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OLG Meeting Notes Mar 4, 2005 ...

Ocotillo Online Learning Group
Meeting Mar 4, 2005

Rio Salado College
Rio Main Building, Room 3B
1:30 - 3:30 PM

See campus map

"The Student Voice; listening to hybrid and online experiences" Two very exciting things! First, Rio Salado will provide a demo of their new E-learning system. Then listen to a panel discussion with Maricopa students and hear, in their own words, their experiences in online and hybrid courses.

Welcome and Introductions (1:30 - 1:35 pm)

Polly Miller (Estrella Mountain) and Donna Gaudet (Mesa)

Demo of Rio's ELearning System RioLearn (1:35 - 2:05)

Laura Helminski, Pat Case, and Angelda Ambrosia (Rio Salado)
Rio worked to minimize the number one complaint of students, time issues. The team worked to incorporate the mission and vision by making the E-Learning system accessible, convenient, and flexible. The goal was to make the system very easy for the students and as easy as possible for the faculty. All help for students is available on each page, i.e. helpdesk, library, help. Each department chair wrote a best practices manual that is included in the online training for adjunct. The goal is to have all courses, approximately 400 in Riolearn by the end of the summer.

There are specified roles - Faculty Chair, Staff, Adjunct, Students. Adjunct can also see the student view so they are aware of what their students are seeing. There are alerts that let students and faculty know when an assignment has been submitted. The alerts also remind faculty if they have not graded an assignment at intervals defined by each department.

The course management portion of the system includes rosters and a grade book. It is populated with student information and email addresses.

RioLearn Presentation
MS PowerPoint File: rio_learn.ppt [1.5 Mb PPT]

Break (2:05 - 2:15 pm)

all
Enjoy some snacks while networking

Student Voices Panel (2:15-3:25 pm)

faciliated by Polly Miller (Estrella Mountain) and Donna Gaudet (Mesa)
Our student panel responded to a series of questions about the experiences in taking onlione or hybrid classes at Maricopa.

Please give us your name and the names of courses you have taken that are online or hybrid in format, what prompted you to choose these courses in these formats?

• Kim L., Estrella Mountain, ENG102, CRE 101, SOC 101. I chose hybrid courses due to time constraints. I am only at school one day per week.
• Vanessa C., Estrella Mountain, EDU 230 EDU 231. I chose hybrid courses so that I have more time to work on my internship.
• Brian N. - I travel a lot with business so hybrids work well for me because I can log in and do my homework anywhere. I am also able to work ahead and not stay on a tight schedule.
• Christie H., GateWay, four courses in hybrid format, all medical transcription. I like that I am only on campus one night per week. I have contact with my teachers and peers through Blackboard.
• Lindsay C., two online courses. I prefer these classes because I spend most of my time studying for the MCAT. I want to continue to learn and study while I am waiting to get into med school.
• Jacob T. - I like online courses because they are new and interesting and I have more flexibility.

What technology was required for the courses that you have taken? Did you have access to this technology before you signed up for the course? If not, how did you obtain access( the college, otherÉ) What kind of technical support was available for your course? Describe any plusses or minuses of these technologies.

• Alysha R., Estrella Mountain, Blackboard. Need a computer with Word. Occasionally I will go to the computer lab so that there is someone available to answer questions.
• Gina F., GateWay, all the classes I take are online and hybrid courses. We use Blackboard, the Internet, a foot pedal for transcription. I work at home and in the lab.
• Wendy B., Mesa, I take all my courses online. They require a computer with Windows, Office, WebCT, and email.
• Lisa C., Scottsdale, I take hybrid courses because they fit my class schedule from ASU. Blackboard is much simpler to use that ASUŐs system.
• Shannon D., Mesa, I take all online courses. I am a single mom with a new home so I do most of my coursework from midnight to 4 am. It requires a computer with Windows XP. I am currently in my fifth semester and take 12 credits per semester.
• Sean M., Mesa, ENG 10 1and 102, CIS, ECON, LIT, GBU. All courses require a personal computer and WebCt.

How was the content delivered in your courses (online lectures, readings, etc...) Describe the plusses/minuses of the content delivery. Do you feel you are part of a learning community?

• Jacob T. - we meet once per week in person for discussions. The hybrid is mostly independent reading and writing on the Blackboard discussion board. I feel there is more input online than in person. I feel like I am part of a learning community.
• Lindsay C. - the discussion board is my favorite part of Blackboard. Yes, I am part of a learning community.
• Christie H. - I am part of a learning community. The plusses of Blackboard are that you constantly feel connected, there are links in the readings to websites and places I would never have know about or visited on my own.
• Brian N. - my business classes focus on teamwork and communication. Because the classes are not face-to-face, people ask more questions and participate more.
• Vanessa C. - we work in groups in class and exchange phone numbers so that the group continues to exist outside the classroom. We can call each other with questions. Yes, I am part of a learning community.
• Kim L. - one negative is trying to get some people to respond on discussion boards. The Blackboard outage was a major negative.

vWhat were the study expectations in the classes you have taken? What kinds of assignments were you expected to complete? How did you budget your time? Where and when did you do most of your work?

• Sean M. - one chapter per week, in LIT classes a book every two weeks. I am able to use Saturday and Sunday to get my work done. I work full time during the week.
• Shannon D. - I review the due dates for each class every week. I budget my time so that most of my work is completed during the middle of the night. I need complete silence in order to concentrate.
• Lisa C. - I use the calendar system and wish that all courses had a built in calendar system. I love the discussion board but wish there was an edit feature on it.
• Wendy B. - I am free to work at my own pace and I can work ahead when my personal life is extremely busy. I put the due dates in the assignment page so that it is right in front of me when I work. WebCt has a personality and the downtimes on Sunday are very hard because that is when I am doing my work. I prefer the discussion board to the bulk mail feature that some faculty utilize.
• Gina F. - Something is due every week. I can work on assignments when it is convenient for me. I prefer to turn in assignments early.
• Alysha R. - mostly essays in my classes. We have to submit the work before class so that everyone is on top of assignments.

• 6 of 12 students felt they were writing more in hybrid courses.
• 3 of 12 students felt online courses took more time than traditional face-to-face classes.

Compare totally online courses to totally in a classroom. Which promotes better learning environments?

• Brian N. - Online courses. You have to teach yourself to learn what you need to know. You pay more attention and are more focused.
• Jacob T. - it depends on the class. Some courses benefit from discussion with the teachers.
• Wendy B. - it depends on what your background is. I would benefit from classroom courses in subjects where I donŐt know anything.
• Gina F. - transcription work is independent, but I would not take other classes online.
• Sean M. - it depends what the student is willing to put into the course.
• Christie H. - who do the classes appeal to? Online is more appealing to returning students. I will spend more time on a paper that will be seen by all my peers than just by my teacher.
• Kim L. - online courses take discipline. They require time and self-restraint.

Online vs. Hybrid - which is more beneficial?

• Christie H. - hybrid, so you can make facial connections.
• Jacob T. - the classroom ties everything together.

Do you save money by only going to campus one day per week?

• 9 of 12 students save money, it is a consideration.

Do you know any students who do not like online courses?

• Kim L. - I know someone who is taking a biology course that requires a lab kit to be completed at home. The lab kit is expensive. She feels some subjects would be better taught in person.
• Gina F. - I know a student who procrastinates, misses deadlines, she is not successful unless the instructor pushes her.
• Brian N. - My wife has a hard time with hybrid courses. It depends on the type of class and the studentŐs time management skills.
• Christie H. - the students need to be computer savvy or they will have a hard time.

Should there be screening for online courses?

• Lindsay C. - questions would be good for students before they sign up for class.
• Brian N. - Estrella Mountain requires students to take a quiz in the first week of class on training for hybrid courses.
• Kim L. - make CIS 105 a prerequisite for enrollment in online and hybrid courses.

Content, online vs. in class, is there more material online or do you lose something? Does the textbook enrich the learning experience?

• Christie H. - the textbook becomes like a third learning tool, not the best tool. As an extrovert, one night a week in person is good, but the discussion board is great.
• Kim L. - there are some classes where I have never used the book. Feedback from the instructors in important.

How many feel like they have lost something in hybrid and online courses?

• No students indicated that they had lost anything by not being in the classroom.
• One student thought that the add in material was excessive.
• If the instructor does not use the discussion board than the students miss out.

Should faculty use the calendar feature in the course management system?

• 10 of 12 students answered yes.

Are you better able to analyze, are you better students because of taking online/hybrid courses?

• 10 of 12 answered yes.
• The courses teach you self-discipline.

Door Prizes (3:25 - 3:30 pm)

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Stick around to see if you win one of the prizes (you must register on the sign in sheet and be present to win).

The prizes for this meeting include:

• Sean MacMillon won a Macromedia Breeze T-shirt, thanks to Macromedia
• Ron Bleed and Jacque Chisum won CoffeeCup HTML Editor software thanks to Nick Longo and CoffeCup software.
• Julie Magadan and Donna Rebadow won Adobe Video/Audio Solutions demo DVDs (demo versions of Adobe software)
• Karen Gurney and Mary Long won Guidelines for Authors of Learning Objects, thanks to New Media Consortium
• Donna Gaudet won a goodie bag from Estrella Mountain Community College
• Lindsay Curd won a Kingston USB Flash Drive (128 Mb) - your file storage on a key chain?
• Otis White won Taking a Big Picture Look @ Technology by Mark Milliron & Cheryl Miles.

We will again make use of the prize patrol tool!

OLG Prize Patrol
by Alan Levine
Get the .swf file to use for yourself or the original Flash MX file to see how it is done.

Next Meeting...

April 1, 2005 at Glendale Community College