IGNIS 2017 - Marcia Pedersen and Anita Peng 052317

ENGAGING STUDENTS ONLINE WITH WEB-CONFERENCING

Anita Peng

Marcia Pedersen

Bellingham Technical College

Poll 1

Raise your hand to answer yes:

Have you participated in an interactive web conference prior to today?

FACULTY LEARNING COMMUNITY

2016-17 FLC

BTC Faculty Learning Community

FLC Purpose

To explore how course design, materials, learner activities, and course technologies affect student engagement and student success in online learning environments…

FLC Survey Results – Course Modality

FLC Survey Results - Materials

•In general, how engaging have you found the majority of learning materials (texts, articles, videos, etc.) in your online or hybrid courses? Out of 89 responses . . .

FLC Survey Results - Activities

•In general, how engaging have you found the majority of learning activities (assignments, discussions, group projects, etc.) in your online or hybrid courses? Out of 88 responses . . .

FLC Survey Results - Interaction

•In general, how important is it to you that you interact with your instructor in an online class? Out of 88 responses . . .

Engaging Students Online

Synchronous Activities

• Benefits

• Methods

• Tools in Canvas

• Other Online Tools

• Math/Science Specific

Virtual Assistance

• Meetings

• Presentations

• Group Work

VIRTUAL OFFICE HOURSGeneral Information

Virtual Office Hours – Benefits

• Office hours do not have to take place on campus.

• Office hours can take place at more popular times, such as later in the evening, when more students can attend. Additionally students can “pop” online when they are actually working on homework, ask a quick question and go back to work.

• If you archive the discussions, students can go back through the conversation if they need clarification or want to review the material under consideration. Likewise, students who did not participate in the conversation have access to the material.

Source: http://www.washington.edu/teaching/teaching-resources/engaging-students-in-learning/virtual-office-hours/

Virtual Office Hours – More Benefits

• Can cut down on having to reply to multiple emails with the same question or on the same topic. It also assures students of a timely response.

• Students can all be active participants, instead of waiting in a line outside your office door.

• Anonymity. Shy students might be more prone to participate if they can do so online as opposed to in-person.

• Offers the whole class a chance to see what types of questions individual students are asking.

Source: http://www.washington.edu/teaching/teaching-resources/engaging-students-in-learning/virtual-office-hours/

Virtual Office Hours – Methods

• Step 1: Choose a tool that will best suit your needs. If you need support, contact your e-Learning Department.

• Step 2: Set a day and time you can be available online, e.g. Tuesday from 6:30-7:30 pm (evening times can be popular but not necessary). Make sure to announce the time and instructions for connecting to the online platform in class and in writing on the syllabus.

• Step 3: Connect with students!

Source: http://www.washington.edu/teaching/teaching-resources/engaging-students-in-learning/virtual-office-hours/

Virtual Office Hours – Canvas Tools

Canvas is BTC’s Learning Management System (LMS). The following Canvas tools can be used to help facilitate virtual office hours and other online communication with students.

• Conferences allow you to upload files (PPT, Word, PDF, etc.), access to a digital whiteboard as well as video and audio features.

• Scheduler is part of the Calendar in Canvas. It allows faculty to create blocks of time that students can sign up for, which can help to better manage face-to-face or online hours.

Source: http://www.washington.edu/teaching/teaching-resources/engaging-students-in-learning/virtual-office-hours/

Virtual Office Hours – Canvas Tools cont.

More Canvas tools can be used to help facilitate virtual office hours and other online communication with students.

• Chat provides a way to conduct real time conversations with history. This feature can be used for online discussions that will allow students to go back and review material after the conversation has ended.

• Discussions is an easy to use tool that provide FAQ’s for a course, especially useful in large courses, and can help to cut down on repeat questions and answers that frequently occur via email.

Source: Virtual office hours | UW Center for Teaching and Learning

Virtual Office Hours – Online Tools

Other tools available to support communication between instructors and students include:

• Yarn is a chat tool built for live “back-channel” of a course. Yarn offers instructors a way to gather feedback, assess student understanding and answer questions while class is going on.

• Adobe Connect (limited availability depending on department) is a Flash-based virtual meeting room that allows you to connect with multiple participants to share audio, video, applications and chat.

• Microsoft Skype for Business.

Source: Virtual office hours | UW Center for Teaching and Learning

Virtual Office Hours – Online Tools cont.

There are a number of commercial solutions to holding office hours online. A few of the more popular options are as follows.

• Google Hangouts (limited to 10-15 people) offers free video conferencing

• Skype (professional, associated fee) offers screen sharing and group calls with a limited number of people

• join.me and Jive Chime are two products that offer screen and multimedia sharing as well as group conferencing

Source: Virtual office hours | UW Center for Teaching and Learning

VIRTUAL OFFICE HOURSMath/Science Specific

Virtual Office Hours – BigBlueButton

1 million dollar question:

What theorem is it that will help us find the length of a hypotenuse given two sides of a right triangle?

Virtual Office Hours – Example Chat Activity

Virtual Office Hours – Chat Activity Hint

Virtual Office Hours – Predicament

How would you explain how to use the theorem to someone if a mouse or a trackpad is all you have on a web-conference?

Drawing ActivityOn the next slide, use the drawing or writing tool to:

Write or draw something using your mouse or trackpad.

Left blank for drawing activity

Virtual Office Hours – Options

Document Camera Webcam as a Document Camera

Virtual Office Hours – More Options

iPad as a Document Camera ELMO as a Document Camera

SYNCHRONOUS ACTIVITIESMeetings, Group Work & Presentations

Poll 2Use the polling tool to answer:

Have you ever led an interactive web conference?

A. Yes, often

B. Yes, a couple times

C. Yes, once

D. No

E. Not sure

Chat Activity 1

Type your answer into the Chat:

What are some disadvantages of web-conferencing?

Chat Activity 2

Type your answer into the Chat:

What are some advantages of web-conferencing?

Synchronous Activities - Meetings

Preparation•Schedule

Synchronous Activities - Meetings

Preparation•Schedule

•Lecture

Synchronous Activities - Meetings

Preparation•Schedule

•Lecture

•Equipment needs

Poll 3 Raise your hand for Yes

- OR -

Use the smile emoticon if your answer is Yes AND you like it!

Do you typically turn on your webcam during a web-conference?

Synchronous Activities - Meetings

Preparation•Schedule

Synchronous Activities - Meetings

Preparation•Schedule

•Lecture

Synchronous Activities - Meetings

Preparation•Schedule

•Lecture

•Equipment needs

Synchronous Activities - Meetings

Running the Conference•Set up

•Welcome

•Screen tour

•Student delivery

•Conclusion

Chat Activity

Type your answer into the Chat:

What other preparation can help people who are new to web conference?

Synchronous Activities - Meetings

Post Conference•Message•Feedback•Partial points

Synchronous Activities

Group work

•Required or optional

•Self-created and scheduled conferences

•Instructor participation or observation

Synchronous Activities cont.

Presentations

•Scheduling

•Smaller groups

•File limitations

•Recorded

Contact Information

Anita [email protected]

Marcia PedersenBusiness and Computer Information [email protected]

Chat Activity

Type your answer into the Chat:

How engaged were you in this web-conference?