| Starting time | Activity time | Activity | |||||||||||||||
| 10:15 | 15 | Introduction Electronic communication (E-mail, electronic conferencing, and the World Wide Web) has the potential to greatly expand the interaction that normally occurs between members of a learning community (whether it be student/student or student/professor interaction). Because a workshop is a public event, we will be focusing on the public components (WWW and conferencing) of electronic communication, but private communication (e-mail) is also crucial. Our conference is set up so you can communicate privately, also. In this workshop, we'll be talking somewhat generally about the advantages of electronic communication, so keep your learning community needs in the forefront, and ask questions specific to your needs whenever they come up. Learning communities are about communication and collaboration--a Virtual Communal Space (VCS) can fill the gap by providing an opportunity for asynchronous (time independent) and asyntopic (location independent) communication. A VCS can be a companion to, or the central component of, a learning community. In my classes, as well as in my work in general (committees, planning groups, etc.), it's a companion that provides a synergistic forum for communication and collaboration. What goes on in the virtual conversation is enhanced by and informs face-to-face meetings, and vice versa. | |||||||||||||||
| 10:30 | 15 | Exploring student discussions from last semester's Principles of Learning and Behavior class.
My students have a reading assignment, then they post their questions about what they have read before they came to class (Make Up Your Own--these are stretch questions, to promote collaboration). After class, they respond to each others' questions. From the menu on the left of opening screen, click on New Discussion Forums and pick one. MUYO--Unified Theory was the last one they did, and would be a good choice. If you look at the discussion in Archive mode, it will ask you to log on--you can use s1 for your username and password. If you are interested, click on Topics/Schedule, and look at Unified Theory to see what they were responding to. If
you have trouble making the connection, click here to see a
backup file of the discussion.
To post, you'll be asked for your
username and password. They are your first initial
and the first seven letters of your last name (if your last name
has more than seven characters). Unix is case sensitive, so type
both in lowercase. Your password is the same as your username.
You can change your password and modify your
"homepage" by clicking on Help/Utilities from
the main WCB menu. Spend some time collecting your thoughts,
make sure you are saying what you want to say, then post--what
you submit exists forever (more or less). After you have
posted, read what others have posted, and respond to those you
wish to. You may need to "reload" the page on
occasion to see the most recent postings. Brief
discussion--what insights/questions do you have at this
point?
Find your
"kindred spirits" in the room and share ideas about your
learning community and about how you could use electronic
communication to enhance its quality. This exercise is intended to show how virtual
communication and face-to-face communication can be synergistic.
Warning--the forum on which you have just posted is a more general forum--all workshop
participants will post here, so your "kindred spirit"
might not be in this workshop. You can also look over the
previous forum discussion, and see whom you would like to talk
with. Also, you can always e-mail a non-present kindred spirit
and keep the conversation alive when you get home! Formulate
questions/suggestions for whole group discussion.
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