Detailed Framework of Distance Education Tools at UMD

*A web page whose content can be created & edited by the blog host (without any knowledge of html or web design); anyone who has been given access can post comments on the blog following the blog entry.
*All users have Internet connection; broadband connection not necessary (unless there are large files attached) but does reduce down and upload time.

*Usually text web based only asynchronous forum that enables multiple users to engage in discussion with each other online. Threaded discussion feature enables users to reply to comments made by others and have the responses appear following the entry to which they are replying.
* All users have Internet connection; broadband connection not necessary (unless there are large files attached) but does reduce down and upload time. Forum can be a stand-alone environment (e.g. WebCrossing) or be a component of a course management system (e.g. WebCT).

*For learners to respond to questions and engage in asynchronous written dialog with others, usually about something they have read, seen, or experienced
*So all learners can participate and are responsible for participating in a discussion
*When used in conjunction with a face-to-face or other form of synchronous class, to enable students to engage in reflective discussion as a follow-up/reaction to class (e.g. to debrief after guest speaker, field trip).

*To supplement and enhance a face-to-face, ITV, independent study, or hybrid class.
*For fully online classes.
*Enables students to: access course materials (text based, graphic, video, & audio); link to Internet based resources; download text, video and sound files; interact with others using email, discussion forums, chat, wikis, and blogs; take tests; submit and receive assignments using web drop box; view grades.

*Although not as easy to create or edit as a wiki, blogs are relatively easy to create with no understanding of html or web page design. Contributing comments in response to someone else's blog is easier than posting a comment/edit on a wiki (format and location is preset).
*Because of the ease of creating and using a blog, and the numerous free blogs available, students (and faculty) can create their own for viewing by any users and without the constraints of the university system. Students are using these as work portfolios.
*Any type of digital file can be uploaded to and shared from a blog.
*Blogs can be subscribed to with RSS feed, thus enabling students to keep up with updates to blogs created by instructors.
*Blogs can be used as an easy way to podcast/vodcast,
*Unlike iTunes, UThink can host podcasts in a format that can be accessed by all computers and mp3 players (currently only iPods are compatible with the iTunes U file format)
*Students & faculty can use blogs to post content that they would like to be seen and commented on by others.
*Although the design of blogs makes this use clumsy (since responses cannot be threaded), blogs can be used as a substitute for online forums.

*Very easy to create and edit with no understanding of html or web page design.
*In addition to the text on the page, any type of digital file can be uploaded to and shared by linking to them from the wiki page.
* Can be open to the public for viewing and editing, or limited to specific individuals for viewing only or viewing and editing.
*Students can collaborate on assignments without having to meet synchronously.
* Avoids having one person assume responsibility for entering each student's contributions into the group paper/project.
*Students can build on each other's ideas
*Reduces the likelihood of having "free riders" who contribute little if anything to a group project, since the instructor (and other students) can refer to the wiki history, and see exactly what contributions were made by whom.
*Also using the page history, instructors can identify which students may be struggling with different concepts as well as which students are assisting those who are struggling.
*Students can use wikis for peer editing and peer feedback prior to submitting final assignments.
*If a wiki is public it enables students to have their work seen by others and gives them an authentic audience.

*Students at remote sites feel disconnected from the instructor & the students at the host site, especially if instructor not skilled in making eye contact with camera (and hence with remote site students)
*Harder for students to remain focused when watching class over a TV monitor
*Instructor & students can't see faces and "read" non-verbals at other sites
* Instructor cannot circulate around the room at remote site and listen in to small group discussions
*Difficult (and clumsy, at best) to have students work in groups with students who are at other sites, especially during class sessions
*Instructor needs to have helpers at remote sites to copy & distribute handouts and materials, collect materials
*Instructor must plan ahead to ensure that any materials are sent to remote sites in time for class.
*Unless multiple sets of materials are available, the extent of materials-based in class activities is limited.
*Very challenging to make all aspects of class accessible to students with disabilities, especially visual or hearing disabilities.
*Students may still have to commute long distances to ITV sites.

*At UMD, Breeze connections have been poor, even using the campus broadband connection. Until this is stable and reliable it therefore cannot be used for teaching classes.
* Breeze is suitable for delivering a lecture, or lecture and some limited interaction with students at remote sites. However, it is not designed to enable teachers to use more interactive teaching methods in which students discuss amongst themselves and with the teacher. Students have reported feeling very disconnected from the instructor and other students when trying to participate in a class taught over Breeze. However, it may be that this is more of a result of teachers still being inexperienced and unskilled in teaching using Breeze. Similarly, students are not accustomed to learning via Breeze and may give up trying to make effective use of it both because of their lack of skills & unskilled teaching.
* Not accessible to screen readers and thus violates accessibility requirement for online learning.

Disadvantages of faculty created CMS:
*Unlike in WebCT, there is no way for faculty to see statistics on student use of the different components of the site.
*Since each tool requires students to authenticate before being allowed access, students may have to authenticate multiple times within a given course website in order to use these tools (compared with WebCT in which students authenticate once to access course and all tools contained within it).
*Since there is no campus standard or requirements for faculty created websites, each faculty created site is very different in design, functionality and use of tools, so students have to take time to understand each instructor's system.

Disadvantages of WebCT/Vista:
*Limited customization of appearance and functionality of site and individual pages
*Bandwidth "hungry" and thus pages slower to load if students don't have broadband connection.
*Centralized system supported by outside vendor & managed by Twin Cities campus means slow response in the vendor making changes to suit needs of the university or to fix problems with the system.
*Users vulnerable when Twin Cities server goes down or system is changed.

*Use of free, public blogs is not secure, so users are at the mercy of the blog host (server may go down, or blog host may close down the blog).

A very common theme among users of discussion forums is the amount of time that it takes to teach using these, especially when students are required to post multiple times within a discussion. Even though the extent of the instructor's presence may not be evident (as it is inadvisable for instructors to post too much within a discussion), they still have to read every post; when they do respond it is very important that their comments are carefully worded so as not to stifle or shut down discussion -- and thoughtful posts take time to develop. It is significant that almost all instructors who have been teaching online using discussion forums as a major element of their courses report feeling worn out by the process. These same instructors also state how important and valuable these discussions are to the quality of student learning (especially for graduate level classes, but this same finding has also been reported by faculty who teach undergraduates). Thus they are torn between their own need to find balance in how much they can do, and wanting to ensure the highest possible quality of learning experience for their students.
*Some instructors report that using a hybrid class format in which students meet face-to-face once a month or more frequently can undermine the quality and depth of online discussions because some students tend to hold off posting their thoughts and engaging in depth in online discussions, preferring to wait to share their ideas in person during the face-to-face class. However, by the time the class meets, students responses have lost the connection to what was discussed online, especially if more than a week has gone by.

*If students are seeking input on drafts of their work from a limited number of people, it is better for them to share their work in Microsoft Word and use the "track changes" feature so that the suggestions and changes are embedded in the relevant portions of the document rather than listed as comments at the end.
*Blog host needs to monitor new comments closely if blog permissions are set to allow outsiders or a large group of users to enter comments (since an unfortunate consequence of open blogs is having users post inappropriate and often obscene comments).

*Necessary to take time at the start of a course/cohort to teach students not only how to use the tools within the forum, but also how to communicate constructively and critically with others as part of an online learning community, using posts that are short and to the point. Additionally it is very important to start out with discussions that help students build confidence in their ability to communicate in writing and online, and also for them to develop trust in the learning community. A key factor in creating this sense of trust and safety is keeping the forum closed to outsiders (unless an open folder is created when outside speakers are invited in). Students need to feel safe to engage in critical self-reflection and able to examine their own assumptions without fear that others will say hurtful things and judge them. This requires skill in the development of initial activities and in the ways instructors facilitate discussion & provide feedback.
*Instructors report the value of creating initial discussions that invite students to share personal stories (in ways that are appropriate and relate to the course objectives) not only to help build students' confidence, sense of belonging, and understanding of each other, but also to provide a foundation. As the course evolves, especially if taught following constructivist principles, instructors can integrate this information learned about students into course content and in building discussions that connect the content to students' experiences. This is especially important in working with adult learners who are working full time (connecting course in meaningful ways to their work and personal lives).
*If the forum is used as a CMS (as is the case with WebCrossing in the M.Ed program) it is very important to teach students how to navigate their way around the system.
*Creating a "virtual cafe" folder within a course discussion folder is helpful in providing students with a place to engage informally and socially with each other online. This social need is important to creating a strong learning community, and having this designated location enables students to keep discussions more focused on the topic within the other (academic) discussion folders.
*Create discussion groups (as opposed to having all students post responses in one big, whole class discussion). Especially if students post more than once, a whole class discussion quickly becomes disconnected, hard to follow, and far too lengthy for anyone to read what everyone has said, and thus students become disengaged. Having smaller groups (5-7 students per group) is more personal, easier to follow, and students can then engage with each other in more meaningful, deeper, and more critical discourse. Students can still go into other discussion groups to read and learn from those if they wish.
*If you give a grade to students for their posts, provide clear guidelines on your expectations about quality (ideally in rubric form).
*If you expect students to engage with each other in discussion beyond each posting their initial response to instructor questions, it is important to give deadlines for when students' initial response be made and then a second deadline for subsequent posts
*Be very judicious in your contributions to discussions. The ideal is to facilitate the discussion only as needed, so students know you are reading what they have to say and that you will step in, if and as needed, to help guide and redirect, but without your presence dominating. Use public posts within the discussion to encourage, redirect, deepen, and expand students' thinking; use personal emails to communicate with individuals when providing individual feedback and correction.

Time saving/ management tips:
*For students and instructors, use email notification feature so that when a new post is added to a forum, you are notified by email. This means that you don't have to keep checking in to see if there is anything new.
*Instructors: create a separate "Assignment Questions" discussion to accompany each assignment, so that if students need help they post their question within this, rather than embedding their question within the discussion. Instructors can then commit to checking this questions folder daily while reviewing other discussions less often.
*Related to this: it is very important to tell the students up front when and how often they can expect you to review their online discussions, and then instructors should build into their schedules blocks of time to do this (just as you schedule in time to teach f2f classes). This helps reduce the common complaint from faculty who teach online that they feel as if class is always in session.
*It is not advisable to respond to every post made by students. Not only does this stifle discussion among students and make the forum very teacher dominated and teacher centered, but it will very quickly lead to your feedback becoming superficial and to your "burning out." If you do feel a need to show students that you are there and have read their posts, you can place a plus sign of some other mark next to their response (by actually editing their response as opposed to replying to it, as the latter can really disrupt the flow of the discussion threads).
*Reduce the number of discussions required within a course.
*Keep a discussion question "bank: from past courses so that you can draw on this for future classes. Even if you do use past questions, however, it is helpful to adapt these so they are relevant to and build on developments that emerged in preceding discussions within your forums that semester. Also, if possible, to connect the questions to current issues and developments in your field (e.g. providing links to relevant online news stories).
*Simplify grading rubrics so that they are more holistic.
*If points are given for student posts, using WebCT as the grading option enables scores to be entered directly into gradebook as your review student posts.
*Some faculty recommend that you don't read all discussions: skim to get an overall sense (just as f2f instructors do when they circulate among in class discussion groups -- they don't listen to every word said in every group).
*Administrators: Increase credit given to instructors of courses that rely on online discussion forums as a significant component of the course.