Encouraging Student Comments and Cultivating Online Communities in Distance Learning Marybeth Martin

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Encouraging Student Comments and Cultivating
Online Communities in Distance Learning
Marybeth MartinOnline LearningRochester
Institute of Technology
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RIT and Online Learning At a Glance

• RIT
• 15,334 Students in 2003-2004
• Programs
• 60 Graduate
• 80 Undergraduate
• 50 Associates
• 20 Professional Certificates
• 2 Doctoral

RIT Online Learning 4,443 Students in
2003-2004 Programs 10 Graduate 4
Undergraduate 20 Professional Certificates
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Models for Online Community
Sponsored Activities
DL Photo Contest
Designated or Self-identified
Students with Kids
2 Students
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Why We Cultivate Online Student Communities

• Most of our distance learners are adult learners
  taking part-time course load 1-2 courses a
  quarter
• Dont attend campus
• Potential lack of engagement and attachment with
  other students and support staff
• Provides an open forum for discussion
• Allows us to maintain a continuous flow of
  communication between support staff and students
• Our distance learners share their experiences
  with one another and OL staff

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What do students think?Asychronous Interaction
with Fellow Students

• Interested (43)
• Provides the opportunity to network outside the
  classroom
• Would like access to a mentor advice from an
  upperclassman
• Some amount of structure is needed appointed
  moderator
• Helpful to new students
• Not Interested (30)
• More interested in live, direct interaction with
  other students and faculty
• No time for this
• Maybe (27)
• Good Idea, but not sure about time involved or
  interest of other students
• Im more of a lurker

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Distance Learning Photo Contest
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And The 2004 Winners Are!Pet Category
Richard writes I took this shot at my parents
home in the backyard. I had just bought a
digital camera (Nikon Coolpic 990), and I wanted
to test it out. I wanted to take pictures of the
dogs from their perspective, so I was literally
on the ground crawling around the backyard with
them and taking as I see an opportunity. My
dogs dont sit still for long, so of the many,
many shots I took this was on of the few that I
actually liked.
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And The 2004 Winners Are! Open Category
Kimberly writes This photo was taken the
first week of October, 2000 in Genesee Valley
Park, just 5 miles from the RIT campus. I used a
Kodak 210 digital camera. The scene was so
spectacular that I went home to retrieve the
camera after passing by.
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Students with Kids

• ..In fact, as I am typing this I have Blues
  Clues playing in the back ground, my youngest is
  tugging on the power cord to my laptop, and my
  oldest is getting scolded by his mother for
  throwing his football at the window (It's great
  fun!!).

Sharing Family
My 6 year old thinks it is neat that Dad has
homework. My 10 year old tries to race me to see
who gets done 1st. I don't like the time
commitment that classes take, but DL sure makes
it easier to schedule.
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2 Student Conference

• Our 3rd year
• 163 active participants
• since we started in 2002
• Coming Winter quarter, will have over 300 new
  members

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2 Topics
Resource for ideas ....how about? ....what do you
think about?
Suggestions ....what worked well ...and not so
well
Archived data ....historical data ...repeated
issues or concerns
Concensus ....does every one feel this way?
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Fledgling Christine
I'm still at the very early stages -- this is my
first "real" 3 course semester -- and I think I'm
suffering from a touch of ...something.
Difficult to articulate, but it's following along
the lines of "this is so amazingly cool I can't
believe I'm actually doing it!" And then I get
stuck. I'll read books like The World Treasury
of Physics, Astronomy, and Mathematics for fun,
but then freeze when I have to read 2 chapters
for chemistry. I read and understand the
material, but don't retain it. So then I reread
it and reread it again, all the time becoming
more tense and frustrated that I'm just not
"getting it."
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Supportive Suggestions
Christine writes I read and understand the
material, but don't retain it. So then I reread
it and reread it again, all the time becoming
more tense and frustrated that I'm just not
"getting it." It's true that you need to be
very self-motivating and find a unique way to
integrate the information from the classes. I
find that the following things are essential for
me (tip 2 of 6) 2) Be aggressive about
organizing the information. I bought adhesive
tabs and I tab the first page of every chapter.
Then, I do the same things in my notes. If I
make a note in my notebook, I also write down the
page number that I took the information from. I
also place a tab for the videos, i.e. video 1.
This way, when I'm working on an assignment and I
know I read or heard of something somewhere, I
can find it much easier. I hope this helps!
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Using a Qualitative Tool with 2

• Annual and First-Time Online Student Surveys
• open-ended questions, we used a qualitative tool
  called N6.
• organize, categorize, and find recurring themes
  among student needs, concerns, an experiences.
• 2 conference provides a wealth of input
• started keeping track of student input
• analyze, discuss, and archive student
  preferences, trends, and their RIT OL
  experiences.
• prioritize and implement plans of action

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The Tool We Use
Find more out about N6 at http//www.qsrinternati
onal.com/
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Importing Comments into N6
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Collecting and Categorizing

• Online Discussions
• (online chats, asynchronous)
• Courseware
• FirstClass vs. myCourses
• Feeling a sense of community
• Connecting with other students and instructors
• Instructor organization and responsiveness
• Ease of finding assignments, where to post
  homework, and where to find posted grades

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Collecting and Categorizing
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Online Discussion
Likes
I think the discussion requirements are an easy
grade to achieve. As DL students we obviously
don't have the "personal" contact with the
professors and I think by having us "discuss"
certain assignments it gives them a chance to
evaluate our creative thinking skills. Also, by
reading someones paragraphs you can get a hint
of what their personality is like.
Dislikes
.... I don't like the forced class
participation. I think we should be allowed to
turn in assignments and receive a fair grade for
work and not a lower grade for lack of comments
and the such. The participation should be
optional. .....My favorite online class consisted
of watching video tapes, a midterm, and a final,
and an occasional comment if I wanted to respond
to something in particular. I learned everything
I wanted and received an A rather than a B for
lack of participation.
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successful models

• Provide online ice breakers
• Make it relevant
• Introduce breaking news
• to start conversation
• Ask open-ended questions
• Bring in guest speakers
• Redirect discussion when it gets
• off topic
• Delegate student discussion leaders
• Refocus discussion to keep it
• from getting stale

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Courseware
Preferences
I don't like the discussion interface, it is hard
to navigate........Of the different software
I've used in many different types of classes at
different schools, FirstClass is still my
favorite.
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Sneak Preview of New Courseware
I like both programs much better . and am
having a hard time trying to decide between the
two.. I attached a document with screen
shots of the couple of issues that I had with
the site they may be computer/browser related
or they may be the site itself--I didn't spend
time investigating.
..For me, it loaded faster and had a more
intuitive interface. The ability to easily
switch from courses and menus was a big plus.
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Feeling Connected
Sentiments
I'm in Arizona, and very unlikely to ever meet
any of my classmates face-to-face. One of the
big downsides to DL is the inability to network
and form connections which will benefit us in
the 'real world'.
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Peer-to-Peer Pilot

• Began Fall 2004
• Informal support network
• A way for new students
• to connect with seasoned
• onliners
• Tips and strategies for a
• successful experience

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Organization Instructor Feedback
Priorities

• ..... the ability of the Professor to organize
  is more important than the medium used. Since I
  have taken about 23 online courses over the last
  3.5 years, I think I've seen a pretty broad
  range of organizational capabilities.

... professors should be required to provide a
feedback early on the course and continually
through the course. I don't have a problem with
weighty assignments, I only prefer to know that I
have confidence in my abilities with respect to
them
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Faculty Orientation
Online Student Needs Expectations Responsivenes
s Graded Feedback Interaction
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Ideas for Community Student Feedback
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Questions and Answers

• You can also contact Marybeth Martin at
• mjmetc_at_rit.edu
• 585-475-6513 (V)
• 1-800-CALL RIT (V/TTY)