Step One: Setting Technology Goals

Ask:

1. What do I want technology to do for ME?

2. What do I want technology to do for MY STUDENTS?

3. Are these different? How can I bring them into line?

Goals for my online class:

1. Develop a fluid online forum for:

a) Teaching new information

b) Engaging students in critical thinking

c) Effective and respectful discussions

d) A fun, creative, and safe learning environment

e) Effective reinforcing and correcting feedback that would help students improve

their work as the semester progressed

Challenges of a solely online format:

a) Every single thing that is to be communicated has be either fixed via audio/video

recording or typed into the format later

i) This means that, if not carefully planned in advance, a class can quickly become

bogged down in text that students then have to work through

Solution

Start early!

- Build the class weeks before launch, so that there is time to refine and revisit.

- Invite (impose on?) friends and colleagues to road test aspects of the course and

give feedback that can then be incorporated.

Goals for my hybrid (traditional) class:

1. Relate to my students in an online forum that can:

a. Make the course and my instruction feel accessible 24/7

b. Create a forum that belongs to the students only, a safe (and stigma-free) space

c. Encourage supplemental reading/enrichment work

d. Allow students to feel more in control of their learning

e. Locate all course documents and information in one easy-to-access place

Challenges of supplemental course website:

a) Not all students may want to use it (especially ASP students who feel stigmatized or forced to participate in the program)

Solution

Integrate the online materials into the live classroom!

1) Refer to the website or course page whenever appropriate

2) Refer students to course page when they ask or e-mail questions that can be

answered by the course page (i.e. "May I have an extra copy of fill-in-the-blank

document?")

3) Incorporate course page into class by sourcing material live (i.e. running

streaming video directly from course page, when appropriate)

Pair, Share

1. In what ways are you already using technology?

2. To what kinds of classes or environments would you like to add technology?

3. What are your technology goals for those spaces?

a) What potential trouble spots or problems do you foresee?

b) How do you propose to solve those problems?

At the planning stage?

At the implementation stage?

At other phases?

If you are so inclined, please

go ahead and post your responses.

(In the comments area, below.)

Two Ways to Tech, Two Ways to Teach

Push = a method of sending information directly to the user

* push methods may rely on previously collected data

* push methods eliminate choice and option on the part of the user

eliminates control on the part of the end-user except that the user may either:

- chose to view the content

- chose not to view the content

Pull = a method of delivering content that allows the user to decide what he or she will receive

* gives the end-user total control as to what she sees, OR

* creates an element of choice when a user is allowed to select from options

eliminates control on the part of the information provider except:

- when end-user is required to use some specific thing

- when end-user is choosing from among many things of one kind (i.e. books, browsers)

Pull Options

1. Document library

2. Selected additional or supplemental reading

3. Optional podcasts

4. Discussion boards

5. E-mail questions (responses are push)

Push Options

1. E-mail

2. Handouts

3. Required streaming media

4. Movies

5. Assigned reading

6. Listening to YOU (in-person, podcast, otherwise)

Pair, Share

1. In what ways might the traditional classroom use push and pull methods?

2. In what ways do YOU use aspects of push in your traditional classroom?

3. In what ways do YOU use aspects of pull?

If you are so inclined, please

go ahead and post your responses.

(In the comments area, below.)

The International Society for Technology in Education (Who???)

Translating these values to law students, technology should...

1. Create lawyers and legal thinkers for a digital age

2. Model online and digital citizenship (studies suggest we behave differently)

3. Get students comfortable with technology

4. Capture their attention

5. Allow students to relate to one another through media -- i.e. make the classroom look more like their lives

6. Keep them engaged!

Implementing Your Technology

Tools for Implementation:

1. Course pages (Black Board, TWEN, SharePoint (Microsoft), regular internet, blogger, Google).

2. Streaming media created by the professor (podcasts, other video that can be embedded into site)

3. Streaming media from other sources (YouTube, etc.)

4. Virtual drop boxes (for handing in assignments or sending in questions anonymously)

5. Online discussion forums (discussion boards, live real-time chat outside of the classroom, or real time chat during classroom discussion)

6. Course libraries (document pools available to students)

7. Announcements (posted only or posted and e-mailed)

8. Social networking (for community building, information push, as a substitute for a course page)

9. Twitter (I don't love Twitter, but the short statements may work well as brief reminders)

10. Virtual classrooms inside of games (i.e. second life)

Online Discussion Fora

Challenges:

1. Participants get information in text or fixed (streaming) audio-visual formats

2. Body language and tone of voice are either not present, or not present as a response to student work and comments

3. Research suggests that people are less polite in online fora because of the sense of anonymity the format creates

Solutions:

1. Tell students what your expectation are: create a code of conduct

2. Format questions in careful ways (Grutter and Gratz)

3. Challenge students to make all of their comments logical and precise

4. Delete responses that do not rely on the underlying material for support

5. Delete otherwise inappropriate responses

T.I.P.S.

Tone is important; take care when setting yours. It will inform your students'.

Information is essential; facts and the text of the material should be the root of all points, exercises, etc.

Personalizing is never allowed; whether positive or negative, all responses should be about substance.

Style is important; write in complete sentences whenever possible and never type in all caps (this reads like shouting)

Streaming Video

Challenges:

1. Information overload

2. Different students with different needs

3. Difficulty in tailoring streaming media perfectly to course material

Solutions:

1. There is so much out there -- pick and choose with care.

2. Be sure that clips are appropriate to and reinforce the material.

3. Don't add superfluous material; if you don't find the perfect clips, don't add anything.

a) Students will appreciate your careful integration of media and will be more likely to pay attention when you do choose to use it.

Drawn from (Online) Life

Actual Pages:

Netiquette

Broad questions that invite personal attacks (actually given in my class):

1. What does the Equal Protection Clause provide? Should the government ever be allowed to treat persons differently because of their race? Explain.

2. Is it socially responsible for the University of Michigan Law School to consider minority applicant’s race as a plus factor in its admissions decisions?

3. Is anyone hurt by the University of Michigan Law School’s race-conscious admissions policy?

Better questions (also given in my class):

1. How and when did Mrs. DeWeerth come to be the owner of the Monet painting?

2. What proof did Mrs. DeWeerth have that she ever had possession of the painting?

3. How and when did Mrs.DeWeerth lose possession of the painting?

4. Given the fact that a great deal of European art was “lost” during WWII, how do you think this case will be resolved?

5. Do you think it is fair for Mrs. DeWeerth to bring suit under the circumstances?

6. Mrs. Baldinger paid for the painting, ostensibly in good faith. Do you think it is fair for a court to take it from her and give it to Mrs.DeWeerth? Why or why not?

7. Explain the role of the lawyer in the initial stages of this action.

Effective use of streaming media:

http://vimeo.com/user1597632

Compare to:

(Potentially) Less effective use of streaming media:

Pair, Share

The Willingness to Fail Brilliantly

1. How will you make choices about technology going forward?

2. Is there a new way you will use technology in your teaching going forward? If so, what is it?

Bonus Question: (Feedback for me.)

1. What was the best part of this presentation? The worst?

If you are so inclined, please

go ahead and post your responses.

(In the comments area, below.)