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OLG Meeting Notes Apr 5, 2002 ...

Ocotillo Online Learning Group
Meeting Apr 5, 2002

Paradise Valley Community College
2:00 - 4:00 PM in Southeast Corner of Library ("E" Building)


campus map

Welcome and Introductions
Tom Foster (Chandler-Gilbert Community College) and Sandra Wells (Phoenix College)

Show us Your Hybrids (Part Deux)
Our last meeting featuring a panel of faculty members teaching in a hybrid mode was such a hit that we are bringing in a few more to share their experiences.

Bill Mullaney (Chandler-Gilbert) teaches an ENG202 course this semester in a hybrid format. This started as a summer project 2 years ago to develop a completely online version of the course, but they found it did not work best in this format. So, as a hybrid format, the course Bill teaches features:

• The class has 2 scheduled face-to-face meetings, the first class as an orientation and introduction to the course and Blackboard, and the last class of the semester as students showcase their final papers.
• During the semester, Bill meets with each student for 2 individual 1/2 hour conferences to review their papers. "It is sometimes strange not to recognize the student standing outside my door since I only met them once before."
• During the semester, students peer edit each other's writing in small groups (3 per group).
• There was one other required meeting- to attend the April Honors Forum featuring Dr. Kimberly Young on the topic of Internet Addiction (it fits well with the writing themes)

Students in the class work on 4 writing assignments:

• A project essay in which the students pick the major theme the will write on for the rest of the semester- these are current event topics such as naturopathic medicine, music therapy, civil security in light of 9/11, etc.
• A major research paper on their topic.
• A film analysis of a film connected to their topic.
• A technology reflection essay where students write about the impact of technology on their topic.

Bill reports he is fairly pleased with the way this hybrid is working and the "degree of hybridization." From a starting registration of 27 students, 19 are still enrolled. As an aggregate, Bill says that the student grades are higher (B+) then his face to face sections (usually B-). He has not seen a high amount of student-student electronic discussion beyond what os required for class. He was surprised at the number of students that showed up for the conference meetings with "kids in tow" suggesting that the class format appealed to stay at home parents.

When asked about his techniques for editing students writings, Bill uses three different approaches- sending comments via an email message, discussing over the phone, or face to face. He makes a lot of use out of Blackboard's digital drop box.

"How much content development did you do your self?" Bill replied "95%"

"How are students grouped?" Bill waits until after their first writing assignment, when he has abetter idea of the students' skills and interests.

Tom Foster also noted that they have conducted pre-course surveys and will follow-up with a post-course survey on student attitudes, if they miss the face to face classes, and how the course may have improved their computer skills.

In preparation for this, we have created a new Ocotillo web resource site on Hybrid Courses:
http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/ocotillo/hybrids/
with a new website for of a Maricopa Hybrid Gallery, featuring some of today's presenters:
http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/ocotillo/hybrids/gallery.php

Note that we have also set up a web form where you can add more items to the gallery.

MIDAS/Blackboard Feature Comparison
(Jeanne Franco, Paradise Valley)
Jeanne shared the results of a comparison on the features of Blackboard and MIDAS. She has taught online since 1998 using mostly Blackboard. "This comparison is only a feature comparison of the two platforms, not a judgement of their ease of use or responsiveness." See Jeanne's results:

Feature Comparison Blackboard 5.0 vs. MIDAS 4.1
April 5, 2002, Prepared By Jeanne Franco, Paradise Valley Community College
Adobe Arcobat file: midas_bb_0402.pdf [50k]

For more courseware platform comparisons, see the Ocotillo Courseware site:
http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/ocotillo/courseware/compare.html

WebCT Too!
(Anthony Cyplik, WebCT)
And just to through into the courseware platform mix, local WebCT rep Anthony Cyplik provided an overview of the newest version of WebCT, "Vista".
http://www.webct.com/products/viewpage?name=products_vista

Next Meeting
This is the last meeting for this semester. If there is interest or a special demo possible, we may arrange a summer special meeting.