Contents:
USE OF CHAT IN THE ONLINE ENVIRONMENT
Cleo Magnuson-Jongsma, Instructional Designer
The chat feature in a course management system
can be an effective tool for the instructor teaching a
web-enhanced, web-supported, or fully online course.
Chat can be used in a number of ways to serve a
number of different purposes. Because chat is
synchronous (or occurs in real time), its use might be
viewed as a challenge to manage, but this can be
easily overcome.
Here are few tips as you begin using chat.
Tip 1: Begin with Virtual Office Hours
One of the easiest ways to begin using chat is by first
exploring its use during virtual office hours.
You can open the chat feature and students can log
on to ask questions or clarify information. If there are
several students logged on at the same time and
management of the chat becomes an issue, you can
query the students to determine the topics that their
questions address. These questions can be
answered in turn.
Then, as a follow-up, post the summarized questions
and answers to the discussion board.
Tip 2: Have A Strategy - From Start to Finish
Successful use of chat requires a clear-cut strategy
for lesson presentation similar to the use of discussion
in the face-to-face environment.
Becoming proficient with chat as a teaching tool requires
careful planning and the use of a variety of methodologies
to sculpt and deliver the lesson. In so doing, you can
provide a rich learning experience for the student.
Additionally, you can use an asynchronous tool, such
as the discussion board, to encourage follow-up and
reflection on the topic/question once the chat session
has been concluded.
Tip 3: Implement the strategy
When beginning a classroom chat based on a particular
topic, it is most important that the lesson have clear-cut
goals and objectives, and demonstrate effective use of
a strategy.
The key component of chat is the opportunity that
the instructor has to encourage higher order/critical
thinking through the use of careful question construction.
There are a variety of ways (depending upon the particular
course builder) that a chat session can be managed. You
can conduct a large group chat or divide your students
into smaller groups to address the goals and objectives
of the session.
Some course builders provide several chat rooms, thereby
allowing the instructor to divide students into groups and
assign them to specific chat rooms to work on the assigned
question(s). This enables the instructor to move from
room to room facilitating the discussion.
Once the group comes to consensus on their response to
the question posed, they can share their answer with the
others in a number of ways based on the plan laid out by
the instructor.
For example, you can have the students return to a large
group chat at a designated time and then have one
moderator from each group post their group's response
to the question. If the question requires additional work
by the group, you may have the small group moderator
post the answer to the discussion board after further
research and/or reflection.
Chat can be used as an effective tool for teaching and
learning. Through careful question construction and
management of the chat, the student can become
actively engaged in higher order thinking tasks.
For information on the variety of programs offered
by the Instructional Design Staff at the Center for
Teaching and Learning, see: www.indstate.edu/cta
Spring 2004 workshops will be posted soon.
References:
Bloom, B.S., (Ed.), Englehart, M.D., Furst, E.J., Hill, W.H., & Krathwohl, D.R. (1956). Taxonomy of
educational objectives: the classification of educational goals. Handbook 1: Cognitive Domain. Longman New
York.
Drummond, B., Magnuson-Jongsma, C., & Peter, D. (2003, February 11) Experiential Faculty Development
Workshops:
The Course Transformation Academy. PowerPoint presentation at Winterfest 2003 Conference, Center for
Teaching
& Learning, Indiana State University, Terre Haute, IN
Institute for Experiential Learning (2003). Experiential Learning, Washington, DC.
Retrieved 3/18/03 http://www.ielnet.org/exp_learning.html
Magnuson-Jongsma, C.G. (2003, June 18). Basic Online Discussion.
PowerPoint presentation for Developing Experiential Learning Opportunities
for Distance Education, Center for Teaching & Learning, Indiana State University, Terre Haute, IN
Morrison, Gary, R., Ross, Steven M., Kemp, & Jerrold E. (2001). Designing Effective Instruction, (3rd.
ed).
John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, 193-196.
Muilenburg, L. & Berge Z.L. (3/4/02). A Framework for Designing Questions for Online Learning,
Retrieved 10/10/03 from http://www.emoderators.com/moderators/muilenburg.html
~~~~~
Cleo Magnuson-Jongsma is an Instructional Designer in
the University's Center for Teaching and Learning. If you
have questions on any instructional design topic, contact
Cleo at: (812) 237-7941 or extcleo@isugw.indstate.edu
~~~~~
UPDATE: E-LEARNING IN INDIANA
According to the Indiana College Network, e-learning
opportunities in Indiana are soaring as more institutions
turn to technology as an effective means to deliver
education.
- Course offerings listed with the ICN Network grew
29% from fall 2002 to fall 2003, an increase of
669 courses.
- The University of Indianapolis, the University of Saint
Francis, and Indiana Wesleyan University are now
listing their distance courses with ICN.
- Vincennes University - Jasper is offering nine collections
of noncredit, self-paced, interactive learning modules
(called bundles) designed to prepare learners for
vendor certification exams. Areas include everything
from A+ Certification to Web Design and Media.
- New offerings this past summer included a series of
modules on Infectious Disease Preparedness and
Response. Topics include smallpox and anthrax
preparedness, bioterrorism agents, and emerging
infectious diseases. The modules, which are available
free of charge to public health workers in Indiana,
are offered through the Mid-America Public Health
Training Center at the University of Illinois Chicago
in partnership with the IU School of Medicine
Department of Public Health.
- The Indiana Online Academy (IOA), Indiana's virtual
high school, is now listing their online high school
classes with ICN. IOA provides high school students
with access to classes not available locally. These
students may be home-bound or home-schooled,
GED and drop-out recovery, or currently enrolled in
high school and needing additional credits or specific
classes to meet graduation requirements.
For more information on these course offerings or the
ICN, contact:
Carol Brunty
Manager of Student Services
Indiana College Network
317.263.8846
cbrunty@ihets.org
Search the ICN Catalog of Courses at:
www.icn.org
NEW! ISU ON-LINE COURSE
A new ISU on-line course in Biostatistics is available
to eligible undergraduate students:
HLTH 340: Health Biostatistics
- Audience: Undergraduate students, including those
enrolled in the Community Health Bachelor Degree-
Completion Program offered through DegreeLink
- Delivery: Internet
- On-campus requirements: None
- Open to: In-state, out-of-state, and international students
- Scheduling: This is a semester-based course, with starting
periods in fall and spring.
- Goal: By the end of the semester, students will be able
to: (1) select the appropriate statistic to analyze their
data; and (2) correctly interpret the results of the analysis.
Major emphasis is placed on application, within minimal
attention to theory. The course uses the "Computational
Handbook of Statistics" as the textbook.
- Faculty: Dr. Steve Gabany
Browse the course at:
http://isu.indstate.edu/gabanys/course340
ETCETERA, ETCETERA, ETCETERA
Online Medical Access in Africa: A new University of
Toronto program offers doctors in Africa unprecedented
online access to current medical literature and more
than 20,000 journals. Dr. Massey Beveridge (U of T)
states that this new program (called Ptolemy) represents
a negligible cost to his University's library but the benefits
are high. Although Internet access in Africa is very limited,
most doctors have access. According to Beveridge
"...60% of African doctors involved say the program has
changed their practice." Dr. Mohamed Labib of Zambia
hopes to use Ptolemy to train specialists in his field of
urology. According to the article, currently the entire nation
of Zambia has two urologist.
URL: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3211844.stm
Sources: BBC (22 Oct 03)
PLos Biology is a new on-line science journal published by
a non-profit organization of scientists and physicians
"committed to making the world's scientific and medical
literature a freely available public resource." Web traffic
jumped to over 500,000 hits within a few hours of the site's
launch on October 13, 2003. Rather than charge large
subscription fees, the Public Library of Science (PLoS),
which publishes the journal, charges authors $1,500 per
article. The fee is used for "peer-review, editing, and
production, and all content on the journal's site is available
for free." A second publication, PLoS Medicine, is targeted
for 2004.
URL: www.publiclibraryofscience.org
Sources: Edupage (15 Oct 03); CNET (14 Oct 03)
Images: The British Pathe Stills Archive contains over
12 million digital images. Low resolution preview material
is available free of charge. Note: No rights are granted
for any audience outside educational use in schools.
URL: www.britishpathe.com/stills.cfm
Sources: ResearchBuzz (16 Oct 03)
Thought for November:
It is better to keep your mouth closed
and let people think you are a fool than
to open it and remove all doubt.
- Mark Twain
Interaction is published by the Office of Distance
Support Services - Indiana State University.
