac-based workshops are being considered for the 2009-2010 school year.

In addition to offering these new workshops, the Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center continues to provide lab facilities for faculty to practice creating their instructional materials. Completed details regarding upcoming workshops is available at http://www.niu.edu/facdev/programs/fscurrent.shtml

Faculty Development Offers Online Programs

NIU Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center has recently begun offering online development workshops to supplement the face-to-face sessions that are already offered. These online sessions provide NIU faculty/staff and teaching assistants with the opportunity to participate remotely from their office or home computer or even by phone. Sessions are archived for on-demand playback and made available at http://www.niu.edu/facdev/programs/archives.shtml

Programs offered in the online format will be designated as "ONLINE" in the monthly program schedule delivered electronically via email and RSS each month.

For more details concerning our upcoming online workshops or to subscribe to the online program schedule so that you?ll be notified when new online programs are announced, visit http://www.niu.edu/facdev/programs/fscurrent.shtml

Online Teaching Series

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 16:36:04 -0600

Last summer, Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center piloted a series of workshops aimed at helping NIU faculty prepare for online teaching. The Online Teaching Series consisted of six hands-on stand-alone workshops that provided NIU faculty and staff with a systematic overview of the various pedagogical and pragmatic considerations necessary in offering a quality online learning experience for students.

Online courses present a number of unique challenges even for experienced faculty. Preparing to teach online is an exciting process, but one that does require necessary up-front work. Even if the course was previously taught in the face-to-face format, one cannot always assume that materials and techniques that worked in the face-to-face environment will necessarily work in the online version of the course. Absence of visual cues and immediate feedback from students and reliance on mostly text-based communication will create a very different dynamics in an online course.

Sound pedagogical techniques and instructional strategies should always be at the core of any online course. The mode of delivery, media, and tools used to deliver materials might differ, but the course should have clear goals and objectives, a course structure that is easy to navigate, assignments and activities that promote collaborative learning, and feedback that is timely and appropriate. Faculty will need to select tools that can be used in an online course that would help achieve the learning and teaching goals for the course and would compensate for lack of immediate feedback and visual cues present in face-to-face courses.

There are some very important questions and issues that need to be considered in the initial stages of planning an online course. As you are designing an online course, you should ask yourself about your teaching style. It often helps to first think of your face-to-face courses.

Content Delivery

How do you prefer to deliver content in the face-to-face classes?
Do you use PowerPoint slides to guide you?
Do you supplement your lectures with handouts and activities?
What tools might you use to provide students with the same kind of information in an online course?
How will you make sure that all content is accessible to students with disabilities?
And are you sure that materials you post online do not violate copyright laws?

Interaction

In a face-to-face class, how do you promote interaction between students?
Do you have group and class discussions? Peer reviews?
How might you encourage the same level of interaction in an online course?
What degree of online interaction is necessary for students to feel like they are properly guided in an online course?

Assessments

How do you assess student knowledge in your face-to-face classes?
Do you have a combination of tests and quizzes, papers and group projects?
How might you use the same kinds of assessments in an online environment?
How do you make sure that students are making progress in your course and that they are ready to move on to the next chapter or unit?
How do you measure student participation in the course?

Feedback

Feedback is an essential component of learning. In a face-to-face course both students and you rely heavily on visual cues.

How do you tend to respond to student questions in a face-to-face class?
How do you let them know where they stand in terms of their grade?

Written feedback becomes a crucial element of an online course because those visual cues are absent. Timely and frequent feedback can extend student learning and provide students with much needed guidance in an online course.

How can you use written feedback in an online course to encourage student learning?
What tools might you use to communicate your feedback?

Online Teaching Series workshops attempt to target these challenging questions and present faculty with a chance to experience various aspects of an online course from a student perspective. Each workshop participant is given access to a Blackboard course with workshop outlines, materials, hands-on activities, as well as links to numerous resources discussed during the Online Teaching Series. Through this series, participants have an opportunity to:

Explore the various roles and responsibilities of online faculty and students.
Identify effective online teaching strategies.
Take an online teaching inventory to identify strengths and weaknesses.
Review strategies and engage in hands-on activities for redesigning course materials for online delivery.
Discuss copyright, intellectual property, fair use, and accessibility considerations.
Craft a course structure and various interactive course components in Blackboard.
Explore strategies for promoting communication in the online learning environment.
Experience various online assessment tools to facilitate teaching and learning and practice configuring sample course assessments.
Redesign a face-to-face lesson for online delivery.
Discuss strategies for providing feedback

Any NIU faculty and staff interested in developing and teaching an online or blended course will find this series of workshops to be beneficial. While each session is stand-alone, participants who complete the entire series of sessions will likely benefit most. To learn more visit http://www.facdev.niu.edu/facdev/programs/onlineteachingseries

Appreciative Inquiry

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 16:35:47 -0600

Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center is pleased to announce a special program entitled, "Appreciative Inquiry: A Positive, High Engagement Process and Philosophy for Increasing Teaching and Institutional Effectiveness" by Ray Wells, Ph.D., on Friday, January 9, 2009, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Appreciative Inquiry (Ai) is both a worldview and a process for facilitating positive change in systems. Its assumption is simple: every system has something that works right - things that give it life when it is vital, effective, and successful. Ai begins by identifying this ?positive core? and connecting to it in ways that heighten energy, sharpen vision, and inspire action for change. In the last 20 years Ai has found its way into every sector, including higher education. Ai has been used to facilitate positive change in medical schools, academic departments, student affairs, human resources, extension services, library systems and, institutionally, through work with boards of trustees. Its premises and practices have been integrated in instructional design and classroom pedagogy, academic and career advising, elearning, and program evaluation.

This workshop, by Ray Wells (Company of Experts), will fully engage participants in the Ai process and provide an orientation to the possibilities for use throughout the University. Participants will leave with an understanding of how individual, small-scale and large-scale change can be promoted with an emergent, non-prescriptive strategy, an appreciative perspective, and sustained attention to everyday relational patterns. Faculty, staff, and especially administrators involved in strategic planning or organizational and leadership development will find this workshop beneficial. Appreciative Inquiry is mentioned as one of the suggested strategies in NIU?s recommended readings for strategic planning at http://www.niu.edu/strategicplan/reading/EducauseArticle2003.pdf. For additional information on Ai, check http://appreciativeinquiry.case.edu/intro/whatisai.cfm.

The workshop is only for NIU administrators, faculty, and staff. You can register online at http://www.niu.edu/facdev/programs/01092009.shtml#register or by phone (815) 753 0595, email facdev@niu.edu , or fax: (815) 753 2595. Registration Deadline: December 19, 2008.

Promoting Online Collaboration with Wimba Classroom

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 16:18:06 -0600

Many faculty consider live, personal interaction to be the most valuable element of quality teaching and learning experiences. Wimba Classroom is a new online collaboration tool that integrates with Blackboard and allows educators and students to engage in meaningful and memorable interactions by combining interactive technologies with instructional best practices.

Some of the features of Wimba Classroom include:

presentations with audio and video narration
multi-way audio and video chat
public and private text chat
electronic whiteboard
polls, quizzes, and surveys
desktop sharing/application sharing
breakout rooms
full-featured archives
telephone access
accessibility features

Examples of a few possible applications of an online collaboration suite in a 21st century learning environment include:

Fostering on-demand, informal communication from student-to-student and student-to-instructor.
Inviting guest experts to present real-time online lectures to students using a wide array of rich media.
Using a live online classroom to provide revision sessions for students needing extra help or optional assessment preparation sessions. Providing the link to the session archive for those who were unable to attend.
Offering peer-to-peer ?coffee breaks? or optional study sessions for students to network and learn from each other?s experiences.
Offering online office hours with voice and video
Allowing for online conversations with both voice and video in areas such as patient diagnosis for healthcare, public speaking exercises, negotiation skills in business, or any discipline where communication is the key.

Comments from NIU Faculty Regarding Wimba Classroom

What are other NIU faculty members saying concerning their experiences with the Wimba Classroom collaboration tool?  Here are comments from a few who have had the opportunity to explore the possibilities of incorporating this new online collaboration tool in their teaching.

I am excited about the possibilities offered by this new feature in Blackboard. The Wimba Classroom adds new dimensions to online teaching affording the instructor a variety of presentational strategies. One of its best features is the opportunity to transmit live video adding a more personal feel to text-based on-line instruction. The ability to gain immediate support is also a big plus. Adding the Wimba Classroom will enhance and strengthen on-line
instruction. ? Laura Vazquez, Department of Communication

I'm very interested in using it (Wimba Classroom) and will probably try to use it with my master's seminar later this semester as it is a smaller class and I have already substituted several online sessions for face-to-face sessions. I should try to devote one of these to Wimba. ? Richard Orem, Department of Literacy Education

I used Wimba Classroom in my summer section of Educational Statistics to provide an alternative lecture format for students who were unable to attend a face-to-face session, and also to facilitate archiving of the lectures. Wimba worked very nicely for these purposes. Although I didn't use it as a replacement for regular lectures, students who used Wimba to access the lecture remarked positively on their experience. Wimba was quite easy to learn, both for myself and my students. ? Thomas Smith, Department of Educational Technology, Research & Assessment

The overall experience is definitely positive in terms of productivity, flexibility, and overall feedback from students.  The majority of the students showed great interest, using the words "fun" and "cool" to describe Wimba Classroom.

I am planning a partnership between my students here and students in China--Wimba classroom may become a meeting place where they can converse synchronously. I can also invite speakers an ocean away to our Wimba Classroom.  Students can also meet me at Wimba practicing Chinese langauge skills during winter and summer break.  The possibilities are many!

I will like to explore more advanced features of Wimba classroom; it is integral to my teaching.  I recommend it with high enthusiasm!! ? Lan Hui Ryder, Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures

Learn More

Those interested in using Wimba Classroom need only to complete the short online request form below in order to request the Wimba Classroom tool to be activated in Blackboard for either their course(s) and/or community. Individuals are also encouraged to take advantage of the freely available online workshops, quick guides, and video tutorials. Complete details and links for more information are available at http://www.niu.edu/blackboard/resources/wimbaclassroom.shtml

Those considering the use of Wimba Classroom may find the upcoming online workshop, "Success with Wimba Classroom" to be of great benefit. This one hour introductory session is designed to explore five teaching tips for engaging, interactive sessions. Participants will learn the recommended techniques to prepare students before attending as well as learn how to communicate with and manage the interactions of participants. Best practice tips will be covered regarding your content along with an overview of the importance of archives. Complete details are available at http://www.wimba.com/eventreg/participant/registration.php?eventid=1159

The Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center offers various programs regarding the principles and practices of incorporating collaborative technologies, including Wimba Classroom, in teaching. The current program schedule and online registration information is always available at http://www.niu.edu/facdev/programs/tacurrent.shtml

Instructional Scaffolding to Support Teaching and Learning

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 16:16:21 -0600

Similar to the scaffolding used in construction to support workers as they work on a specific task, instructional scaffolds are temporary support structures faculty put in place to assist students in accomplishing new tasks and concepts they could not typically achieve on their own. ?As students begin to demonstrate task mastery, the assistance or support is decreased gradually in order to shift the responsibility for learning from the [instructor] to the student? (San Jose Evergreen Community College District, 2003).

Why use Instructional Scaffolding?

One of the main benefits of scaffolded instruction is that it provides for a supportive learning environment. Instructors are caring and interested in helping students learn. Students are free to ask questions, provide feedback and support their peers in learning new material.

An instructor who uses instructional scaffolding becomes more of a mentor and facilitator of knowledge than the dominant content expert. This teaching style provides the incentive for students to take a more active role in their own learning.

Students share the responsibility of teaching and learning through scaffolds that require them to move beyond their current skill and knowledge levels. Through this interaction, students are able to take ownership of the learning event.

The need to implement a scaffold will occur when you realize a student is not progressing on some aspect of a task or unable to understand a particular concept. Although scaffolding is often carried out between the instructor and one student, scaffolds can successfully be used for an entire class. The four points below provide a simple structure of scaffolded instruction:

First, the instructor does it.
In other words, the instructor models how to perform a new or difficult task, such as how to use a graphic organizer. For example, the instructor may have a partially completed graphic organizer on an overhead transparency and "think aloud" as he or she describes how the graphic organizer illustrates the relationships among the information contained on it.

Second, the class does it.
The instructor and students work together to perform the task. For example, the students may suggest information to be added to the graphic organizer. As the instructor writes the suggestions on the white board, students fill in their own copies of the organizer.

Third, the group does it.
Students work with a partner or a small cooperative group to complete a graphic organizer (i.e., either a partially completed or a blank one).

Fourth, the individual does it.
This is the independent practice stage where individual students can demonstrate their task mastery (e.g., successfully completing a graphic organizer to demonstrate appropriate relationships among information) and receive the necessary practice to help them to perform the task automatically and quickly? (Ellis and Larkin (1998), as cited in Larkin (2003)).

Types of Scaffolds

Alibali (2006) suggests that as students progress through a task, faculty use a variety of scaffolds to accommodate students? different levels of knowledge. More complex content might require a number of scaffolds given at different times to help students master the content. Table 1 presents scaffolds and ways they could be used in an instructional setting.

Table 1

Scaffold	Ways to use Scaffolds in an Instructional Setting
Advance organizers	Tools used to introduce new content and tasks to help students learn about the topic: Venn diagrams to compare and contrast information; flow charts to illustrate processes; organizational charts to illustrate hierarchies; outlines that represent content; mnemonics to assist recall; statements to situate the task or content; rubrics that provide task expectations.
Cue Cards	Prepared cards given to individual or groups of students to assist in their discussion about a particular topic or content area: Vocabulary words to prepare for exams; content-specific stem sentences to complete; formulae to associate with a problem; concepts to define.
Concept and mind maps	Maps that show relationships: Prepare partially completed maps for students to complete or have students create their own maps based on their current knowledge of the task or concept.
Examples	Samples, specimens, illustrations, problems: Real objects; illustrative problems used to represent something.
Explanations	More detailed information to move students along on a task or in their thinking of a concept: Written instructions for a task; verbal explanation of how a process works.
Handouts	Prepared handouts that contain task- and content-related information, but with less detail and room for student note taking.
Hints	Suggestions and clues to move students along: ?place your foot in front of the other,? ?use the escape key,? ?find the subject of the verb,? ?add the water first and then the acid.?
Prompts	A physical or verbal cue to remind?to aid in recall of prior or assumed knowledge. Physical: Body movements such as pointing, nodding the head, eye blinking, foot tapping. Verbal: Words, statements and questions such as ?Go,? ?Stop,? ?It?s right there,? ?Tell me now,? ?What toolbar menu item would you press to insert an image??, ? Tell me why the character acted that way.?
Question Cards	Prepared cards with content- and task-specific questions given to individuals or groups of students to ask each other pertinent questions about a particular topic or content area.
Question Stems	Incomplete sentences which students complete: Encourages deep thinking by using higher order ?What if? questions.
Stories	Stories relate complex and abstract material to situations more familiar with students. Recite stories to inspire and motivate learners.
Visual Scaffolds (Alibali, 2006)	Pointing (call attention to an object); representational gestures (holding curved hands apart to illustrate roundness; moving rigid hands diagonally upward to illustrate steps or process), diagrams such as charts and graphs; methods of highlighting visual information.

Preparing to Use Scaffolding

As with any teaching technique, scaffolds should complement instructional objectives. While we expect all of our students to grasp course content, each of them will not have the necessary knowledge or capability to initially perform as we have intended. Scaffolds can be used to support students when they begin to work on objectives that are more complex or difficult to complete. For example, the instructional objective is to have students complete a major paper. Instead of assuming all students know how to begin the process, break the task into smaller, more manageable parts: First, the instructor provides an outline of the components of the paper> then students would prepare their outline> the instructor then provides a rubric of how each paper criteria will be assessed> students would then work on those criteria and at the same time, self-evaluate their progress.The pattern would continue until the task is completed (although scaffolds might not be necessary in all parts of the task).

Knowing your subject well will also help you identify the need for scaffolding. Plan to use scaffolds on topics that former students had difficulty with or with material that is especially difficult or abstract. Hogan and Pressley, (2003) suggest that instructors practice scaffold topics and strategies they know well. In other words, begin by providing scaffolded instruction in small steps with content you are most comfortable teaching.

Guidelines for Implementing Scaffolding

The following points can be used as guidelines when implementing instructional scaffolding (adapted from Hogan and Pressley, 2003).

Select suitable tasks that match curriculum goals and students? needs.
Allow students to help create instructional goals (this can increase students? motivation and their commitment to learning).
Consider students? backgrounds and prior knowledge to assess their progress (material that is too easy will quickly bore students and reduce motivation. On the other hand, material that is too difficult can turn off students? interest levels).
Use a variety of supports as students progress through a task (e.g., prompts, questions, hints, stories, models, visual scaffolding ?including pointing, representational gestures, diagrams, and other methods of highlighting visual information? (Alibali, M, 2006).
Provide encouragement and praise as well as ask questions and have students explain their progress to help them stay focused on the goal.
Monitor student progress through feedback (in addition to instructor feedback, have students summarize what they have accomplished so they are aware of their progress and what they have yet to complete).
Create a welcoming, safe, and supportive learning environment that encourages students to take risks and try alternatives (everyone should feel comfortable expressing their thoughts without fear of negative responses).
Help students become less dependent on instructional supports as they work on tasks and encourage them to practice the task in different contexts.

Benefits of Instructional Scaffolding

Challenges students through deep learning and discovery.
Engages students in meaningful and dynamic discussions in small and large classes.
Motivates learners to become better students (learning how to learn).
Increases the likelihood for students to meet instructional objectives.
Provides individualized instruction (especially in smaller classrooms).
Affords the opportunity for peer-teaching and learning.
Scaffolds can be ?recycled? for other learning situations.
Provides a welcoming and caring learning environment.

Challenges of Instructional Scaffolding

Planning for and implementing scaffolds is time consuming and demanding.
Selecting appropriate scaffolds that match the diverse learning and communication styles of students.
Knowing when to remove the scaffold so the student does not rely on the support.
Not knowing the students well enough (their cognitive and affective abilities) to provide appropriate scaffolds.

Summary

Instructional scaffolds promote learning through dialogue, feedback and shared responsibility. Through the supportive and challenging learning experiences gained from carefully planned scaffolded learning, instructors can help students become lifelong, independent learners.

References

Alibali, M (2006). Does visual scaffolding facilitate students? mathematics learning? Evidence from early algebra. Retrieved September 12, 2008 from http://ies.ed.gov/funding/grantsearch/details.asp?ID=54

Dalton, J., and Smith, D. (1986). Extending children?s special abilities: Strategies for primary classrooms. Retrieved September 12, 2008 from http://www.teachers.ash.org.au/researchskills/dalton.htm

Dennen, V. P. (2004). Cognitive apprenticeship in educational practice: Research on scaffolding, modeling, mentoring, and coaching as instructional strategies. In D. H. Jonassen (Ed.), Handbook of Research on Educational Communications and Technology (2nd ed.), (p. 815). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Hogan, K., and Pressley, M. (1997). Scaffolding student learning: Instructional approaches and issues. Cambridge, MA: Brookline Books.

Johnston, S., and Cooper, J. (1997). Cooperative Learning and College Teaching. Vol. 9, No. 3 Spring 1997.

Larkin, M. (2002). Using scaffolded instruction to optimize learning. Retrieved September12, 2008 from http://www.vtaide.com/png/ERIC/Scaffolding.htm

Piper, C. Teaching with Technology (2005). What is scaffolding? Retrieved September 12, 2008 from http://www1.chapman.edu/univcoll/faculty/piper/2042/graphorg.htm

San Jose Evergreen Community College District (2003). The Teaching and Learning Center, Faculty Handbook: Teaching and Learning Resources. Scaffolding. Retrieved September 12, 2008 from http://www.evc.edu/tlc/docs/FacultyHandbook.pdf

Tomorrow's Professor Blog (2008). Supporting student success through scaffolding. Retrieved September 12, 2008 from http://amps-tools.mit.edu/tomprofblog/archives/2008/02/849_supporting.html#more

Blended Learning

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 11:56:43 -0600

Blended learning is a combination of traditional methods of instruction with technology-delivered, online content. In the broadest sense of the term, a blended learning environment could be completely face-to-face (F2F) where the instructor blends a variety of teaching methods, activities, assessments and technologies. Today, however, the term blended learning narrows to represent a combination of F2F and online learning activities where the online activities replace actual "seat-time" in the classroom. It is the blend that makes each course unique, thus, blended courses can take on different attributes. For example, a course might include Blackboard discussions, Web tutorials and research activities, and student responses to a podcast. The combination of online and F2F activities is almost limitless. One could teach a course with an 80% F2F + 20% online structure or a 30% F2F + 70% online structure. Many possibilities exist and finding the right blend will take time to perfect. Most likely a blended course will change over time and will vary from one class to another.

Designing a Blended Course

Repurposing a traditional course for a blended course will take considerable more time and effort due to the requisite technologies used for the online portion of the class. Effective course design considerations should include student learning preferences and alignment of course goals and objectives with F2F and online activities.
Media used in blended learning environments are not limited to the Internet and a set of computers. For example, students on the go use mobile technologies-MP3 devices such as iPods, GPS systems, digital cameras, laptops and tablet PCs comprise the mobile communication culture of today’s students (Milne, 2006). Mobile learning (mLearning) is yet another way instructors can blend course content and better meet the mobile learning requirements of students.
Consider both the physical and virtual "classroom" space for learning and how they compliment one another. Blended learning environments do not occur strictly between a traditional classroom and someone’s home office. If team work is a course expectation, provide opportunities for work to occur both in and out of the classroom by designing in-class activities which are completed after class; create Blackboard groups and discussion fora, social networks such as online learning communities, course-related Wikis, and allow for electronic peer assessment.

Advantages of Blended Learning

Flexibility- Blended learning environments allow students to access a variety of media which support different learning preferences - video for visual learners, podcasts for auditory learners, and hand’s on activities for kinesthetic learners.
Social atmosphere- Online learning components such as synchronous chats, question and answer sessions, and asynchronous case studies and group work give all students, especially those who tend to be quite in face-to-face classrooms, the opportunity to speak in a safe and open learning environment. Also, group collaboration can easily be facilitated by allowing students the ability to share files, create discussion threads, and virtual chat.
Reusable learning objects- Materials such as tutorials, simulations, case studies and assessments can be repurposed for use in both learning environments to save on design and development time.

Challenges of Blended Learning

New course design- One cannot take an existing course and just "put it" online. Much time and effort must go into aligning learning goals and objectives, activities, and instruction to work with the online portion of the course (Grayharriman.com, 2004). Separate content to be presented face-to-face and online.
Technology adaptation- Instructors and students must be given time to adapt. Blending an existing course by small increments will allow everyone to work out challenges and difficulties with the technology. Discuss with students the purpose of using the technologies to help them adapt more quickly.
Roles and responsibilities- Students who are new to blended learning environments must learn to adapt to this mode of delivery which often requires more writing than face-to-face courses. Students also must make use of good time management skills as blended courses require them to balance both online and face-to-face course activities. Finally, as more content is presented online, the instructor’s role will shift from being a presenter of information to a facilitator of knowledge (Northeastern University, 2007).

Summary
Through careful planning, blended learning can help impart knowledge in new and exciting ways. Traditional face-to-face courses can be modified to fit a blended model which meets student learning needs and expectations and the pedagogical requirements of the instructor. With time and practice, blended learning will become a standard and expected method of instructional delivery.

References
Grayharriman.com (2004). Blended learning. Ret. 11/14/07, from http://www.grayharriman.com/blended_learning.htm
Milne, A. J. (2006). Chapter 11. Designing blended learning space to the student experience. Ret. 12/13/07 from
http://www.educause.edu/Chapter11.DesigningBlendedLearningSpacetotheStudentExperience/11909
Northeastern University (2007). Hybrid course design. Ret. 11/14/07, from
http://www.cicd.neu.edu/teach/online_pedagogy/hybrid_course_design/

An Online Tutorial on Effective Writing Practices

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 11:56:43 -0600

Writing is a language skill that can be daunting for students to master. Many universities have established Writing Centers and tutoring services to promote effective writing practices. However, students still lack basic grammar and writing skills, and faculty still find it difficult to allocate class time to review common problem areas encountered in student writing.

To address this need, Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center has developed and published an "Online Tutorial on Effective Writing Practices" which allows students to review and learn from some of the most common mistakes made in writing.

While the tutorial is intended for self-paced learning by students, it can also be used by faculty as an educational resource to supplement their classroom discussions on effective writing practices. The content for this tutorial was compiled by faculty and graduate students from the Department of English at Northern Illinois University. The content is divided into four main areas: grammar, punctuation, organization, and style.

The Online Tutorial on Effective Writing Practices was designed with a quick-review option in mind. Students can first take a brief self-test in each content area, identify any errors they may have made, and then selectively review the material based on the results of the self-test. One of the main design considerations was to sustain student interest in the content. To achieve this goal, the material is presented as narrow sub-topics, making the information accessible and visually attractive.

The tutorial can be accessed at http://writingtutorial.niu.edu without any login or password. This tutorial was funded by the Committee for the Improvement of Undergraduate Education’s "Project for the Improvement of Undergraduate Education Grant" and Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center.

Quick Tips for Effective Instruction

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 11:56:42 -0600

Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center now has a new online resource called "Quick Tips for Effective Instruction" that faculty, teaching staff and teaching assistants can use to enhance teaching and learning. The purpose of this web-based resource is to offer a quick introduction to a number of teaching and related topics in an engaging format. The Quick Tips presentations can be found at http://www.niu.edu/facdev/resources/quicktips/

In one of the Quick Tips, Dr. Micky M. Sharma, Director of the Counseling and Student Development Center, shares recommendations for recognizing and assisting students in emotional distress. Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center staff, Jason Rhode and Olga Urban, have recently added Quick Tips presentations on 'Podcasting Principles', and 'What are Clickers?' Each brief (approximately 5 minutes) presentation in the series provides information on a focused topic, which users can view directly online (without the need for any special plug-in, player or client software), download it to their computers to view it later or view it as a Podcast. Low resolution versions of the video presentations can also be viewed on YouTube  at http://www.youtube.com/niuquicktips

The Quick Tips presentations developed in Microsoft PowerPoint have been integrated with voice narration, transcript, video and live hyperlinks, wherever appropriate, using the software, "Articulate Presenter." One of the significant advantages of this approach instead of PowerPoint presentations with audio is that Articulate Presenter compresses the presentation considerably by converting it to Macromedia Flash format, which greatly reduces file size as well as facilitates viewing the presentation online. The figure below shows an image of a screen captured from a Quick Tip presentation.

Several faculty members at NIU have recently begun using Articulate Presenter   to enhance web-based instruction with presentations that range from brief tutorials to full lectures.

Another software called, Articulate Engage   allows the creation of tutorials with up to ten different types of interactions including a timeline, glossary, frequently asked questions, and a video tour.

Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center offers workshops and lab facilities for faculty to practice creating their own presentations. Contact Faculty Development to register for the Short Focused Tutorial and Advanced Short Focused Tutorial workshops to learn more about this new technology resource.

Plagiarism Prevention Using Blackboard SafeAssign

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 11:56:42 -0600

SafeAssign is a new plagiarism prevention tool now available to all NIU faculty/staff to protect the originality of work and ensure a fair playing ground for all students. SafeAssign is integrated with Blackboard and prevents plagiarism by detecting unoriginal content in students' papers. SafeAssign can also further deter plagiarism by creating opportunities to educate students on proper attribution and citations while properly leveraging the wealth of information at their disposal.

Faculty who choose to take advantage of this new Blackboard tool can now deploy SafeAssignments in their Blackboard courses that allow for students to electronically submit their written work. Assignments are automatically checked against the following database sources for plagiarized or incorrectly cited content:

Internet: comprehensive index of documents available for public access on the Internet
ProQuest ABI/Inform database with over 1,100 publication titles and about 2.6 million articles from '90s to present time, updated weekly (exclusive access)
Institutional document archives containing all papers submitted to SafeAssign by users in their respective institutions
Global Reference Database containing papers that were volunteered by students from Blackboard client institutions to help prevent cross-institutional plagiarism.

An originality report is then automatically generated for each assignment and provided for the faculty member and student to review. Submitted student work is added to the NIU institutional document archive in which future submitted work is checked against, protecting the originality of students’ work. For more details about SafeAssign , visit http://www.blackboard.niu.edu/blackboard/resources/safeassign.shtml

The Blackboard Content Collection

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 11:56:42 -0600

The Blackboard Content Collection is a tool that allows NIU faculty to store, manage, and share content in new ways. The Content Collection has a number of features that enhance the capabilities that already exist in the Blackboard Learning System. This tool will especially eliminate the need for copying the same content into multiple course sections from one semester to the next as the content will be stored centrally in the Content Collection and linked to different course sections.

The Blackboard Content Collection

is fully integrated with the Blackboard Learning System that many faculty and students are already familiar with.
makes reusing files much easier -- faculty can save a file in the Content Collection once and link to that file from many courses or course sections.
allows for easy file management -- when a file that resides in the Content Collection needs updating, faculty can update it only once, and there is no need to go into each course to upload an updated version of the file.
reduces resource consumption because the files can be managed and shared without the need for copying course content from semester to semester as the files will be located in the Content Collection and linked to the course each semester.
makes it easy for faculty to share files with users both within NIU and outside.
offers easy access to resources placed in e-Reserves and allows faculty to link to those resources from their Blackboard courses.
provides an easy drag-and-drop interface through the Web Folder feature that makes copying and managing large number of files much easier.
functions as a virtual hard drive that is available to NIU faculty from anywhere simply by logging into Blackboard.

The Blackboard Content Collection can be accessed by NIU faculty by logging in to Blackboard and clicking on the "Content Collection" tab. For more details about the Content Collection feature in Blackboard, visit http://www.blackboard.niu.edu/blackboard/coursecontent/collection.shtml

Academic Resource Sharing Using Blackboard Scholar

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 11:56:24 -0600

Social bookmarking is an increasingly popular way to find, save, classify, evaluate and share Internet resources. Users can save or "bookmark" favorite Web sites and classify, or tag them any way that works for them. These bookmarks are then added not only to their personal list, but also to the overall repository where others can see them. Students and faculty can then use each other's classifications, as well as any of the other information they have regarding those resources (who saved it, how many people saved it, etc.) to evaluate and find what they are looking for.

Scholar is a new academic resource sharing, or "social bookmarking," service that is customized for education and integrated with Blackboard providing students and faculty with an exciting new way to store, share and discover educationally viable resources on the Web and use them in their teaching, learning and research. Users can bookmark their favorite online resources for easy access later by user-driven metadata referred to as tags. By applying meaningful topic tags as well as course and discipline specific tags, users are able to not only find bookmarked resources easily but also share with others.

Faculty who choose to use this new tool in Blackboard can create a customized course-level resource page that both faculty and students can contribute to by simply bookmarking academic resources and then applying the course-specific tag that Blackboard provides. A host of new student-centered assignments are possible as students now have a simple and scalable way to actively participate in the collection and review of academic resources for the course while also systematically building their own personal library of online academic resources.

Scholar can be accessed by all NIU users in Blackboard by clicking on the Scholar tab. For more details about Scholar, visit http://www.blackboard.niu.edu/blackboard/resources/scholar.shtml

Using eInstruction Classroom Performance System (CPS) at NIU

Thu, 9 Aug 2007 14:03:17 -0500

What is CPS?
eInstruction CPS, a classroom performance system, also referred to as student response system or "clickers," has recently been recommended for use at NIU to engage students and enhance their learning experience. CPS allows faculty to receive immediate feedback from students wirelessly with the use of small hand-held devices commonly referred to as "clickers." The system can also be used in conjunction with Blackboard to create a complete interactive learning experience. Faculty can use CPS in the classroom to engage students and provide them with instant feedback and then upload results from class assessments conducted with CPS to Blackboard.

Ordering CPS:
To use CPS in their classes, faculty members need a CPS starter kit which includes a receiver, a response pad (clicker) and CPS software installation CD. NIU faculty should request their CPS starter kits from the eInstruction representative, Susan Junior, Classroom Performance System (CPS) by calling (630) 778-8523, or sending an email to sjunior@einstruction.com, and providing her with the following information:

School Name
Department
Course Name
Number of students
Number of Sections
Faculty Name, E-mail, Telephone
Number of faculty starter kits

Faculty who request a CPS Starter Kit will receive an ISBN number along with the kit. This number can be used to place an order through the NIU bookstore to ensure that ample student response pads are available for student purchase. When placing an order with the NIU bookstore, faculty should provide the ISBN number they received with the Starter Kit, the number of pads and the eInstruction fax number (940.565.0959) for the bookstore to place a purchase order. eInstruction will contact faculty members within ten days by sending them a test kit, set-up instructions, a receiver and the CPS software. The CPS software can also be freely downloaded from CPS' website at http://www.einstruction.com/Downloads/index.cfm.

Integrating CPS with Blackboard:
CPS integrates well with Blackboard and allows seamless transfer of session data into the Blackboard Gradebook. Blackboard course rosters can be imported into CPS, and CPS software can then be set to sync automatically with the Blackboard Gradebook every time a CPS database is updated. The CPS-Blackboard Connection allows faculty to engage their students in the classroom, record student responses to interactive tests and quizzes and then upload the information to Blackboard for review. Faculty can also poll students and take attendance, and the collected data can be uploaded to Blackboard where both students and faculty can view the results.

To use CPS response pads in their classes, faculty will need a computer with CPS software in their classrooms. Smart Classrooms maintained by ITS will have CPS software. Faculty members who plan to use CPS in their labs or Smart Classrooms supported by their departments or college should contact their department or college IT staff to install the software. More information on how to install CPS software, how to import Blackboard courses into CPS and set them to sync can be found at: www.blackboard.niu.edu/blackboard/resources/cpsconnection.shtml.

Training:
Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center offers workshops for NIU faculty and staff that cover the use of eInstruction CPS in the classroom and its integration with Blackboard. For more information or to register for upcoming Clickers in the Classroom workshops, visit www.niu.edu/facdev/programs/fscurrent.shtml.

eInstruction also offers a variety of online training sessions for faculty using CPS. These online training seminars are a great way to learn about the Classroom Performance System. All sessions are free of charge. The schedule of upcoming online sessions is available at: www.einstruction.com/Training/OnlineTraining.

Students:
Students can purchase their CPS pads for their courses from the NIU bookstore. To use a pad in a course, students will also have to purchase an enrollment code and then register their CPS pad through Blackboard. More information on CPS support for students can be found: https://cpsonlinehe.einstruction.com/EnrollingThroughBlackboard.pdf

New Features in Blackboard 7.1

Thu, 9 Aug 2007 13:52:13 -0500

Blackboard is the course management system used campus-wide at NIU that allows faculty to post materials, deliver tests and surveys, hold online discussion and perform many other course-related functions. In May 2007 Blackboard was upgraded from version 6.3 to 7.1. This particular upgrade includes some substantial new user features and system capabilities that previously have not existed.

Discussion Board

New Appearance: A robust search engine has been added to the top of the list of discussion forums along with data on the number of total posts, unread posts, and total unique participants in each forum.
Forum View: Discussion threads are now separated rather than each being expandable or collapsible from the forum view.
Thread Detail: The thread detail view of a discussion includes not only a search box at the top, but also a box displaying the structure of the entire thread along with another box below that displays the substance of the individual posting currently selected.
Forum and Thread Grading: Discussion forums can now be graded either by forum or thread, making it possible for faculty to view either selective or comprehensive collections of postings for a student and then to post grades for discussion contributions directly to the Blackboard grade book.
Forum Moderation and User Management: The new forum manager role is assigned by default to the faculty member for the course or leader of the community but can be delegated to another user in the course.
Group Discussion Features: Group members can now create new threads in the group discussion board by default without the faculty member having to first create a forum or thread.
Rate Postings: When this new feature is enabled by the faculty member in forum settings, users can assign a scaled rating to posts, based on a scale of 1-5 stars.
Statistics: Statistics of user forum participation such as total posts, date of last post and average post length are now available in the Performance Dashboard.
Thread Subscription: Faculty members can allow forum users to subscribe to threads. A notification email is sent to the subscriber’s official NIU email address when a new post has been added to the thread.

Assessment and Gradebook

Customized Feedback: Feedback options are now ungrouped so that any combination of them may be displayed to students upon completion of an assessment.
Enhanced Submission Reports: Assessment submission reports now include first name, last name, course name, username, course ID, name of the assessment and date/time of the submission, serving as verification of assessment completion for the student.
Extra Credit: Faculty members can now mark questions as 'extra credit only' when creating tests.
Multiple Attempts: Assessments can now be configured to allow for an unlimited or specified number of attempts.
Self-Assessment Options: Blackboard assessments can now be used for self-assessment purposes without figuring the results into the grade book final score calculations.
Display/Disable Average Score: The average score for assessments can be disabled, preventing students from viewing the average class grade.
Test and Survey Import/Export: Tests and surveys can now be exported from Blackboard individually as well as imported individually into a specific course section.
Visual Text Box Editor Cross-browser Support: Users can now embed links to a variety of audio/visual materials as well as perform more advanced text editing functions and even spell check using the text box editor without knowing any html.
MathML and WebEQ Tools: Mathematical and scientific equations can now be entered more effectively in Blackboard.

The Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center offers a number of programs each month on the principles and practices of teaching with Blackboard. A special program will be held for NIU faculty and staff on Monday, August 20, 2007 to highlight the new and enhanced features of Blackboard. For more details or to register for workshops, visit: www.facdev.niu.edu/blackboard/workshops.

To learn more about the new features in Blackboard, visit www.niu.edu/blackboard/resources/version71.shtml

Podcasting with Blackboard

Thu, 9 Aug 2007 13:44:48 -0500

Podcasting is a powerful technology involving the selective subscription of audio or video content delivered over the Internet.  An RSS feed is at the heart of every podcast, making possible the automatic syndication and aggregation of new media content.  Subscribing to a podcast is free (the term "subscription" refers to signing up for new episodes) and no payment is required. An individual subscribes to content that can be viewed on a computer or mobile device.  Both "podcasting" and "RSS feed" have been featured topics in previous Spectrum issues.

In conjunction with the recent upgrade of Blackboard from version 6.3 to 7.1, NIU has installed a building block to Blackboard that affords the hosting and management of podcasts in Blackboard.  As a result, NIU faculty and staff using the Blackboard course management system are now able to take prepared content and create a course Podcast for each of their classes using Blackboard.

Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center offers a Podcasting workshop series, including: Introduction to Podcasting, Audio Podcasting, Enhanced Podcasting, and Video Podcasting.  A new workshop added to the podcast series, Podcasting with Blackboard (slated to debut in September 2007) provides participants with an overview of podcasting technology and step-by-step guidance in creating a course podcast in Blackboard.  For more information or to register for workshops, visit www.niu.edu/facdev/programs/fscurrent.shtml.  To learn more about podcasting with Blackboard, visit www.niu.edu/blackboard/resources/podcasting.shtml.

Integrating Newspapers in the Classroom

Thu, 9 Aug 2007 13:39:41 -0500

Are you looking for an effective classroom resource that is relatively inexpensive, up-to-date on current events, available in multiple formats, provides a range of perspectives and attracts diverse learning preferences? If so, consider using newspapers to provide a new dimension to your teaching methods. The significance of newspapers as a teaching and learning resource is great and allows for dozens of strategies to engage students. For instance, news stories can:

be tied to course content, required reading, and related activities,
provide content for guided discussions in the classroom and online,
be used to compare and contrast different perspectives of the same issue covered through multiple sources,
be linked to journals where students provide responses to a news story related to course topics,
be used for ice-breakers and “news quizzes” based on the previous day’s headlines, and
be used for interdisciplinary activities using articles that cross over different subject areas.

Newspapers are user friendly! They are relatively easy to access (as a purchased product or online), are portable, take up little storage space and do not require a steep learning curve to use. Conversely, if students are required to read the newspaper, faculty should provide ways for them to understand content instead of just having them read the material. Also, faculty should think about assisting learners with individual needs or require special accommodations.

As with any instructional aid, newspapers may have their challenges. Meaningful use of newspapers in the classroom requires careful planning such as preparing guided questions to help students analyze news stories and how much time will be allotted for newspaper-related activities. Newspaper subscription costs, although considerably less than many textbooks, can be a financial burden on students. Also, students may be wary of required class resources that are not adequately used during the semester. Therefore, require newspapers as a class resource only if they are used in a significant way and are related to course goals and objectives.

Newspapers cover a wide range of reading which can accommodate a broad spectrum of student learning preferences. Breaking news stories and influential editorials as well as special sections such as business, science, real estate, sports, life style and books can easily be integrated in a variety of curricular areas, course content and appeal to student interest. In addition to preparing students to be successful in their chosen fields of study, faculty can add value to their education by incorporating a variety of resources which can help them become informed citizens. Newspapers can be that resource and catalyst to help bridge the gap between the classroom and the real world.
To learn more about this topic, register at http://www.niu.edu/facdev/programs/september2007.shtml for the "Integrating News in the Classroom" workshop to be held on Wednesday, September 19, 2007.

Recognizing and Assisting the Emotionally Troubled Student

Thu, 9 Aug 2007 13:32:54 -0500

Students face a variety of difficulties on a daily basis and faculty, staff, and teaching assistants may often wonder how they can help those students.  The emotional and academic pressure of university life, while manageable and even exhilarating for most students, can be simply overwhelming for others.  Such students may not yet have attained the level of maturity necessary to develop adequate coping skills, or they may be struggling with relatively long-standing emotional deficits that are exacerbated by the transition to college life.

Consequently, due to your position, status, and visibility on campus, students experiencing emotional distress may turn to you for help.  Or, because of your role, you may find yourself confronted by a disturbed or disturbing student who needs assistance.  How you respond in these situations could significantly impact the student’s ability to deal constructively with their emotional conflicts.

One of the most common concerns college students face is depression.  This is an issue that impacts many students.  Depression can have negative impacts on one’s academics, social life, personal and familial relationships.  As with most problems, it is helpful to intervene as soon as possible.  By being better able to recognize the symptoms of depression and knowing what course of action to take, you may assist depressed students in pursuing changes that will result in a lessening of their depressive symptomology.

Signs of depression may include:

Flat affect (inexpressive face)
Slow speech
Decrease in interest in course material
Difficulty concentrating
Poor class attendance
Failure to complete assignments
Expressions of hopelessness or worthlessness
Agitation or irritability
Crying
Low energy/lethargy

If you notice the mentioned signs, consider the following actions:

Listen
Take the issue seriously
Directly express your concern for the student
Directly ask the student if he or she is feeling depressed
Try not to threaten, admonish, or reproach a depressed student for falling behind in course work or missing class
Try to find alternative ways for the student to catch up on missed work
Make the appropriate referral to Counseling and Student Development Center

Counseling and Student Development Center (CSDC) provides personal counseling for NIU students and CSDC staff is prepared to assist students with overcoming these challenges. To refer a student to CSDC, simply have the student visit the Center located in Campus Life Building Room 200.

You may also call the Center with the student in your office to facilitate the student coming to CSDC. CSDC staff members are also available to consult with you about concerns you have about a student. You may call them to discuss the best way to handle a student issue or concern.

You can learn more information about CSDC at their website at: www.niu.edu/csdc or by contacting them at (815) 753-1206.

Micky M. Sharma, Psy.D
Director, Counseling and Student Development Center, NIU

New Blackboard Resources Now Available

Thu, 8 Feb 2007 15:41:08 -0600

Blackboard is the course management system used campus-wide at NIU that allows faculty to post materials, deliver tests and surveys, hold online discussion and perform many other course-related functions. During the fall 2006 semester, the Teaching with Blackboard Web site was redesigned to reflect the new NIU Web presence and reorganized to make the support resources available online more accessible for those teaching with Blackboard at NIU.

The following resources that have been recently added to www.blackboard.niu.edu are now available:

Teaching with Blackboard Podcast
This new podcast provides tips, ideas, suggestions, and best practices of teaching with the Blackboard learning management system. The goal of this podcast is to discuss the pedagogy of online teaching and learning and share ideas and tips for how NIU faculty can leverage the Blackboard course management system to improve the teaching and learning experiences they offer for their students.

NIUOnline Listserv
This email listserv was developed in response to requests from NIU faculty to serve as a place to discuss and explore techniques and solutions, and share general information on using technology in their online and face-to-face teaching. Faculty members are encouraged to use the listserv as a means for sharing ideas to improve online teaching and learning experiences offered to students. General discussion will emphasize the pedagogical issues surrounding online teaching, including student and faculty readiness to teach and learn online. Faculty members are also encouraged to share their experiences, online teaching tips, and most successful assignments.

Blackboard Workshop Email Subscription
The list of upcoming Blackboard workshops is readily accessible from any page on the Teaching with Blackboard Web site. Faculty can now subscribe to the schedule of upcoming Blackboard workshops to receive automatic notification either via email or RSS when new Blackboard workshops are announced.

Blackboard A-Z Index
The Blackboard A-Z Index provides an alphabetical directory of all Blackboard help topics available within the online help documentation as well as Blackboard-related help topics on the ITS Web site.

Links to Additional Blackboard Resources
Blackboard Support Staff are compiling additional Blackboard resources developed by other institutions, and these newly compiled resources will be of interest to NIU faculty. These newly compiled resources will be added to the online collection of Blackboard links listed under "Additional Resources."

Ask a Blackboard Question
Using the online question submission form, NIU faculty can submit questions regarding Blackboard.  NIU Blackboard support staff makes every effort to respond to questions submitted within 24-48 hours.

In the coming months, these new resources will be utilized to help communicate details concerning upcoming Blackboard system upgrades.

An Online Tutorial for Faculty Promoting Academic Integrity

Thu, 8 Feb 2007 15:38:19 -0600

Due to the increase in academic dishonesty incidents, a number of universities have developed online resources to promote academic integrity among students. Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center has also developed and published an "Online Tutorial on Academic Integrity" for students at http://www.niu.edu/ai/students. However, educating students on academic integrity addresses only one side of the issue and faculty should also be familiar with strategies for addressing academic integrity issues effectively in their courses and curricula. To address this need, the Center has developed another online tutorial that increases faculty’s awareness of academic dishonesty by students, offers strategies for designing course activities effectively to promote academic integrity, and provides tips for protecting students from unintentional accusations of cheating and plagiarism.

The faculty tutorial on academic integrity includes easily-readable content organized under eight sections, quizzes, case studies, and resources. The tutorial can be accessed at http://www.niu.edu/ai/faculty without any login or password. Similar to the student tutorial, the faculty tutorial was also funded by the Committee for the Improvement of Undergraduate Education’s "Project for the Improvement of Undergraduate Education Grant" and Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center.

Promoting Responsible Authorship and Peer Review with Online Quick Guides

Thu, 8 Feb 2007 15:35:25 -0600

How can objectivity compromise the quality of a peer review? Why is disclosing a conflict of interest equally important for both proposal/manuscript authors and peer reviewers? How can one assess the justification for conducting research?  Can authors plagiarize their own work? What are the issues in duplicative publications? These are some of the questions researchers in the early stages of their careers may face when taking on the role of author or peer reviewer. Questions such as these are the focus of the recently completed online modules or ‘quick guides’ for Responsible Authorship and Peer Review funded by the Office of Research Integrity (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services). Access to both modules can be found online at http://www.niu.edu/rcrportal.

The purpose of the quick guides is to increase researchers’ awareness of common mistakes and dilemmas that novice authors and peer reviewers may be at risk of committing. The quick guides provide opportunities to explore issues that can compromise the integrity of the research process.  By selecting from a list of topics, users can read through a number of interactive case scenarios, take quizzes about a course of action to take, and review feedback on their responses. Users have the option to print a ‘Performance Report’ of their interaction with each case scenario viewed. A narrated video tour is available to assist users in navigating the Web site.

The quick guides were collaboratively developed at NIU by the Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center with faculty and staff from a number of academic units. Although the content was compiled from various sources including existing literature, faculty from numerous departments at NIU contributed their perspectives and experiences on issues that compromise the quality of research proposals, manuscripts, and the peer review process.

The quick guides can be used as a supplementary resource in courses or seminars on research or as a self-paced learning tool by anyone. The quick guides cover a range of responsible authorship and peer review issues such as citing online sources, selecting the appropriate sample size, ensuring confidentiality, and disclosing conflict of interest. Users can freely explore the quick guides as the guides do not require any special login, passwords, or approval, and do not collect data from users.

The quick guides are the third project supported by the Office of Research Integrity. This agency also funded the development of interactive online modules on Data Management, Responsible Mentoring, and Collaborative Research.  For more information on all online modules, please contact Dan Cabrera, Multimedia Coordinator, at 753-0613 or dcabrera@niu.edu.

Taming the Cost of Textbooks

Thu, 8 Feb 2007 14:47:35 -0600

Do you know how much the textbook you have selected for your course will cost students? Are the CD and/or supplementary materials bundled with the textbook really necessary for the course? How often are new editions of a textbook released by the publisher? Are there significant differences between editions? Answers to these questions and their impact on the cost of textbooks are eye-opening!

In less than 20 years, textbook prices have nearly tripled, “rising at the average rate of six percent per year” (Powers, 2006). A California Public Interest Research Group found that 22 frequently assigned textbooks had an average cost of $131.44 (Capriccioso, 2006). For an undergraduate student taking a full load of courses, the cost of textbooks alone can easily add up to several hundred dollars a semester and several thousand dollars over a four-year period. Considering these numbers, it is understandable why there is uproar over the escalating cost of textbooks. To address this issue, state policy makers and universities are exploring ways to ensure students have access to affordable textbooks.

In 2004, the Illinois Board of Higher Education requested university faculty, student groups and bookstore managers examine college textbook prices and the feasibility of a textbook rental program. The ensuing report states that “although textbook rental programs would provide a lower-cost alternative to students, such programs are inappropriate for the large, research-oriented public universities in Illinois” (State of Illinois Board of Higher Education, 2005). There are, however, ways to make textbooks affordable. Consider the following cost-saving alternatives from that report, the Chicago Tribune (Bigda, 2007), and other common sense suggestions:

Investigate the cost of a textbook before adopting it for a course. If the cost is prohibitive, explore other alternatives such as an electronic version of the book which may be less expensive.
Make textbook adoptions early so that students can explore cheaper alternatives for purchasing the book.
Increase students’ awareness of textbook purchase or acquisition options, such as used textbooks, electronic texts, discount book sellers, cheaper versions of the same books sold abroad, and reserve copies in the library. Facilitate book exchanges and swaps among students. This could be a service activity for student organizations.
Check textbooks on the same course topics available for other disciplines.
Sometimes books on the same topic may be sold at different prices for different disciplines.
Avoid requiring more than one textbook for a course. Instead, provide class notes or other materials for content covered in additional textbooks.
Analyze the content and price of different textbooks available for the same course. Consider using a less expensive textbook that contains most of the necessary content and provide class materials for the missing information.
Use the same textbook for several semesters even if the publisher releases newer editions. Newer editions may only have minor changes or corrections and faculty can notify students about the revisions.
Use textbooks with substantial content that can be used for more than one course. In some cases, it may be possible to use one part of a book for an introductory course and the other part for an advanced course.
Discourage publishers from bundling textbooks with CDs or supplementary materials that are not essential for the course.
Negotiate with publishers for lower prices based on volume purchase or textbook adoptions for several courses. Support publishers who provide low-cost textbooks.
Develop your own course materials and post them online or have them sold as a bookstore course pack.

There may not be one perfect solution for taming the cost of textbooks for all courses. But we can join the ranks of other universities and faculty who are implementing a number of alternatives mentioned above. The results can benefit us all.

References

Bigda, C. (2007). Learn to cut cost of books for college: Illinois mulls programs for renting, not buying. Chicago Tribune. http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/yourmoney/chi-0701070131jan07,1,6497267.story?ctrack=1&cset=true

Capriccioso, R. (2006). A Closer read on textbook costs. Inside Higher Ed. http://www.insidehighered.com/layout/set/print/news/2006/08/17/texts

Powers, E. (2006). Wanted: Book for a Term. Inside Higher Ed. http://www.insidehighered.com/laout/set/print/news/2006/03/23/rental

State of Illinois Board of Higher Education. (2005). Report on Textbook Rental Study. http://www.ibhe.state.il.us/Board/Agendas/2005/February/Item%2010.pdf

Podcasting in Education

Mon, 11 Dec 2006 13:51:20 -0600

Podcasting is a blending of two words, 'iPod' and 'broadcasting'. It represents a method of (1) publishing online content such as audio, video, images, or text files, and (2) allowing users to receive the content in an automated fashion. This last feature distinguishes podcasting from the traditional method of acquiring online information. The traditional method requires users to locate the desired online information and 'pull' it to their computer every time. The newer model only requires users to seek out the information, in the form of a podcast, one time only, where a user can subscribe to an RSS feed. Future additions to the podcast, or 'episodes,' will be 'pushed' to the user's computer. This model is similar to subscribing to listservs, journals, magazines or newspapers in that the subscriber automatically receives materials.

Depending on the type of podcast, users can view the content on either a computer or audio mp3 player/or video-enabled iPod unit. The types include:

* Audio podcast (music, lectures, news broadcast)

* Enhanced podcast (synchronizing images (PowerPoint/Keynote slide presentations with audio files, only available with Macs),

* Video podcast (video clips formatted to play on computers or vide-enabled iPods),

* Other, as an attachment (class notes, word processing documents, PDFs, spreadsheets, photos).

Supporters of podcasting see a number of advantages in this relatively new teaching strategy. Some educators promote podcasting on the basis of the power of the spoken word, which can appeal to auditory learners. Podcast are also promoted on the basis of offering anytime/anyplace learning, also referred to as mobile or 'm' learning and personal on-demand instruction. Using the free podcatching software, students can view podcast episodes multiple times on their computers or download the podcast episodes to portable players.

Critics of podcasting charge that this form of instruction is not the same as actively engaging students with material in class, where learning occurs through a process of interacting by critical questioning. Others charge that by making lectures and class notes available for download, students will be less likely to attend classes. Advocates respond by noting that pedagogically, podcast should be integrated into the existing curriculum and used as supplemental rather than as stand-alone teaching units. Podcast material could be preparatory work for class sessions such as having students view video clips, listen to music pieces, or read in-class assignments, saving more time for face-to-face instruction. Faculty concerned about students missing classes might choose to implement a class attendance policy. Students could still benefit from viewing notes as well as listening to lectures following class. While podcasting is another useful tool to add to one's repertoire of educational strategies, faculty are discouraged from relying too heavily on any single technology strategy. In addition, faculty should be cognizant of how implementing a new technology impacts accessibility for their students.

Currently, the Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center offers instruction on how to create podcasts in its 'Pod Series' of workshops. Check the Center's schedule for more information on upcoming workshops.

The Buzz Behind Blogs

Mon, 11 Dec 2006 13:51:20 -0600

Web logs, more commonly referred to as blogs, have become commonplace for online communication. A blog is a type of Web site that includes entries made in the same fashion as a diary or journal in reverse chronological order. The individual posting to the blog (aka: "blogger") is able to quickly make new entries without any advanced knowledge of HTML scripting. Blog posts can be configured to permit comments, whereby readers are able to respond to the content of the postings. In early 2006, over 50 million blogs are reported to be in existence, with at least one new blog created every second of every day. A study by Pew Internet & American Life Project found that 8% of current U.S. Internet users are actively using blogs as a means of creative, personal expression (Pew Internet & American Life Project, 2006).

So why all the recent interest in blogs? Some faculty have turned to blogs as a means for personal self-expression and self-publication, while others have incorporated blogging into their class activities (Perlmutter, 2005). The ease of use for both contributors and readers coupled with the ability for the content to be syndicated to others through the process of Really Simple Syndication (RSS) are among the many contributing factors leading to the prominence of blogging among the various modes of computer mediated communication. RSS makes it possible for readers to use an aggregator to check for updates from numerous blogs simultaneously and view the content of new postings without physically having to revisit the source blogs.

Those interested in blogging have a wide array of approaches available for blog creation. Many free or low-cost hosted services are emerging that cater to instructional applications of blogging within higher education. Using one such free service, http://www.edublogs.org, faculty can easily register for an account, create a blog, and begin contributing to it within a matter of minutes. A sister service, http://www.uniblogs.org, provides university students with similar blog creation and contribution capabilities. If one has a server and the ability to make some technical configurations, the open source software powering many common hosted solutions such as WordPress (http://www.wordpress.org) or bBlog (http://www.bblog.org) can be downloaded for free.

While blogging is becoming increasingly popular within higher education contexts, it is important for those engaged in blogging to be cognizant of the full spectrum of associated issues. Here are a few important considerations to keep in mind when deciding whether to use a blog for personal or academic purposes:

* Access. The content of blogs is typically available to ANYONE online. While this may be desirable when attempting to broadcast your message to a vast number of individuals, the information is in fact available to anyone, anywhere with an Internet connection.

* Syndication. RSS makes it possible for blog contributions to be read in a variety of different contexts, including directly within another Web page. All one needs is the URL of the RSS feed for a blog to syndicate the content of that blog to any other Web site.

* Credibility. Anyone with Internet access can setup a blog and post to it. Therefore, the credibility of content found on blogs is often questionable and is certainly nowhere near that of peer-reviewed publications.

* Longevity. The nature of computer mediated communication via the Internet is such that if at any point in the future the author wishes to delete postings, it may be extremely difficult to do so.

Blogging is simply one of the many emerging online technologies that can be utilized today to enhance the learning experience of students. Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center offers a variety of workshops over the academic year related to the implementation of various instructional technologies. A current schedule of workshops is always available online at http://www.facdev.niu.edu/facdev/events/current.htm

References:

Pew Internet & American Life Project. (2006, July 19). Bloggers: A portrait of the internet's new storytellers. Retrieved September 12, 2006, from http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/186/report_display.asp

Perlmutter, D. D. (2005). Blogs as a tool for teaching. The Chronicle of Higher Education, 51(42). Retrieved September 13, 2006, from http://chronicle.com/weekly/v51/i42/42b03301.htm

Cooperative Learning: A Framework for Success

Fri, 8 Dec 2006 15:36:20 -0600

Cooperative learning (CL) is a student-centered, instructor-facilitated instructional strategy in which a small group of students is responsible for its own learning and the learning of all group members. CL is much more than placing students in groups and expecting them to discuss a chapter and then report back to the class. Although lively discussion from this type of activity can take place, typical group discussions tend to be less focused with little in the way of meaningful learning taking place. CL, on the other hand, holds all of the group members accountable for their own and the group's outcomes. Several essential characteristics must be present for a group to be called "cooperative." Even though the instructor structures the majority of CL activities, it is the group and each of its members who are responsible for learning. A group must: exhibit interdependence, support one another's learning, will hold each other accountable for the group's process and outcomes, exhibit acceptable interpersonal skills, and process group dynamics (Johnson and Others, 1992).

The literature has shown that students who are given opportunities to work in CL groups are able to learn more quickly and efficiently, are better able to grasp and retain content, and take a more positive stance toward their own learning (Felder and Brent, 2001; Hamilton, 1997; Johnson and Johnson, 1994; Stahl, 1994). CL experiences give students the opportunity to collaborate, assume various group-related roles and hold each other accountable. These skills are transferable and sought after in today's competitive workplace.

Although different approaches exist in creating CL groups, a number of characteristics instructors can use are considered vital to successful cooperative learning experiences.

* Structured outcome-oriented objectives are planned by the instructor,

* Each group member must accept or "buy into" the outcome-oriented objectives,

* A set of well-defined and explicit instructions or directions is given to the group before it begins group activity,

* Heterogeneous groups are formed based on the project, size and composition of the class, and how long the class meets (or how long the topic is studied),

* Ways to achieve self-efficacy must easily be attainable where each group member feels he or she has the ability to succeed,

* Learning tasks are structured where students must rely on each other's skills and abilities to succeed. Accountability for themselves and the group is required,

* Provide a means to teach students social skills and behaviors before the group is formed,

* Provide enough time for the groups to function as a group, where members or students learn to rely on, cooperate with, and learn from one another,

* Reward groups that achieve beyond expectations. Doing this in public encourages further success of that group and other groups to do as well (Stahl, 1994).

See Stahl (1994) for a more complete and detailed list.

Cooperative learning (CL) can be adapted across learning domains, can work well in small and large classes, and can meet the needs of students with diverse learning preferences. When properly implemented, cooperative learning has been shown to impart learning. CL, then, may also be helpful as instructional methods are developed.

To learn more about creating effective cooperative learning opportunities in your own classroom, register for the spring 2007 Teaching Effectiveness Institute, Thursday, January 11, 2006, presented by Barbara Millis, University of Nevada, Reno, a sought-after speaker in the area of cooperative learning. Look for more details mid fall semester at the Faculty Development Web site (http://www.niu.edu/facdev) and on flyers that will be distributed across campus. Register early for this motivating and dynamic workshop.

References:

Felder, R. M. and R. Brent. (2001). Effective strategies for cooperative learning. Journal of Cooperation & Collaboration in College Teaching, 10(2): 69-75.

Hamilton, S. J. (1997). Collaborative learning: Teaching and learning in the arts, sciences, and professional schools. (2nd Ed.). Indianapolis, IN: IUPUI Center for Teaching and Learning.

Johnson, D. W., and Others. (1992). Cooperative learning: Increasing college faculty instructional productivity. Retrieved September 11, 2006, from http://www.ntlf.com/html/lib/bib/92-2dig.htm

Johnson, R. T., and D. W. Johnson. (1994). An overview of cooperative learning. Retrieved September 11, 2006, from http://www.co-operation.org/pages/overviewpaper.html

Stahl. R. J. (1994). The essential elements of cooperative learning in the classroom. ERICDIGESTS.ORG. ERIC Identifier: ED370881. Retrieved September 11, 2006, from http://www.ed.gov/pubs/OR/ConsumerGuides/cooplear.html