Online Interaction Among Faculty and Students: How Free is Free and How Low is LowCost

1
Online Interaction Among Faculty and Students
How Free is Free and How Low is Low-Cost

• iTeach / Realizing Student Potential
• Friday, February 17, 2009
• Minneapolis

This presentation available at
http//web.stcloudstate.edu/pmiltenoff/conf2009/i
Teach/voip.ppt
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Presenters

• Plamen Miltenoff, Ph.D., MLIS,
• is information specialist at Learning Resources
  Technology Services (LRTS) of St. Cloud State
  University(SCSU) in St. Cloud, Minnesota. Dr.
  Miltenoff has graduate degrees from universities
  in Bulgaria, Austria, and from University of
  Florida. He is completing his Ph.D. with Shoumen
  University in Bulgaria and a separate terminal
  degree in education with University of North
  Dakota. His professional interests include new
  technologies, Web development and multimedia,
  interactive and Web development in education.
  Plamen Miltenoff is the liaison of the LRTS to
  College of Education at SCSU.
• Gary Schnellert, Ph.D.,
• is currently an Associate pPofessor of
  Educational Leadership in charge of doctoral
  cohorts for the University Of North Dakota. Dr.
  Schnellert has a Ph.D. from Iowa State
  University. Dr. Schnellert spent fourteen years
  in public school administration as a
  superintendent and principal, and assistant
  principal in Canada, The Caribbean, and Iowa.
  Throughout his career Dr. Schnellert has
  specialized in Career and Technical Education and
  Educational Leadership. His research interests
  center on International Education, functions of
  emerging technologies in the educational
  settings, Industrial Technology, and educational
  reforms. Dr. Schnellert is also involved in
  assisting school districts with curriculum
  renewal, facilities planning, and administrative
  searches. He also functions as an advisor for
  students wanting to become licensed in various
  states.Galin Tzokov, Ph.D., is an Associate
  Professor of Pedagogy and Educational Management
  at the Department of Pedagogy of the Plovdiv
  University in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Dr. Tzokov
  served as a Vice-President of the Educational
  Commission Municipal Council and as a Chairman of
  the Municipal School Board of the city of Shumen.
  He is a member of the Bulgarian Association of
  Scientists, the Bulgarian Pedagogical Society and
  the National Center for Distance Education in
  Bulgaria. Dr. Tzokovs interests include
  educational management, management of private
  schools and educational legislation. He works
  also in the field of information technologies in
  education and distance education.

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Plan and Goals

• Plan
• Research findings
• Literature
• Dissertation
• Hands-on
• What do we know and use in the U.S.
• What faculty know and use in Bulgaria
• What is Bulgaria ??
• Goals
• learn what is an e-conferencing tool
• learn digital divide and the implications on both
  sides of the divide
• learn how to identify the right technology for
  the responding task

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Research findings - literatureaccording to the
deconstructivists ?

• Literature
• Definitions
• e-Learning skills the ability to develop
  effective learning skills in a technological
  environment
• e-Learning? m-Learning? Immersive learning?
  Distributive learning?
• 3 major groups regarding the meaning of
  e-Learning
• - distance education - electronically mediated
  learning - facilitated interaction software
  (Bullen Janes, 2007)
• Information Age replaced by the Interactive Age
  (Milne, 2007)
• According to the Pew Project, young people turn
  to cell phones and Internet from TV and landlines
  (Horrigan, 2007)
• mashups, folksonomy and semantic Web, broadly
  known as Web 2.0, are most likely to have impact
  on teaching (Horizon Report, 2008)

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• Distributive learning is moving from asynchronous
  to synchronous as part of the larger migration
  from Web 1.0 to Web 2.0 (Murphy Laferriere in
  Bullen Janes, 2007).
• Course Management Software
• e-Conferencing tools
• The transition to e-learning and the evolution to
  Web 2.0 cannot happen if/when the stakeholders
  (students, faculty, librarians and
  administration) have not conquered yet the
  foundation of educational technology and
  administrators must be aware of this requirement
  (Robertson and Klotz, 2002 Zellweger, 2007).

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Research findings - Dissertation
2007 Findings U.S. advantage
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Research findings - Dissertation
2007 Findings BG advantage
8
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Demonstration BG faculty

• Galin
• Email
• Blogs http//galintzokov-gall.blogspot.com/ ?
  http//galintzokov.blog.bg/
• VoIP
• Skype
• SMS (texting)
• Social networking (Facebook) http//www.facebook.
  com/people/Galin-Tzokov/
• Landline and cellular phones

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Reasoning BG faculty

• Why and how do I choose my online tools
• do you think, your university is offering you the
  right tools for online communication with
  students (Plovdiv U does NOT offer as part of its
  technology base tools for distance education and
  online communicationsThe University budge totals
  18.5 Mil leva 13 Mil for 2009. ½ Mil leva 1
  Mil are for long term projects, of which 30 or
  150 000 leva 100 000 are for information
  technologies web site maintenance, Internet
  connection for students and faculty)
• do you feel the university is providing adequate
  support for these tools (Unfortunately, the
  University does not actively promote using
  information technologies among faculty)
• how do you determine what tools for online
  communication with a) students b) faculty to
  choose(The initiative to use Web 2.0 tools is
  based on personal conviction and desire to
  motivate students and involve them in active
  learning and discussionsThese tools are
  convenient and practical, since using them
  extends the possibilities for an electronic
  dialog with the students for constant and
  extended contact with the students to provide
  updated information and feedback for assignments
  in an environment which is familiar and arresting
  for themThese tools are free and are the only
  ones available at my university for communication
  with students. The tools being free is to a great
  degree also an impediment, since students are
  observing them not as learning tools, but as
  informal tools for entertaining. To turn
  students mind set around and convince students
  to view Web 2.0 tools as formal teaching tools, I
  invest considerable energy and time, extended
  explanations and clarifications and fore mostly,
  mutual agreement between students and instructor)

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Demonstration U.S. faculty

• Gary and Plamen
• CMS Blackboard and D2L
• Gary on Blackboard Wimba
• Gary and Plamen audio and video files
• e-Conferencing tools
• Gary and Plamen Adobe Connect licensed
• Plamen vRoom from Elluminate free
• VoIP
• Skype, iChat, Oovoo
• Desktop sharing
• Teamviewer vs. Adobe Connect
• Web 2.0 tools
• Blogs and wikis
• Social networking
• Social bookmarking

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Reasoning US faculty

• Why and how do I choose my online tools
• do you think, your university is offering you the
  right tools for online communication with
  students (Currently yes, but lacking capacity to
  transmit and volume)
• do you feel the university is providing adequate
  support for these tools (Support only on site
  when the instructors are everywhere)
• how do you determine what tools for online
  communication with a) students b) faculty to
  choose(Ask those who are more knowledgeable and
  hope they know what they are talking about.)
• fashionable (students like to use it) (Students
  love it since my students can save on gas money.)
• practical (I like to use it) (Students like to
  learn and they love it when it not only helps
  them but they can also use it with there
  classes.)
• cheap and useful (university does not have it,
  but it is useful and don't have to pay for it or
  university has one, but it is not comparable to
  the one that I found for free) (University
  doesn't always know what is available and at
  times pay for an inferior product when a free one
  is better or just as good and really available.)

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Comparison of online communication tools

• Between faculty and students
• Galin ???
• Plamen and Gary email and CMS
• Faculty and faculty
• Galin and Gary and Plamen Skype
• Gary and Plamen Skype to talk and work,
  Teamviewer to help each other, cell phones,
  landlines, email
• Students and students
• ??? Facebook???

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Discussion and Questions

• Plamen Miltenoff
• pmiltenoff_at_stcloudstate.edu
• Skype ID aidedza
• Second Life ID Aidemoreto Laryukov
• Oovoo ID aidedza
• Gary Schnellert
• gary.schnellert_at_und.edu
• Skype ID gary.schnellert
• Second Life ID
• Galin Tzokov
• g_tzokov_at_mail.bg
• Skype ID Galin_Tz

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Literature

•  Bullen, Mark Janes, Diane. (Eds.). (2007).
  Making the Transition to E-Learning Strategies
  and Issues. Hershey, PA Information Science
  Publishing. (Available in Google books)
• Conrad, Rita-Marie Donaldson, Ana. (2004).
  Engaging the Online Learner Activities and
  Resources for Creative Instruction. San
  Francisco, CA Jossey-Bass
• Horrigan, John. (2007). Mobile Access to Data and
  Information. Pew Internet and American Life
  Project. Last retrieved April 21, 2008 at
  http//www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_Mobile.Data.Ac
  cess.pdf
• Milne, Andrew J. (2007 January/February).
  Entering the Interaction Age Implementing a
  Future Vision for Campus Learning Spaces...Today.
  EDUCAUSE Review, 42(1), 1231.Last retrieved
  November 16, 2006 at http//www.educause.edu/apps
  /er/erm07/erm0710.asp?bhcp1
• Nagel, David. (2008, October 28). Elluminate
  Phases In Learning Suite Upgrades. Campus
  Technology, http//www.campustechnology.com/articl
  es/68890
• Roberson, T. J. Klotz, J. (Winter 2002). How
  can instructors and administrators fill the
  missing link in online instruction? Online
  Journal of Distance Learning Administration.
  5(4). Retrieved June, 2003 http//www.westga.edu/
  distance/ojdla/winter54/roberson54.htm
• The 2008 Horizon Report, http//www.nmc.org/pdf/20
  08-Horizon-Report.pdf
• Zellweger Moser, Franziska. (2007). Faculty
  Adoption of Educational Technology Educational
  technology support plays a critical role in
  helping faculty add technology to their teaching.
  Education Quarterly. 30(1), 18-24. Last
  retrieved February 2, 2008 at http//connect.educ
  ause.edu/Library/EDUCAUSEQuarterly/FacultyAdoptio
  nofEducatio/40010