Category Archives: Resources

Digital Institute Spring 2010

This semester for Digital Institute, the Center for Distance Education was pleased to sponsor two presenters on themes of great interest to our group:  Joan Hughes (University of Texas at Austin) spoke on “Diffusion of Transformative Technology Integration: What is transformative technology integration and how can I (meaning you!) support it at UT Arlington?“, and Peggy Semingson (University of Texas, Arlington) shared her research with  “Online Mentoring: Findings from a Case Study“.

 

In a first for this event, Digital Institute Spring 2010 took place entirely online, via Adobe Connect, under the watchful direction of Scott Massey and Erika Beljaars-Harris.  With their preparation and troubleshooting, the event was a splendid success!

 

You can view a recording of this event online as well.  Please do learn from our speakers and discussions from this past event, and we look forward to including even more of the UTA community at a future Digital Institute!

Online Translators

Online translation is quite different from traditional translation. I note the tools I am using: Google Translator Toolkit (you need a gmail account to get on), Google Translator in two forms, Leo, the online dictionary containing a grammar site, dictionary definitions, and a corpus that I am using, and http://www.google.de (to see how certain words and phrases are used when embedded in text). Searches also take me to synonym dictionaries and even images on German and English websites. I could even envision using German Youtube. So, unlike a translator in the past, I have much more than my knowledge and my dictionaries of various kinds and my thesaurus at hand. I have those, as well as all these other tools. (And I know that there are even more tools available to which I’ve been exposed, but which I do not yet use.)

But what am I learning? I am learning what Google, for example, offers when one types a word into the search engine: more words, more phrases, depending on how you enter it. Take the word ‘Hospiz,’ for example (‘hospice’). I type the word in Google, and I get phrases (Hospizbewegung, Hospizarbeit, Hospize, Hospiz Stuttgart), but I note if I type in Hospizd,’ I get words like ‘Hospizdienst’ (‘hospice service’), whereas if I type ‘Hospiz d’ I get phrases like ‘Hospiz Detmold’ (‘hospice in the city Detmold’).

I note when I’m translating my short story from English into German, that I’m changing it as I go. I feel very free, since I am the original author of the English version. But I also think of things that never occurred to me when writing the English original, things like the fact that Germans would not easily say ‘I love you’ to their doctor as they were dying, but at the same time I can imagine that they might, if they were in the state that many patients seem to arrive at, if they are not on machines: an unusual state of bliss that transcends some cultural customs. Even in the U.S. people don’t normally tell their doctors “I love you,” but in the German culture, I would think that norms of respectful distance would even more strongly come into play here.

So when I’m translating, I actually address that, and thus I translate it to say: “I love you, Dr. Gomez. One wouldn’t normally say that. But that didn’t matter. She could. She did, because a deep feeling of well-being flooded her soul.” (I notice that even as I’m translating back into English I’m changing the English to accommodate the slight differences in the German from the original! It can become a never-ending loop of meaning making!) The other issue is the title, not ‘Dr. Gomez,’ as in the U.S., but ‘Herr Doktor Gomez’ (‘Mr. Dr. Gomez’), which has an even more formal feel, a feeling of distance, rank, and respect, which would make saying “I love you” even more profound.

I notice when I’m translating that I’m thinking of sentence length (probably partly because of Pete Smith’s words in his localization/translation course I’m a part of). In the original the sentences are often short. There are many sentence fragments. And I’m reminded that standard formal German sentences can tend to be quite long. And yet this is a short story. And sometimes short stories contain shorter sentences, but often to obtain a certain effect. It got me to thinking about whether formatting my translation like a prose poem might more successfully convey the tone I’m trying to effect.

Anyway, these are some of the thoughts I’m having as I’m translating. The tools are wonderful. They really help non-native speakers, maybe even native speakers, easily get beyond the starting point and save a lot of time looking up words that one has in one’s passive repertoire (so one knows it’s appropriate), and words that one thinks might work and that get one looking in the right direction for the appropriate word. After that it does take some time rewriting what the machine translator has written, but time has been tremendously saved on the first go round. I find not only am I thinking about syntax and vocabulary on the sentence level, but I’m thinking about tone, about cultural meanings of words, syntax, length, and I’m thinking about impact on the reader.

I also realize how my knowledge and background in German are helping me out. It goes more slowly when I’m working on French, for I have to question more.

As we go into the future, I think we will begin changing our minds about translation tools on the internet. Right now, as educators we’re afraid of their abuse by students as tools for cheating. As we become more knowledgeable about them ourselves, I foresee teaching students how to use them effectively and productively from the beginning. If they know how to use these tools, they will be able to access information and ideas from around the world in many languages. If they know the limitations as well as the freeing aspects of these online tools, they will be better able to navigate ideas and information in other languages. Just as we teach students how to “read” language in literary texts, in oral discourse, in prose discourse of various non-literary kinds, we will, I believe, in the future teach students how to critically “read” machine translation.

We are still at the point that calculators were a few decades ago: we do not allow them in the classroom. But as we finally realized with calculators, they can be a very useful tool and serve our needs. I use one every time I want to know how much money I have left in the bank! Our goal: to keep every single student, even the one who takes one semester of foreign language, connected not only to cultures of the language we are teaching, but, even more, to the world’s cultures.

This reminds me, once again, of Father Guido Sarducci’s “Five Minute University,” and that is, essentially, what we are combating. (It’s wonderful, while sobering, because that is the mindset of many folks in our country, and I understand that mindset fully.) The “Five Minute University” was a comedy skit about university learning, first airing on “Saturday Night Live,” and it is an important comedy skit for me as an educator, for it reminds to take the long view, to remember all the students with whom I interact, and to ask myself: How can even one semester of a foreign language really and truly have a major beneficial impact on each and every student? How can we get beyond what people still say when we say we teach a language at the university: “Oh, I had Language X, and I don’t remember a thing”?

Wrapping back around to online translators: In the future this will be one way in which we will encourage students to stay connected to the non-native-language world. We will teach them not only how to applied their “critical reading” of literature to the web, but also how to use these translation tools to critically read the world and its cultures.

And my translation in the end? I left it in prose format. It just seemed to have longer sentences, too, that made it more like prose. And I thought of the short stories again and realized that the short sentences, the sentence fragments, as well as the longer fragments, created an acceptable tone and feel in prose format.

(You can access both versions of the story/vignette, the English and the German, at this blog.)

Course Contracts in Web Classes

A few years ago I read an article about how professors were using course contracts in their live classes. The argument is that having students sign a course contract outlining course policies and expectations helps to avert discipline problems in class, and provides faculty with a firm ground from which to react when problems arise with students. (I wish I could find the original article to link here, but I can’t, sorry!). The kinds of items that can go on a class contract are: attendance rules, policies regarding tardiness and plagiarism, classroom comportment, etc. I’ve experimented with such contracts over the years and did not like them that much. They really do set an unfriendly tone, and if they make a difference maybe it’s because they scare students. Plus, no one wants to be treated like a criminal, and course contracts can send the wrong message to an entire class when there are only a handful of prospective flakes in it. Be this as it may, the point is that course contracts are a way of making students stop to read the fine print and gain awareness of what is expected of them. By having students sign a document, you ensure they pay attention to your ground rules.

What I have really been enthusiastic about over the past few years is using contracts in my web classes. My favorite version of this is to require students to fill out a course clearance form before being cleared for registration. This is only possible if you have a supportive department chair and office staff willing to work with you on implementing this extra bureacracy. (Below I will speak about an alternative approach to the same concept, one not requiring office staff to manage contracts for the faculty member.)

My course clearance form, which varies from semester to semester depending on my needs, course to be taught and experiences, requires students to initial and acknowledge that:

  • They understand where to go for information about the class (my course announcement page, or bulletin board).
  • They understand that I will send them instructions on when and how to begin in the class to their UTA email address.
  • They understand important requirements.
  • They understand that it is their responsibility to start their web class on time.

The reason I began implementing this is because I was having problems with students not logging on to their web classes until 3 weeks after the start of classes and then pleading ignorance about where to go to begin. Also, students would get anxious and start calling me and our office staff for information about the class, creating extra stress and pressure for everyone involved. Another problem I had was that student expectations of what would be entailed in a web class did not track with mine. The course clearance was a way to make students aware that what they were getting themselves into was a class that would be appropriately challenging. Finally, there are also students who claim ignorance about the importance of having and checking their university email accounts, and the course clearance form helped me avoid the whole “I never check my UTA email, please email me at wackycentipede@coffeebeansEmporium.com”.

I quickly noted a difference after I began using a course clearance form. My students were better across the board and many students who inquired about the class did not end up registering. I had succeeded in doing some weeding out and streamlining my own work flow during the semester.

Here is a copy of one of my course clearance forms.

OK, so what if a course clearance form is not an option for you because asking this of your local department staff is out of the question? The same principles behind my course clearance form can be incorporated into a quiz or assignment that requires students to acknowledge elements of the class and your policies. For example, you can quiz students on your own syllabus, and make it worth 5% of the final grade. The point is, you want your students to know how your class functions and what your expectations are from the outset. This enables you skirt all subsequent discussions of “I did not know that I had to do X” or “Can you please accomodate me with this?” etc. etc. Save your negotiations with students for things that really matter, and take the annoying, piddly stuff out of the equation. Help students internalize your expectations right at the outset, it will make your life easier.

–Christopher Conway

Creating a Virtual Presence For Your Students

At some point, I do plan on getting to blogging about the future of education and the new vision that is emerging in the Ed Tech filed for changes to the Learning Management System. But for now I am going to continue on with the practical ideas – things that current online instructors can use to add new life to existing classes, or things that new instructors can use to make their classes stand out from the pack. Most of the ideas I have shared so far are things that have been used in classes successfully at some point (even the EFGs are currently being used in one school). These ideas may not be for everyone, but they are some interesting ideas to dig in to. After I get all of these practical ideas out, then I will probably move on to the three C’s of social media usage in online learning (also known as “how you are using Web2.0 wrong and may not know it”) as well as hitting on some crazy ideas for the future.

For this post I want to get to something that I have used myself and that I know other bloggers here have used: creating a virtual office or classroom for your class.

If you back up several decades, before the dawn of the Internet, several researchers were investigating why some teachers were perceived by students as having better teaching styles than others. They found that there were at least two concepts that made the difference: immediacy and social presence.  (there are other words that get used somewhat interchangeably for these two, but I will stick with these because… well… I guess just because I like them the best).

Yes, I know that these are ancient terms by now. Immediacy and social presence are not as slick and cool to blog about today as they were a few years ago.  Maybe if I called it “Social Presence 2.0” it might sound cooler. But a good idea never gets old, so I still find these concepts are crucial to online success.

The surprising thing a few decades ago was that these things didn’t happen naturally in a face-to-face class. Just because instructors were in the room, that didn’t mean that a student felt they were accessible or approachable.  Instructors in face-to-face courses had to work to achieve these concepts, because it  was found that students preformed better when they felt a greater sense of immediacy and social presence.

Obviously, it was also found that this is true for online learning as well. But achieving these concepts in a disconnected asynchronous online course might prove more challenging. Thankfully, many people have stepped up through the years to prove that it is possible.

So how do you give students a sense that you are there and that you are aware that they are there also? Here are a few ideas:

  • One often overlooked way is by participating in class discussions yourself. Don’t just throw a question out there and let students hash it out. That seems basic, but so many professors miss that while just count responses for a participation score. Ask your students to expand on stuff they posted, or let them know that they never even really answered the question. But get in there and let them see your name every week.
  • If possible, turn on avatars. No, not the tall blue people with funky USB-ports for hair… I mean those small pictures that you can put next to forum and blog posts. Those don’t exist everywhere, but I encourage you to enable them wherever they do exist (and then ask students repeatedly to use them). Avatars help students inject their personality in to their work and the class as a whole. I also suggest that you encourage students to use an avatar that is actually a picture of themselves rather than a cute dog or their favorite movie star. That just makes it a bit more more realistic.
  • Create a virtual office online and use an embeddable chat tool for office hours. I know that many LMS programs have a chat tool now, but many of those are open rooms for anyone to come in. Not good for one-on-one conversation. Tools like Meebo can help you have a chat without giving away your AIM ID to students (or making you create a new one to maintain separation of personal and professional lives).  Meebo is basically an Instant Message chat tool. It gives you a web-based widget that lets you chat without installing a chat program. Chats happen through a web browser.  You can place the widget in an online “virtual office” and students can see when you are available for a chat session. (see my virtual office with Meebo here) You sign in on your end and keep that tab open on your browser when you are available.  Google Talk also has a similar widget if you prefer their service.
  • Speaking of Google, I am sure there are many ways to use Google Wave to connect with your students. Assuming, of course, they can all get invites.
  • One of the more radical ideas out there is to use a virtual world like Second Life to create a virtual office or classroom.  While many professors are doing just that, most of us don’t want to shell out money for a small space of virtual land in Second Life to set up virtual lounge chairs. The good news is that Second Life is not the only option – there are free, browser-based virtual worlds out there. One such option is Vivaty. Vivaty is a bit on the “dude, let’s party” side of the web, so take that in to consideration before jumping in feet first. While you get the benefits of a rich, free interactive environment online, the trade-off is that the FAQs tell you how Vivaty makes you look more cool (dude). That may not be a big deal to some, but I thought it needed to be pointed out. Nothing looks worse to students that a professor trying to look hip and cool. But if you avoid those trappings, it might be an interesting site to try out. Vivaty also lets you embed videos and picture slide shows in your room that you create, and that room can them be embedded in a web page.

I am sure there are many other ideas out there. What do other people use to create greater interaction and immediacy, especially in asynchronous formats?

Creating Cuaderna Vía

Last summer, Chris Conway and Ignacio Ruiz-Perez approached me about helping them with a new idea they had – a Spanish-language literary journal for UT Arlington students called Cuaderna Vía.  They already had an issue’s worth of content, but needed help producing the tangible journal.

Over those months, we designed and produced a print edition of Cuaderna Vía’s first issue, but I also spent time using Open Journal Systems (OJS), a component of the Public Knowledge Project, to produce our online version, found here:

http://bit.ly/bWrW6c

Cuaderna Vía is not a peer-reviewed journal – but OJS does provide the capability of setting up a peer-review, online journal.  Within the system, as the editor of a journal, you can accept manuscripts, assign reviewers to them, copy-edit them, and produce a completely customized online version of your journal.

It’s not as easy to set up as many Web 2.0 applications out there – you can’t simply log in somewhere and it’s all ready for you.  You will need to assistance of someone with passing knowledge of web database applications (preferably PHP/MySQL).  But beyond the initial setup, it’s a matter of filling in forms to set up your look and feel and routine tasks to operate your journal.

Dr. Conway and Dr. Ruiz-Perez are using it to showcase the work of their students.  I can see OJS providing an excellent learning opportunity for would-be academics – learning first hand how to be a reviewer and how to write an article able to withstand the peer-review process. OJS will also open up student work for the world to see.

Adding Value and Battling Staleness in Online Classes

Think back to some of the best courses you took during college. What made those courses so great for you? Well, other than the ones that were an easy A – what made them interesting to you over other courses? Probably one factor was an interesting instructor. Many instructors like to just read from the textbook or (even worse) a PowerPoint.  You know for a fact that their class is probably exactly the same this semester as it was last semester and the semester before that.

In other words: BORING!

The classes that most students end up liking are taught by instructors that are talking to them about current events and new information related to their subject. The course that you get this semester is slightly different than the one last semester. In other words – there is a a greater value in showing up to this course, because it will be interesting and relevant (and slightly different from what your roommate learned last semester). The instructor is reading and researching the subject and keeping you up to date on the course subject.

But… can this be done online… where classes are usually canned and solidified months before the first day of course?

Through the modern miracle of technology, the answer is yes – if you plan ahead.

You are probably teaching a course in a subject that you like. That means you are also probably reading blogs, articles, journals, and other websites related to that subject.  What if your students could follow you as you do all of this reading? What if they could research with you – and this research became the course content? What if they discussed what you read that week, instead of some canned, stale question you stuck in a “discussion board” months ago?

Technically, this is possible with a blog. But do you really want to log in and create an entire blog post for every article, blog post, etc, etc. that you find… several times a week? Sound too tiring to you? Well then I have two words for you:

Social Bookmarking

You have probably heard of sites like Delicious and Digg.  Did you know that you can use these sites as the content for your course? Ditch the pre-processed cheese html zip file, pdf, or (shudder) audio lecture recording and go flexible, relevant, and easy.

Here is one idea: create an account in Delicious. Then come up with a tag just for each class – edtc3320, for example.  Then install a Delicious bookmark plug-in for FireFox or Chrome (if you are using Internet Explorer, well… I am sorry).  You can then send your students to the page for your specific class tag, and they can use whatever RSS reader they want to follow you. You can even create multiple tags for different classes.

As you come across different articles and links that would apply to your class – bookmark them in delicious and tag them for the class you want to read them. Maybe even add a second link of ‘edtc3320week1’ or whatever to help students organize them better. Delicious lets you write short comments on each link – so let students know why you bookmarked the link. Then add a discussion question for each link. For your class discussion, tell students that they have to answer at least one question raised during each week’s readings.

But don’t ditch the blog just yet – you are the content expert, so you have great insights to add to everything you read, and delicious has a short limit on comments.  So blog about what you want, and then bookmark your blog post in Delicious. It gets added to the flow that students have to read each week.

Dynamic content, active learning, reflection, and rapid course design all in one neat package! Want to be really fancy? Get a RSS feed widget, and then insert that in to your LMS course for the students that don’t get RSS. They can just click on the content page and it will be there for them in the walled garden… errr… Learning Management System.

Want to see what this could look like? Well, as I find resources I like online, I have created a Delicious tag just for the Soundings readers to follow:

http://delicious.com/grandeped/bpnsoundings

Follow me in your favorite RSS reader to see what this could be like.

{this post is being cross-posted at EduGeek Journal]

Digital Texts in the Composition Classroom, Feb 25th

Early adopters find ways to teach complex concepts, methods and software flying by the seat of our pants to be sure, but buoyed by much early trial and error experience acquired from having taught ourselves. For someone like me, whose field is digital media, I have made that seat-of-the-pants stuff my specialty, and, as a result, I am frequently called upon to teach less-experienced others how to teach using digital tools. One particularly challenging course in the English Department is First Year Composition. It may just be the toughest course to teach well and yet it is most often taught by our least experienced staff: our graduate students.

Those students recently asked me if I would come and lead a workshop for them on digital texts for the composition classroom. These new teachers face tough hurdles trying to retool green students into better writers. Their job gets tougher every year as what constitutes ‘writing’ continues to incorporate more multimodal objects (sound, image, video, etc.). The challenge for them is tougher still because they come from a generation that is often less digitally experienced than their students. Fortunately, in the English Department at least, they are not without resources. I lead a series of workshops on digital literacies, pedagogies, and research methods that give our students some tools for their own teaching up front, but they wanted more specifics that were designed for teaching the ever-so-unforgiving Comp. This workshop will take place on Thursday, February 25th from 12:00 to 1:30 or so in the eCreate Lab, located in Preston Hall 310. Please join us if you think the material might be of interest to you too.

Free, easy-to-use authoring tools that I will be discussing will include:

Voicethread, an online brainstorming tool for discussing texts, including powerpoint, video or screencasts

ccMixter, creative commons-based audio remixes

Piclits, an online tool for adding text to an image

Mixbook, an online scrapbook creator

Glogster, an online interactive poster creation tool

Xtranormal, an online text-to-movie animation creator

and

Animoto (for education version): an automated video creator that sutures narration, images, audio and video together into 30-second ‘trailers’

Drop me an email if you want more information: carolyn (dot) guertin (at) gmail (dot) com. If you come, be prepared to get your hands dirty :-).

Cheers,
Carolyn Guertin
Director, eCreate Lab
Dept of English
https://mavspace.uta.edu/guertin/portfolio/