11/30--WebEx and Google Talk practice reflections

Monday Lynda and I talked on both WebEx and Google Talk, mainly for practice. We used a webcam and microphone for both sessions.

First I logged into WebEx using the link that was sent to me....I also was sent a phone number to call for the audio, but I was able to simply use the audio on my computer. Lynda showed me some of the main features of WebEx. They included a chat, sharing of desktops, passing of "a ball" to give control to a different presenter, and even a Whiteboard. I'm still not sure how I'd access WebEx for Century, though--it's not a public site.

After trying WebEx, we tried Google Talk. It took a bit longer for me to get into Google Talk because I downloaded both the Google Talk software AND its video app to my computer. Turned out, all I really needed was the video plug-in for Google Chat. I learned that Google Chat could be used in either iGoogle or Gmail--we tried to use it in Gmail. On the left hand side of the Gmail options, I noiced a "Chat" option. Once Lynda was logged on, I could "call" her by clicking on her name and then the video screen option.

Then we started working with GoogleDocs. I found my file about the Teaching Circle Announcement that we were working on and uploaded it to Google Docs. Lynda pointed out that I should have opened it as a "Google Docs" file by checking the necessary button when uploading it, and I did that the next time. Opening a .docx file as a Google Docs file enables shared editing....so both she and I could talk about the document and edit it. In doing so, Google marked who had done what, which was good. But we sort of forgot about the video aspect in the meantime.

Lynda and I will meet at the CTL at 2 pm Thursday to discuss the teaching circle announcement further.

11/29--some thoughts about asessment rubrics.

Here's a question I've been thinking about: if I am assessing students on a series of objectives, how much credit do I give them if they don't accomplish a certain objective. For example, say that a student does not use habitually use specific evidence to prove her point in her essay. Evidence as a criteria in my rubric is worth 10 points. Does she earn (a) zero points or (b) partial points? And if the answer is (b), how do I justify the point deduction? It seems like an "all or nothing" rubric would be easier to justify.

Perhaps I could have something like a grid explaining what type of evidence earns an A, what earns a B, and so forth. And then the explanation that best fits with what she's done in her paper corresponds with the grade that she earns in that part of her essay. Maybe this is what I can do; to me, it seems more fair than what I've been doing, which is to give either full credit, half credit, or no credit at all. Perhaps I need more gradations in my rubric--and not just more gradations, but more explanations.

Any thoughts?

11/18--Vocaroo....my latest toy....and WebEx

I just got done trying Vocaroo, a site that lets you record voicemails online. All you have to do is have a microphone plugged in. The messages can be as long as you want.

It seems to me that these could be used like podcasts--streaming audio. They can also be posted as links or embedded onto sites using HTML code.

The link for my test post is above--click on the Title of this blog entry.

After talking to Lynda today about WebEx, I decided to explore it a little bit. Apparently it can be found at http://mnscu.webex.com. But apparently I need a username and password...where do I find these things???

11/18--a change of heart.

Okay, I'm going to talk about why I changed my mind about something. I guess that's what blogs and sabbaticals are for: thinking things through. It's remarkable to have time to really give thought to what I do. Normally, I have only 2-3 weeks between terms to hurriedly prep for 2-3 classes.

Here's what I changed my mind about since my last entry: I decided to cancel the Group Technology Project for my American Lit. course. Why? A couple reasons: (1) I kept thinking about that question from *Effective Grading*--"Is this really assessing what I'm trying to assess?" And, honestly, I think the exam that I devised is a better measure of assessment for these students. An individual and/or group project (esp. a group project) would not be as fair. (2) I'm really not comfortable with these students having one group projecst representing 65% of their course grade. I think it would be best if it were broken down for them (Midterm 20%, Final 45%). This is because they really need and crave feedback. In the writing classes, this is not a problem. They do a lot of writing. However, in the literature classes at Century, writing is not set up to be a primary focus. Still, on my exams, THEY WILL BE DOING ESSAYS ALONG WITH MULTIPLE CHOICE AND SHORT ANSWERS.

So, exams it will be for the American Lit. students. I'm okay with this. Again, I think these exams get at what I really want to measure: their overall competency in the field. The exams better measure whether the students have met the objectives of the class.

11/15--lectures and rubrics.

So I've been reading Walvoord and Anderson's *Effective Grading*, which I borrowed from the CTL library. One chapter that really appealed to me was the one on "Fostering Motivation and Learning." We can see the real disparity between a lecture-based class and a more active learning class on exhibit 4.2 on page 56, called "Two Versions of a History Class Session." In one version, the prof simply states the topic for the day, asks the students if they have any questions about it, and then drones on with the lecture. In the other version, though, the students play more of a role. The professor asks more questions of the students to get more of a sense of what they know or don't know. I like this version better because, to me, that's what learning is about--having the opportunity to figure out what you know and what you don't. I always tell my students that asking questions is a part of the learning process.

When I return from sabbatical, I plan NOT to lecture in class; instead, my students will read the lectures on D2L (many of which are done in Power Point with voice-over) and then take quizzes on these lectures to assess their learning. To me, this makes the learning more active, and the students come to an understanding of how well they know the material even before they come to class. I do believe that lectures sometimes are necessary, but I'd rather use class time for discussions. We'll see how this works out.

Today I worked on developing a grading rubric for my technology project for English 2011 (the American Lit. class I am teaching this coming summer). I began work on it by thinking of key questions posed by *Effective Grading*--What do I really want students to learn? And how will this means of assessment measure that learning?

As a result, here's the rubric I've come up with (so far):

ENGLISH 2011: GRADING RUBRIC FOR PROJECT.

Pre-final draft work (80 points)

A one-paragraph prospectus (one per person or group). 10

A conference with me in which you review your rough draft work with me and ask questions. 20

A presentation of your work in front of the class
(8-10 minutes for individuals; 13-15 minutes for groups) 40

Evaluations of self and/or others in group (NOTE: If you earn all positive evaluations 5
from others in group, 10 points will be added to your grade.
For every negative evaluation you earn from someone in your group, 20 points will be deducted
from your grade.)

Evaluations of other students' projects. 5


Final Draft work (180 points)

Introduction captures audience’s attention and transitions well to main purpose. 15

Purpose and audience for project are clear. 15

Consistent focus on topic (theme, character type, and/or symbol). 15

Project discusses approximately six primary sources (3 pre-Romantic and 3 Romantic). 15

Makes use of specific, descriptive detail consistently. 15

Effective transitions exist within and/or between key sections. 10

Makes strong use of evidence to prove its points. 20

Uses AT LEAST TWO authoritative secondary sources to prove its points. 15

Uses quotes correctly (if necessary). 10

Evidence is well-analyzed—significance of evidence/detail is explained somewhere within project. 20 .

Conclusion effectively summarizes discussion, explains significance of topic, and
contains an effective clincher that engages the reader. 15

Contains few, if any, mechanical errors. 15


OVERALL GRADE: ________/260 POINTS


COMMENTS:

The numbers at the end of each category indicate the point value of the item.

I may make some adjustments on this. 260 points still seems like a lot for one project to me....65% of their course grade. Perhaps I need more and/or small assessments. But then again, I have those incorporated into the project with things like the conference, the rough draft review, and the presentation to the class. Even the self-assessments (and/or group assessments) should help produce some accountability.

11/7--I made a Yodio.

Tonight I created a Yodio for the first time! A Yodio is a combination of image and sound; it's possible to do a whole presentation with Yodios, apparently. I must say that I didn't succeed with this until the third attempt, but I finally managed to do it.

Here it is:


Pretty cool, huh? I could see my students using this for their Group Technology Project--perhaps even instead of Prezis. They are really quite easy to produce. All you have to do is find an image, record a phone message, put the two together online, and voila--that's a Yodio! Fun stuff! Now that I think about it, it might be a cool way to have students introduce themselves in my online class (at least, the more advanced Comp 1 students).

11/1---Google Talk and trying a podcast.

Happy November to all.

Okay, today I used Google Talk for the first time (with Dee Gee's help...thanks Dee Gee!).  I downloaded to my computer and discovered that it's a lot like any IM service.  Although other users have to have Google accounts (and be in Google Talk) in order for "chat" to happen (and then you have to "Invite" them to use Google Talk with you--just click on the + button to add them).  What's nice is that I discovered that Google Talk enables voice chat as well--all you have to do is click the "Call" button when a fellow Google Talk user is online (noted by "Available"), and you need a headset with a microphone plugged in, and then a conversation can begin via the computer.  That's pretty cool. Dee Gee tested this out with me and it worked.

I also tried a test podcast in Audacity today.  Just a five second one.  Then I saved it to my Desktop as a .wma file.  The good news is that I was able to upload this .wma file to Desire2Learn and it opened just fine.  So Windows audio files open just fine in D2L--this is good to know.  However, the bad news is that I can't seem to open the file anywhere else or convert it to .mp3.  I know now that it IS possible to post podcasts on this blog (I found a site to describe how to do so), and I found another site (http://www.podbean.com/) that hosts podcasts.  I just wasn't able to get an .mp3 file up on a hosting site.  I may work on this later.

I just wanted to quickly mention that last Thursday I was able to start creating a Google website on my sabbatical work.  It's at https://sites.google.com/site/sabbaticalwork/ if you want to see it.  It's still pretty open-ended as of this writing, although I plan to add more to it later.

I discovered another intersesting site today, Yodio (http://www.yodio.com/), that I may talk more about later.  It's a site that combines images with words.  We'll see.