In Unit 3, you are working with Group Collaboration tools. Please add your end of the unit, assigned summaries to this page and remember to sign your name, initials, or pseudonym to your your summary.

 

Also, from here, we should link to a page for each tool and add any helpful information we can. If you need help adding a link/page that is not here, email Julia.

 

Collaboration/Interaction Activity Ideas and Scheduling - This is an important page for Unit 3. 

 

Audio

Blogs

Chat

Discussion

Google Docs

IM

Twitter

Wiki

 

 

 

Summaries below here ------------------------------------

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AWolf - Loved this unit. I added a Wiki into my CS-110 course. This is something I had heard about but I don't know if I would have done it if not for this class. I really liked PBWiki. No advertisements. I found PBWiki pretty easy to manipulate. The only thing that is a little confusing is the student access. You have to send an invite or email to an outside email and give access after you have loaded their email into the wiki. This can be hard sometimes for the instructor because sometimes you don't have a good email address for all your students. The comments I have gotten back from students has been very favorable. I had this semester's students give a suggestion or tip for online learning. I plan to keep adding to the Wiki and continuing the use of it in my classes from now on.

 

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Rafael’s Experience of Using Skype as Colaboration Tool

This experience has been very positive for understanding the meaning of collaboration. Collaboration is not just set a time of synchronous or asynchronous activity where students get together with the instructor.  We need to design a project or plan activity as we did in this class. I choose this tool because was the most feasible for me and the work that I am doing from Las Cruces to Costa Rica

Collaboration is something that distingue an online learning community. In real life people collaborate in different ways. In my case, I am an online adviser teaching students to design their research master project. My first lesson is to plan ahead the different roles that students play in doing collaboration. I feel that collaboration allows students to develop as Brunner says “Scaffolding”. This is a powerful concept. So, collaborative activities foster students understanding and conceptual change.

In this activity,   I was able to hear my students to discuss different concepts which are important to them in order to develop their proposal. Besides, later I had the opportunity to expand some important concepts to them. I set different roles within the activity: students who were more advance took the role of the committee members and discuss the expectations of a research proposal.  I found this activity a way to collaborate among students and share knowledge. It was easy to use. Any students have access to skype.

I know that designing synchronous activities sometimes are difficult. However, the activity that I planned using Skype was very successful. But, I have to say that dealing with more than 9 students must be difficult. I had only six. It worked really well. I see many possibilities using Skype. I was more than 4000 miles, my students around different places across all Costa Rica and distance was not an issue to collaborate. This may be my challenge (dealing with many students), but I overcome by sending emails to the students that they need to have time to be in the activity.

I was able to see in action some standards related to course design, objectives, evaluation and interaction. Through this type of activities I am seeing more clearly how standards take place into online quality practices. 

Finally, there is an ethics issue that must be a concern. I recorded the session via Audacity. Guess what? I forgot completely to ask the students if it was okay. In my culture, we do not have problems (it supposes to be) to record this. Nevertheless, we are living in a time that something that I have learned in this country is to develop this sense of respect through using ethics in the classroom. I do not mean that we do not practice in Costa Rica, but it is a common sense in Costa Rica that students do not mind if we recorded. I learned this lesson in this activity….

Rafa.

 

 

 

Jackie Wood and I are attempting to use WEbPaint http://www.wetpaint.com/wiki?r=GGLKWFreeWebsite&gclid=CM2L54fDkpICFRMHxgodHEX0_Q as our communication tool. We chose this tool at the recommendation of our fearless leader Julia. The directions state that it is as easy as 1, 2, 3 to set up our tool.  Not sure what language they are using; however, we are finding it less than simple to use. The process is rather complex. Initially, I created an account and invited Jackie to join. We began by giving each other Administrative access to this private site. Not a good plan as of yet since our roles are confusing to us as well as the site and easily accessing each other’s projects. Having difficulty returning to the site and posting my project also is a challenge.  Watched the short tutorial (which made the process look really simple) and explored some of the site capabilities. Tried to set up chapters; however, I am creating a video so do not need the chapters. We tend to revert to face-to-face collaboration and SKYPE.

 

In addition, I am learning iMovie. As suggested, I printed out the 47 page tutorial that I am wading through. Again, not the simple 1-2-3 process. Oh, that Zone of Proximal Development (Vygotsky). I’m rocking in my chair.

 

Olive Oil

 

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The collaborative task is based on an activity I've used in f2f classes and workshops. The collaborative team plays the role of a consultant team trying to find a solution to a real-world problem. For collaboration and high-level thinking to occur, it is very important that participants not be familiar with the case in question or its solution. The case I intend to use involves the pilferage of teddy bears from a hospital. I think this is a good choice because although it requires high-level problem-solving and collaboration, participants do not have to have any engineering knowledge. Also, it is the sort of problem that can be sorted out using just words. However, if it turns out that there are not enough people that are unfaimilar with the case, I can pick another one.

 

My plan is to proceed as follows.

 

 

1.  After the team is set up, we will agree on a date and time to start the exercise. In f2f classes, the activity takes about 30 minutes. This activity is modefied to fit the Internet environment, so time may be more or less. Also, with freshmen, I initially do a team building exercise. We can discuss whether we need to do that or not.
2. At the start of the session, I will post the problem to the discussion board and will be available in a chat room to answer questions or clarify some fine points.  This step will continue until the team decides it is time for me to step out.
3. Next, the team will discuss the problem in the chat room and develop a solution. I will still be avilable to answer questions, but will not participate in the duscussion. When a solution is ready, the team will post it to the discussion board and notify me. Because I usually do this in a f2f class and students present solutions orally, a sentence or two should suffice. That is, the solution need not be a formal report.
4. Acting now, as the client, I will examine the solution and provide a response. The response will be one of two ilks. One is "Great Idea! We'll get on this at once." The other is, "You have some good ideas here, but ..." If the answer is of the first ilk, the team is done. Otherwise, back to Step 3. As in the real world, the team is not done until the client is satisfied. (Although the problem statement gives all necessary clues to tell whether or not the client would be satisfied, some are less obvious than others. Again, real-world stuff). In f2f classes, teams usually take three tries to get an acceptable solution.
5. At this point, the activity itself is almost over. Each team member now briefly answers the question, "Did you learn anything useful doing this activity and, if so, what was it?" Again, a sentence or two would suffice.
6. Finally, together, we will assemble a presentation describing the activity and your response in Step 5. This would probably take about five minutes and my cheif concern is that each member review the presentation and let me know if I missed anything or would like to add something. If we can use the WebCT presentation tool, this presentation will be viewable by all students in the course.

 

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask.

 

John

 

 

Being a rookie to online teaching and having very few tools in my toolbox, I did a little exploring and found wet paint.  Thanks to Elissa’s posting in Unit 3 discussion, I learned about wet paint and decided to check it out.  Originally, I was planning on using Google Docs for my assignment, but decided to try something new and go with wet paint instead.  Considering wet paint is free to use, it makes it an easy tool for middle school students to access.  Wet paint is very user friendly, the layout of the program is very simple and the tabs at the top of the page make finding information easy.

 

 

 I’m really enjoying my adventure playing around with this tool and I’ve joined Elissa’s and Jackie’s wet paint activity to see how they are using the tool.  There is so much more I need to learn about creating collaborative activities and how to incorporate different tools.  I wish we had more time to explore because I didn’t realize how many tools are out there.  I’m bummed that I’m not teaching this year and can’t try out these new tools on some middle school students. 

 

LIZ

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After brainstorming for this activity as a project for the practicum course that would incorporate online teaching I thought a marketing survey to promote online teaching certification would be ideal.  The majority of the students in this cohort have experience teaching f2f and online.  Combining this experience to develop a survey to gather information and using this information to create interest for certification of online teaching, may improve online teaching and learning. 

 

At first I was trying to use PBwiki as the tool.  I liked the idea that one could chat and load a file at the same time.  After trying several times to get answers regarding the chat with no results, I changed to Campfire and Google Docs. 

 

The features I like about Campfire are:

v     It is very user friendly.  Instructions on how to navigate the system were easy to locate. 

v     There is a video tutorial which also makes it very easy to understand the features offered.

v     One can load a file or image during a chat for everyone to view.

v     There is a basic plan for free.

v     One can include additional comments in the invitation to invite guest to chat.

v     Chats are archived.  

v     All chat rooms are password protected, therefore the only people who can join your chat room are the people you have invited.

 

Google Docs is the tool I selected for the final report and survey.  One of the features that attracted me is the fact that documents can be edited simultaneously.

 

As I was posting the instructions for this activity on the site linked to our Collaborative Activity Wiki, I realized NMSU uses PBwiki.  I still could not find any information regarding the chat feature.  I must not be looking in the proper place.

 

To view complete instructions for this activity log on to:

    http://nmsu-otlc.pbwiki.com/Promoting-Oline-Teaching-and-Learning

 

To take a Campfire video tour (5 minutes) log on to:  http://www.campfirenow.com/ 

 

The LeatherLady

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Wet Paint Wiki-

 

 

What a learning experience I have had since beginning the Unit 3 activity.  With Julia's suggestion Elisa and I found Wet Paint which is a wiki.  If you attended Bethany's webinar she summariezed the features of Wet Paint.  I would log into Wet Paint and try to get into creating the assignment.  Each time, I would get so frustrated that I would tell Elissa, that I can't do this.  She would tell me to just keep trying.  One Wednesday afternoon, I took my computer into Elissa's office and we worked/collaborated together to better understand how this particular wiki worked.  I started changing the menu to reflect my course lesson.  Elissa would look at my wiki and comment and I would look at how she was setting hers up.  This collaboration was very helpful.  From then on, the changes and additions fell into place.  I am not saying that I know how to do all of the steps and tools in my wiki, but I have successfully set up a Digital Storybook lesson that I think my students will enjoy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Wet Paint Wiki is:

http://foundations532.wetpaint.com/

 

Jackie

 

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Yes … this is another wet paint wiki report.  

 

 

 

You may link to my wiki-activiti (a new 2.0 word) at: http://celwatergroup.wetpaint.com/.

 

 

 

The tool is not quite as intuitive as first advertised.  A small amount of adventurous spirit is required to jump in, sign up, and begin creating your wiki.  That said, the learning curve doesn’t seem to be steep although it is definitely a “learning curve.” A simple 1…2…3 it is not – more like 1…1…1…2…1…2…2...2...3...1 (you get the idea!).  Like many 2.0 tools, the challenge is two-fold: (a) learning the tool, and (b) loading content.  In some sense I envy those of you who have current classes from which you can migrate content.  I know, I know – that’s an outsider perspective and discounts the unique difficulties you face.  BUT … I find it much easier to learn the tool if I first spend the requisite time creating the content in a word processor.  THEN … I can load HTML or copy/paste.  If I like the outcome … great!! If not, it’s a simple UNDO and try another approach.

 

 

 

Wet paint, once I conquered the minor technical difficulties, was ez to learn – although it did take some time. [Aside: the tech support was prompt and helpful – very impressive!].  Besides creating the “look” I liked, I learned how to move pages around, import images, and embed vids.  I selected a “group project” template and added some of my own pages to supplement the generic form.  Actually quite slick.  I think it’s a bit cumbersome to edit, and the editing, while adequate, is not as versatile as in Word or FrontPage.  The tool does require that visitors or invitees log-in (with a wet paint account ID) to actually use the tool.  If the wiki is private you can’t get in without an invite even with a wet paint ID.

 

 

Fran

 

 

PBWiki is the collaboration/interactive tool I am using for my activity.  It is a free site and fairly easy to use.  It provides a ready to use site with a simple user interface, ability to easily add pages, and simple navigation structure.  And it's easy for student collaboration. 

 

My activity site is http://cjsclass.pbwiki.com/

 

cj

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Marketing Project

This has been quite the challenge, I wanted to use skype and google doc for my project. After reading my groups discussions on this project it seems that they are having a hard time scheduling time on skype so I may have to re-think using that tool. However I really like what google doc has to offer. It's free, all of the group members can be editing at the same time and I think it's user friendly. I really need to think about how to imporove on the skype issue, as it is very important for communication among the group members in order to brainstorm. Good ideas generally happen spontaniously and when people are chatting in real time, brainstorming flows so much more easly. So I will spend some time on how to improve this part of the assignment. I hope that everyone who tried my project had a good time and I hope they will have some interseting comments.

Kellie

 

 

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 Google documents - Waves in Everyday Life

I got fond of Google documents when we used it for another project in this class. I find it easy to use and it is free. Access to a document is provided via sending the URL in an email to the collaborators. Each collaborator needs to log into Google documents with a password, then they see all documents that are shared with them is a neatly organized list. I found that collecting the right screen names and email addresses is almost the biggest hurdle when getting started with a group document. Once you have made everyone in the group aware of the document and made sure they know how to access it this collaboration tool is very productive.

I like that you have to invite the collaborators, so the document belongs to a private group and is not accessible by just everybody. I find this a great plus, so that students feel secure and are willing to take risks when posting content.

All collaborators can access the tool asynchronous and still always see the updated last version. This is a lot easier than trying to share files. Also several users can edit the document at the same time. You can see who is currently working on the document which may allow you to contact that person e.g. via Skype as well. So if students decide to rather work synchronously they could all access the document at the same time, select one "secretary" and discuss the changes on the fly.

 

One practical lesson I learned: When you paste text into a Google doc you may want to select "remove formatting" afterwards. This way you can easily generate a unified look and you make sure that what you see while editing is also what you see when you publish the document.

Michaela

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I wanted to use several different types of collobration tools from google.doc to skype but I finally settled with the pbwiki site connected with the university.  I discovered that using this collobration site was going to easier to because my fellow classmates could see it as well as my potential learners.  I invited my fellow students to a learning night on skype to explain my the site and it usages but there was no one on at the time or they were listed away.  So if you would like to see the my site you can connect here candalucero.  

 

I discovered that using a collobration/Interaction activity projects are not as easy as appears and it takes a lot to put it all together and then to get the participates is even harder when you don't actually have a class to assist you. 

 

Conni

 

 

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         I chose to have my students post a topic, summaries, and comments to a course wiki page as my collaborative activity. I also began topics under the Web CT discussion so that they could collaborate on who would post what in their summaries, hoping to avoid people posting the same information. Since I use Web CT as my LCMS for this class, the discussion tool was immediately available and easy to use. Also, I’ve found that creating and posting entries in wiki pages with PBWiki to be almost painless. So, here are the glitches I and my students encountered.

Elaine 

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