Technology Resources: A Walden University blog entry

Technology Resources: A Walden University blog entry

Most institutions of higher learning have technology resources that we do not think of. I found several at Moberly Area Community College pretty quickly and I am sure I am omitting more. The ones that came to mind immediately were the Help Desk, the eCollege LMS, the Pearson Learning Studio for the virtual classroom, library resources galore including Ebsco, Gale Cenage sites, Films on Demand, and the ebrary; the ITV arrangement for video links between campuses for class uses, and Smarthinking. I have used all but the Smarthinking and virtual classroom technologies. Both are Pearson products and the feedback from others is not that great.

*Quick Note: The LMS, Smarthinking, library resources, virtual classroom, and Help Desk are online resources. The Help Desk has an online section and reference guide on the school website. The Pearson Learning Studio is both online and mobile. Very few use it on mobile devices as they interact with the instructor via the web in computer rooms or at home during synchronous class times. In addition, MACC offers Office 365 to all students and faculty via a download from Microsoft. Finally, like every institution we also have an e-mail service. We have a lot of online resources, but we often use them without even thinking about them as "online" resources.*

            The Help Desk is pretty self-explanatory and a requirement anywhere you go. That is part of the larger IT community at the school which also delivers professional development courses for the staff and faculty throughout the school year. They do this in seat and via the web using the Java based system of WebEx which is another technology (and one that works well). The LMS goes without mention as an everyday use for me. The library is great and I encourage my students to use it. I push for more books on the system each semester and their use in my classes. Films on Demand is good for documentaries which I tell my students are usable sources for my classes. The ITV is something I think is not used very well and that is not due to the technology.

            That seems to be more of a turf thing than anything else. I could teach the same course for multiple locations if they would consider it. The problem is not with me using it because I have. The problem lies with how the instructors and staff use it. Part of it involves turf wars and part of it involves pedagogical issues, particularly in course activities. This is a case where a lot of students have problems with the lack of interaction. Many will just not take the course, will take it online, or will drive 30 or so miles to where it is rather than be alone in a room with a TV.

            The Pearson Learning Studio needs help. My courses are not configured for it so the result is a real mess. This is a mobile app and from what others have told me they pretty much ignore it and use the LMS instead. The virtual environment works fine for them. I have not used this system yet and would do so if a course I taught was needed, but at the moment they’re only offering them online or F2F. Most of this is due to things outside of my control. This is basically blended learning and I would be more than happy to develop courses for this, but I do not feel my department is interested. As I stated in the online forums, there is a serious pedagogical issue with the use or development of new models and technology for many instructors. 

            I feel there is a big opportunity for blended learning that is being ignored at my school. As the VIRI (Virtual, Interactive, Real-Time, Instructor-led lecture model shows, students will be more interested in a course where there are blends of learning styles and delivery systems (Francescucci & Foster, 2013). MACC has the capability to maximize their use of these systems. I just feel there are more people issues that prevent this from happening than anything else. I also keep coming back to the same point I’ve made in multiple posts. It is not the model or the technology, but the pedagogy involved in getting students to learn. You can use whatever you want in a class, but if you cannot effectively engage them with the content in a meaningful way, it will not matter. 

            This is what I find so odd about all of talk about technology and integrating it in the classroom. We know that some use the “no significant difference” concept while others use the opposite concept. What the studies do show us is that the pedagogy is the issue, not the platforms. This is true of all platforms. If the pedagogy is adapted to the delivery system, then learning will occur. If not, then learning will encounter barriers. I found the article by Kock, Verville, and Garza to be pretty pointed on this with their study (2007). That is why I think our school has good resources, but it is how they are used that matters.

References

Francescucci, A. and Foster, M. (2013). The VIRI (Virtual, Interactive, Real-time, Instructor-led) classroom: The impact of blended synchronus online courses on student performance, engagement, and satisfaction. Canadian Journal of Higher Education, Vol. 43(3), 78-91.

Kock, N., Verville, J., & Garza, V. (2007). Media naturalness and online learning: Findings supporting both the significant and no-significant-difference perspectives. Decision Sciences Journal of Innovative Education, 5(2), 333-355.

The First Rant

The First Rant

            Many readers have probably got a pool going on when I would post my first rant. Well, if you have April 1^st for your date you win! However, if you selected politics or neo-confederate morons to be the topic, you lose and have to enter the pool again. I am ranting about the incredibly terrible system that is in place for Pearson’s MyHistoryLab and its use on mobile devices. The idea of mobile learning or m-learning as we sophisticated educators call it is to be easily accessible. It is one of the central concepts that make m-learning so attractive.

            Yet, today when trying to flip my class around so students can use primary and secondary sources in exploring the Age of Jefferson it was anything but easy to do. First of all, flipping a classroom around is not an easy proposition. Second of all, this is a community college. Third, I’m flipping a survey class. Walking on water is just a tad bit harder to do than this. It is extremely difficult to do when the technology that is supposed to work fails to do what it is alleged to do. My iPad users could not engage with the sources in the MyHistoryLab without jumping through hoops while those that brought their laptops had no issues.

            What this shows is the usual disdain Pearson has for m-learning. The Lab is set up for Web users. I whipped out my Android tablet and immediately ran into the same problems the iPad users had. The problem is with Pearson. This is not the first issues I’ve ran into with Pearson. They have several mobile applications and none of them do much at all with the MyHistoryLab. Fortunately, my lived up to my teaching motto: Adapt, improvise, overcome! They Googled and had the primary sources on their iPads immediately and much faster than going through the multi-layered mess that the Lab is. 

            I am now setting up the following week’s Age of Jackson lessons. Instead of using the Lab, I’m ignoring it and working with other content providers. You really want to know what I think we need to do? Drop Pearson completely. I don’t need them. I like the MyHistoryLab, but to be honest I don’t need it. I can do just as an effective job of teaching without it. In fact, our history department could sit down and have a solid set of course lessons for an entire course in two days or less from start to finish. Give them advance notice and it could be done in less than a day. We could save our college a good chunk of cash too. 

            I am currently developing a m-learning app with iTunes U for my courses. The first stage is underway. This consists of setting up a generic app useable by any instructor in most disciplines. The goal is to create a system where students can access the app, see the current materials and deadlines they need to be working, and then access them immediately from that screen. Two clicks and they’re from starting the app to reading, listening, or watching the content. Same for quizzes or anything else. We can even install dropboxes, forums, and Office 365 apps on the iPads for their use as well. A companion website would probably be necessary unless we also develop the app to run on Web as well. 

            Currently, I am using Tunesviewer on my Android to see if I can access the completed product via the iTunes U app. I have two main areas of concern. One is the actual textbook which is an e-text. I need Pearson to load it to an iBook. The second is in quizzes. I like the way the MyHistoryLab quizzes work. However, that doesn’t mean I cannot build and insert them into the iTunes app. That may take a bit of work, but then it might be pretty simple. The best part is that the iTunes materials look pretty easy to use. I know they work because I’ve seen this in action at Arkansas State University. The entire campus is mobile. Students must buy an iPad to attend school there. Everything is contained in the iTunes U course applications. Instructors must use them as well. They are not given a choice.

            This also may end up being my doctoral study. I have to wait and see what the chair says, but either way I am developing an app. I plan to use the iPads in two courses as I continue to shift more and more to a flipped classroom approach. Despite the issues with technology, the students worked with the materials and developed some answers to the questions. They preferred this format over the lecture format as well. This requires some work so I can’t do it each time, but I can for a lot of them. 

            So there’s the first rant. If anyone is using iTunes U materials I would love to hear them talk about their experiences with them. Same for other m-learning applications. I think that is where our pedagogy is going to shift to, so comparing notes would be helpful.

Photo Credits: Apple iPad and Apple iTunes U website.

The Junto's Final Four

The 2015 Junto March Madness Tournament Update

As you know from my earlier post there is an annual contest every year over on The Junto. This year's tournament has been about primary sources. After some fairly wild upsets, the Final Four has been reached. Unfortunately, Frederick Douglass' Fourth of July Speech did not make it. However, Douglass did make the Final Four with Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass which will be taking on The Declaration of Independence. The other match-up features Ben Franklin's Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin versus Alden T. Vaughn's Early American Indian Documents, Treaties, and Laws, 1607-1789. 

This has been an interesting contest and has seen several upsets. The only number one seed left in the field is Douglass. The DOI is a two seed while Franklin is a three. Vaughn is the lone Cinderella remaining in the field.

Who will win? Who will take home the 2015 Junto title? How can you participate? That's the easy part. Just go here and be ready to vote on Monday!

http://earlyamericanists.com/2015/03/27/presenting-your-final-four-march-madness-competitors/#more-10798

Technology in the Higher Education Classroom -

Technology in the Higher Education Classroom - Module Two

(Walden University course work by Jimmy Dick)

            The classroom of the future will be a place I hope to teach in. I look back to the college classrooms of the 1980s and cutting edge there was a microphone and overhead projector. Today cutting edge is a 3-D equipped classroom. I would love to have one of those to use in teaching history. I mentioned this to my students today and they loved the idea of it. Imagine having 3-D maps, images, and people for students to observe and even interact with. The possibilities are applicable in multiple fields of study too. The other areas I have interest in are mobile learning technology or m-learning. This pulls in two other tech segments such as e-textbooks and mobile applications for cross platform devices. Two additional tech areas I like are computers in the classroom and of course access to the Internet.

            At this point having a computer in the classroom is practically a necessity due to the usefulness of the device in playing audio/visual elements as well as the ability to access the Internet for various reasons. I think that is pretty self-explanatory, but when I look back to the 80s I remember not having them and my professors using slides and overhead projectors. Sometimes I miss not having a chalkboard in my classes because I saw more teaching via chalk than I ever did with a white board or for that matter a smart board. In fact, I have never had a class with a smart board or even used one. I don’t even think of them as a result.

            What I do consider important is m-learning and how I think that is going to revolutionize education. The ability to condense textbooks and learning materials of multiple media types and place them all within a transportable device or application via the device is phenomenal. Personally, I need to learn more about this technology in order to fully implement it in the classroom. I already work with e-textbooks and have no issues with them. In fact, I am going to incorporate them and their capabilities in accessing course materials in a much greater capacity in the second half of my American History to 1865 course this semester.

            My community college does a good job of supporting technology use via professional development programs. They have a $250 stipend available for every 15 credit hours completed which is a nice incentive. The courses are also online or in seat which also allows instructors to see online class presentations in action. We are lacking in m-learning training though and that is something that really needs some attention. I am pushing for training in using Apple’s iTunes U materials. I have discovered materials that will help me learn how to use the iTunes U and develop courses within it. That is going to be a major project of mine and I am really debating about possibly making that the focus of a doctoral study.

            M-learning applications exist abundantly. Over one trillion dollars’ worth of apps were sold in four of the biggest public app stores in 2013, Google Play, iTunes, Blackberry, and one other (Statistic Brain, 2014). This does not count private companies selling apps through their own storefronts or in programs via distribution. An example of this would be contracts with institutions through Pearson Education. This dollar figure takes on bigger meaning when you realize that over 65 billion apps were downloaded from those four stores and most of them were free apps. There are multiple applications with iTunes U for course development planning which I am just beginning to explore.

            One of my goals over the next eight weeks is to explore the construction of an app for my students to use which will help them utilize the learning-centered environment I strive to create in my classes. I am writing this while administering a mid-term, one of two mid-terms and a module exam I am giving today (Spring Break starts Friday). Several students commented about how the class, the materials, and the assignments came together in the mid-term. That was not by accident. It was by design. The technology I use in the classroom was in use during the mid-terms, but I want to take this a step further in the assessment process. That will be part of the final exam for certain as I learn more about using that iPad in the class.

            The major recommendation I have for my school is to develop a school wide training program for m-learning. We do not have anything and it is showing. Each campus has an iPad cart and I am one of two instructors who uses it in their classes. Studies have shown that institutions which do not have a cohesive m-learning development program for their instructors have a really poor m-learning integration problem (Hawkes & Hategekimana, 2010). Granted that the use of the e-Textbook here is still in its first year and limited to a few courses, but the training was limited to website use of the e-Textbook. Hardly any attention was giving to its use via mobile technology and none at all in conjunction with applications. Furthermore, the company that supplied the e-Textbooks has some really clunky applications for its m-learning platform. In fact, it looks like they just tried to port the website materials straight over to the m-learning platform and did next to nothing to create a self-sufficient m-learning portal.

            In conclusion, I think m-learning in the wave of the educational future. With the current assault on education funding by politicians who prefer ignorant Americans falling behind in the global learning world it is imperative that we use the shrinking funds wisely and invest the money in the technology that will expand the learning capabilities of our students. This is going to require institutions working together to develop training programs and resource utilization so that dollars are not duplicating previous efforts. It is also going to require staying up with the desires of our students and that is increasingly being tied to technology usage in schools. The bottom line is those who are proactive in this brave new world of technology are retaining and graduating students at a higher rate than those schools who are not. Some of those schools are closing their doors. What will be the fate of your institution?

References

Hawkes, M., and C. Hategekimana. (2010). Impacts of mobile computing on student learning in      the university: A comparison of course assessment data. J. Educational Technology Systems, 38(1), 63-74.

Statistic Brain. (2015). Mobile Phone App Store Statistics. (Website). Retrieved from             http://www.statisticbrain.com/mobile-phone-app-store-statistics/

Diffusing Revolutionary War Knowledge: The Journal of the American Revolution at allthingsliberty.com

http://allthingsliberty.com/

 

In the current political climate, the Internet often serves as version of the Wild West where websites of all types abound. Unfettered by notions of truthfulness and accuracy, some sites make all kinds of claims regarding events in history. An area that is heavily corrupted by political rhetoric and claims of dubious facts to outright lies thanks to a proliferation of these sites is that of the American Revolution. Unfortunately, far too many people seek to establish their modern ideological credentials by trying to gain legitimacy through an association with that era. It seems that patriotism must be part of the lunatic fringe at times.

Todd Andrlik

            Fortunately, there are some high quality websites available for students of history as well as the general audience who seeks history written from factual evidence instead of history created to suit someone’s political and or religious beliefs. One of these websites has been created by Todd Andrlik, author of Reporting the American Revolution: Before it was History, it was News. Andrlik, who has collected one of the largest private archives of newspapers from the Revolutionary era, developed a website dedicated to the delivery of “impeccable, ideally groundbreaking historical research and well-written narrative” concerning that era. Conceived on a napkin at first, Andrlik brainstormed with Hugh T. Harrington and developed the idea that resulted in the creation of The Journal of the American Revolution.

           

          Anyone that has looked for magazines dealing solely with this era will quickly discover two things. One is that there are none and the second is that in the last several years every attempt to create one has failed. The costs of creating a physical publication are too high for reaching the required number of readers it takes to sustain such an endeavor. However, as an astute observer might realize by looking at various websites, the cost of producing an online publication are a fraction of that expense. The real key is producing content to sustain viewers. Andrlik has managed to accomplish that feat by allowing the readers to be the content creators, which has been a masterful stroke of genius.

            As anyone knows who deals in academia, the mantra of the profession is publish or perish. With a limited audience for physical books dealing with this era, the numbers of titles that can be published each year remain small. Often, academic presses are the major source for publication and they tend to prefer those who are teaching in the colleges for their monographs. This has left historians who do not write monographs, but do write articles with little room for their work few opportunities to share their knowledge. That has also resulted in a decided lack of accurate and highly researched information reaching the public. Instead, the shoddy and often erroneous material whipped together to support ideologies and beliefs has been what reached the public.

            With the introduction of The Journal of the American Revolution in January of 2013, an outlet for magazine length articles of high quality research existed. Andrlik’s plan bore fruition as historians began to submit articles for publication. Today, a growing stable of historians with a wide range of publishing experience are submitting articles to the Journal on a regular basis. The website is a valuable outlet for public historians as well as grad students, academic historians, park rangers, and others who submit their work and receive nothing more than a byline for remittance. Yet, those same authors are adding to our knowledge of this period and gaining recognition for their work which they never would have received had this Journal not been created. 

            Today the Journal reaches over 165,000 unique views each month. Over one million unique views have occurred since the Journal began over its first two years. Articles have been picked up for distribution in major media outlets, featured on television, and lauded on National Public Radio. Many of the contributors have seen their work cited by professional historians. Television and movie producers seek these authors out for guidance concerning their programming. Teachers have used the information in their classes and constructed interactive learning lessons with them. 

            During that process, Andrlik has increased the number of editors to seven in order to keep up with the flow of submissions and maintain high standards of accuracy and research. In addition to the online Journal, Andrlik and his team have also taken the submissions and published them in annual hardcover volumes. The second volume is slated for publication in May of 2015. These articles range from general topics to specific concerns, book reviews, critiques on television shows and movies, and other issues dealing with the American Revolution. Every possible theme from the Revolution is being explored somewhere in the Journal. Recipes mingle with battles while spies lurk, women support their men, heroes and villains strive to sway public opinion and win a war in the articles on this website. 

           The result is one of the best websites on the Internet that covers this era. Students of history will not be disappointed with the articles nor will anyone with an interest in the period. For those who seek to know what really happened in that period, The Journal of the American Revolution is a must visit site. The best part is that the information is completely free. Actually, that is the second best part. The best is yet to come as more articles are published and added to the archives. As we enter the 250^th anniversary of the American Revolution, The Journal of the American Revolution is poised to be one of the leading Internet sources of information on this period. Not too shabby for a concept sketched out on a napkin!

http://allthingsliberty.com/